Birthday's to share this week : 9th-15th October 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Ben Whishaw does on 14th October - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 36, 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 9th October

• Brian Blessed - Born 1936, turns 80 - Actor | Director
• Tony Shalhoub - Born 1953, turns 63 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Scott Bakula - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer
• Guillermo del Toro - Born 1964, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Writer | Consultant | Actor
• Pete Docter - Born 1968, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Writer | Animator  
• Steve McQueen - Born 1969, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Chris O'Dowd - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Brandon Routh - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actor

Monday 10th October

• Charles Dance - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Martin Kemp - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter  

Tuesday 11th October

• David Morse - Born 1953, turns 63 - Actor | Producer
• Sean Patrick Flanery - Born 1965, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Luke Perry - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Dawn French - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Singer 
• Joan Cusack - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actress | Writer  

Wednesday 12th October

• Hugh Jackman - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Josh Hutcherson - Born 1992, turns 24 - Actor | Producer  

Thursday 13th October

• Chris Carter - Born 1956, turns 60 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Sacha Baron Cohen - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Kelly Preston - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actress  

Friday 14th October

• Lori Petty - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director
• Mia Wasikowska - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actress | Writer | Director
• Roger Moore - Born 1927, turns 89 - Actor | Producer
• Steve Coogan - Born 1965, turns 51 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer
• Ben Whishaw - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actor  

Saturday 15th October

• Todd Solondz - Born 1959, turns 57 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Dominic West - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor
• Tanya Roberts - Born 1955, turns 61 - Actress  

Benjamin John Whishaw was born in Clifton, Bedfordshire, England to mother Linda Hope - a worker in cosmetics, and father Jose Whishaw - a worker in the field of Information Technology. He has a twin brother, James. He was raised in the central Bedfordshire villages of Clifton and Langford, and he attended the Henlow Middle School nearby, and then the Samuel Whitbread Community College in Shefford, also close by. It was here through the allied theatre company, 'Big Spirit' that Whishaw first become involved with play acting, and, to some local critical acclaim. He went on to study at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from which he graduated in 2003.

He gained his first screen role in the 1999 film 'The Trench' - a story of young soldiers in the trenches preparing to go over the top in the WWI Battle of the Somme as Directed by William Boyd and also starring Daniel Craig, James D'Arcy and Cillian Murphy. 'The Escort' came later that year too, with small screen roles following on 'Black Cab', 'Other People's Children' and then short film 'Baby'. 'My Brother Tom' in 2001 garnered Whishaw a British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer, which was followed up with 'Ready When You Are Mr. McGill' in 2003 with Bill Nighy and Tom Courtenay and then made for television film 'Booze Cruise', with short films 'Spiritual Rampage' and '77 Beds' in the meantime. 

Next up was 'Enduring Love' in 2004 with Daniel Craig again and Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans and Andrew Lincoln, and then Matthew Vaughn's 'Layer Cake' later that year with Daniel Craig once more and Tom Hardy, Michael Gambon and Sienna Miller. 'Stoned' came next in 2005 with Whishaw playing the role of Keith Richards in this bio-pic about the (short) life of Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones. That same year he appeared in the Channel 4 sitcom over one single season of six episodes - 'Nathan Barley' with Benedict Cumberbatch and Richard Ayoard. He gained perhaps his breakout role in 'Perfume : The Story of a Murderer' for Director Tom Tykwer with co-stars Alan Rickman and Dustin Hoffman. The film was generally well received and it was a commercial success. Whishaw gained two further award nominations for his role as perfumer and murderer Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. 

Todd Haynes 'I'm Not There' inspired by the life and music of Bob Dylan saw Whishaw alongside Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere and Christian Bale, with the big screen adaptation of 'Brideshead Revisited' opposite Matthew Goode, and then 'The International' for Tom Tykwer again with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, 'Bright Star' for Jane Campion based on the final three years of poet John Keats with Whishaw in the lead role of Keats alongside Abbie Cornish, and short film 'Love Hate' seeing out the decade. In the meantime there had also been five episodes on the highly acclaimed drama series 'Criminal Justice' which also garnered Whishaw further award wins and nominations.

The new decade landed with a big screen adaptation of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' with Julie Taymor Directing an all star cast including Helen Mirren, David Strathairn, Chris Cooper, Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand and Alfred Molina. Another BBC drama series followed airing over twelve episodes - 'The Hour' with Dominic West and Peter Capaldi. 2012 gave rise to another Daniel Craig partnership in his role as Bond, James Bond and Whishaw as the new, younger, tech savvy 'Q' in 'Skyfall' - a role he would reprise in 2015's 'Spectre'. The multi-dimensional, time travelling 'Cloud Atlas' for the Wachowski's and Tom Tykwer once more and an ensemble cast including Tom Hanks, Jim Sturgess, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving with Halle Berry and Susan Sarandon came next, with his leading role in 'Richard II' in the made for television film for BBC2 following.

