Birthday's to share this week : 25th-31st December 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Kit Harrington does on 26th December - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 30, 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 25th December

• Sissy Spacek - Born 1949, turns 67 - Actress
• Nicholas Hope - Born 1958, turns 58 - Actor  

Monday 26th December

• Fred Schepisi - Born 1939, turns 77 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Steve Bisley - Born 1951, turns 65 - Actor
• Temuera Morrison - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor 
• Steve Le Marquand - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor | 
• Jared Leto - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Director | Songwriter 
• Shane Meadows - Born 1972, turns 44 - Director | Writer | Producer | Actor
• Kit Harrington - Born 1986, turns 30 - Actor  

Tuesday 27th December

• Gerard Depardieu - Born 1948, turns 68 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer  

Wednesday 28th December

• Stan Lee - Born 1922, turns 94 - Writer | Producer | Actor
• Denzel Washington - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Director   
• Maggie Smith - Born 1934, turns 82 - Actress
• Noomi Rapace - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actress
• Sienna Miller - Born 1981, turns 35 - Actress

Thursday 29th December

• Patricia Clarkson - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actress | Producer
• Lilly Wachowski - Born 1967, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Charlotte Riley - Born 1981, turns 35 - Actress
• Alison Brie - Born 1982, turns 34 - Actress | Producer
• John Voight - Born 1938, turns 78 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Ted Danson - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Oliver Hirschbiegel - Born 1957, turns 59 - Director | Writer
• Jude Law - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actor | Producer
• Danny McBride - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Diego Luna - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Friday 30th December

• Bennett Miller - Born 1966, turns 50 - Director | Producer
• Tyrese Gibson - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Tracey Ullman - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Singer | Television Personality

Saturday 31st December

• Barbara Carrera - Born 1945, turns 71 - Actress
• Anthony Hopkins - Born 1937, turns 79 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Ben Kingsley - Born 1943, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Taylor Hackford - Born 1944, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer
• James Remar - Born 1953, turns 63 - Actor 
• Val Kilmer - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer

Christopher Catesby Harrington was born in Acton, London, England, to mother Deborah Catesby, a former playwright, and father Sir David Richard Harrington, 15th Baronet and business man. The Harrington Baronetcy, of Ridlington in the landlocked East Midlands county of Rutland was first created in 1611 for James Harrington who lived from 1542 until 1614. Through his paternal grandmother, Harrington's eight-time great-grandfather was King Charles II of England. History lesson over, Harrington attended Southfield Primary School, and at age eleven the family moved to Worcestershire where he studied at the Chantry High School in Martley. His interest in acting was sparked at school where he preformed in several school productions. He went on to attend Worcester Sixth Form College where he studied Drama and Theatre, and following this at age eighteen he attended the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, from where he graduated in 2008.

Originally, the young Harrington had designs on becoming a journalist, war correspondent or cameraman. However, while at Drama School he landed a role in the National Theatre's adaptation of 'War Horse', and Harrington's performance was highly praised. This led quickly to another theatre production in 'Posh' in 2010 at the Royal Court Theatre. His first screen role came in 'Game of Thrones' as John Snow, with the show debuting in 2011 and quickly gaining a huge following, that sees Season 7 currently in production for a 2017 airing. The show has since become a worldwide phenomenon with Harrington's character so far surviving the first six complete seasons.

His first big screen role came in the supernatural psychological horror film sequel of the survival horror video game of the same name 'Silent Hill' from 2006. 'Silent Hill : Revelation' was released in 2012 and also started Sean Bean, Malcolm McDowell and Carrie-Anne Moss. Despite its moderate Box Office success bringing in US$53M off a US$20M budget, the film was panned critically. His first major role came in 2014 in the US$80M Paul W.S.Anderson production of 'Pompeii' which also starred Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss again, Kiefer Sutherland and Jared Harris amongst others. 

In 2014 Harrington voiced the character of Eret in 'How to Train Your Dragon 2'. Featuring an ensemble cast of fellow actors providing their voice talents to this successful DreamWorks animated fantasy action offering the film returned US$622M from its US$145M outlay, spawning a recently announced third instalment in this franchise due for release in early 2019. That same year came another fantasy action epic offering 'Seventh Son' with Jeff Bridges, Alicia Vikander, Julianne Moore and Djimon Hounsou. The film made just US$115M from its budget of US$95M and was generally poorly received. Also that year was 'Testament of Youth' - the First World War drama based on the life of Vera Brittain who wrote the memoir of the same name. The film starred Alicia Vikander again, Emily Watson, Hayley Atwell, Taron Egerton and Dominic West. The film was well received but failed to recoup its US$10M budget.

