Birthday's to share this week : 20th - 26th August 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Elizabeth Debicki  does on 24th August - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 27, at the end of this feature.

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

Sunday 20th August

• Joan Allen - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actress 
• Amy Adams - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actress | Singer | Producer
• Sylvester McCoy - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actor 
• David O'Russell - Born 1958, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer
• David Walliams - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Andrew Garfield - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actor   

Monday 21st August

• Peter Weir - Born 1944, turns 73 - Director | Writer | Producer
• Kim Cattrall - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actress | Producer
• Carrie-Anne Moss - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actress 
• Hayden Panettiere - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actress | Singer  

Tuesday 22nd August

• Honor Blackman - Born 1925, turns 92 - Actress 
• Kristen Wiig - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor | Writer | Director | Producer
• Ty Burrell - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor
• Richard Armitage - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor
• Rodrigo Santoro - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actor | Producer  

Wednesday 23rd August

• Alexandre Desplat - Born 1961, turns 56 - Composer | Conductor | Songwriter
• Roger Avary - Born 1965, turns 52 - Writer | Producer | Director | Cinematographer
• Charley Boorman - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Scott Caan - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Writer | Director | Producer  

Thursday 24th August

• Stephen Fry - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Steve Guttenberg - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Jared Harris - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor 
• James D'Arcy - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actor 
• Rupert Grint - Born 1988, turns 29 - Actor | Producer 
• Elizabeth Debicki - Born 1990, turns 27 - Actress  

Friday 25th August

• Joanne Whalley - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actress
• Blake Lively - Born 1987, turns 30 - Actress | Producer
• Sean Connery - Born 1930, turns 87 - Actor | Producer 
• Tom Skerritt - Born 1933, turns 84 - Actor | Director
• John Badham - Born 1939, turns 78 - Director | Producer | Actor 
• Tim Burton - Born 1958, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Tom Hollander - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Nikolaj Arcel - Born 1972, turns 45 - Writer | Director
• Joe Wright - Born 1972, turns 45 - Director | Producer
• Alexander Skarsgard - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Producer   

Saturday 26th August

• Mike Colter - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor 
• Chris Pine - Born 1980, turns 37 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Macaulay Culkin - Born 1980, turns 37 - Actor  
• Melissa McCarthy - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer

Elizabeth Debicki was born in Paris, France to ballet dancer parents - her mother being Australian and her father Polish. When the young Elizabeth was five years of age the parents relocated to Melbourne, Australia. From an early age she became interested in ballet, and trained as a dancer until making the switch to theatre. She attended the independent co-ed boarding and day school - the Huntingtower School, located in the east Melbourne suburb of Mount Waverley. Upon graduating in 2007 she was the school's Dux (the highest-ranking student in academic or sporting achievement in each graduating year) and had gained perfect study scores in both Drama and English. In 2010 she gained a degree in drama from the University of Melbourne's Victorian College of the Arts. During her time there she was awarded a bursary in 2009 for outstanding acting students in their second year of training.

In 2010 Debicki gained her stage acting debut in the Melbourne Theatre Company production of 'The Gift', and the following year she secured her feature film debut in the comedy film offering 'A Few Best Men' Directed by Stephan Elliott and starring Xavier Samuel, Rebel Wilson, Olivia Newton-John, and Steve Le Marquand. On the strength of this appearance Baz Luhrmann cast her in his 2013 retelling of 'The Great Gatsby' opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, Steve Bisley, Jason Clarke, Vince Colosimo, Jack Thompson, Carey Mulligan and Isla Fisher. The film picked up 49 award wins including two Academy Awards, two BAFTA's, twelve AACTA's and 83 other nominations, and it made US$351M from its US$190M budget outlay. 

In mid-2013 Debicki starred in the Sydney Theatre Company's stage production of 'The Maids' opposite Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert - a role which gained her the Best Newcomer Award at the Sydney Theatre Awards. She also starred in the thirteen minute short film 'Godel Incomplete' Written and Directed by Martha Goddard about a time travel romance between one of the 20th Century's great minds, Kurt Godel, and a lonely particle physicist, Serita Cedric (Debicki) working as a research student at Switzerland's Large Hadron Collider. This then led to an appearance on a single episode of 'Rake' in season three opposite Richard Roxburgh. 

