Showing posts with label The Dark Knight Rises. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Dark Knight Rises. Show all posts

Saturday, 5 November 2016

Birthday's to share this week : 6th-12th November 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Anne Hathaway does on 12th November - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 34, 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 6th November
  • Sally Field - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer
  • Lori Singer - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actress | Singer | Musician
  • Thandie Newton - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actress
  • Rebecca Romijn - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actress
  • Emma Stone - Born 1988, turns 28 - Actress | Producer | Singer
  • Vince Colosimo - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor
  • Ethan Hawke - Born 1970, turns 46 - Actor | Producer  
Monday 7th November
  • Barry Newman - Born 1938, turns 78 - Actor
  • Morgan Spurlock - Born 1970, turns 46 - Producer | Writer | Director | Actor  
Tuesday 8th November
  • Richard Curtis - Born 1956, turns 60 - Writer | Producer | Director
  • Michael Nyqvist - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor | Producer 
  • Parker Posey - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actress | Singer 
Wednesday 9th November
  • Lou Ferrigno - Born 1951, turns 65 - Actor
  • Tony Slattery - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Writer | Television Personality  
Thursday 10th November
  • Ennio Moricone - Born 1928, turns 88 - Composer | Songwriter | Conductor | Orchestrator
  • Roland Emmerich - Born 1955, turns 61 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Hugh Bonneville - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor
  • Walton Goggins - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
  • Aaron Egerton - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actor  
Friday 11th November
  • Stanley Tucci - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
  • Leonardo DiCaprio - Born 1974, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Writer
  • Scoot McNairy - Born 1977, turns 39 - Actor | Producer
  • Tye Sheridan - Born 1996, turns 20 - Actor
  • Demi Moore - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actress | Producer
  • Calista Flockhart - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actress  
Saturday 12th November 
  • Radha Mitchell - Born 1973, turns 43 - Actress | Producer
  • Anne Hathaway - Born 1982, turns 34 - Actress | Producer | Singer
  • Ryan Gosling - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer | Songwriter
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA, to mother Kathleen Ann McCauley, a former Actress who inspired her daughter to follow in her footsteps, and father Gerald Thomas Hathaway, a lawyer. At age six, the family moved to Milburn, New Jersey with her older brother Michael and younger brother Thomas. She attended the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School, the Wyoming Elementary School in Milburn and then Milburn High School where she took part in numerous school plays. She appeared in several productions at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse and went on to study at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualised Study. She then went on to The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and was the first teenager admitted to the acting programme of the Off-Broadway Theatre Company 'The Barrow Group'. Towards the end of the '90's she sang soprano at Carnegie Hall with the All-Eastern US High School Honors Chorus. She was raised a Roman Catholic and in her early childhood years had designs on becoming a nun, but by fifteen and upon learning that her brother Michael was gay, she changed her mind on the basis that she could not support a religion that could not support her brother.

At sixteen Hathaway scored her first television role in 'Get Real' which ran over just 22 episodes and for one season only in this Fox Television comedy drama series with Jesse Eisenberg. In 2001 she gained her first big screen role in the Garry Marshall Directed 'The Princess Diaries' opposite Julie Andrews. The film was a commercial success and was well received by critics too. Playing the lead role of Mia Thermopolis, Hathaway reprised her role in 2004 in 'The Princess Diaries 2 : Royal Engagement' again Directed by Garry Marshall and once more with Julie Andrews. Garry Marshall announced in March this year that a third film in the series would be made starring Hathaway again, after she had given birth to her first child expected around that time. Those plans were scuppered when Marshall died in July this year.

'The other side of Heaven' followed in 2001 with Hathaway winning the role over 500 other hopefuls. She followed this up with comedy-drama 'Nicholas Nickleby' in 2002 with Jamie Bell, Charlie Hunnam, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Spall and Nathan Lane. Whilst not a commercial success due to its limited release, Hathaway's performance was praised. 'Ella Enchanted' followed in 2004 leading up to 'The Princess Diaries 2'. By now she had appeared in family oriented film fare only and was seen as a role model to young kids, girls especially, and was in danger of being forever typecast. Hathaway was ready by now, for more adult fare.

