Birthday's to share this week : 2nd - 8th April 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Hugo Weaving does on 4th April - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 57, 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 2nd April

• Christopher Meloni - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Pedro Pascal - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actor
• Michael Fassbender - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actor | Producer
• Jesse Plemons - Born 1988, turns 29 - Actor
• Linda Hunt - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actress  

Monday 3rd April

• Cobie Smulders - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress | Singer
• Alec Baldwin - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actor | Producer 
• Eddie Murphy - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer | Director
• Ben Mendelsohn - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor |   

Tuesday 4th April

• Craig T. Nelson - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• David E. Kelley - Born 1956, turns 61 - Writer | Producer
• Hugo Weaving - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Robert Downey Jnr. - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Barry Pepper - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor
• Estelle Harris - Born 1928, turns 89 - Actress   

Wednesday 5th April

• Hayley Attwell - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress 
• Roger Corman - Born 1926, turns 91 - Producer | Director | Actor | Writer 
• Peter Greenaway - Born 1942, turns 75 - Director | Writer | Editor | Actor
• Mitch Pileggi - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actor

Thursday 6th April

• Billy Dee Williams - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actor 
• Barry Levinson - Born 1942, turns 75 - Producer | Director | Writer | Actor
• Michael Rooker - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Paul Rudd - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer  
• Zach Braff - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer
• Sofia Boutella - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress

Friday 7th April

• Francis Ford Coppola - Born 1939, turns 78 - Producer | Director | Writer 
• Ted Kotcheff - Born 1931, turns 86 - Director | Producer | Actor
• Jackie Chan - Born 1954, turns 63 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Stuntman | Singer  

Saturday 8th April

• Taylor Kitsch - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor | Director | Writer | Producer
• John Madden - Born 1949, turns 68 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Robin Wright - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Patricia Arquette - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress | Producer 

Hugo Wallace Weaving was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, Africa to mother Anne Lennard, a tour guide and former teacher and Wallace Weaving a seismologist. At a year old the family returned to England where they lived in Bedford and then Brighton, and then onto Melbourne and Sydney in Australia and then a time in Johannesburg, South Africa before returning back to England. While there, he attended The Downs School, a preparatory school located in Wraxall, near Bristol, Somerset and then Queen Elizabeth's Hospital independent boys school in Clifton, Bristol. In 1976 his family relocated back to Sydney, where Weaving attending the independent boys school, Knox Grammar School. After leaving school he studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney from where he graduated in 1981.

Weaving secured his first film role in a bit part in 1981's ' . . . Maybe This Time', and this was followed up in 1983 with 'The City's Edge'. In the meantime Weaving starred as English Cricket Captain Douglas Jardine in the seven part miniseries 'Bodyline' recounting the events of the 1932-33 English Ashes Test tour of Australia. 'For Love Alone', 'The Right Hand Man', television mini-series 'The Dirtwater Dynasty', made for television movie 'A Long Way From Home : Dadah Is Death' with Julie Christie and John Polson, and then television three part mini-series 'Bangkok Hilton' with Nicole Kidman, Denholm Elliott and Noah Taylor saw out the decade. 

The '90's kicked off with his AACTA Award winning turn in the Jocelyn Moorhouse Written and Directed 'Proof' with Russell Crowe. This was followed up by the likes of Ned Kelly send-up comedy 'Reckless Kelly' for Director and Co-star Yahoo Serious, then comedy crime thriller 'Frauds' with Phil Collins, and 'The Custodian' with Anthony LaPaglia, Naomi Watts, Barry Otto and Bill Hunter. Perhaps his breakout role however, came with 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' in which Weaving starred as drag queen Anthony 'Tick' Melrose aka Mitzi Del Bra alongside Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Bill Hunter again. Based on its US$2M budget the film grossed US$30M, spawned a stage show, became a cultural touchstone for the LGBT community especially, and reaped in numerous award wins and nominations including an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. 