2015 saw Debicki score the role of Lady Macduff in Justin Kurzel's big screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' with Michael Fassbender in the title role and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth with Paddy Considine, Jack Reynor, David Thewlis and Sean Harris. That same year she was cast in the big screen adaptation of the classic mid-'60's action spy series 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' as Directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Hugh Grant, Jared Harris and Alicia Vikander. Debicki plays Victoria Vinciguerra one half of a wealthy Nazi sympathising criminal underworld couple. Rounding out that year, Debicki was cast as Dr. Caroline Mackenzie - the base camp physician in Balthasar Kormakur's biographical adventure film 'Everest' alongside an all star cast comprising Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Sam Worthington, Clive Standen, Robin Wright, Keira Knightley and Emily Watson. 

In 2016 Debicki took a break from big screen offerings to concentrate on small screen fare with her starring role in Australian television drama 'The Kettering Incident' filmed in Tasmania over eight episodes in the first series. A second series is currently in the early stages of development. Then there was the highly acclaimed British thriller 'The Night Manager' based on the 1993 book of the same name by John le Carre but updated to the present day. Starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Coleman and Tom Hollander the six episode mini-series in which Debicki plays girlfriend Jed Marshall to Hugh Laurie's Richard Roper and the love interest to Tom Hiddleston's Jonathan Pine (the Night Manager in question). The series picked up seventeen award wins including three Golden Globe wins, two Primetime Emmy wins and three BAFTA wins, and another 44 nominations. A follow-up second season is in development too it seems. Closing out 2016 Debicki also starred in London's National Theatre production at the Lyttelton Theatre of 'The Red Barn' with Mark Strong and Hope Davis. 

This year has so far seen two epic Sci-Fi outings - the first for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the second instalment of 'Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2' as Directed by James Gunn and starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradely Cooper, Michael Rooker, Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell. Debicki plays the golden High Priestess Ayesha and the leader of the genetically engineered Sovereign People. The film recovered US$862M from its US$200M production budget and generally positive Reviews. 'Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3' is in development. Just released is Luc Besson's space opera and epic effects laden Sci-Fi adventure film 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets' in which Debicki lends her voice to the character of Emperor Haban Lima.

Next up for Debicki and to be released later this year is the Simon Baker Directed, Co-Written and starring 'Breath' based on the best selling award winning Tim Winton book set in the mid-'70's coastal Australia about two teenage boys who form an unlikely bond with an older adventurer who pushes them to take risks that leave a lasting impression on their lives. Richard Roxburgh also stars. Then due for release in 2018 are 'The Tale' also starring Laura Dern, Frances Conroy, Ellen Burstyn, Jason Ritter, John Heard and Common. Then there is the animated 'Peter Rabbit' based on the famed Beatrix Potter character with Debicki lending her voice talents together with Margot Robbie, Daisy Ridley, James Cordon (as Peter), with Rose Byrne and Domhnall Gleeson too. Following these is the Steve McQueen Directed 'Widows' based on the early '80's British television series with Michelle Rodriguez, Viola Davis, Jacki Weaver, Liam Neeson, Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell, Lukas Haas and Daniel Kaluuya, and finally the space station Sci-Fi horror offering that will be the third instalment in the 'Cloverfield' franchise - 'God Particle' and starring Daniel Bruhl, Chris O'Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Produced by J.J. Abrams. 'Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3' has also been recently announced in which Debicki is slated to reprise her role as Ayesha.

All up Debicki has eighteen Acting credits to her name, and has so far picked up two award wins - both AACTA Awards (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) for 'The Kettering Incident' and 'The Great Gatsby', plus four other nominations - three of which were for 'The Great Gatsby' and one for 'The Night Manager'. Debicki has been romantically linked with Australian Actor Alexander England.

Elizabeth Debicki - described in one publication as 'versatile, graceful, statuesque and swan-like' and she is certainly all of these things and more. Already on a upward trajectory that sees her going from strength to strength with every role both on the small screen and the silver screen, clearly in demand, comfortable across all genres it seems, and with your star shining brightly after just six short years in the business. We will watch your career with much interest as the roles unfold and the accolades undoubtedly will follow. Happy Birthday to you Elizabeth, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

ROBERT VAUGHN - dies aged 83 - R.I.P.

