Birthday's to share this week : 29th October - 4th November 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Ben Foster does on 29th October - check out my tribute to this Actor Producer Birthday Lad turning 37, 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 29th October

• Kate Jackson - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Winona Ryder - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actress | Producer
• Richard Dreyfuss - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Rufus Sewell - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor
• Ben Foster - Born 1980, turns 37 - Actor | Producer 

Monday 30th October

• Henry Winkler - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Kevin Pollak - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Juliet Stevenson - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actress 
• Clemence Poesy - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress | Writer | Director  

Tuesday 31st October

• Piper Perabo - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress | Producer
• Willow Smith - Born 2000, turns 17 - Actress | Singer
• Stephen Rea - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actor 
• Peter Jackson - Born 1961, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | 
• Dermot Mulroney - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer | Musician
• Rob Schneider - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director   

Wednesday 1st November

• Lyle Lovett - Born 1957, turns 60 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor | Composer | Producer | Director 
• Robert Luketic - Born 1973, turns 44 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Toni Collette - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Thursday 2nd November

• Stephanie Powers - Born 1942, turns 75 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• David Schwimmer - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Director | Producer 
• Jon M. Chu - Born 1979, turns 38 - Director | Producer | Writer 

Friday 3rd November

• Gary Ross - Born 1956, turns 61 - Writer | Director | Producer
• Dolph Lundgren - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Dylan Moran - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Writer
• Lulu (aka Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie) - Born 1948, turns 69 - Singer | Actress
• Roseanne Barr - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Kate Capshaw - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actress   

Saturday 4th November

• Loretta Swit - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actress | Singer
• Ralph Macchio - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Matthew McConaughey - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Sean 'Diddy' Combs - Born 1969, turns 48 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Producer | Actor | Writer | Director 

Benjamin A. Foster was born in Boston, Massachusetts to mother Gillian Kirwan and father Steven Foster - restauranteurs. He described his parents as 'free spirited Vietnam protesting hippies'. When he was four years old the family, together with younger brother Jon, relocated themselves to Fairfield in Iowa as a result of a burglary on their home while they were present in the house. Whilst living in Fairfield, Ben attended the Maharishi University of Management featuring a consciousness based education system that includes the practice of Transcendental Meditation technique (which he still practices to this day). Foster began his career as a jobbing Actor from the age of sixteen having dropped out of High School and moving to Los Angeles to chase his dream. However, he discovered acting much earlier on in his life when he wrote, Directed and starred in his own stage play at age twelve - which came second place in an international competition. By age fourteen he has attended the Interlochen Theatre Arts Summer Programme at Interlochen in Michigan, so it almost became inevitable that in time he'd move to Tinsel Town.

He gained his first acting gig in the direct to video release of 'Kounterfeit' - an action crime thriller from 1997 with Hilary Swank. This was followed up that same year with all 26 episodes on the Disney family comedy television series 'Flash Forward' which ran from 1996 through to 1997, with Foster playing a lead role as Tucker James. He followed this up with a single episode on 'You Wish' and then made for television films - 'I've Been Waiting For You', 'Breakfast with Einstein' and '1973' in 1998 with two episodes on 'Freaks and Geeks' and then feature film 'Liberty Heights' closing out the decade in 1999 as Written and Directed by Barry Levinson and also starring Adrien Brody.

2000 launched with a single episode on 'Family Law' and then RomCom 'Get Over It' with Kirsten Dunst, Colin Hanks, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, and Martin Short. TV movie 'The Laramie Project' based on a true crime murder story also starred Peter Fonda, Laura Linney, Steve Buscemi, Clancy Brown and Christina Ricci. This in turn led to two episodes on 'Boston Public' then comedy crime caper offering Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld 'Big Trouble' with Tim Allen, Stanley Tucci, Tom Sizemore, Johnny Knoxville, Rene Russo, Zooey Deschanel and Sofia Vergara. 'Bang Bang You're Dead'; 'Northfork' with James Woods, Nick Nolte and Daryl Hannah; '11:14' with Colin Hanks, Patrick Swayze, Hilary Swank and Barbara Hershey, 'The Punisher' based on the Marvel Comics character of Frank Castle, aka 'The Punisher' played by Thomas Jane with John Travolta, Will Patton, Roy Schneider and Rebecca Romijn; and then 'The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things' took us up to mid-decade.

