Birthday's to share this week : 21st-27th August 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Kristen Wiig does on 22nd August - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 43, 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 21st August

• Peter Weir - Born 1944, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Carrie-Anne Moss - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actress | Producer
• Kim Catrall - Born 1956, turns 60 - Actress | Producer
• Hayden Panettiere - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Monday 22nd August

• Kristen Wiig - Born 1973, turns 43 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Valerie Harper - Born 1939, turns 77 - Actress
• Honor Blackman - Born 1925, turns 91 - Actress
• Ty Burrell - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor
• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Richard Armitage - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor
• Rodrigo Santoro - Born 1975, turns 41 - Actor  

Tuesday 23rd August

• Alexandre Desplat - Born 1961, turns 55 - Composer | Conductor | Songwriter
• Roger Avery - Born 1965, turns 51 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Charley Boorman - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Scott Caan - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director  

Wednesday 24th August

• Rupert Grint - Born 1988, turns 28 - Actor
• James D'Arcy - Born 1975, turns 41 - Actor
• Steve Guttenberg - Born 1958, turns 58 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Stephen Fry - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actor | Television Personality | Writer | Producer | Director
• Kevin Dunn - Born 1956, turns 60 - Actor
• Anne Archer - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actress | Producer  

Thursday 25th August

• Blake Lively - Born 1987, turns 29 - Actress
• Alexander Skarsgard - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor
• Tom Hollander - Born1967, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Tom Skerritt - Born 1933, turns 83 - Actor | Director
• Tim Burton - Born 1958, turns 58 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Animator
• John Savage - Born 1949, turns 67 - Actor | Producer
• John Badham - Born 1939, turns 77 - Director | Producer | Actor
• Sean Connery - Born 1930, turns 86 - Actor | Producer  

Friday 26th August

• Chris Pine - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Macaulay Culkin - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actor
• Melissa McCarthy - Born 1970, turns 46 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer  

Saturday 27th August

• Tuesday Weld - Born 1943, turns 73 - Actress
• Peter Stormare - Born 1953, turns 63 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Tom Ford - Born 1961, turns 55 - Director | Producer | Writer | Fashion Designer
• Dean Devlin - Born 1962, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Aaron Paul - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actor | Producer 
• Ellar Coltrane - Born 1994, turns 22 - Actor 

Kristen Carroll Wiig was born in Canandaigua, New York to mother Laurie Johnston, an artist, and father Jon Wiig who managed a lakeside marina in Western New York. Her father is of Norwegian decent hence the surname which originates from a county in Western Norway. The family moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania when Kristen was three years old, attending Nitrauer Elementary School and then Mannheim Township Middle School. At age thirteen the family moved to Rochester, New York where she attended Allendale Columbia School before graduating from Brighton High School. Undecided about her career aspirations she attended a local community college participating in a three month long outdoor living programme. She went on to the University of Arizona from where she majored in Art. Needing to complete her course programme she took acting classes and was persuaded by her teacher to continue the craft, whereupon she moved to Los Angeles to begin eeking out an acting career. She was nineteen years of age.

Upon arrival in LA she found work performing with the 'Empty Stage Comedy Theatre' and 'The Groundlings' - an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school located on Melrose Avenue in LA, feeling that improv. was more suited to her talents than straight acting. In 2003 she appeared on the reality television hoax show - 'The Joe Schmo Show' which ran for three seasons with her appearance as 'The Quack Marriage Counsellor' Patricia 'Dr. Pat' Lane. She was encouraged to try for 'Saturday Night Live' and she gained her debut in November 2005 on Season 31, and became a full member of the cast from Season 32 in 2006 through until 2012. Along the way she picked up Primetime Emmy Award nominations for 'Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series' in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, and in 2009 'Entertainment Weekly' voted her in their list of Top 25 Funniest Women in Hollywood.

Over the years Wiig has had numerous television series roles on single and multiple episodes. These have included 'The Drew Carey Show', '30 Rock', 'Flight of the Conchords', Bored to Death', 'The Cleveland Show', 'The Simpsons', 'Portlandia', 'Arrested Development', 'The Spoils of Babylon', 'The Spoils Before Dying' and made for TV movie 'A Deadly Adoption'. She was also the voice of Lola Bunny on the 'Looney Tunes Show' from 2011 until 2014.