In 1995 Weaving voiced the character of Rex, the Sheepdog in the hugely popular 'Babe' which won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and picked up six other nominations, together with a Golden Globe win for Best Motion Picture and four BAFTA nods too amongst its total haul of nineteen wins and 24 other nominations. The film took US$254M from its US$30M budget outlay, and as a result of this success Weaving reprised his voice role in the 1998 George Miller Directed, Written and Produced sequel 'Babe : Pig in the City'. Ten part television mini-series 'Bordertown' with Cate Blanchett followed in 1995, and then 'True Love and Chaos' with Ben Mendelssohn, Noah Taylor, Miranda Otto and Naveen Andrews. 1998 saw RomCom 'Bedrooms and Hallways' and then his AFI Award winning turn in crime drama thriller 'The Interview' with Tony Martin and Michael Caton. In between there was further television work on short-lived mini-series and a couple of short films too.

All this led to his starring role as Agent Smith in the ground breaking Sci-Fi actioner 'The Matrix'. Weaving would reprise his role in the two sequels both released back to back in 2003 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'The Matrix Revolutions'. The first instalment won four Academy Awards and two BAFTA's among its haul of 37 award wins and 45 nominations, with the two subsequent films bringing home another ten award wins and 59 nominations. All up the three films grossed US$1.63B from its combined US$363M budget outlay. Weaving also voiced his character in the video game release 'Enter the Matrix'.

'Strange Planet', 'The Old Man Who Read Love Stories', 'Russian Doll' came before Weaving's recurring role as Elrond in Peter Jackson's immensely popular and successful 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, kicking off with 'The Fellowship of the Ring' in 2001, then 'The Two Towers' in 2002 and culminating with 'The Return of the King' in 2003. The three films were made for a combined budget of US$281M and grossed worldwide US$2.9B. All up the three film series won seventeen Academy Awards, took a further eleven Oscar nominations, and all up won 438 award wins and took another 375 nominations. Subsequently Weaving his lent his Elrond voice talents to three video game releases - two in 2006 and one in 2009. 'Peaches', 'Little Fish' with Cate Blanchett and Sam Neill and then dystopian political thriller 'V for Vendetta' based on the limited edition DC Comics series of the same name was released in 2006 and took in an all star cast including Natalie Portman, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, John Hurt, Eddie Marsan and Tim Pigott-Smith.

The following year Weaving lent his voice talents to hugely successful franchise opener 'Transformers' as Megatron, the leader of the Deceptions who transforms into a silver Cybertronian jet. Weaving voiced Megatron for the first three films - taking in 2009's 'Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen' and 2011's 'Transformers : Dark of the Moon'. These first three films took US$2.67B at the global Box Office against a budget investment of US$545M with 'Transformers : Age of Extinction' released in 2014 and 'Transformers : The Last Knight' due for release imminently. 'The Tender Hook' and 'Last Ride' saw out the decade, with Weaving lending his voice talents once again to George Miller's Academy Award winning animated 'Happy Feet' as Noah the Elder, a role he would reprise in 2011's sequel, 'Happy Feet 2'.

2010 kicked off with Joe Johnston's horror fantasy 'The Wolfman' with Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Asa Butterfield, and Emily Blunt, with more voice work following on 'Legends of the Guardians : The Owls of Ga'Hoole'.  'Oranges and Sunshine', 'The Key Man', and the Marvel adaptation introducing us for the first time to 'Captain America : The First Avenger' as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull followed. The Sci-Fi multi-dimensional, time travelling 'Cloud Atlas' that divided Critics and just about clawed back its US$130M budget featured an ensemble cast headed up by Tom Hanks and Halle Berry and ended up picking up seventeen award wins from around the traps and another 72 nominations. 

Weaving then reprised his role of Elrond in Peter Jacksons adaptation of 'The Hobbit' launching with 'The Unexpected Journey' in 2012 and culminating with 'The Battle of the Five Armies' in 2014. Weaving's character did not appear in the middle instalment 'The Desolation of Smaug' in 2013. The three films were made for a combined US$675M and grossed worldwide US$2.9B and picked up seven Academy Award nominations and a total awards haul of 45 wins and 200 other nominations.

In between time there was 'Mystery Road' with Aaron Pederson, 'The Mule' with Leigh Whannell, 'Healing' with Don Hany, 'Strangerland' with Nicole Kidman and most recently Jocelyn Moorhouse's 'The Dressmaker' with Kate Winslet, Mel Gibson's 'Hacksaw Ridge' with Andrew Garfield, and just out 'Jasper Jones' with Toni Collette. This brings us up to date with drama television series 'Seven Types of Ambiguity' due for airing later this year in Australia, and historical drama film 'Black 47' with Jim Broadbent and Stephen Rea currently filming. 