2005 saw 'Hostage' - the action crime drama with Bruce Willis, and running concurrently over 23 episodes was the critically acclaimed television series 'Six Feet Under' between 2003 and 2005. These were followed up by 'Alpha Dog' based on a true crime story Directed by Nick Cassavetes and with an ensemble cast taking in Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton, Justin Timberlake, Emile Hirsch, Anton Yelchin, Sharon Stone, Amanda Seyfried, Amber Heard and Olivia Wilde. Foster's performance gained him a Breakthrough Performance Award win at the Young Hollywood Awards. 2006 also saw his turn as Warren Worthington III/'Angel' in 'X-Men : Last Stand', and then the James Mangold Directed Western drama '3:10 to Yuma' alongside Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. David Slade's vampire horror thriller '30 Days of Night' came next in 2007 with Josh Hartnett, Danny Huston and Melissa George, and in between time there were appearances on television series 'The Dead Zone' and 'My Name Is Earl'.

2009 brought 'The Messenger' Directed and Co-Written by Oren Moverman to critical acclaim about an injured American soldier returning from a Tour of Duty in Iraq who becomes involved with with the widow of a fallen officer. Also starring Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton the film was nominated for two Academy Awards, and picked up seventeen award wins and a total 46 nominations including a number of Best Actor wins and nominations for Fosters performance. Sci-Fi action horror 'Pandora' with Dennis Quaid and Norman Reedus closed out the decade.

'Here', then the remake of
the classic early '70's Charles Bronson actioner 'The Mechanic' in 2011 as Directed by Simon West and starring Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop/The Mechanic followed, with '360' and gritty crime drama 'Rampart' Directed again by Oren Moverman and starring Woody Harrelson, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Bernthal, Brie Larson and Cynthia Nixon all came along that same year.

2012 saw crime drama action film 'Contraband' with Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, then in 2013 the biographical drama 'Kill Your Darlings' about the intertwined lives of three great poets - Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs and starring Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, and Jack Huston. The David Lowery Written and Directed 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' with Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, and then the true story of Navy Seals on a mission to take out a notorious Taliban leader, when their capture or kill objective goes horribly wrong on a remote mountain side - 'Lone Survivor'. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana and Directed by Peter Berg the film was nominated for two Academy Awards and picked up a SAG Award for best stunt ensemble among its haul of five wins and sixteen nods.

Stephen Frears sports biopic of the failed Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, starred Foster as the seven time cycling champion ultimately outed for his banned substance abuse that fuelled his multiple victories, his fame and his fortune. Also starring Chris O'Dowd, Jesse Plemons, Dustin Hoffman and Lee Pace 'The Program' had a limited release but garnered Foster much critical praise for his impressive portrayal of the doomed cyclist. Historical seafaring search and rescue film 'The Finest Hours' was released in 2016 with Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Eric Bana, John Ortiz and Holliday Grainger.

2016 also saw the modern day Western set in America's West Texas rust belt about a couple of down on their luck brothers who resort to desperate measures to save their family ranch from the bank foreclosing. 'Hell or High Water' also starred Chris Pine, Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham and was nominated for four Academy Awards, three BAFTA's, three Golden Globes amongst its combined tally of 39 Award wins and another 160 nominations. This was followed by action adventure fantasy film 'Warcraft' as Directed by Duncan Jones and starring Travis Fimmel, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Clancy Brown and Ruth Negga. Costing US$160M this video game adaptation grossed US$433M making it the highest grossing video game film adaptation of all time. 'Inferno' based on the Dan Brown book of the same name about Professor of Symbology Robert Langdon played for the third time by Tom Hanks, and his attempts to foil a deadly global plot masterminded by a wealthy industrialist intent on wiping out half the worlds population because it can't sustain itself. Foster plays that guy.

Bringing us up to date are the French comedy Directed, Co-Written and also starring Guillaume Canet 'Rock'n Roll' with Marion Cotillard and the soon to be released Western drama set in 1892 'Hostiles' with Christian Bale, Jesse Plemons, Stephen Lang, Peter Mullan and Rosamund Pike. Also due soon and in post-production is 'My Abandonment' and hitman revenge film 'Galveston' with Beau Bridges and Elle Fanning due later in 2018.