In 2005 she appeared in 'Havoc' - a teenage hip-hop crime drama film with Bijou Phillips, Michael Biehn and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. That same years she starred opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in Ang Lee's critically acclaimed drama 'Brokeback Mountain', and then equally acclaimed and commercially successful 'The Devil Wears Prada' with Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Simon Barker and Stanley Tucci.

Biographical romantic drama 'Becoming Jane' came next with James McAvoy, with Hathaway in the lead role as Jane Austen. The big screen rendition of the classic Mel Brooks secret agent satirical television series of the late 60's 'Get Smart' was released in 2008 with Hathaway playing Agent 99 to Steve Carell's Maxwell Smart. Jonathan Demme's 'Rachel Getting Married' garnered Hathaway a Best Actress Academy Award nomination. 'Passengers' followed, and then 'Bride Wars' and Garry Marshall's 'Valentine's Day' with a huge ensemble cast and a big commercial success despite its largely negative Reviews, saw out the decade.

In 2010 Hathaway starred as the White Queen in Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland' - a role she would reprise in 2016's 'Alice Through the Looking Glass'. Burton's earlier film made US$1.025B at the Box Office and picked up a slew of award wins and nominations. 'Love and other Drugs' for Director Edward Zwick was also released in 2010 with Jake Gyllenhaal, then 'One Day' with Jim Sturgess, and then her role in Christopher Nolan's closing film in the Batman trilogy as Selina Kyle/Cat Woman in the hugely successful 'The Dark Knight Rises' opposite Christian Bale. 

Next up came her Academy Award winning turn as Fantine in Tom Hooper's 'Les Miserables' alongside Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham carter. The film won three Academy Awards and another eighty wins and a further 170 nominations, and returned US$442M from its US$61M budget outlay.







Cameo appearances in 'Don Jon' and 'Don Peyote' came next, before 'Song One', and then a return to Christopher Nolan in his epic Sci-Fi adventure drama film 'Interstellar' with Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain. Again a huge commercial and critical success earning US$675M from its US$165M budget and picking up forty award wins and 134 nominations along the way. 2015 brought 'The Intern' with Robert De Niro and then 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' this year and 'Colossal' still awaiting a general release bringing us up to date. In the meantime Hathaway has lent her voice talents to 'Hoodwinked' in 2005, the voice of Jewel on 'Rio' in 2011 and its sequel 'Rio 2' in 2014, and various episodes of 'Family Guy' and 'The Simpsons' over the years. She has hosted too three episodes of 'Saturday Night Live' and the '83rd Academy Awards' in 2011 with James Franco.

Coming up is the aforementioned 'Colossal' and 'Ocean's Eight' - an all girl spin off to the successful 'Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen' franchise currently filming for a 2018 release, and co-starring Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Helena Bonham Carter, Rhianna and Damian Lewis for Director, Gary Ross. 'Live Fast Die Hot' has recently been announced and in development is 'The Modern Ocean' for Shane Carruth with Keanu Reeves, Daniel Radcliffe, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Holland, Asa Butterfield and Chloe Grace Moritz all attached.



All up Hathaway has forty Acting credits to her name, two as Producer and thirteen for her singing performances on screen. She won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in 'Les Miserables' and also a BAFTA and Golden Globe for the same. Over her time to date she has amassed 65 award wins and another 97 nominations including another Oscar nod for 'Rachel Getting Married', two other Golden Globe nods and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

She married Adam Shulman in late 2011 and together they have a son - Jonathan Rosebanks born in March this year. Hathaway supports several charitable causes including those associated with Human Rights, Children's Research and Same Sex Marriage.

Anne Hathaway - has grown up on the big screen from teen family fare to serious adult oriented films; has been voted on more 'Top Lists' in the last decade than you care to count; she acts, she sings, she hosts; is a reformed smoker, vegetarian and vegan; has appeared in small independent films and epic blockbusters and is already at the top of her game with the world it seems at her feet! Happy Birthday to you Anne, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Friday, 11 September 2015