All up Weaving has 84 Acting credits to his name and two as Producer. He has so far accumulated 23 award wins and another 25 nominations. Aside form an extensive film and television career he has also appeared in numerous stage plays for the Sydney Theatre Company more recently in 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses' in 2012, 'Waiting for Godot' in 2013 and 'Macbeth' in 2014. Weaving has been with his long term partner Katrina Greenwood since 1984 with whom he has two children - Harry (born in 1989) and Holly (born in 1993). Harry has followed in his fathers footsteps and has become an Actor too under the name Harry Greenwood. Weaving is an ambassador for 'Voiceless' the animal protection institute campaigning for animal rights.

Hugo Weaving - a diverse and successful career on film, television and stage; has starred in four mega franchise films series - 'The Matrix', The Lord of the Rings', 'The Hobbit' and 'Transformers' as well as an eclectic collection of local independent fare. Continues to be in demand, like a fine wine is maturing with age, has an instantly recognisable voice, loves working in Australia, and is always surprising us with his roles. Happy Birthday to you Hugo, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 12th - 18th April 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Seth Rogen does on 15th April - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 33, 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 12th April

• Saoirse Ronan - Born 1994, turns 21 - Actress
• Claire Danes - Born 1979, turns 26 - Actress | Producer
• Shannen Doherty - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Andy Garcia - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Ed O'Neill - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor

Monday 13th April

• Ron Perlman - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor | Producer
• Paul Sorvino - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Edward Fox - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actor
• Peter Davison - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actor

Tuesday 14th April

• Robert Carlyle - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Director
• Adrien Brody - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actor | Producer
• Peter Capaldi - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Julie Christie - Born1941, turns 74 - Actress
• Sarah Michelle Gellar - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actress | Writer
• Abigal Breslin - Born 1996, turns 19 - Actress

Wednesday 15th April

• Emma Watson - Born 1990, turns 25 - Actress
• Emma Thompson - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actress | Director | Singer
• Claudia Cardinale - Born 1938, turns 77 - Actress
• Luke Evans - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actor
• Seth Rogen - Born 1982, turns 33 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director

Thursday 16th April

• Martin Lawrence - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Lukas Haas - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actor
• Ellen Barkin - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actress | Producer

Friday 17th April

• Rooney Mara - Born 1985, turns 30 - Actress | Producer
• Jennifer Garner - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actress | Producer
• Olivia Hussey - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actress
• Sean Bean - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor

Saturday 18th April

• David Tennant - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor
• Eli Roth - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Eric Roberts - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor
• James Woods - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor | Producer
• Rick Moranis - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Edgar Wright - Born1974, turns 41 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Hayley Mills - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress
• America Ferrera - Born 1984, turns 31 - Actress | Producer

Seth Andrew Rogen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to mother Sandy Belogus, a social worker and father Mark Rogen - a not-for-profit worker often in more senior managerial and executive positions.  He attended Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School and then Point Grey Secondary School, although he did not graduate and instead move to Los Angeles. He was never interested in pursuing a 'proper' career instead he just wanted to make people laugh and chase a life as a comedian or a writer or a combination of the two.

He got his first exposure to the world of show business at the age of 12 when he enrolled in a comedy workshop and during his teenage years often performed stand-up routines at parties , bar-mitzvahs, and then graduating to bars & clubs.  At age 13 he wrote and early draft of 'Superbad' with his young friend and future collaborator Evan Goldberg, and during their time at school together they progressively polished up and fine tuned the script eventually releasing it as a movie in 2007.

At age 16 Rogen was already winning awards for his stand-up comedy routines - including the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest, and at about this time his Dad lost his job, his Mum quit hers, the house went on the market and overnight he became the main household bread winner. By now he had secured a role on Judd Apatow's acclaimed 'Freaks and Geeks' in 1999 and although the show was short lived it did enable him to hone his comedic skills and his improvisational abilities which he continues to use to great effect in many of his shows and films.