Robert Francis Vaughn died just short of his 84th Birthday on Friday 11th November surrounded by his close family in Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA following complications brought about by acute leukaemia. Born on 22nd November 1932 in New York City to an acting family - his father a radio actor and his mother a stage actress, it was almost inevitable that the young Robert would follow in their footsteps despite the fact that they separated and divorced whilst in his formative years. Vaughn's work spanned seven decades but it is perhaps for his role in the classic '60's television spy series 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' that he is best known - as American spy Napoleon Solo paired up with David McCallum's Russian counterpart Illya Kuryakin over 105 episodes covering four seasons from 1964 through to 1968. Vaughn received two Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of Solo as Best TV Star in 1965 and 1966. The series was made into a feature film in 2015 featuring Henry Cavill in the Solo role and Armie Hammer as Kuryakin.

He made his small screen debut in an episode of 'Medic' in 1955, with his big screen debut coming a year later in 1956 in an uncredited role in Cecil B. DeMille's 'The Ten Commandments' with Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner and Edward G. Robinson. He spent the balance of the late '50's appearing in various small fry movies and numerous one off television series episodes including 'Gunsmoke', 'Dragnet', 'Mike Hammer' and 'Zorro' before his breakout role in 'The Young Philadelphians' in 1959 with Paul Newman  - and which garnered Vaughn an Oscar and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. A year later he would appear alongside an all star cast in the classic John Sturges Western 'The Magnificent Seven' with Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach, James Coburn and Horst Buchholz. Vaughn's role garnered him another Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Male Newcomer.

Television series appearances dominated the '60's thereafter with the likes of 'Wagon Train', 'Tales of Wells Fargo', 'Bonanza', 'The Virginian', 'The Untouchables', 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', 'The Lieutenant' and then 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' which also spawned several film spin-offs through until the series was taken off air in 1968. 'Bullitt' came next in 1968 with Steve McQueen, for which again Vaughn was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. 'The Bridge at Remagen', 'Julius Caesar', 'The Mind of Mr. Soames' and 'The Man from Independence' took us up to 1974 high rise disaster epic 'The Towering Inferno' with Steve McQueen and Paul Newman again.

'The Protectors' saw Vaughn return to a regular slot in a half hour adventure crime series as Harry Rule  - one third of a small but tight band of freelance troubleshooters who operate an international crime fighting agency. The show ran for 52 episodes from 1972 through to 1974. Throughout the remainder of the '70's Vaughn starred in television fare including 'Police Woman' with Angie Dickinson, 'Columbo' with Peter Falk, mini-series 'Captains and the Kings', mini-series 'Washington : Behind Closed Doors', mini-series 'Centennial', with a bunch of feature and made for television movies in between.

The '80's produced more of the same for Vaughn with more notable highlights being 'Battle Beyond the Stars' with George Peppard, 'S.O.B' with Julie Andrews, 'Superman III' with Christopher Reeve, 'The Delta Force' with Chuck Norris, 'Black Moon Rising' with Tommy Lee Jones, and 'The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.' with David McCallum of course. There were also a whole bunch of B-Grade and even some C-Grade films to pay the bills presumably including the instantly forgettable 'They Call Me Renegade', 'Killing Birds', 'C.H.U.D. II : Bud the C.H.U.D', 'River of Death' and 'Transylvania Twist', as well as turns on popular television series 'The Love Boat', 'Emerald Point N.A.S.', and 'The A-Team' amongst others.

The '90's continued in a similar vein, with ongoing television series appearances on the likes of 'Diagnosis Murder', 'Walker : Texas Ranger', 'The Nanny', 'Law & Order' and 'The Magnificent Seven' television series reboot in the latter half of the decade. His output in the new decade became more selective and less frequent, although a successful and long running show for AMC and the BBC 'Hustle', playing Albert Stroller, ran for eight seasons from 2004 onwards and featured Vaughn in a leading role together with a band of confidence tricksters based in London righting wrongs and working against the low lifes, the crims, and the underworld to help those that can't help themselves or need some assistance along the way. He followed this up with thirteen episodes on the longest running television soap opera of them all 'Coronation Street' in 2012. After this Vaughn still managed to bash out five films in the last five years - 'Excuse Me For Living', 'The Magnificent Eleven', 'A Cry From Within', 'The American Side' released earlier this year, and 'Gold Star' which has just had its US release.