Birthday's to share this week : 13th - 19th September 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Tom Hardy does on 15th September - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 38 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 13th September
  • Colin Trevorrow - Born 1976, turns 39 - Director | Producer | Writer 
  • Frank Marshall - Born 1946, turns 69 - Director | Producer  
  • Jacqueline Bisset - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actress
Monday 14th September
  • Andrew Lincoln - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actor 
  • Sam Neill - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor | Director | Producer
  • Joon-ho Bong - Born 1969, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer  
Tuesday 15th September
  • Tom Hardy - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
  • Tommy Lee Jones - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
  • Oliver Stone - Born 1946, turns 69 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor  
Wednesday 16th September
  • Mickey Rourke - Born 1952, turns 63 - Actor | Writer  
  • Amy Poehler - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer 
Thursday 17th September
  • Paul Feig - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
  • Bryan Singer - Born 1965, turns 50 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Neill Blomkamp - Born 1979, turns 36 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Baz Luhrmann - Born 1962, turns 53 - Director | Producer | Writer 
Friday 18th September 
  • Jason Sudeikis - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actor | Writer
  • Tim McInnerny - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor
  • Jada Pinkett Smith - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer 
Saturday 19th September
  • Adam West - Born 1928, turns 87 - Actor
  • Jeremy Irons - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor | Producer | Director  
  • David McCallum - Born 1933, turns 82 - Actor
Edward Thomas Hardy was born in the London suburb of Hammersmith to mother Elizabeth Anne Barrett, an artist and painter, and father Edward Hardy, a novelist and comedy writer. He attended Tower House School, an independent junior boys school, and then Reed's School an independent boys secondary school in Cobham, Surrey, and then onto Richmond Drama School and the Drama Centre London. At age 21 he won a modeling competition gaining a short contract with the Models One agency. His late teens and early 20's were spent fighting drug and alcohol dependency and delinquency , and he says that after seeking treatment in 2002 it was his addictions that ended his five year marriage to Sarah Ward in 2004. He has however, been sober since 2003.

His small screen debut came in 2001, securing the role of Private John Janovec in Spielberg's WWII epic series 'Band of Brothers', and that same year he gained his big screen debut too in Ridley Scott's Somalia war torn actioner 'Black Hawk Down'. The next year saw Hardy play the clone villain in 'Star Trek : Nemesis' which did little at the Box Office, but it did give him valuable international exposure.







In 2003 too Hardy took to the stage with 'In Arabia We'd All Be Kings' at the Hampstead Theatre, and 'Blood' at The Royal Court Theatre for which he was awarded the Outstanding Newcomer Award at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards. He was also nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer. That same year he knocked out three films too - 'The Reckoning' with Willem Dafoe, 'dot the i' with Gael Garcia Bernal and horror offering 'LD50 | Lethal Dose'.

The following year saw 'Layer Cake' with yet to be Bond, Daniel Craig, with a couple of TV movies to follow - 'Gideon's Daughter' and 'A for Andromeda' as well as a couple of TV series stints on 'Colditz' and 'The Virgin Queen'.

2006 through to 2010 saw thirteen feature films including 'Scenes of a Sexual Nature', 'Flood', 'WAZ', 'The Inheritance', Guy Ritchie's London crime flick 'RocknRolla', 'Bronson' and culminating in 2010's 'Inception' for Christopher Nolan. During this time too there were further TV series appearances on 'Cape Wrath', 'Oliver Twist' as Bill Sykes, 'Wuthering Heights' as Heathcliffe and 'The Take' as well as 'The Man of Mode' at The National Theatre, and 'The Long Red Road' at Chicago's Goodman Theatre as Directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Since then there have been a number of standout roles including 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' with his hero Gary Oldman, 'Warrior' with Joel Edgerton, his unforgettable role as arch villain Bane in Christopher Nolan's concluding Batman trilogy instalment 'The Dark Knight Rises', John Hillcoat's Prohibition era bootleggin' moonshine swillin' 'Lawless' with Gary Oldman again; and then 'Locke', and 'The Drop' with Noomi Rapace and James Gandolfini last year.

In 2015 so far there has been 'Child 44' with Gary Oldman and Noomi Rapace once more, and George Millers long overdue reprisal of the cult classic character Max Rockatansky in 'Mad Max : Fury Road'. Next up there is 'London Road', 'Legend' for Director Brian Helgeland in which Hardy plays both underground criminal brothers in 60's era London, Ronnie and Reggie Kray, 'The Revenant' with Leonardo DiCaprio currently in post-production, TV mini-series 'Taboo' in pre-production for 2016 and 'Mad Max : The Wasteland' recently announced.

Hardy has 48 Acting credits to his name and two Producer credits. He has won eleven awards including the Rising Star BAFTA Award in 2011, and a British Independent Film Award for 'Bronson' as Best Actor. There have been a further 37 nominations also.

