Birthday's to share this week : 31st July - 6th August 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

M.Night Shyamalan does on 6th August - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 46, 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 31st July

• J.K.Rowling - Born 1965, turns 51 - Writer | Producer
• Geraldine Chaplain - Born 1944, turns 72 - Actress | Writer 
• Michael Biehn - Born 1956, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Wesley Snipes - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actor | Producer
• Dean Cain - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director 

Monday 1st August

• Adrian Dunbar - Born 1958, turns 58 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Demian Bichir - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Sam Mendes - Born 1965, turns 51 - Producer | Director
• Jason Mamoa - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Jack O'Connell - Born 1990, turns 26 - Actor  

Tuesday 2nd August

• Simon Kinberg - Born 1973, turns 43 - Writer | Producer
• Kevin Smith - Born 1970, turns 46 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor | Editor
• Sam Worthington - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor | Producer
• Edward Furlong - Born 1977, turns 39 - Actor | Producer
• Mary-Louise Parker - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actress  

Wednesday 3rd August

• Evangeline Lilly - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actress
• Steven Berkoff - Born 1937, turns 79 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Martin Sheen - Born 1940, turns 76 - Actor | Producer | Director
• John Landis - Born 1950, turns 66 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Stuntman
• John C.McGinley - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Max Landis - Born 1985, turns 31 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor  

Thursday 4th August

• Billy Bob Thornton - Born 1955, turns 61 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Daniel Dae Kim - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor
• Greta Gerwig - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director
• Abigail Spencer - Born 1981, turns 35 - Actress | Writer | Producer  

Friday 5th August

• John Jarratt - Born 1951, turns 65 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Mark Strong - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor
• James Gunn - Born 1970, turns 46 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor | Songwriter  

Saturday 6th August

• M.Night Shyamalan - Born 1970, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Barbara Windsor - Born 1937, turns 79 - Actress
• Michelle Yeoh - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Vera Farmiga - Born 1973, turns 43 - Actress | Director
• Melissa George - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actress  

Manoj Shyamalan was born in Mahe, Pondicherry in south west India to mother Jayalakshmi, an obstetrician and gynaecologist , and father Nelliate C. Shyamalan a graduate with a medical degree from the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, located in Pondicherry. In the 60's following the birth of their first child, Veena, the parents relocated to the USA, with the mother returning to India during the latter half of her pregnancy with Manoj to be at the family home in Chennai. Following his birth, the young lad spent the first six weeks in Pondicherry (now known as Puducherry) and was raised thereafter in Penn Valley, Pennsylvania. He was raised a Hindu and attended Waldron Mercy Academy - a Roman Catholic grammar school in Philadelphia, and then the Episcopal Academy in Merion, Pennsylvania. From here he gained a New York University Merit Scholarship in 1988 and attended the Tisch School of Arts in Manhattan from where he graduated in 1992. It was at this time that he gave himself the 'Night' as a middle name.

The young Shyamalan had always fancied himself as a film maker having been given a Super 8 camera as a young boy. By age 17, he had made forty-five or so home movies, and was an ardent fan of Steven Spielberg. His first film was made while studying at University - 'Praying with Anger' - a semi-autobiographical film released in 1992 which he wrote, Produced, Directed and starred in at a cost of US$800K, and it returned US$1.4M from its limited release. His next film came in 1998 with 'Wide Awake' which he wrote and Directed for US$6M and starred Denis Leary, Robert Loggia, Rosie O'Donnell and Julia Stiles - again only with a limited release it made just US$306K, but this comedy drama offering picked several award nominations on the circuit.

This was followed up by the critically acclaimed and commercially successful 'The Sixth Sense' with Bruce Willis, Toni Collette and Hayley Joel Osment. Made for US$40M it returned US$673M and remains Shyamalan's most commercially successful film to date. The film picked up 32 awards wins and 53 further nominations including six Academy Award, two Golden Globe, four BAFTA and one SAG nomination. The film was Written and Directed by Shyamalan. He followed this up quickly with 'Unbreakable' in 2000 which he again wrote, Directed and Co-Produced too. Starring Bruce Willis again with Samuel L. Jackson with Robin Wright this film returned US$248M from its US$75M budget and was hailed both a critical and commercial success picking up two award wins and another twelve nominations.