All up Vaughn boasted 226 Acting credits to his name spanning seven decades in the business. He Directed an episode of 'The Protectors' in 1973, and an episode of 'Police Woman' in 1976, he had three Award wins and nine other nominations including an Oscar nod, four Golden Globes, a BAFTA and a Primetime Emmy. Vaughn also published two books - 'Only Victims : A Study of Show Business Blacklisting' in 1972 and 'A Fortunate Life', published in 2008. He married Linda Staab in 1974 and they remained married until the time of his death. They had two adopted children, Cassidy born in 1976 and Caitlin born in 1981.

Robert Vaughn - leaves behind a legacy of film and television appearances across all genres, spanning more than sixty years of many notable performances and some less so, but nonetheless a body of work to be admired and remembered. With a distinctive yet sometimes menacing voice, often playing political figures from history or fiction, but never typecast, he kept working and was in demand right up to the end. Thanks for the memories.

Robert Vaughn - Rest In Peace
1932 - 2016

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 1st-7th May 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Henry Cavill does on 5th May - check out my 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 1st May

•  Wes Anderson - Born 1969, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Writer 
•  Jamie Dornan - Born 1982, turns 34 - Actor
•  Joanna Lumley - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actress 

Monday 2nd May

• Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | WWF Wrestler
• Stephen Daldry  - Born 1961, turns 55 - Director | Producer
• David Suchet - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actor | Producer 

Tuesday 3rd May

• Ben Elton - Born 1959, turns 57 - Writer | Producer | Actor
• Rob Brydon - Born 1965, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Television Personality
• Bobby Cannavale - Born 1970, turns 46 - Actor
• Christina Hendricks - Born 1975, turns 41 - Actress 

Wednesday 4th May

• Will Arnett - Born 1970, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Richard Jenkins - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor 

Thursday 5th May

• Henry Cavill - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actor  
• Richard E. Grant - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actor | Writer | Director 
• John Rhys-Davies - Born 1944, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Writer 
• Michael Palin - Born 1943, turns 73 - Actor | Writer | Songwriter | Television Personality
• Lance Henriksen - Born 1940, turns 76 - Actor

Friday 6th May

• George Clooney - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Alan Dale - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor  

Saturday 7th May

• Alexander Ludwig - Born 1992, turns 24 - Actor 

Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill was born on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands to mother Marianne Dalgliesh - a bank secretary, and father Colin Cavill - a stockbroker. Henry is the fourth of five brothers - the others being Niki, Charlie, Piers and Simon. He was educated at St. Michael's Preparatory School in St. Saviour, on Jersey and then in England at the noted independent Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. His interest in acting was sparked at school appearing in various productions - both classic and modern.

At age 17, Henry was discovered by a Casting Director who visited the school looking for a young lad suitable enough to cast as Albert Mondego in the Kevin Reynolds big screen adaptation of 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. He got the role and starred alongside Guy Pearce, Richard Harris and Jim Caviezel. That was in 2002, and that same year there were television appearances on 'Midsomer Murders' and 'The Inspector Lynley Mysteries'.

'I Capture the Castle' came next in 2003 with Bill Nighy, Rose Byrne and Tara Fitzgerald, with the made for television movie 'Goodbye Mr. Chips', before the eighth instalment in the horror franchise with 'Hellraiser : Hellworld' in 2005. The following year came 'Red Riding Hood' and then 'Tristan and Isolde' Directed by Kevin Reynolds once again with James Franco, Rufus Sewell, Mark Strong and Sophia Myles.

In 2007 there was a small role in Matthew Vaughn's romantic fantasy adventure 'Stardust' with an all star cast featuring Peter O'Toole, Mark Strong, Robert De Niro, Rupert Everett, Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes and Sienna Miller.

That same year, Cavill scored the role of Charles Brandon in 38 episodes of 'The Tudors' to which he attributes much of his subsequent success - having given him the much needed exposure to an American audience. Whilst making 'The Tudors' he also starred in Joel Schumacher's Nazi horror film 'Blood Creek' in 2008 with Michael Fassbender and Dominic Purcell, and followed this up with a minor part in Woody Allen's 'Whatever Works'.

'Immortals' followed in 2011 with this swords and sandals epic in the lead role of Theseus, with 'Cold Light of Day' next in 2012 with Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver.