Wiig got her big screen break in the 2006 Christmas film 'Unaccompanied Minors' for Director Paul Feig. 2007 brought 'Knocked Up' for Director Judd Apatow with Seth Rogen, and then 'Meet Bill' with Aaron Eckhart, 'The Brothers Solomon' with Will Arnett and Will Forte, and rounding out a year of comedy 'Walk Hard : The Dewey Cox Story' with John C. Reilly.

2008 saw more comedy fare with 'Semi-Pro', 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', 'Pretty Bird' and 'Ghost Town', and then in 2009 more of the same with 'Adventureland', 'Whip It' in Drew Barrymore's Directorial debut and 'Extract'. 2010 followed up with 'Date Night', 'MacGruber' before her first non-comedic offering 'All Good Things' with Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst which made just US$645K back of its US$20M budget outlay. Sci-Fi comedy 'Paul' with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and then 'Bridesmaids' came next in 2011 which Wiig also wrote. That film became a critical and commercial success grossing US$289M off its US$33M budget with Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations forthcoming for Wiig in the Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay categories.

'Friends with Kids', 'Revenge for Jolly', 'Girl Most Likely', 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' for Director and Co-Star Ben Stiller and 'Anchor Man 2 : The Legend Continues' saw out 2013. 'Hateship, Loveship', 'The Skeleton Twins' and 'Welcome To Me' which Wiig also Co-Produced wrapped up 2014. A mixed bag of commercial success and failures here with 'Walter Mitty' bringing in US$203M and 'Anchor Man' US$174M compared to 'Friends with Kids' at US$12.2M, 'The Skeleton Twins' at US$5.7M, 'Welcome To Me' just US$625K and 'Hateship, Loveship' a very poor US$81K despite its strong cast including Nick Nolte, Guy Pearce, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Hailee Steinfeld.

The next year brought 'The Diary of a Teenage Girl', 'Nasty Baby', 'The Martian', 'Zoolander 2' for Director and Co-Star once again Ben Stiller, the all girl 'Ghostbusters' for Paul Feig again with Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Lesley Jones and still out on general release, and 'Sausage Party' just released bringing us up to date.




Next up and due later this year is 'Masterminds' with Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Jason Sudekis and 'Ghostbusters' Co-Stars Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. Also due out this year is 'The Heyday of Insensitive Bastards' and 'Downsizing' with Matt Damon due in 2017. Wiig has lent her voice talents over the years to 'Ice Age : Dawn of the Dinosaurs', 'How to Train Your Dragon', 'Despicable Me', 'Despicable Me 2', 'Her', 'How to Train Your Dragon 2', 'Sausage Party' and is reprising her roles as Agent Lucy Wilde in 'Despicable Me 3' and Ruffnut Thorston in 'How to Train Your Dragon 3' due in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Also announced is 'Now That's What I Call' with Leonard Di Caprio and 'The Greatest Showman on Earth' with Hugh Jackman.

All up Wiig has 82 acting credits to her name, nine as Producer, three as a Writer, and, she can sing too. She has nine award wins and 59 other nominations including one Academy Award, one Golden Globe, one BAFTA and six Primetime Emmy nods. Wiig was married to Actor Hayes Hargrove from 2005 until 2009, and is currently dating Actor, Writer and Producer Avi Rothman. She is a vegetarian and is known for her love of chocolate.

Kristen Wiig - best known for her comedy track record, improv. skills and observational humour that puts her right up there as one of the best in the business; but, also carving out a reputation for more serious, dramatic and straight roles; has achieved much in ten years and is much in demand as a result; is keen to write her own material and to turn her hand at Directing; and is brutally honest with herself, about her fears and foibles and what she likes and what she doesn't. Keeping it real Kristen and keeping us well humoured and entertained as your star continues to rise - Happy Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 25th September 2014.