Having divorced Sarah Ward in 2004, Hardy was linked to Rachel Speed from 2004 until 2009 with whom he has a son, Louis Thomas born in 2008. In mid-2014 he married Actress Charlotte Riley, and the couple announced recently that they are expecting their first child. Hardy is also an ambassador for The Prince's Trust.

Tom Hardy - muscular, toned and tattooed; deep gravelly voice; able to dramatically change his physical appearance from film to film; has a diverse range across all genres (almost); and appears to be in just about every other film out at the moment whether big studio fare or small independent stuff, but, we'll keep on coming back for more as long as you keep doing what you do best - Happy Birthday to you Tom, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Friday, 13 February 2015

Birthday's to share this week : 15th - 21st February 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt does, on 17th February - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 34, 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 15th February
  • Jane Seymour - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actress | Producer
  • Jessica De Gouw - Born 1988, turns 27 - Actress
  • Sarah Wynter - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress
  • Matt Groening - Born 1954, turns 61 - Producer | Writer | Animator
Monday 16th February
  • Christopher Eccleston - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor
  • Ice T - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
  • Elizabeth Olson - Born 1989, turns 26 - Actress
Tuesday 17th February
  • Paris Hilton - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Heiress
  • Denise Richards - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer
  • Rene Russo - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actress | Producer
  • Hal Holbrook - Born 1925, turns 90 - Actor
  • Lou Diamond Phillips - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Director | Singer | Songwriter
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actor | Director | Writer
  • Dominic Purcell - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
  • Michael Bay - Born 1965, turns 50 - Director | Producer | Actor | Cameraman
Wednesday 18th February 
  • John Travolta - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Pilot
  • Matt Dillon - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor
  • George Kennedy - Born 1925, turns 90 - Actor
  • Milos Forman - Born 1932, turns 83 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
  • Greta Scacchi - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actress
  • Cybill Shepherd - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actress | Producer | Singer
  • Molly Ringwald - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress
Thursday 19th February
  • Lisa McCune - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer
  • Benicio Del Toro - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
  • Jeff Daniels - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor | Director | Singer
  • Ray Winstone - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor | Producer
Friday 20th February
  • Sidney Poitier - Born 1927, turns 88 - Actor | Director
  • Mike Leigh - Born 1943, turns 72 - Director | Writer
  • Brenda Blethyn - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress
  • Cindy Crawford - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actress | Model
  • Rhianna - Born 1988, turns 27 - Singer | Actress
Saturday 21st February 
  • Jennifer Love Hewitt - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer
  • Tyne Daly - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress
  • Anthony Daniels - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor
  • William Baldwin - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor
  • Kelsey Grammer - Born 1955, turn s60 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer
  • Alan Rickman - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor | Writer | Director
Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in the Sherman Oaks district. Whilst from a Jewish family  his parents were the joint founders of the 'Progress Jewish Alliance' in 1999 to assert Jewish interest in the campaign for social justice in Southern California which houses the second largest Jewish community in the US. His mother Jane Gordon ran for US Congress in the 1970's for the 'Peace and Freedom Party', and his father Dennis Levitt was the news Director for Pacifica Radio KPFK-FM. His maternal Grandfather was a Hollywood Director from the 1940's through to the 70's.

At age four, the young Joseph was already playing musical theatre, which then led to a number of television commercials for 'Pop-Tarts', 'Cocoa-Pops', shoes and peanut butter amongst others. By the end of the decade of his birth  he had already starred in two made for TV films - 'Stranger on my land' in 1988 and 'Settle the Score' in 1989. In between he had also starred in several episodes of the television show 'Family Ties', followed up by eleven episodes on 'Dark Shadows' in 1991 before three more TV films that same year - 'Changes', 'Hi Honey - I'm Dead' and 'Plymouth' - all by the time he had reached the tender age of ten years! Not bad!

1992 saw 13 episodes of 'The Powers That Be' with John Forsythe, with the odd guest appearance on other TV shows in the meantime. That same year there was 'Beethoven' with Charles Grodin and a huge St. Bernard hound, and 'A River Runs Through It' Directed by Robert Redford and starring too a young up & coming Brad Pitt.