In 2013 he appeared in Zack Snyder's 'Man of Steel' as Superman/Clark Kent with an all star cast in the first film in the DC Extended Universe series which was followed up earlier this year with Cavill reprising his role as Superman alongside Ben Affleck in 'Batman v. Superman : The Dawn of Justice'. His first outing as Superman grossed US$668M at the Box Office with his most recent instalment this year so far grossing US$855M. In between time there has been the big screen retelling of the much loved classic spy series of the 60's 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' released mid-2015 with Cavill taking on the role of Napoleon Solo, and Armie Hammer the role of Russian Ilya Kuryakin, and as Directed by Guy Ritchie.

Next up is Iraq War drama 'Sand Castle' currently in post-production for a release later this year, and then as Superman once again for Zack Snyder in 'Justice League : Part One' due in November 2017 and then 'Justice League : Part Two' due in June 2019.

Along the way he was touted to play Superman back in 2004 for a film Directed by McG, but when that project was taken over by Bryan Singer Cavill was dropped in favour of Brandon Routh in what became 'Superman Returns'. He was also in contention for the Edward Cullen role in the 'Twilight' series of films that went to Robert Pattinson instead, and, he has expressed interest in the role of James Bond when Daniel Craig sips on his last martini.

Cavill has 21 acting credits to his name, an MTV Movie Award win and five other nominations so far.  He has been voted 'The World's Sexiest Man' and 'One of the World's Sexiest Men' by various publications. He is a spokesman for the 'Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust', is an ambassador for the 'Royal Marines Charitable Trust' and has taken part in numerous charitable events and worthy causes that he believes in, that more often than not have highlighted his physicality. In 2014 with brother Charlie, he co-founded his own production company - 'Promethean Productions'.

Henry Cavill - chiselled features, athletic, heroic, handsome and fits the mould of a Superhero well - we look forward to seeing what else you bring to the big screen as well as further instalments of perhaps the most loved most recognised superhero of them all. Happy Birthday to you Henry, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

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

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Alicia Vikander does on 3rd October - check out the tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 27 at the end of this feature.

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

Sunday 27th September

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

Monday 28th September

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

Tuesday 29th September

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

Wednesday 30th September

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

Thursday 1st October

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

Friday 2nd October

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

Saturday 3rd October

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. : Wednesday 19th August 2015.

'THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.' which I saw earlier this week had its roots as a television series which ran originally from September 1964 until January 1968 across 105 episodes and launched the careers of Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as American Agent, Napoleon Solo and Ukranian Agent, Illya Kuryakin, respectively. Hugely successful with spin off comic books, novels, TV Annuals, merchandise, soundtracks and feature length episodes this was another espionage drama born in the 60's in a similar frame as Bond and 'Mission : Impossible' that was ripe for big screen treatment. And so Guy Ritchie is the man for the job tasked to recreate the 60's in his US$75M Directed offering that has for many years lingered in development hell as Directors of note (including Matthew Vaughn and Steven Soderbergh), Writers of repute (including Quentin Tarantino) and big name actors (including Cruise, Clooney, McGregor, Reynolds, Bale, Tatum, Gosling, Damon, Fassbender, Cooper, DiCaprio and Crowe) all came and went. As well as Directing, Ritchie also aided in devising the story, wrote the Screenplay and Produced too.

The story takes us right back to the beginning before British CIA Agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Russian KGB Agent Ilya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) reluctantly join forces in the 1963 Cold War Era to thwart an evil foe intent on starting a nuclear attack. The film opens with Solo having to extract Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander) from East Berlin in a car chase through the back streets of the divided and heavily armed city chased on foot and in car by Kuryakin. Teller's father is a WWII Nazi Scientist turned American collaborator who is being held by wealthy shipping company owners Alexander and Victoria Vinciguerra (Lucas Calvani and Elizabeth Debicki respectively) to build their own nuclear device.

Having evaded Kuryakin so far and extracted the girl, Solo is confronted with his KGB nemesis once more in a public toilet block where a fight breaks out with the Russian gaining the upper hand this time before being interrupted by each of their respective handlers. At this point the two are instructed that they must join forces to prevent the nuclear weapon from being finalised, and in turn secretly secure the design schemes for their own governments.