'Spooks : The Greater Good' (aka 'MI-5') was a big screen adaptation in 2015 of the popular BBC Television series which aired from 2002 through until 2011. That year he also starred in a HBO Comedy film '7 Days In Hell' about a seven day tennis match opposite Andy Samberg and featuring a strong support cast of named actors and tennis players. He also appeared in the stage play 'The Vote' at London's Donmar Warehouse alongside Jude Law, Judi Dench and Timothy West in 2015, and this year appeared as Faustus in 'Doctor Faustus' at the West End's Duke of York Theatre.

Next up is Western thriller Directed by Martin Koolhoven 'Brimstone' with Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning and Carice van Houten. The film had its Premier at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival in early September this year, but is yet to get a wider release. Currently filming for a 2018 release is 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan' for Writer/Director Xavier Dolan and also starring Natalie Portman, Thandie Newton, Jessica Chastain, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates and Michael Gambon with Harrington playing John F. Donovan.  

All up Harrington has twelve acting credits to his name including 50+ episodes on 'Game of Thrones' so far, with Season Seven currently in production. This year he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award as Outstanding Supporting Actor on 'Game of Thrones' and he has twelve other nominations and two award wins both for his work on 'Game of Thrones'. 

He has been romantically connected with fellow 'Game of Thrones' Actress Rose Leslie (Ygritte) since 2012. Earlier this year he took active part in a United Nations video for the Refugee Agency, UNHCR (United National High Commissioner for Refugees) to help raise awareness of the global refugee crisis. He took part with the likes of Cate Blanchett, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jesse Eisenberg and Stanley Tucci. 

Kit Harrington - he has royal blood and the aristocracy coursing through his veins - in real life and on television; has become one of the most recognised faces on television; is a self confessed fan of the horror movie genre; is fearful of flying, needles and spiders; loves to party; and is clearly on the up, in demand and recognised for his talents on television, on film and in the theatre. Happy 30th Birthday to you Kit, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 27th September - 3rd October 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Alicia Vikander does on 3rd October - check out the tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 27 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 27th September

• Gwyneth Paltrow - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actress
• Meat Loaf - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter
• Denis Lawson - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor

Monday 28th September

• Naomi Watts - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress | Producer
• Hilary Duff - Born 1987, turns 28 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Mira Sorvino - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actress | Producer
• Brigitte Bardot - Born 1934, turns 81 - Actress | Singer

Tuesday 29th September

• Luke Goss - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer
• Ian McShane - Born 1947, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Nicolas Winding Refn - Born 1970, turns 45 - Director | Producer | Writer

Wednesday 30th September

• Eric Stoltz - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Angie Dickinson - Born 1931, turns 84 - Actress
• Marion Cotillard - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actress | Singer
• Monica Bullucci - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress

Thursday 1st October

• Julie Andrews - Born 1935, turns 80 - Actress | Singer
• Randy Quaid - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor | Producer
• Zach Galifianakis - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer

Friday 2nd October

• Sting - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter

Saturday 3rd October

• Clive Owen - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Denis Villeneuve - Born 1967, turns 48 - Director | Writer
• Neve Campbell - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress | Producer
• Alicia Vikander - Born 1988, turns 27 - Actress

Alicia Amanda Vikander was born in Gothenburg, Sweden to mother Maria Fahl, an actress, and father Svante Vikander, a psychiatrist. At five months old her parents separated and for the most part thereafter was raised by her mother, although she had access to her father every other weekend with whom she would grow up enjoying the company of his other five children. She studied ballet at the Royal Swedish Ballet School in Gothenburg from the age of nine and at fifteen moved to Stockholm where she trained to become a principal dancer. At the Gothenburg Opera she appeared in several musicals including 'Les Miserables' and 'The Sound of Music'. By the age of sixteen she was travelling the world to fine tune her acting craft. Due to injuries over the subsequent years her career in dancing became sidelined as her career in acting began to take hold, although for a short time she was considering a move into the legal profession gaining a place at law school, which she also sidelined in favour of acting - a wise choice in the long term it would appear!

At home in Sweden she gained early work on a number of television shows and made for TV movies - 'Min balsamerade mor' in 2002, 'En decemberdrom' for three episodes in 2005, the mini-series 'Levande foda' in 2007 and then on the longer running 'Andra Avenyn' for 39 episodes from 2007-2008.

From 2007 there were a number of short films in her native country launching with 'Darkness of Truth' and 'The Rain', 'My Name is Love' in 2008, and 'Susans Iangtan' in 2009. Her feature film debut came in 2010 in the acclaimed 'Pure' for which she won the Best Actress Award at the Swedish Guldbagge Awards - the equivalent there of the Academy Awards or the BAFTA's.