After 'Freaks and Geeks' folded there was a period when Rogen struggled to get traction in his career, landing roles in 2001's 'Donny Darko' and then the TV Series  'Undeclared' running from 2001-2003. In 2003 he secured a writing role on the US version of 'Ali G in da USA' with his friend and writing colleague Evan Goldberg and for their efforts they received an Emmy Award nomination and the chance to work with Baron Cohen. The next year in 2004 he secured a spot on 'Anchorman : The Legend of Ron Burgundy' and then a year later on Judd Apatow's Directorial debut with 'The 40 Year Old Virgin'.

 It was however, 2007's 'Knocked Up' that was to prove his break through. Playing the leading man opposite Katherine Heigl this US$30M film garnered critical and commercial success raking in US$220M at the global Box Office. His own co-written 'Superbad' followed with Rogen taking a supporting role to Apatow's Producer credit. 2008 was a year of voice work with Rogen lending his vocal talents to 'The Spiderwick Chronicles', 'Horton Hears a Who' and then the hugely successful 'Kung Fu Panda'. That same year was released 'Step Brothers', 'Pineapple Express' (Written and Produced by him too) and 'Zack & Miri make a Porno'.

In 2009 'Observe and Report', 'Fanboys' and 'Funny People' put Rogen in front of the camera again, with more voice work on 'Monsters vs. Aliens' that same year. 'The Green Hornet' was released in 2010 after years in development with Rogen acting as Writer, Producer and lead Actor with a production budget of US$120M. Although the film was not a critical success it did rake in US$225M and opened at #1 at the Box Office.

'Kung Fu Panda 2' came in 2011 to which Rogen gave his voice talents again to the character 'Mantis' and then 'Take this Waltz' and '50/50'  that year too. The next year saw 'The Guilt Trip' with Barbra Streisand, some TV work on 'Eastbound & Down', 'The Mindy Project', 'Arrested Development' before 'This is the End' in 2013 which once again he wrote and Produced too and which starred many of his movie buddies from over the years - James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, and Jay Baruchel. 'Bad Neighbours' came next in 2014, an uncredited role on '22 Jump Street', 'The Sound and the Fury' and then the much hyped controversial 'The Interview' with James Franco once again and which Rogen also took Writing, Producer and Director credits. In the meantime there was more TV work with the likes of 'The League', 'The Comeback', 'Saturday Night Live' and the 'Kroll Show'.

Coming up Rogen is working with Evan Goldberg on a screen adaptation of the book 'Console Wars : Sega, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation', as well 'Zeroville', 'Kung Fu Panda 3' and an as yet untitled 'Christmas Eve Project' - with the latter three currently in post-production. Filming there is 'B.O.O. : Bureau of Otherworldly Operations', 'Steve Jobs' in which Rogen plays Steve Wozniak,  and 'Sausage Party' due for release later in 2015 and 2016.

So far Rogen has 69 acting credits to his name, sixteen Writer credits, eighteen as Producer and three as Director. He has eight award wins and 24 other nominations. In 2011 Rogen married his long term girlfriend of seven years Lauren Miller who has starred in a number of his films too. He is active in speaking out about Alzheimer's Disease and raising awareness of it given that his wife's mother is a sufferer and he can speak therefore from first hand experience. He is a member of 'NORML' (National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws') and an open user.

Seth Rogen - talented movie multi-tasker; often plays unshaven, unkempt man child characters; can play it straight but more often finds himself in comedic situations that start out straight; collaborates often on screen and off it with his own Frat-Pack with whom he has risen through the ranks; and keeps his humour grounded and real and has been very successful in the process - Happy Birthday to you Seth from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE INTERVIEW : Tuesday 17th February 2015.

All the hoop-la surrounding 'THE INTERVIEW' which I saw last night at a big screen multiplex is well known now around the world and will be forever cast in movie folklore as the film that caused more that a stir at Sony Pictures, resulted in the theatrical release by Columbia Pictures being put back about twelve weeks, that had the North Korean authorities rattling their sabres and gnashing their teeth at Uncle Sam, and the so called hackers that infiltrated Sony Pictures Entertainment computer network -  the 'Guardians of Peace' - demanding that the 'movie of terrorism' be pulled, or there would be 'stern' and 'merciless' retaliation against the West if the films release went ahead! Really - WTF?