As the story moves to Rome, so meetings are engineered with the Vinciguerra's with the trio of Solo, Kuryakin and Teller all acting undercover and incognito to win favour and gain access to their plans. The two Agents infiltrate a shipping yard owned by the Vinciguerra's and after finding traces of Uranium they trip the alarms, alert the guards which results in a foot chase and then a boat chase as they seek to get clear and away.

Following this Solo and Kuryakin are brought together by Alexander Waverly (Hugh Grant) a high ranking MI6 Officer who reveals to the pair that Teller is in fact an Undercover Agent too working for him. The three successfully manage to infiltrate the Vinciguerra's private island compound where a little bit of torture, killing, maiming and chasing goes on before Alexander is killed and Victoria makes off by boat with the finished nuclear warhead. Needless to say Victoria doesn't get too far before her attempts to escape with her payload are thwarted at the end of a second device that is able to lock onto the first being carried on the boat. Farewell Victoria to a watery grave!

Despite saving the world from nuclear undoing, and the action & adventure that the two have been through, Kuryakin remains untrusting of Solo, until the latter makes a gesture that shows the former he has some integrity, honesty and responsibility. As the three Agents drink to their success on the rooftop of the Hotel looking across Rome, Waverly advises them that their respective countries have reassigned them to a new international organisation under his command - code name U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) and they're off to Istanbul. Cue the credits!

The film features many of the Ritchie touchstones including the use of split screen to retain various areas of focus at once; his use of humour to provide some levity and a strong enough recreation of the era. For a 1963 set film the representation of that time is convincing enough, it looks & feels stylish, but the story is fairly average fare only, the action is nothing to write home about, the dialogue a little clunky and strained, and I felt at times that the pace laboured along leaving me wanting more. Ritchie has done some great work with 'Lock, Stock', 'Snatch' and his two more recent 'Sherlock Holmes' outings, but we know too he can give us average fare as seen previously with 'RocknRolla' and 'Revolver' and I would place this latest offering in that bracket too.

You don't have to see this on the big screen and can wait for the DVD or BluRay release to save yourself $20. So far at the time of writing, the film has recouped about half its investment.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 23rd - 29th August 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Armie Hammer does on 28th August - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 29, 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 23rd August

• Scott Caan - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Charley Borman - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Television Personality
• Roger Avary - Born 1965, turns 50 - Producer | Writer | Director

Monday 24th August

• Rupert Grint - Born 1988, turns 27 - Actor
• Steve Guttenberg - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Jared Harris - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Director
• Stephen Fry - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Television Personality
• James D'Arcy - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actor
• Marlee Matlin - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actress | Producer

Tuesday 25th August

• Blake Lively - Born 1987, turns 28 - Actress
• Sean Connery - Born 1930, turns 85 - Actor | Producer
• Alexander Skarsgard - Born 1976, turns 39 - Actor
• Tim Burton - Born 1958, turns 57 - Director | Producer | Writer | Animator
• John Badham - Born 1939, turns 76 - Director | Producer | Actor
• Tom Skerritt - Born 1933, turns 82 - Actor

Wednesday 26th August

• Chris Pine - Born 1980, turns 35 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Macauley Culkin - Born 1980, turns 35 - Actor
• Melissa McCarthy - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actress | Producer | Writer

Thursday 27th August

• Tuesday Weld - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actress
• Barbara Bach - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actress
• Aaron Paul - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actor | Producer
• Peter Stormare - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actor | Producer

Friday 28th August

• Armie Hammer - Born 1986, turns 29 - Actor
• David Fincher - Born 1962, turns 53 - Director | Producer
• David Soul - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Jack Black - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Composer | Singer | Songwriter
• Billy Boyd - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor
• Luis Guzman - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor | Producer

Saturday 29th August

• Elliott Gould - 1938, turns 77 - Actor | Producer
• Joel Schumacher - Born 1939, turns 76 - Director | Producer | Writer
• William Friedkin - Born 1935, turns 80 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Lenny Henry - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Television Personality
• Rebecca De Mornay - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actress

Armand Douglas 'Armie' Hammer was born in Los Angeles, California to mother Dru Ann Mobley, a bank loan officer, and father Michael Armand Hammer who owns a number of different business interests including a publishing company and a film/television production company. He has a younger brother, Viktor. His family is of mixed stock which he describes as 'half-Jewish' with ancestry that extends back to the Russian Tsarist regime and a Cherokee Indian Chief.