The first half of the 90's also brought 'Gregory K', 'Holy Matrimony' with Patricia Arquette, 'Road Flower' (aka 'Road Killers') with Josh Brolin, 'Angels in the Outfield' with Danny Glover, and 'The Juror' with Alec Baldwin. All of this was before his breakout role in as Tommy Solomon with John Lithgow in '3rd Rock from the Sun' which ran for 139 episodes from 1996 to 2001. During this time he was attending Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1999 with honours.

After appearing with Jamie Lee Curtis in 'Halloween H20' he starred in '10 Things I Hate About You' in 1999 with Heath Ledger, and in 2000 he joined Columbia University School of General Studies in New York studying history, literature and French poetry becoming fluent in French in the process. He however, dropped out in 2004 to concentrate on his acting career, with a handful of films during this period - 'Picking up the Pieces' with Woody Allen in 2000, 'Manic' with Don Cheadle in 2001, and 'Latter Days' in 2003, 'Mysterious Skin' in 2004 and then 'Brick', 'Havoc' and 'Shadowboxer' all in 2005.



He went on to 'The Lookout' in 2007 with Jeff Daniels, 'Stop-Loss' with Channing Tatum in 2008 together with 'Miracle St. Anna' and an uncredited cameo in 'The Brothers Bloom' that same year. He has been a busy jobbing Actor ever since knocking out six films in 2009 - 'Killshot', 'Big Breaks' (short), '(500) Days of Summer', 'Uncertainty', 'Women in Trouble' and 'G.I.Joe : Rise of Cobra'.






2010 brought 'Hesher', 'Electra Luxx' and 'Inception' for Christopher Nolan. 2011 saw '50/50' only with Seth Rogen, and then a return to his usual busyness in 2012 with the release of 'The Dark Knight Rises' for Christoper Nolan once more, 'Premium Rush' for David Koepp, 'Looper' with Bruce Willis, and 'Lincoln' for Steven Spielberg.




In 2013 he was occupied with his acclaimed Writing and Directing debut in 'Don Jon' in which he also starred with Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore. In 2014 he played the role of fractured gambler with a hidden agenda in the Robert Rodriguez follow up to his earlier film 'Sin City' with 'Sin City : A Dame to Kill For'. Then came an uncredited cameo in the now infamous 'The Interview', with 'The Walk' in post-production for a late 2015 release, an as yet untitled Christmas project with Seth Rogen also in post-production for a late end of year release, and an Oliver Stone bio-pic with Gordon-Levitt playing Edward Snowdon and due for a 2016 release and currently in pre-production.

Gordon-Levitt has 68 acting credits to his name, seven Director Credits (which include five short films), three Producer credits and three Writing credits. He has been nominated for two Golden Globes for '50/50' and '(500) Days of Summer', won a Primetime Emmy for 'HitRECord on TV' with 21 other wins and 49 other nominations so far in his career. His older brother Dan died in 2010 and in December 2014 he married Tasha McCauley. He plays drums and guitar, and he is the founder and Director of 'hitRECord' - an online collaborative media production company.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - dimpled, youthful and possessing boyish good looks; action star, dramatic lead, romantic playboy; and already at just 34 has worked in the business for 30 years and has an aver increasing body of work to show for it and keep us entertained. Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Saturday, 26 July 2014

Birthday's to share this week : 27th July - 2nd August.

Do you share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer or Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming week? 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 over the coming week. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Check out too the spotlight on this weeks Birthday Boy on 30th July, Christopher Nolanat the end of this feature.