So what is all the fuss about? This US$42M film Directed (with Evan Goldberg), Produced (with Evan Goldberg), Written (with Evan Goldberg) and starring Seth Rogen amongst others is a farce, a satire and a comedy of errors that front & centre pokes big time fun at the ruler of North Korea for sure, and in ways that are none too complimentary. First he is painted up then he is torn down and meets his demise in a final set piece that gives the tyrannical leader his comeuppance so that ultimately some balance can be restored to this 'misunderstood' country!  In this respect this film follows plot contrivances that we have seen more times in the movies for the past fifty or so years than you can poke a North Korean warhead at - so nothing new here, and, we have come to rely on Seth Rogen coming up with something controversial to gain a reaction before . . . and so it is here!

The story revolves around a handful of central characters with Seth Rogen as Aaron Rappaport the Producer of evening celebrity tabloid kitsch talk show 'Skylark Tonite', whose amiable, handsome, fashionable but dimwitted Host is Dave Skylark (James Franco). Rappaport and Skylark have good history behind them, they are close mates and as good as brothers - always larking about as much as their wealth, celebrity, and libidos will allow - which is pretty much all the time. They talk as though they are seventeen, although Rappaport tries at times to remain aloof and a little more mature, in complete contrast to Skylark. After celebrating the shows 1,000th episode Rappaport yearns to to inject some more seriousness into the nightly proceedings with guests of note rather than celebrate air heads, has beens and wannabes! And so a plan is hatched to secure an interview with Kim Jong-un (Randall Park), to which Producer Rappaport must go to extraordinary lengths to secure even though the North Korean ruler is Skylark's number one fan!

When news of this pending interview is beamed around the world everyone has an opinion that Skylark will mess things up royally, and what the hell is that doofus doing interviewing Kim Jong-un anyway? At this point the CIA make an appearance and Agent Lacey (Lizzy Caplan) advise the Producer and the Host that when they meet Kim Jong-un for the interview in North Korea, they are to 'take him out'! At first they ask - 'what, for a drink, for dinner, to party' and then the harsh reality dawns that they are to assassinate him, but in a carefully planned closely monitored execution operation for which their extraction is also planned to ensure success.

So far so good, and the hapless duo set out on their mission. Upon arriving Skylark and Kim Jong-un hit it off immediately, and we see that the North Korean leader is a humble, down to earth, fun loving and misunderstood man who was downtrodden at a young age by his mother and father giving rise to the misconceptions that exist about him today. He likes margaritas, listens to Katy Perry, shoots hoops on his own basketball court, is kept entertained by small guitar playing children, cares for his people, has a collection of classic cars . . . and a few tanks, and keeps a bevy of beautiful scantily clad Korean babes to keep him 'amused'! What's not to like here? Skylark is bowled over, Rappaport not so!

With Skylark now convinced that Kim Jong-un is an OK dude and the rest of the world are mistaken the plan starts to unravel. The leaders assistant handling the interview telecast from the Korean end - Sook Yung Park (Diana Bang) and Rappaport get the hots for each other, and in a moment of passion it is revealed that she hates Kim Jong-un herself and wishes for him to be overthrown and a new balance of power installed. Later on over dinner Skylark begins to see for himself the truth behind Kim Jong-un's facade of mis-information, lies and conspiracy and so reveals to Rappaport what he has witnessed and that their plan must be reinstated, and so the interview is to go ahead beamed around the world as originally planned.

With a carefully scripted text, pre-determined questions and already defined outcomes for the camera the interview progresses. It is not long though before all mayhem is let lose in the studio behind the scenes where Rappaport and Sook are attempting to thwart those loyal to Kim Jong-un who wish for the interview to be scrapped now that Skylark is getting the upper hand and his guest is buckling under pressure on live TV revealing his true personality. Needless to say, here it does turn to mayhem with rapid gunfire in a confined space, several fingers being bitten off, a joy stick going where the sun don't shine, and spurts of the sticky crimson stuff arcing through the air gratuitously! It's all just a little OTT at this point, and of course it doesn't end there, as the interviewee makes his escape to a waiting helicopter later seen circulating overhead as half a dozen nukes are being primed on the US, and Skylark, Rappaport and Sook arrive in a tank on the ground below ready to face off against their quarry!