He lived in Highland Park, Dallas for a number of years early on before relocating with the family to the Cayman Islands from age seven. Five years later the family moved back to L.A. where he attended the Los Angeles Baptist High School in the San Fernando Valley. During his eleventh grade he dropped out to pursue a career in acting.

Hammer made his first appearances in a number of television shows including 'Arrested Development' in 2005, 'Veronica Mars' in 2006, 'Desperate Housewives' in 2007, and then 'Reaper' and 'Gossip Girl' in 2009. His big screen debut came in 2006 in 'Flicka' with Ryan Kwanten and Maria Bello, with horror film 'Blackout' in 2008. 'Billy : The Early Years' came next in 2008 with Hammer starring as the young evangelist Billy Graham which garnered him a 'Faith and Values Award' for his 'Most Inspiring Performance' from a Christian standpoint.

In 2009 he had a small part in the straight to video 'Spring Breakdown' alongside Amy Poehler, Parker Posey, Sophie Monk and Amber Tamblyn. This was followed up with '2081' as the lead role of Harrison Bergeron in this dystopian Sci-Fi equal rights story. During this period he was courted by George Miller to star as Batman/Bruce Wayne in 'Justice League : Mortal', but Miller left the project, the film was abandoned indefinitely, but resurrected in mid-2015, but whether either Miller or Hammer are involved remains as yet undisclosed.

In 2010 he starred as the Winklevoos twins in David Fincher's 'The Social Network' with Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake. 2011 saw the Clint Eastwood Directed 'J.Edgar' with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role with Judi Dench and Naomi Watts with Hammer acting out the role of Clyde Jolson - the protege and confidante of Hoover himself. 'Mirror Mirror' came next in 2012 with Julia Roberts, Nathan Lane and Sean Bean and based on the Snow White fairy tale.



2013 saw perhaps his biggest role to date alongside Johnny Depp in the Gore Verbinski Directed 'The Lone Ranger', which cost US$225M to make and took just US$261M in receipts, so hardly a Box Office sensation, and critical opinion was divided to say the least, but less so about the performances and more so about the clunky dialogue, the length of the film and the protracted action sequences. 'Entourage' came next earlier this year, with 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' only just released and starring as Russian Agent Ilya Kuryakin in this Guy Ritchie big screen adaptation of the popular 60's television series of the same name.

Next up are 'Final Portrait' and 'Nocturnal Animals' both in pre-production, 'Free Fire' is currently filming, 'Mine' and 'The Birth of a Nation' are in post-production with 'Serpent Girl' recently announced. All up Hammer has 29 acting credits to his name with six awards wins under his belt and another ten nominations so far.

In mid-2010 Hammer married actress, model and television personality Elizabeth Chambers, and in December 2014 they celebrated the birth of their baby daughter, Harper.

Armie Hammer - guitar player, cigar aficionado (he has a desire to open a store), tall, blond, handsome, deep booming voice and clearly on the up & up - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 13th August 2015.

'Ice Cold in Adelaide' could almost be a remake of the 1958 'Ice Cold in Alex' wartime movie starring John Mills, Anthony Quayle and Silvia Syms, and whilst there are plenty of cold beers in this town, there is no North African desert to warm us, only bitterly cold southerly winds to chill us all to the bone! So it is in deepest, darkest mid-Winter in South Australia where the only option is to seek solace, warmth and comfort in a movie theatre to catch your film of choice. Time then to brave up, rug up and move up to your local theatre, unless of course, you live in the Northern Hemisphere, where the opposite climatic conditions are likely to apply!

Therefore, for the upcoming week we have five new filmic offerings to get you into your local multiplex with the big screen treatment of a classic 60's secret agent television series, and no, it's not 'Mission : Impossible' as that was done very recently already; then there is the story of an ageing couple looking to sell their ageing apartment and how they come to terms with moving on from their home of 40 years; followed by a thought provoking documentary of our fragile planet and for all our smarts, our advances, our skill, knowledge and education we still go to war against each other and seem hell bent on self-destruction; then another documentary this time about an ageing New York fashionista still inspiring and experimenting even into her tenth decade; and finally a French coming of age story of a gang of girls growing up and struggling to find their own identity.