Terry Gilliam's 'The Zero Theorem' was up next, then a screen version of 'The Seagull' by Anton Chekov titled 'Days and Nights' with a backdrop of New England sometime in the 1980's, which despite its strong cast bombed critically and commercially. 'Lilting' followed, and then Whishaw lent his voice talents to Paddington Bear in the live action film of 'Paddington' - the story of a bear thrust from the deepest darkest jungles of Peru into deepest darkest London.

2015 was a big year with short film 'The Muse', and then feature length films 'The Lobster', documentary 'Unity', 'Suffragette', 'The Danish Girl', 'Spectre' and 'In The Heart of The Sea' all released that year, as well as a five part BBC 2 series 'London Spy'. 'A Hologram for The King' was released earlier this year with Tom Hanks, as was short film 'Family Happiness'. Next up and due in December 2018 and currently in pre-production is 'Mary Poppins Returns' with Emily Blunt in the lead role, and also staring Meryl Streep.

Since 2003 Whishaw also has amassed numerous stage credits at London's National Theatre, The Old Vic, The Royal Court Theatre, the West End Noel Coward and Harold Pinter Theatres and most recently on Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre. He has appeared in 'Hamlet' to much critical praise, 'The Seagull', 'Cock', 'Peter and Alice' alongside Judi Dench, 'Mojo' and 'The Crucible'. All up Whishaw has forty-four screen and television acting credits to his name and has so far accumulated eight award wins including a BAFTA for television mini-series 'The Hollow Crown' and another fifteen nominations including three BAFTA nods.

In 2012 Whishaw 'married' Australian composer Mark Bradshaw in a civil partnership, and they reside in London.

Ben Whishaw - fiercely private and guarded about his life away from the cameras; shuns celebrity status; enjoys simple pleasures such as gardening, reading, painting and travel; clearly is on the rise and in demand as evidenced by his prolific output as seen in recent years; and already has been critically praised for his work on film, on television and on the boards - and we're happy to keep watching Ben. Happy Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE LOBSTER : Saturday 14th November 2015.

'THE LOBSTER', which I saw over the weekend, has received generally positive reviews although it is hailed as weird, surreal, and quite unlike anything before seen. And it certainly is that - bizarre is how I would describe it and I struggled to connect with this near future dystopian romantic comedy that in its latter half I felt my attention ebbing away as it seemed to be going around in circles before reaching its final destination - and when it does the ending comes very abruptly.

Made for just US$4.5M this film has so far grossed US$2.7M and is likely to find a select audience only of alternative art house types wanting to see this Written, Produced and Directed Film by Greek Yorgos Lanthimos in his English language debut. The film was shown at this years Cannes Film Festival where it took out the Jury Prize and it was shown in the Special Presentations section too and this years Toronto International Film Festival, and at the recent Adelaide Film Festival also.

Although we don't know when, 'The Lobster' is set in the very near future, and we open up with David (Colin Farrell) sat on the sofa at home being delivered the news by his wife in the background that their marriage of eleven or so years is over. A dog sits beside him at his feet. He seems accepting of this news, resigned to his fate, asks a few questions and the next day or so he boards a bus with his dog and a small suitcase in tow. He is taken to 'The Hotel' where he goes through a series of personal questions, bodily inspections, given a new set of clothes and a set of rules by which he must abide by in the time he is there. Escorted to his room overlooking a stretch of water David makes himself comfortable with his dog.

In this near future society those single individuals are rounded up and taken to The Hotel where they have 45 days in which to find a mate amongst the other occupants. If they do find a match this is celebrated and they then have a month in which to live together in another section to determine if they are truly compatible, and if so they are released back to 'The City'. If however, they are unsuccessful they are killed and reincarnated as an animal of their pre-determined choice and released into the nearby woods. David advises the Hotel Manager (Olivia Colman) that his choice is to become a lobster - because they can live for 100 years, continue to reproduce throughout their entire life, are sea dwelling blue bloods and therefore a little aristocratic, and live in the sea which he has an affinity with. The dog that has accompanied David we learn is his brother, who stayed in The Hotel previously and was unsuccessful in his attempt to find a match.

Early on over breakfast David meets up with The Lisping Man (John C. Reilly) and The Limping Man (Ben Whishaw) and the three form a bond. There are planned activities to keep the occupants of The Hotel amused which includes propaganda acted out on stage about the virtues of being a couple over being single in this new world order, simulated sexual arousal with a hotel maid because masturbation is strictly forbidden, and 'The Hunt' where occupants venture out in to the woods armed with tranquilliser guns to capture 'The Loners' - those who have escaped from The Hotel and seek a singular existence. Each Loner captured guarantees one extra day of human existence.