After last weeks dearth of new releases - seven no less - comes another raft of new cinema content during the Aussie school holiday season with five new films to tease you out on a Spring evening into a darkened movie theatre with a bunch of popcorn chewing fizz slurping strangers. Sounds like fun . . . and indeed it will be, with the big screen rendering of a popular 80's TV revenge and retribution action series made famous by a stoic Edward Woodward in the title role back in the day; then we have estranged twins dodging death coincidentally and pondering their life and where/how and why it all went horribly wrong - sounds like a laugh and it might well be! Next up is an Aussie sex-romp charting the bedroom Olympic antics of five couples that is funny, controversial, scandalous and weird and is likely to polarise audiences because of its revealing at times taboo subject matter. Then we have a bungled kidnapping and a ransom refused because of a pending divorce and all the table turning hilarious fallout as a result; and to close out the week a foreign language coming of age story of two young teenage girls set amidst the backdrop of a newly independent state in the early 1990's.

Get out amongst it this week to your local independent or multiplex theatre, and when you've sat through your big screen entertainment, record your thoughts in the Comments section following this article, or a Review, and let me, and my other Reader know what you think! Enjoy the movie!

THE EQUALIZER (Rated MA15+) - 'The Equalizer' TV Series upon which this film is based ran for 88 episodes from mid-1985 through to mid-1989 and starred veteran actor Edward Woodward as Robert McCall - a former covert operations officer turned 'Equalizer' to protect the innocent, downtrodden and needy who are suffering at the hands of low life crims, organised crime, and the unscrupulous underworld of a late 80's New York City.

Fast forward to 2014 and Director Antoine Fuqua has once again teamed up with Denzel Washington to bring this popular 80's TV series to the big screen. Washington is Robert McCall a former black-ops Commando this time around, who having faked his own death is now leading a quite life in Boston. minding his own business, and trying to forget his violent turbulent past. Armed with a unique set of combat skills and a heap of experience he comes to the rescue to young Teri (Chloe Grace-Moretz) who is under the control of Russian gangsters and mobsters, as he can't simply sit-by and let her life go down to the toilet. And so McCall comes out of exile and self-imposed retirement to equalise the odds of the innocent, downtrodden and needy by doing what he does best, and dishing out his own brand of justice, mixed up with just a hint of vengeance! As the 80's show told us - if someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have no where else to turn, then you can call 'The Equalizer'!

THE SKELETON TWINS (Rated M) - twins Milo (Bill Hader) and Maggie (Kristen Wiig) have been estranged from each other for ten years or so, having been very close and almost inseparable as children. Coincidentally they both manage to cheat death on the same day and this together with other family circumstances reunite them once again at the family home in up-State New York - now both in their thirties. Milo is a struggling no-hope actor with little prospects on the horizon and Maggie a secretly unhappy wife who is barley keeping mind and soul together despite a loving husband. Milo seeks to rekindle a long-lost relationship with Rich (Ty Burrell) - a scandal that back in the day caused the rift between brother and sister. Maggie meanwhile fraternises with Aussie SCUBA instructor hunk Billy (Boyd Holbrook) potentially threatening her marriage. As the twins reunite and relive the painful memories of the past whilst confronting the confusion of the present day, their relationship is tested as they seek to make excuses for their past acts and reconcile their previous behaviours. Understanding this though and acknowledging their mistakes may be the only way they can truly move forward and re-establish the close brother and sister bond they once shared.

THE LITTLE DEATH (Rated MA15+) - another Aussie offering this week - this time from first time Director Josh Lawson who also wrote and stars. This is a film of relationships, sex, love, fantasy and fetish and what goes on behind the bedroom door. With the spotlight on the sexual shenanigans of five couples all living in the same street it peers into the often taboo subject of sex and the things people get up to to satisfy their sexual appetite, and the potential ramifications of it. Interwoven in the story is the new neighbour who somehow connects them all while asking us the question why we do what we do, and just how far are we prepared to go to get it for a few brief fleeting moments of sexual satisfaction? Also starring familiar faces including Lachy Hulme, Lisa McCune and Patrick Brammall this original comedy will leave you pondering the nature of its taboo subject matter.