As always a mixed bag of cinematic content, but there has got to be something for everyone here whether its nostalgic action you seek, drama, documentary or foreign language storytelling. Whatever you decide to see this week, drop your fellow readers at Odeon Online a comment, observation or critique below this, or any other Post. Enjoy your film.

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (Rated M) - The television series upon which this new film is based ran originally from September 1964 until January 1968 across 105 episodes and launched the careers of Robert Vaughan and David McCallum as American Agent, Napoleon Solo and Ukranian Agent, Illya Kuryakin, respectively. Hugely successful with spin off comic books, novels, TV Annuals, merchandise, soundtracks and feature length episodes this was another espionage drama born in the 60's in the mold of Bond and 'Mission : Impossible' that was ripe for big screen treatment. And so Guy Ritchie is the man for the job tasked to recreate the 60's in his US$75M Directed offering of the same name, and out at a cinema near you this week.

Transporting us back to the early 60's Cold War era and the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement we have Solo (Henry Cavill) and Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) thrust together when they least expect it and very reluctantly so. But of course they make up their differences to thwart an international underworld terror organisation looking to destabilise the fragile world balance of the time with nuclear weapons coupled with the latest technical wizardry. Of course the clock is counting down on a global disaster for which they must put their differences aside, team up, man up, tool up and clean up a big potential mess. Also starring Hugh Grant, Alicia Vikander and Elizabeth Debicki.

5 FLIGHTS UP (Rated M) - starring Morgan Freeman as Alex and Diane Keaton as Ruth as husband and wife team who have been married and lived in the same New York apartment for forty years. When they bought the place it was in a run down district of Brooklyn, but now years later it's hip, gentrified, sought after and worth a small fortune. As the property is listed for sale and the open for inspection date looms so a series of unexpected and unfortunate events result in them apartment hunting in Manhattan where they find almost the perfect place that ticks most of their boxes. With their long lasting love for each other they come to realise that with this strength between them they can overcome all the other challenges that the weekend seems to be throwing at them. Directed by Richard Loncraine.

GIRLHOOD (Rated M) - This French language film is Written and Directed by Celine Sciamma and stars Karidja Toure as Marieme, a sixteen year old African/French teenage girl growing up in the poorer suburbs of Paris. When failing grades at school present the harsh realities of life she gets involved in a girl gang who invite her in with the free spirited outlook on life. As she gets to know the girls and friendships bond, they get into various scrapes and situations through which Marieme grows in confidence, but comes to realise too in the fullness of time that these friendships, experiences and freedom don't make her any happier either. So, she decides to take her destiny into her own hands. Already highly acclaimed having won six awards and nominated another eleven times, this film has lots to offer and is sure to please, and watch out for Toure's breakout role. Nothing to do whatsoever with Linklater's 'Boyhood'.

UNITY (Rated M) - This film features a never before seen assembled cast of 100 narrators comprising actors, artists, entertainers, musicians, filmmakers, businessmen, authors, athletes and such like that weave a story in five 'chapters' - 'Cosmic', 'Mind', 'Body', 'Heart' and 'Soul'. With a backdrop of some of the most breathtaking, heart wrenching and thought provoking imagery ever captured on film, this documentary explores mans ability to kill and his capability to love. Thrown in amongst all this too though is our inclination to destroy each other and our fragile planet despite the lessons we should have learned over hundreds of years of history, and the advances we have made in science, technology, medicine, education and much more. When will we ever learn, and what will it take to change? Directed by Shaun Monson, and a must see!

IRIS (Rated M) - There's no trashin' this fashion passion as 87 year old Director, Albert Maysles (who died in March this year) teams up with camera in tow to documentarily record the exploits, adventures, creativity, life and colour of 93 years old Iris Apfel - the fashionista of the New York fashion scene for decades who even in her dotage continues to inspire, excite and experiment with colour, style and imagination. This sharp, quick-witted, flamboyant and somewhat eccentric lady continues with all her energy, emotion and effort to live a full life of glamour surrounded by fashion, art and people whom she continues to embrace with enthusiasm and a strong work ethic . . . well into her tenth decade! Funny, inspirational and charming this insightful piece is sure to please on many levels - fashion follower or not.

With five films from which to make your choice you can be sure of a varied entertainment offering coming you way, and offering something different in the week ahead. Do yourself a favour and get out amongst it, and enjoy a movie!

See you soon at the Odeon!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-