All up Foster has 53 Acting credits under this belt so far, and one as Producer on 'Rampart'. He also has a stage credit for appearing alongside Gillian Anderson in 2014 in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' at London's Young Vic Theatre, later transferring in 2016 to New York's St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. He has so far garnered seven Award wins for 'Hell or High Water', 'The Messenger' and 'Alpha Dog' plus a further thirty nominations.

Foster was in a long term relationship with Actress Robin Wright from early on in 2012, becoming engaged to be married two years later, only to call it all off in late 2014. They reconciled their differences a few months later only to abandon the relationship for good by August 2015. Fourteen months later in October 2016 he became engaged to Actress Laura Prepon, and the couple celebrated the birth of their first child together, a daughter in August of this year.

Ben Foster - described by some Critics as giving powerful 'unhinged' and 'intense' performances that even 'make a bad film worth seeing'; often plays crazy, violent roles; has a soft, mellow and calming voice; was ranked highly on the '30 under 30' Actors list and the '10 Actors to Watch' list and has already gained the accolades and recognition to prove it, and, is only improving with age and is increasingly in demand. With a varied body of work across the small screen, the silver screen and the stage taking in just about all genres (except a song and dance number . . . yet!), we'll stay tuned for your further offerings. In the meantime, Happy Birthday to you Ben, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 26th November 2015.

Always searching to bring current, relevant, interesting updates to these humble pages I was keen to source some early predictions on next years Oscar's race three months out from the 28th February 2016 ceremony. The Hollywood Reporter is pitching its main contenders for Best Picture as 'The Martian', 'Bridge of Spies', 'Straight Outta Compton' which have been Reviewed previously within these pages, and the others which have yet to be seen Down Under, and they are 'The Revenant' starring Leonardo DiCaprio (7th January), 'Spotlight' starring Mark Ruffalo (28th January), 'Brooklyn' with Saoirse Ronan (11th February), 'Room' with Brie Larson (28th January), 'Joy' with Jennifer Lawrence (26th December), 'The Big Short' with Christian Bale (14th January), and 'The Danish Girl' with Eddie Redmayne (28th January). These remaining seven films are yet to make their presence felt in Australia and will be Previewed in future Posts, and will be released as indicated, but can be seen in other territories depending on where you reside on the cinematic globe. Watch out for further Oscar race updates in the coming weeks.

Sticking though with the week ahead, there are five new release movies coming your way that kick start with a long standing pugilist offering that brings this spin off tale full circle where the former champ becomes the teacher to an aspiring student that brings back many memories; then there is a another sporting story grounded in scandalous truth that shocked and rocked the world for the individual caught in the middle and the world of supporters betrayed; next up a power couple share screen time for only the second time in this 70's romantic drama set somewhere on a European coast. Following this is a family festive film featuring more comedic talent that you can shake a candy cane at; and to wrap up the week an animated feature of monsters, growing pains, and hotel guests.

With these as Previewed below, and those movies still out on general release and as either Reviewed or Previewed before, there are plenty of reasons to get to you local Odeon and take in some filmic entertainment. When you have had chance to do so, share your cinematic critique with us here at Odeon Online in the Comments section below this, or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your movie.

CREED (Rated M) - in 1976, a young Sylvester Stallone, who wrote the screenplay for a film and a character that would forever becomes etched in cinematic folklore, burst onto our screens as Rocky Balboa - 'The Italian Stallion'. He was a down at heel no hope dead end lunk of wannabe Boxer from the poorer side of Philadelphia who against all the odds went onto to a world championship bout against Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). That film won three Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Directing for John Avildsen, and was nominated for a further seven awards including Best Actor and Best Writing for Stallone. It picked up another sixteen award wins and another fourteen nominations and propelled Stallone to super stardom in the years that followed. Subsequently there have been further Rocky films in 1979, 1982, 1985, 1990 and 'Rocky Balboa' in 2006. Those six films had a combined production budget of just US$119M and all up grossed US$1.27B. In the meantime and sticking with the pugilist theme, Stallone made 'Grudge Match' in 2013 with Robert De Niro and in 1978, 'Paradise Alley' - Stallone's Directorial debut, albeit about wrestling, but, a variation on a theme!