Needless to say Kim Jong-un buys the farm, and our three heroes all walk off into the sunset - but in two different directions! This film has an extreme storyline there is no doubt, but we've seen worse (think 'Team America' anyone!) and there are more than enough sight gags, gross out humour, sexual references aplenty, drugs, booze and Katy Perry touch stones to keep any teenage juvenile amused for approaching two hours. The film also stars a string of celebrity cameo's that for some, if you blink you'll miss, and despite its release headaches it has made about US$12M at the Box Office and over US$40M in digital rentals when Sony released it on-line on December 24th. With subsequent very limited general release in certain territories, it is due for BluRay and DVD release Stateside on 17th February 2015. This film certainly won't go down in history as one of the world's great satirical comedies of all time, but it will be recognised as causing WWIII . . . well nearly, maybe, perhaps!

  
-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 12th February 2015.

As Summer marches on in Australia and the heat and the humidity ramp up, interspersed with the occasional clap of thunder and sudden brief rain storm, we find ourselves once again at pains to decide which new release movie to go and see in the coming week. And for the week ahead we have six new offerings to choose from nonetheless that offer something for everyone, unless that is you happen to be under the age of 15!

Arriving at a movie theatre near you this week then we have two more films in Oscar contention  - of which one is for Best Picture and the other Best Documentary Feature amongst others; then there is the book that sold 70 million copies finally 'coming' to a big screen near you; a very controversial comedy that almost started WWIII . . . literally!; an outback Aussie zombie gore fest that has to be the must-see of the week (just my humble opinion); an English comedy of holidays, relationships, birthdays and heartbreak; and to cap it off a doco about a whistle blower a few years back that exposes a issue close to all of our hearts!

With more detail shown below, be sure to catch something new in the week ahead, and when you do, don't be shy, make a Comment directly below this or any other Post and share with our ever expanding readership your thoughts on your chosen movie and your film going experience!

SELMA (Rated M) - in 1964 Dr. Martin Luther King accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. At around about the same time four African American girls are killed by an explosion en route to their church, and in the town of Selma, Alabama a black woman Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey, who also Produces here) attempts to register a vote to which she is by rights entitled, but is prevented from doing so by a white registrar. Subsequently MLK (here played by David Oyelowo) meets with President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to have legislation passed to enable black citizens to vote without fear of refusal or reprisal - the President says he has more important things to do! King then travels to Selma with a number of other colleagues and followers, and in the meantime J. Edgar Hoover (Dylan Baker) advises the President that he thinks King is problematical. Cooper, whose voting rights were denied, has a scuffle with the town Sheriff in front of the local courthouse and as a result she, King and several others are arrested. The Alabama Governor George Wallace (Tim Roth) speaks out against King. King's new wife Coretta (Carmen Ejogo) seeks support from Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch) and as time progresses the atmosphere becomes more intense in Selma and the rallied black community and the local white law enforcers and political leaders jockey for position and the upper hand.

What follows is the recounting of the Selma to Montgomery march and the bloody battles that ensued along the way as local authorities and officers of the law let loose with tear gas, clubs, batons and many on horseback to break up the march and disperse the activists. The violence was extreme with many injured, and this all plays out on national television with Johnson then having to back peddle to get legislation hurried through Congress to give the black citizens unencumbered voting rights. King uses his best oratory skills to rally his supporters and garner new too, and as the march draws to a relatively peaceful conclusion in Montgomery his final address there is cut with real footage from the day. Directed by Ava DuVernay for a cost of US$20M this has a strong cast headed up by English Oyelowo, that is not an MLK bio-pic but a recounting of the Selma story that served to help change the course of history in which King played a fairly significant role. Nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Song at the upcoming Academy Awards it is one to watch, and another based on real events.