Sunday 27th July
  • Jonathan Rhys Myers - Born 1977, turns 37 - Actor | Producer
  • Julian McMahon - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor
  • Yahoo Serious - Born 1953, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
Monday 28th July
  • Alexis (Robert) Arquette - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actress
Tuesday 29th July
  • Stephen Dorff - Born 1973, turns 41 - Actor | Producer
  • David Warner - Born 1941, turns 73 - Actor
Wednesday 30th July
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger - Born 1947, turns 67 - Actor | Producer
  • Richard Linklater - Born 1960, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Actor
  • Christopher Nolan - Born 1970, turns 44 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Jean Reno - Born 1948, turns 66 - Actor
  • Hilary Swank - Born 1974, turns 40 - Actress | Producer
  • Lisa Kudrow - Born 1963, turns 51 - Actress | Producer | Writer
  • Laurence Fishburne - Born 1961, turns 53 - Actor | Producer
  • Simon Baker - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Director
  • Frank Stallone - Born 1950, turns 64 - Actor | Producer
  • Peter Bogdanovich - Born 1939, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
  • Terry Crews - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor
Thursday 31st July
  • Sherry Lansing - Born 1944, turns 70 - Actress | Producer
  • Wesley Snipes - Born 1962, turns 52 - Actor | Producer
  • Michael Biehn - Born 1956, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
  • Dean Cain - Born 1966, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Writer
  • J. K. Rowling - Born 1965, turns 49 - Writer | Producer
  • Geraldine Chaplin - Born 1944, turns 70 - Actress | Writer
Friday 1st August
  • Sam Mendes - Born 1965, turns 49 - Director | Producer
  • Jason Mamoa - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actor | Producer | Director
Saturday 2nd August 
  • Sam Worthington - Born 1976, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
  • Edward Furlong - Born 1977, turns 37 - Actor
  • Kevin Smith - Born 1970, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Writer
  • Wes Craven - Born 1939, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor
Christopher Jonathan James Nolan was born in England to an American father and English mother and grew up spending his time between London and Chicago. 

At age seven he began making short movies with his father on a Super-8 camera, and by age eleven he had already decided upon a movie making career. While studying English Literature at University College London he shot 16mm films which led to his first feature film in 1998 - 'Following' made for the princely sum of US$6,000. Whilst at college he made two short films - in 1989 - 'Tarantella' and 'Larceny' in 1995, followed by 'Doodlebug' in 1997. It was however, 'Following' that began to put Nolan in the spotlight gaining some recognition from the film festivals at which it was shown. This small independent low budget offering did enable him to secure enough support to make his next feature - the highly acclaimed 'Momento' with Guy Pearce and Carrie-Anne Moss in 2000. This received critical acclaim and did well on the awards circuit - so much so that it led to his next offering, the 2002 psychological thriller 'Insomnia' starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank.

Nolan's turning point came though in 2005 when he was given the chance to reboot, revive and reimagine the DC Comics 'Batman' franchise which he did admirably over three successive films starting with 'Batman Begins' with Christian Bale in the lead role as our Caped Crusader!. This was followed by 'The Prestige' in 2006 about rival magicians starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, and then 2008 brought 'The Dark Knight' - the second in his Batman canon which grossed in excess of US$1B globally and also garnered many awards and nominations along the way. 

Riding on the success of this Nolan made 'Inception' in 2010 - a film that he had written and had been in gestation for many years. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role this mind-bending, thought provoking, much debated Sci-Fi thriller earned over US$800M at the global box office and again gathered many awards and nominations in its wake.




2012 bought the conclusion of his Batman trilogy with 'The Dark Knight Rises', which like its predecessor earned in excess of US$1B at the box office, and has cemented Nolan as "one of the most innovative story tellers and image makers at work in movies today".

Nolan Writes, Produces and Directs most of his films and acted as Producer on last years 'Superman : Man of Steel' and this years 'Transcendence', with an Executive Producer credit on the 2016 'Batman vs Superman : Dawn of Justice'. His eight films to date have grossed in excess of US$3.5B at the global box office. He and Sam Raimi are the only Directors to film three live action Comic Book adaptations of the same character ('Batman' and 'Spiderman' respectively), and after James Cameron, Nolan is the second Director only to make two films that have grossed more than US$1B ('The Dark Knight' and 'The Dark Knight Rises'). He owns a London based Production company - 'Syncopy' which he runs with his wife Emma Thomas.

From eight films he has a global box office haul of over US$3.5B and has earned 116 award wins and 109 other nominations, including three Academy Award nominations for Best Picture ('Inception') and Best Original Screenplay ('Momento' and 'Inception'); three Golden Globes nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay ('Inception') and Best Original Screenplay ('Momento'); and three BAFTA nominations all for 'Inception' in the categories of Best Director, Best Film and Best Original Screenplay.

Next up for Nolan is 'Interstellar' due for release in November this year - a Sci-Fi epic that depicts "a heroic interstellar voyage to the farthest borders of our scientific understanding" and starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain . . . can't wait!

Christopher Nolan - multi-talented, highly acclaimed, visionary film maker, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-