So this brings us to 'Creed', made for US$35M and Directed by Ryan Coogler, which as the name suggests is less about Rocky and more about Creed, the younger, and son of now deceased Apollo Creed who Rocky fought in both 1976's 'Rocky' and 1982's 'Rocky II'. Adonis Johnson Creed (Michael B. Jordan) never knew his famous World Champion Boxing father Apollo, but nonetheless is following in his footsteps with aspirations of becoming a boxing champion. Knowing that he needs the proper coaching to stand any chance at a title, Adonis travels to Philadelphia to seek out Rocky, now retired and running his Italian Restaurant as he was in the 2006 film. Rocky sees a lot of Apollo in his son, and so agrees to coach and mentor him with a chance at a title bout, but will the young aspiring fighter have the strength, determination and attitude that made his father a Champion. I love a good boxing movie, so I'll be there for this next instalment in the Rocky saga that is already garnering much positive press.

THE PROGRAM (Rated M) - it was only a matter of time before this controversial and meaty recent real life story of sporting scandal made it to our big screens. Based on the David Walsh book 'Seven Deadly Sins' this film tells the story of Lance Armstrong, as Directed by Stephen Frears charting his cycling rise to fame, his seven Tour de France wins and with it his cancer beating, record winning, charity fund raising, inspirational writing, clean as a whistle persona. Until of course it all came tumbling down when the truth was outed that all along he was a drug taking cheat on the grandest scale. With Ben Foster starring as Armstrong and Chris O'Dowd as the British journalist David Walsh who all along suspected something was not quite right, but couldn't prove it, but pushed forward with his investigation nonetheless with dogged determination to reveal the truth. Also starring Jesse Plemmons as disgraced drug taking cyclist Floyd Landis, Lee Pace as Armstrong's long term Agent Bill Stapleton, Guillaume Canet as Armstrong's Italian medic Michele Ferrari, and Dustin Hoffman.

BY THE SEA (Rated MA15+) - Hollywood 'it' couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie star in this mid-70's set film Directed, Produced, Written and Starring Angelina with her husband Brad. This is only their second cinematic outing together after the 2005 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' and this time they play a couple whose marriage is in crisis so they travel to France to rediscover each other, rekindle their relationship and repair the cracks that have appeared in the wedded lives. Jolie plays Vanessa, a former dancer, and Pitt is Roland, a writer who travel through France and while they linger longer at a beach side resort they begin to be drawn in by the locals and a honeymooning couple staying in the next room. Made for US$10M this has so far had a limited release only and is sure to be of interest for those who enjoy the European romantic drama films of the 60's and 70's, when this film is set.

LOVE THE COOPERS (Rated PG) - the first of the Christmas themed fare to grace our cinema screens over the coming festive season, this comedy offering boasts an all star line up comprising Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Anthony Mackie, Ed Helms, Diane Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, June Squibb, the voice of Steve Martin and pulled together by Director Jessie Nelson. Made for US$17M this films tells the story of four generations of the one family, the Coopers, who come together for their once a year festive gathering on Christmas Eve, but this year a series of unexpected events and visitors turn their celebrations and their festive cheer upside down and inside out. What falls out of the bottom is a new found appreciation for the meaning of family, relationships and the Christmas spirit.  Sounds like a Santa sack full of laughs!

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 (Rated PG) - the predecessor of this film was released in September 2012 off a US$85M budget grossing US$359M, and so on that basis it was a foregone conclusion that a sequel would follow. And it is, just in time for the holiday season. Once again Directed by Genndy Tartakovski, this animated feature was made for slightly less at US$80M and since its release in September elsewhere has already grossed US$420M. Bringing together the voice talents of again Adam Sandler, Mel Brooks, Kevin James, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, and Fran Drescher amongst others, the Hotel has now relaxed its rules about allowing only monster guests to stay, now admitting humans too, but in doing so Drac is concerned that his half-human half-vampire grandson Dennis is growing up without showing any of his vampiric tendencies. Drac enlists the help of his mates to coach, train and mentor Dennis in the way of the vampire, but Drac's Dad, Vlad pays a visit to the Hotel and has other plans in store for young half-blood Dennis and the human guests! Another sequel is already planned on the strength of this films success already - for September 2018.

With another strong choice of films offering sport, drama, comedy, romance, animation, something for everyone, and some familiar characters seen before, I will see you, at the Odeon!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-