As time progresses The Limping Man matches up with The Nosebleed Woman, by faking his own nosebleeds to garner empathy and foster a connection. They get together and are determined a match and move out for the month to test their true compatibility. David meets up with The Heartless Woman - an ice maiden with zero personality, nerves of steel and needless to say seemingly no heart but a stellar track record at bringing in Loners, so much so that she has raked up 100+ bonus days at The Hotel. Through some of his own manipulation The Heartless Woman determines that they may be matched and so they are put to the test for a month. However, one morning when she awakens him with a bloodied leg she announces that she has kicked his dog to death in the bathroom. Realising they are not compatible, David overcomes her and secretly takes her to 'The Transformation Room' where he turns her into an animal, although what animal is not revealed. He then escapes into the woods and is taken in by The Loners.

The Loners here sleep in the undergrowth, forage for food, have their own set of rules by which they must abide and must remain hidden during The Hunt for fear of capture. The Loners are governed over by The Loner Leader (Lea Seydoux) and here David meets with The Shortsighted Woman (Rachel Weisz) with whom he strikes a connection being shortsighted himself, and The Loner Swimmer (Michael Smiley). From time to time there are covert missions back to The City where the four will go together undercover as couples eating in cafes, shopping for clothes and visiting the parents of The Loner Leader and talking over tea.  David and The Shortsighted Woman secretly enjoy these outings as it enables them to connect physically and be the couple they secretly long to be.

Things take a cruel twist for The Shortsighted Woman at the hands of The Loner Leader when their clandestine affair is revealed. This leaves David unsure of his feelings for her as her physical abilities now would make her so much more dependant upon on him and very difficult given their woodland existence. However, over time he warms to her once more and they hatch a plan to return to The City and live as the couple they long to be. Sat in a restaurant we see David take his leave to go to the restroom armed with a steak knife to inflict upon himself the same disability that The Shortsighted Woman now has, in order that they both can share a true connection again. And . . . fade to black, pause,and roll the credits!

This is a bizarre, weird, very alternative film that will not be for everyone. It explores the meaning of relationships, the need for acceptance and to conform, what is compatibility, and how fixated we are on being one half of a couple - casually, temporarily or permanently. The first half of the film is a lot more engaging than the second half which I thought meandered around without really going anywhere. There are some genuine laugh out loud moments in the film as well as some shocks and surprises, but equally there are some frustrations too where the scene is left hanging and you're left wondering - no more so than right at the end! Colin Farrell plays against type here and convincingly enough as the portly deadpan unassuming anti-hero having stacked on the kilos for his architect character thrown into a very different environment where relationships are a matter of life and death!

With six award wins already and another twelve nominations pending, this is a film to search out if your looking for an alternative, quirky, at times disturbing film that will make you reflect on what you know of our dating society, relationships, the meaning of love and how we view singles over couples.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 22nd October 2015.

Adelaide is the city of festivals, markets, community events, charity fundraisers and being relatively new to the city I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this city also holds it's own unique 'Annual Zombie Walk' and has done so for a number of years. Now in 2015 this event has grown to in excess of 15,000 undead walkers parading through the streets taking their zombiedom very seriously with gruesome grotesque manifestations of their macabre fascination with the walking dead through their bloodied make up, dishevelled clothing, and lumbering gait as they paraded the streets of Adelaide on October 10th. This has grown to be one of the largest of its kind now - gotta love a Zombie, gotta love a charity fund raiser and when you combine the two then you gotta be on to a winner. 'The Walking Dead' descended on Adelaide, and maybe a city near you too - be afraid, be very afraid! Check out the website for more insights into the living dead.

So getting back to the living, this week there are five new movies coming to a theatre near you that first up feature a cold war drama that ticks all the boxes from its Director, Writers and lead Actor all doing what they do best and delivering a peacetime tense taught thriller of prisoner exchange, intrigue, mistrust and Uncle Sam against the Ruskies. Then there's a kitchen drama of celebrity chefs, food porn, acclaimed restaurants, Michelin stars, broken dreams and high hopes; and then a futuristic dystopian world where a relationship or reincarnation are the choices to be made that become a matter of life and death. From here it's a culture clash comedy romance of divided loyalties, affairs of the heart and the attraction of opposites, and finally yet another instalment in a low budget but hugely successful supernatural horror franchise that might just all end here . . . maybe, until next time, perhaps, so they say!

Quite a choice with genre's galore, and when you have sat through your film of choice, share your thoughts with your like minded movie mates here at Odeon Online in the Comments Box below this or any other Post. In the meantime, enjoy your movie.