After this was her lead role in 'The Crown Jewels' in 2011, however, international recognition came in 2012 playing the role of Kitty in the Joe Wright Directed British adaptation of 'Anna Karenina' alongside Keira Knightly, Jude Law, Domhnall Gleeson and Emily Watson. The film picked up numerous awards including a Breakthrough Performer Award for Vikander at the Hamptons International Film Festival. She followed this up that same year with the Danish period piece 'A Royal Affair' with Mads Mikkelsen which gained a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at the 2013 Academy Awards. That year, she was also nominated at the BAFTA's for a Rising Star Award but missed out to Juno Temple.

2013 saw her star in Bill Condon's 'The Fifth Estate' about the rise of WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange as portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch. The film also starred Stanley Tucci, Anthony Mackie and David Thewlis. Next up was the Swedish film 'Hotell' for which she won the Best Actress Award at the Marrakech International Film Festival.

'Testament of Youth' came next with Vikander in the lead role as Vera Brittain recounting her WWI memories as a war time nurse. This was followed up that same year with Aussie crime drama 'Son of a Gun' with Ewan McGregor and Brenton Thwaites, and then 'Seventh Son' with Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, and Djimon Hounsou. 'Ex Machina' came earlier this year in the Alex Garland Directed film in which she stars as humanoid robot Ava, alongside Domhnall Gleeson again, and Oscar Isaac. Most recently there has been 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' Directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer as the reprised 60's Agents Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin respectively.

Coming soon is 'Burnt' with Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Uma Thurman and Emma Thompson due before the end of the year, as is 'The Danish Girl' with Eddie Redmayne and Ben Whishaw. 'Tulip Fever' is currently in post-production for 2016 and stars Dane DeHaan, Christoph Waltz and Judy Dench, 'The Light Between the Oceans' due next year too and starring Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz, and currently filming is the fifth instalment in the Bourne franchise as Directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne with Tommy Lee Jones and Vincent Cassel and due in mid-16.

Vikander has 26 acting credits to her name and has won seven awards and another seven nominations to date - she expects big things from next years Academy Awards too where she may have multiple films in contention. Recently split from Michael Fassbender, Vikander seems more intent on keeping busy, chasing the Oscar dream and polishing her celebrity status as her star continues to rise.

Alicia Vikander - young, beautiful, talented, determined, committed, hard working, in demand, already much praised and with the Hollywood world at your feet - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 5th March 2015.

Friends, readers and film followers - this is my first update from Adelaide in South Australia where I have recently started a new day job that will keep me active when I'm not writing about cinema, movies, the film world and what goes on in it, on it and around it! The other news of significance is that Summer here has given way to Autumn, and with it comes a slew of new films as if to herald a new season.

This week then we have a deep black sea submariners sunken treasure adventure thriller and there is no Johnny Depp or Jack Sparrow in sight; a sleight of hand daze & confuse 'em rob 'em blind action adventure that is glossy, sexy and features beautiful people of course; a fantasy epic where your lucky number seven is sure to spell action, adventure and peril most evil; a work gig to a distant land where three hapless salesmen encounter more challenges than they thought; and a time travelling mind bending history changing conundrum that could end very badly for the world as we know it!

Whatever you choose to spend your movie going dollar on in the week ahead, choose wisely from one of the new releases as below, or any of those Previewed in previous weeks and still on general release. There remains plenty of choice, and when you've sat through your selection, drop us a note in the Comments sections below this, or any Post, and share your thoughts with the ever expanding readership at Odeon Online. Enjoy your film!

BLACK SEA (Rated M) - Directed by Kevin MacDonald who also Produced, this is an all too familiar story of a bunch of greedy men who go off to sea in search of sunken riches only to turn against each other before the final pay-off leaving more booty to divide amongst fewer shipmates, which of course is all good if you happen to be one of the few still left breathing! What separates this from all other other familiar tales that have trodden a similar path, or sailed into similar uncharted waters, is that at the helm is Kevin MacDonald who has a track record in tightly written, tautly filmed action adventure ('Touching the Void', 'How I Live Now', 'State of Play', 'The Eagle') and this time we are set in the confines of a submarine with a rag tag bunch of unscrupulous misfit salty sea dogs.

This bunch are led by Captain Robinson (Jude Law) - a former naval office turned salvageman who lost that gig and now accepts a job with a backer lurking in the shadows that we know little about and trying to win back favour with a former employer all the while secretly plotting his revenge. The task is to venture forth to the Black Sea and salvage a WWII German U-Boat that was sunk in those waters somewhere, and is rumoured to contain a stash of gold bullion. The crew that Captain Robinson assembles are made up of British and Russian seafarers that include Ben Mendelssohn (Fraser), Scoot McNairy (Daniels) and Grigorly Dobrygin (Morozov) amongst others all adding a touch of authenticity to the claustrophobic underwater tin can conditions. Of course tensions rise when Brits and Ruskies, language and cultures clash leaving Captain Robinson to mediate and smooth over troubled waters. Solid submariner stories are few & far between on the big screen, but by all reports this has the tension, the intensity, the thrills and the characterisation to make this a winner and a worthy addition to the canon.