LIFE OF CRIME (Rated MA15+) - based on an Elmore Leonard book this black comedy centres around two petty crims who decide to kidnap the wife of wealthy socialite Detroit property developer Frank Dawson (Tim Robbins) and seek a hefty ransom. In masterminding their get rich quick kidnapping scam to snaffle Mickey Dawson (Jennifer Aniston) and demand $1M for her release, they don't bank on nefarious husband Frank refusing to pay because he doesn't want her back, and besides he has a Mistress on the side and is about to file for divorce anyway! And so our crims need to quickly rethink their scheme and come up with Plan B to turn the tables, bring down the cheating husband, and take him for all they can - this time though aided and abetted by a somewhat annoyed and angry wife! Also starring Mos Def, Isla Fisher, Mark Boone Jnr., and John Hawkes this is Directed by Daniel Schecter.

IN BLOOM (Rated M) - set in Tiblisi in the early 90's, this film tells the coming of age story of two teens girls Eka (Lika Babluani) and Natia (Mariam Bokeria) with the backdrop of Georgia and their beautiful but increasingly run down city - newly independent from Russia and on the brink of civil unrest with all the uncertainty, fear and dread that this in turn creates. Their lives contrast each other but what goes on at home behind closed family doors has little consequence when compared to the adventure of boys, the big city, a new state of independence and their lives about to spring into bloom. When handsome young lad Lado gets to know Natia and gifts her a pistol with which to protect herself, the ramifications of this on both teenage lives will test the relationship and potentially change their young lives for ever. A multi-award winning film at various international film festivals, and nominated at this years Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film this film is touted as compelling viewing based on the real life childhood experiences of writer and co-Director Nana Ekvtimishvili.

And so there it is - five film offerings to tempt and tease your movie going tastebuds, but not so much for the kids this week! Nonetheless there is still plenty of great content doing the rounds from previous weeks to ensure that all tastes and genres are provided for.

Get amongst it - go see a movie!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

The Sydney Film Festival 2014 : 4th -15th June.

Once again the Sydney Film Festival is about to launch later this week offering us Sydneysiders and movie going tourists, film enthusiasts and cinema geeks a feast for the senses, and celluloid overload as we seek to cram in as much moving picture entertainment as is humanly possible over a twelve day period.

The Sydney Film Festival again cements its place as the world's longest continuously running film festival now in its 61st year, and judging by this years diverse offering is sure to provide some enticing entertainment for everyone, and will be sure to please. With films from across the globe from Argentina, Australia and Austria to the UK, Ukraine and the USA and just about everywhere in between, there are over 180 screenings over the period from Opening Night on 4th June to Closing Night on 15th June.

There are feature length films, short films, documentaries, retrospectives, classics, animated films, horror films, and many from first time Directors and many being premiered in Australia. There are films in official competition, and of the 180 or so screenings, over 30 are Australian.

You can see this years entries at an number of venues across Sydney, taking in The State Theatre, the George Street Event Cinemas, the Dendy Cinema at Opera Quays, the Cremorne Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, and the Skyline Drive-in at Blacktown. There will also be talks and discussions at the George Street Apple Store, and a Big Screen showing all things SFF at the Martin Place Amphitheatre, and don't forget to drop into the Sydney Film Festival Hub for lively talks, presentations, food, drink, pop-ups and perspectives - upstairs and downstairs at Sydney Town Hall throughout the Festival.

Some of the highlights this year would have to be 'Locke', 'The Rover', 'Snowpiercer', 'Calvary', 'The Captive', 'Frank', 'The Two Faces of January', 'Joe', 'Palo Alto', 'Love is Strange', 'The Skeleton Twins', 'Cold in July', 'Night Moves', 'Starred Up', and 'Babylon' amongst a plethora of others. You could also catch a Robert Altman retrospective and seat yourself in front of 'Nashville' or 'M*A*S*H' or 'Short Cuts' or five of his others screening also, and if it's a Classic you're looking for then you could go for 'Rebel Without a Cause' or the original 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.

With so much to choose from you had better get in quick. You can get more information on all films, session times, locations and ticketing etc. by checking out the official website at : SFF.ORG.AU or you can call 1300 733 733, or you can download the app : SFF 2014 APP and carry it all around with you in your pocket. Tickets are what you would expect to pay for any singular screening at $19.50 but there are bulk deals to be had, and you can package your screening up with dinner etc., and as an added bonus many events are free too!

Have a great film festival, and see as many movies as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-