BRIDGE OF SPIES (Rated M) - the winning team of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are at it again with this retelling of a 1960 Cold War incident involving a Soviet Union shot down U2 pilot captured behind enemy lines and at the mercy of their political system as a result. Written by Joel & Ethan Coen and Mark Charman this film was released Stateside on 16th October having cost US$40M to bring to the big screen and so far it has recouped US$18M. The story centres around the subsequent events that unfold following the 1957 arrest by the FBI of KGB spy Rudolph Abel (Mark Rylance) in New York. James Donovan (Tom Hanks) an insurance lawyer specialist is asked by his firm to take on Abel's defence, even though it is not his ordinary line of work. Whilst a nervous US wants Abel sentenced to death, Donovan lobbies for a 30 year jail term and is ultimately successful, thinking that one day Abel may serve a greater purpose.

Meanwhile, flying a sortie over Russian territory in a U2 spy plane, pilot Frances Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) is shot down, captured, interrogated and convicted. The USSR send a secret message to Donovan suggesting a prisoner exchange - the Russian for the Yank, but in the meantime another American citizen - economics graduate student Frederic Pryor (Will Rogers) is arrested trying to smuggle his German girlfriend across the newly built Berlin Wall from East into West, and is promptly arrested by Statsi Agents.  Seeking now a 2 for 1 deal, Donovan must use all his powers of persuasion and strength of character to negotiate his way out of a fragile and dangerous position for himself, the prisoners he cares about and his country. Also starring Amy Ryan and Alan Alda.

BURNT (Rated M) - Directed by John Wells this comedy drama film will satiate those with a hunger for food porn, celebrity chefs, fine dining and the world of top restaurants. Featuring an all star cast headed by acclaimed two Michelin Star Chef Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) who lives the rock star life whilst cooking up a storm for his Parisian patrons. When it all goes awry and he loses his beloved restaurant and his lifestyle, he makes a decision to clean up his act head to London and spearhead a restaurant and take it to the pinnacle of dining and gain three Michelin stars. Going along for the ride are Sienna Miller, Daniel Bruhl, Emma Thompson, Uma Thurman and Alicia Vikander. If you can't stand the heat, get outta the kitchen!

THE LOBSTER (Rated MA15+) - this film is hardly genre specific - science fiction, futuristic, comedy, romance and drama all interwoven in the first English language film for Greek Director, Producer and Writer Yorgos Lanthimos. Set in some near dystopian future world, or perhaps even a parallel universe the premise here is that the single, unattached men are required by the laws of The City to check into a hotel wherein they are given 45 days to find a match, or be killed and reincarnated into an animal of their choice and then sent into the woods surrounding the hotel facility to live as your chosen beast in the wild. Colin Farrell plays David who arrives at the hotel with his dog which is in fact his reincarnated brother who was unsuccessful before him. David has determined that should he be unsuccessful in his hunt for the perfect match, that he wants to be lobster because of his love for the sea. Also starring Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw and John C. Reilly this film might be as disturbing as it is funny. It won the Jury Prize at this years Cannes Film Festival, and is showing too at the current Adelaide Film Festival.

ALEX & EVE (Rated M) - this Aussie comedy is Directed by Peter Andrikidis and started its life as a series of three successful stage plays, now finding its way onto the big screen. Here we have Alex (Richard Brancatisano), a Greek Orthodox school teacher who falls for a Lebanese Muslim legal eagle Eve (Andrea Demetriades) and of course within the cross cultural divide this union is severely frowned upon by both families. It is here that the emotional dilemma is created from the get go as Eve's family have plans for an arranged marriage already to someone much more suitable and of their own kind. Needless to say opposites attract and so we have it here as the turbulence created by both families will test the two star crossed lovers as they combat with their families, their cultures, their expectations and the path they should take.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY : GHOST DIMENSION (Rated M) - When the first film in this franchise came out it was groundbreaking stuff, resetting the tone for found footage horror, and sure enough that first film was made for just US$15K on the smell of an oily rag and it raked in over US$190M and set in place a burgeoning series that has since gone off in various directions and perhaps a little off the rails too - although there is an inkling of mythology that binds them all together. The first and second instalments had genuine scares, were well conceived, delivered on the cheap and did incredibly well, and this sixth offering is supposedly where it all ends. Here a video game designer moves to a new home with his brother, wife and child and not before long they uncover a video camera and number of video tapes that reveal two young girls, Kristi and Katie, being inducted into the demonic coven of their grandmother. No doubt it will get ugly, scary and things will go bump in the night as they fight back to protect their own daughter from a supernatural entity with its own plans for the young girl.

What a choice - so many movies and so little time! You can laugh, you can cry, you can scream and you can possibly sit on the edge of your seat in the week ahead, so do yourself a favour and catch a movie in the next seven days and then give us all some feedback.

See you at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-