FOCUS (Rated MA15+) - touted as a romdramedy (romantic drama comedy) this package stars Will Smith as Nicky Spurgeon a long-time gifted and successful confidence trickster who gets himself tangled up romantically with young Jess Barratt (Margot Robbie). Things seem to be going well for the couple and so Nicky begins to introduce the young & talented Jess to his world and all the tricks and grifting skills that go with it. However, when Jess gets too close Nicky breaks things off and can smell a rat and so the two go their separate ways. Fast forward three years and Jess has now risen through the ranks of Nicky's world, and they find themselves in Buenos Aires both on opposite sides of the same con. This time though the stakes are very high with the target a billionaire race car owner, and in rekindling that old flame Nicky's personal and professional life are thrown into disarray at a time when he most needs to be on his game! Produced for US$100M and Directed and Written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa this also stars Rodrigo Santoro, some exotic locations, fast cars and all the glitz & glamour of the high life.

SEVENTH SON (Rated M) - this is another epic fantasy adventure based on the book of the same name as Directed by Sergei Bodrov on a production budget of US$95M. With a solid cast this film has taken over two years to get to the big screen after a slew of mishaps and misadventure occurred after production wrapped way back when. The story centres around a young Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) who is the fabled seventh son of a seventh son who works on some farm minding his own business, tending to the land and having no idea on God's green Earth what fate holds in store for him. He is taken under the wing as an apprentice by John Gregory (Jeff Bridges) - a Spook who has long since defended the Earth from evil malevolent forces, and who back in the time of yore captured and imprisoned wicked witch Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore). However, a once in a hundred year event is about to occur that will allow the wicked with of the west to morph dragon like and escape from captivity and wreak her revenge on this who would stand in her way. Enter John Gregory who has only until the next full moon to train up his seventh son apprentice into a finely tuned witch slaying machine to overcome the dark forces - a process that would ordinarily take years. Of course things don't go easily for the dynamic duo as they are distracted along their journey and have to ward off various other evil entities before the final showdown. You have seen this kind of stuff before but with two heavyweight Oscar winners in top billing it could be worth a look!

UNFINISHED BUSINESS (Rated MA15+)) - this dramedy is Directed by Ken Scott and is likely to do for the corporate sales world what 'The Hangover' did for Bucks Nights/pending weddings! There is a solid cast in the comedy drama offering that takes in Vince Vaughn as Dan Trunkman, a small hard working conscientious business owner, and a couple of his close business associates - Mike Pancake (Dave Franco) and Timothy McWinters (Tom Wilkinson). When the three comrades in arms need to travel to Europe to close the biggest and most important deal of their lives against stiff competition, you could be mistaken for thinking that the guys would have their fate sealed, their homework done, their PowerPoint Presentations finely honed, and their sales pitch perfect! But of course, the world of business sales never runs smoothly and inevitably what could go wrong does go wrong in the extreme! Also starring Sienna Miller and Nick Frost, it could just be that this solid cast might save the plot and create an enjoyable business trip on the company's expense account!

PROJECT ALMANAC (Rated M) - this film was released here in Australia last week, but flew under my radar . . . and perhaps that is hardly surprising! You have seen this film before under the guises of a hundred different time travelling movie offerings where the past catches up with the future, and those in the future must go back into the past to safeguard the future! Make sense? This found footage style of film-making as applied to 'PA' is starting to wear a little thin but Director Dean Israelite and big time action Producer (and Director too) Michael Bay tell a story of a group of late teenage buddies who discover the plans for a time machine buried in the basement of one of theirs houses. Needless to say the adventurous scientific time bending nerds decide that it would be a whizz to build the thing, and so they do . . . successfully, and in so doing use the device for their own personal gain and adrenalin rush. But of course, in travelling back to the past, they change the future destiny of the world and themselves . . . and not necessarily for the better! Getting back to the future they soon confront the error of their ways and so have to go back again, several times, to fix the past in order to prevent certain future events from occurring that could have far reaching consequences for them as individuals, as a group, and for the world at large. Time travel is always an interesting premise, but I'm not sure this has anywhere near the makings of last years excellent 'Predestination'! Made for just US$12M it has already grossed US$30M.

That's it then - five new offerings to get you out in front of a big screen - no excuses! Share your thoughts, observations and emotions - good, bad and ugly at Odeon Online.

Movies - see some this week!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-