Birthday's to share this week : 11th - 17th October 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Mia Wasikowska does on 14th October - check out the tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 26 at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 11th October

• Dawn French - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actress | Writer | Television Personality
• Joan Cusack - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actress
• Luke Perry - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• David Morse - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Writer

Monday 12th October

• Hugh Jackman - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Josh Hutcherson - Born 1992, turns 28 - Actor | Producer

Tuesday 13th October

• Chris Carter - Born 1956, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Sacha Baron Cohen - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Kelly Preston - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actress

Wednesday 14th October

• Mia Wasikowska - Born 1989, turns 26 - Actress | Director | Writer
• Lori Petty - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actress | Director | Writer
• Roger Moore - Born 1927, turns 88 - Actor | Producer
• Steve Coogan - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Ben Whishaw - Born 1980, turns 35 - Actor

Thursday 15th October

• Todd Solondz - Born 1959, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Dominic West - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Director | Producer
• Michael Caton-Jones - Born 1957, turns 58 - Director | Producer 

Friday 16th October

• Tim Robbins - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director 
• David Zucker - Born 1947, turns 68 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Gary Kemp - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor | Songwriter | Musician
• Peter Bowles - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Angela Lansbury - Born 1925, turns 90 - Actress | Writer | Singer

Saturday 17th October

• Felicity Jones - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actress
• Margot Kidder - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actress
• Matthew Macfadyen - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actor
• Rob Marshall - Born 1960, turns 55 - Director | Producer

Mia Wasikowska was born and raised in Canberra, Australia to mother Marzena Wasikowska, a Polish born photographer, and father John Reid, an Australian photographer and artist. She has an older sister Jess, and a younger brother Kai. At age eight the whole family upped sticks and moved to Poland for a year because her mother received a grant to produce a body of photographic work recounting her experiences in moving to Australia in 1974 when she was just eleven years of age. The three young children took part in the photographic production - just doing what kids do - nothing was staged or planned. Upon returning to Canberra a year or so later the nine year old Mia started ballerina training at the Canberra Dance Development Centre with her sights set upon a professional career. Aside from a full time school career to gain an education, she was ballet training for 35 hours per week - a gruelling routine! By 14 however, she was disillusioned and feeling the increasing pressure of perfection, so she quit. Having been exposed to a number of European and Australian films in her youth she gained the inspiration and the motivation to pursue a career in acting. With no prior acting experience she made contact with a dozen or so Australian talent agencies to secure roles - only one ever bothered to call her back.

It was 2004 and Wasikowska secured her first acting role on two episodes of the Australian Hospital drama series 'All Saints'. In 2006 she scored her first film acting role on 'Suburban Mayhem' which garnered her the Young Actors AFI Award. This led to 'Rogue' in 2007 with Sam Worthington and Radha Mitchell, and that same year 'September' with Xavier Samuel.

At 17 she was to receive her break in the US when she was cast in HBO's 'In Treatment'. For this she needed to leave Canberra High School for her role as Sophie in nine episodes while basing herself in Los Angeles for three months. She earned critical praise for her performance alongside Gabriel Bryne. This in turn led to her being cast by Edward Zwick in 'Defiance' with Daniel Craig and Jamie Bell - playing the wife of the latter actor, with whom she has subsequently maintained a strong friendship.

Following this came the 2009 bio-pic 'Amelia' starring Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor and Hilary Swank charting the life, the ups & downs of early aviator Amelia Earhart. Later that year she was also cast in the acclaimed 'That Evening Sun' with Hal Holbrook and had the distinction of being the only non-American actor in this southern states based film due to her strong ability to mimic the required southern American accent.

After a series of auditions she was chosen for the role of Alice in Tim Burton's 2010 'Alice in Wonderland' with Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Stephen Fry. The film went on to make in excess of US$1B at the global Box Office, resulting in a sequel, currently in post-production for a mid-2016 release - 'Alice Through the Looking Glass'.

From here she went to 'The Kids Are All Right' with Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, and Annette Bening. This was followed up by her lead role in the much praised 'Jane Eyre' opposite Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench and Jamie Bell again, with 'Restless' for Director Gus Van Sant coming that same year. She was due to appear in the Australian independent film of 'Sleeping Beauty' but turned this down due to scheduling conflicts with the aforementioned 'Restless'. She then turned down Robert Redford's 'The Conspirator'  due to a commitment on 'Restless' also, and she withdrew from an audition having been shortlisted for David Fincher's 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' as Lisbeth Salander. Instead she opted for 'Albert Nobbs' with Glenn Close for which she replaced, at the eleventh hour, Amanda Seyfried.

In 2011 there was a supporting role to Shia LaBeouf in John Hillcoat's 'Lawless' and then 'Stoker' with Nicole Kidman and Jacki Weaver. 2012 brought 'The Double' for Richard Ayoade and starring Jesse Eisenberg and Noah Taylor, and then Jim Jarmusch's 'Only Lovers Left Alive' with Tilda Swinton. 'Tracks' followed, recounting the Australian sand to sea odyssey of Robyn Davidson which appeared in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

2014 saw David Cronenberg's 'Maps to the Stars' with Julianne Moore and John Cusack, and then the lead role in 'Madame Bovary' with Paul Giamatti and Rhys Ifans. Next up, is the due for imminent release 'Crimson Peak' for Guillermo del Toro also starring Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain, and then the sequel to the hugely successful earlier 'Alice' film 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' for Director (this time) James Bobin due for mid-2016, and 'HHHH' also due in 2016 and currently in pre-production.