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY (Rated MA15+) - the book sold 70 million copies worldwide and spawned two further books in the series which, if this is successful, will spawn two further films in all likelihood. Directed by Sam Taylor Johnson this has Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey - the two main characters in this story of two individuals  - she a young literature student and he a hugely successful and wealthy international businessman - drawn together by sexual desire, but in her naivety she comes to realise that Grey wants/needs to control everything and do so on his terms, which in turn opens up a whole new world of possibilities! The budget to deliver this to the big screen came in at about US$40M and is likely to do plenty more than that in the final analysis given the book sales and the anticipation around its big screen adaptation.

THE INTERVIEW (Rated MA15+) - just about anybody and everybody in the movie going world knows of the trouble this film has caused on the international stage and the subsequent fall out from it. World leaders have become involved, Sony Entertainment was cyber-hacked exposing to the world all manner of things not intended for public consumption, the head of Sony Pictures stood down, the release date was put back as the film had to be re-cut, and all because the subject matter about an interview with, and an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was deemed by him and his cronies to be war mongering. Furthermore, it was threatened by a certain extremist group that if shown on general release those pesky North Koreans would consider this an act of war and take all necessary action against the heinous West without mercy! Really - WTF! Anyway the said satirical spoof concerns Seth Rogen and James Franco as two hapless but reasonably successful television journalists granted an interview with said world leader, and then tasked by the CIA to take out this leader once they have won his confidence. Unlikely to go down in history as the greatest comedy of all time, but, it will go down in history as the movie that almost caused North Korea to fire on North America and in doing so caused much angst, table thumping and gnashing of teeth in the process. As a result of the Hoo-Haa it was released on digital rental on Christmas Eve 2014 and very limited cinema release thereafter where it garnered US$40M and US$9M respectively making is Sony's most successful digital release to date.

WYRMWOOD : ROAD OF THE DEAD (Rated MA15+) - what's not to like about an Aussie outback zombie gore fest that might be best described as 'Mad Max' meets 'The Walking Dead' - bring it on I say! Written by brothers Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner and Directed by the former this tells the story of family man and mechanic Barry (Jay Gallagher) whose very existence is pulled assunder on the eve of a zombie apocalypse. Forewarned by his sister Brooke (Bianca Bradey) that the zombies are attacking which seems to be the result of a meteor storm hitting Earth and a disease ensuing that turns the population into the flesh eating, gut munching walking dead. Needless to say only a few survive to fight of the marauding masses of the un-dead, but Brooke is kidnapped by a mad scientist hellbent on experimenting on her and various other survivors, and so Barry needs to team up, tool up and man up to rescue Brooke, overthrow the mad evil scientist and save his own skin before he too becomes zombie fodder! Brilliant!

WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAY (Rated PG) - for a slightly more low key offering there is this Brit Pic comedy starring David Tennant, Rosamund Pike (as husband and wife team Doug and Abi respectively) who are on the verge of divorce but have not yet braved up and told Doug's dad of the pending separation. Travelling then up to Scotland to celebrate Dad's birthday - Gordy McLeod (Billy Connolly) it seems that you can't keep a secret a secret for very long especially where three young whipper-snapper grandchildren are concerned. Touted as a solid enough romp with strong performances from the three lead adult actors and pretty good turns from the three grand kids too (Emilia Jones, Amelia Bullmore and Bobby Smalldridge) together with the backdrop of the Scottish highlands this is sure to please lovers of Connolly and a good British comedy yarn that can hold its own.

CITIZENFOUR (Rated M) - this documentary film is up for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category and is Directed by Laura Poitras who back in January 2013 started receiving anonymous encrypted e-mails from a source known as 'Citizenfour' concerning illegal covert surveillance operations run by the NSA in conjunction with various other government agencies around the world. Fast track to mid-2013 she, and colleague reporters Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill jet off to Hong Kong to attend the first of many meetings with Edward Snowdon. Taking her camera along to capture the intimate details of those meetings, this film tells the blow by blow account of the information that spilled forth, and the perpetrators of that information and those embroiled in it. It could be compelling viewing giving you an insiders view of Snowdon - his rationale, his state of mind and what he hoped to gain in going public by outing those that would threaten our security, our privacy and our right of freedom.

A real mixed bag then of cinema content this week ahead that is sure to please on some level, somewhere and with someone. Where you're done, remember to reserve your Comments and your feedback of your filmic experience with your rapidly growing favourite movie Blog, and share away!

Movies - catch one this week, at least!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-