Wasikowska has 32 acting credits to her name, and two Writer/Director credits also for 'Madly' and 'The Turning'. She has eight award wins and another 34 nominations in her relatively short career so far. 

Mia Wasikowska - avid photographer and so following in her parents footsteps; mostly flying under that radar but still to much critical acclaim; lives in the Sydney beach suburb of Bronte; dating co-star Jesse Eisenberg; and has appeared in numerous short films and full length features - we wish you a very Happy Birthday from your followers at Odeon Online. Best Wishes.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 20th November 2014.

I am pleased to say that as Australia warms in the late Spring sun with just over a week to go until the official start of Australian Summertime, we are gearing up for a season of big films, that ramped up earlier this month with Chris Nolan's excellent Sci-Fi epic 'Interstellar' (check out my Review dated 11th November). This week we have the third instalment in a quadrilogy of films that seems to have set the standard by which many have otherwise followed of late, and features some dystopian hybrid bird thing as it's mascot, and, this is sure to be big as the franchise counts down now to its 19th November 2015 conclusion. Then the master of cult-classic bizarre and downright weird cinema making gives us his spin on weird cinema making and the people in it, around it and on top of it; and finally another real life drama from New Zealand this time about redemption, purpose and acceptance all brought together around a board game!

Three offerings then, all different but all worthy of your cinema dollar nonetheless. Check out something from this weeks new haul of releases, or any one of the other great films still on general release from weeks gone by, and, when you have drop me a line in the Comments Box below this, or any other Post, and share your thoughts with the world of moviefandom! Enjoy your film experience this week!

THE HUNGER GAMES : MOCKINGJAY Part 1 (Rated M) - the third instalment in the 'Hunger Games' franchise sees the final book carved up into two film offerings (just as with the 'Harry Potter' series and the 'Twilight' series) with Part 2 due for release on 19th November 2015. The first two films in the series cost US$208M to make and grossed worldwide US$1.56B, and the final two films have a combined production budget of US$250M, and doubtless expectations will be very high on many levels. Once again all the usual suspects are back that we have come to know with a few new characters thrown in too, and again we are Directed by Francis Lawrence (no relation!)

The action takes off where 'Catching Fire' left us at the end of last year with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) being plucked from the 'Quaretquell' where she had just blown up the Hunger Games arena. She is whisked off to the mythical previously thought destroyed 'District 13', declared a hero and is made a symbol of hope by the people of the nation, and the figurehead for rebellion against The Capitol. District 13 is headed up by President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore). Meanwhile Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) was captured by President Snow (Donald Sutherland) who intends to use him as a symbol of hope for the peoples of The Capitol to quash any potential uprising by Katniss and her mounting Rebel army. No doubt this will involve poor Peeta getting tortured, brain-washed and manipulated to turn against Katniss and everything she now stands for . . . or will it? In doing so, with no 'Hunger Games' to fight things out like modern day Gladiators, the war takes to the streets and battle will commence . . . big time! Returning we have Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, the late great Philip Seymour-Hoffman, Elizabeth Banks, and Sam Claflin and various other new names on both sides of The Capitol fence. If the first two films are anything to go by, the action here will be ramped up as we draw closer to a conclusion, the storyline will become darker, and the characters more driven - so buckle-up for the ride!

MAPS TO THE STARS (Rated MA15+) - Canadian Director David Cronenberg who brought us amongst others 'Scanners', 'Videodrome', 'The Naked Lunch' and more recently the excellent 'A History of Violence' and 'Eastern Promises' turns his attention this time to Hollywood, and in so doing pokes a big ugly stick right in its eye! Starring Mia Wasikowska as Agatha Weiss who returns to Hollywood after a spell in a sanatorium has homecoming dreams of meeting rich and famous celebrities. She comes across Julianne Moore as a fading actress (Havana Segrand) trying desperately to re-establish her career, and who is being treated by Agatha's father, a self-help guru Dr. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack), and then there is drug addled teen-star son Benjie (Evan Bird) about to start work on yet another tween movie sequel . . . and he's been in rehab since he was nine! Into the mix is Olivia Willams as Christina as wife to Stafford and mother to Agatha and Benji, and Robert Pattinson as Jerome Fontana, an aspiring actor who has a thing for Agatha. This tangled web of intrigue with all manner of phobias, insecurities, anxieties, worries and woes confronting our dysfunctional family sets the scene for modern day horror that only Cronenberg can concoct. Sounds weird, whacky and way out there just like most other Cronenberg offerings - put it on your must-see list!

THE DARK HORSE (Rated M) - a New Zealand tale this one set in Gisborne surrounding recent mental institution escapee Genesis (Cliff Curtis) who is sheltered by gangland brother Ariki (Wayne Hapi) on the proviso that he doesn't come between him, and soon to be inducted into the gang, young nephew Mana (James Rolleston). Needless to say the gang environment is no place for fragile Genesis and young impressionable Mana. Being homeless and feeling hopeless their future hope and possible salvation comes in the form of an upcoming chess championship being staged in Auckland in just six weeks time. Genesis knows a thing or two about the game of chess, and so sets about teaching Mana and his street-smart no-hope mates everything he can over the ensuing weeks to secure their entry into the tournament, and who knows . . . maybe even win it! An emotional well told story set on NZ's meaner streets with all the challenges thrown in that gangs, hardship, homelessness, hopelessness and chess can create! I wonder if there is a chess training montage? You could be very pleasantly surprised by this little film!

Three films then to stir the senses in very different ways. Give it a go this coming week, and check out a new release movie, and then share with us your views.

Movies - catch one this week!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-