This success was followed up in 2002 with 'Signs' with Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix and Rory Culkin. Made for US$72M it made US$408M and was again critically acclaimed and a commercial hit picking ups three award wins and a further thirty nominations. 2004's 'The Village' which was Writen, Produced and Directed by Shyamalan fared less well with the critics but commercially was worthwhile returning US$275M from US$60M and starred Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt, Adrien Brody and Bryce Dallas Howard.

'Lady in the Water' in 2006 was Shyamalan's poorest performing feature film both critically and at the Box Office yielding just US$72M from its US$70M outlay. 'The Happening' came next which fared better at the Box Office making US$164M against a budget of uS$48M but less so critically. 'The Last Airbender' in 2010 represented more big budget family oriented action fantasy adventure fare at a cost of US$150M - it returned US$320M but was panned by the critics and picked up five Razzie Awards.

2013 brough 'After Earth' with Will and Jaden Smith and Zoe Kravitz based on a story by Will Smith, and written for the screen, Produced and Directed by Shyamalan. It returned US$244M from a budget cost of US$130M but it too was slated by the critics. This was followed up in 2015 by the found footage horror film 'The Visit' that Shyamalan wrote, Co-Produced and Directed out of his own US$5M to fund the film. It retuned a tidy US$99M based on that meagre investment and was hailed positively by the critics stating that Shyamalan had returned to form - lets's hope so!

Next up and due in January 2017 is 'Split' - a psychological horror thriller with James McAvoy that again is Written, Produced and Directed by Shyamalan. In the meantime he has had various television network productions on the go or in the pipeline including 'Proof' for Syfy, 'Lost Horizon' for NBC and 'Wayward Pines' which has just finished its second season with Matt Dillon in the lead role for Fox. There was also 'Devil' a 2010 film which he wrote and Produced, and the new television series of 'Tales from the Crypt' recently announced for 2017 which he is writing and Directing for. Next up is 'Labour of Love' just announced for a 2018 release and starring Bruce Willis.

All up Shyamalan has seventeen Writer credits to his name, fourteen as Producer and fourteen as Director with nine cameo appearances in his own films. He has twelve award wins and 36 other nominations including two Academy Award nods for Direction and Writing on 'The Sixth Sense', one Golden Globe and two BAFTA's for the same film.  He has been married to Bhavna Vaswani since 1993 whom he met while studying at New York University, and with whom he has three daughters. He set up his own Production Company with Ashwin Rajan - 'Blinding Edge Pictures' which has produced all his films since 'Unbreakable' in 2000.


M.Night Shyamalan - the lord of the plot twist ending that often we never see coming; still commanding our attention largely because of his more notable early cutting edge body of work; always place ordinary everyday people in extraordinary circumstances; Writes, Produces, Directs and often cameo's in his own films; and is a big fan of Spielberg and Hitchcock and you can see their touchstones in much of his work. Despite the very mixed views about his career and film making choices, his films have grossed US$2,85B from a combined US$800M budget - so that's not such a bad statistic, and this humble Blog Writer remains a fan! Happy Birthday to you Manoj - from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 24th September 2015.

The Adelaide Film Festival kicks off in mid-October featuring over 180 films for a ten day period from October 15th until 25th with local South Australian content, Australian films, and international offerings with ten films in competition all receiving their Australian Premier screening. Those that are kick off with Cate Blanchett's latest offering 'Carol' after gaining critical acclaim at Cannes earlier this year, with others 'Freeheld', 'Office', 'Lamb', 'Father', 'Gold Coast', 'Tanna', '316', 'Neon Bull' and 'Looking for Grace'. Scott Hicks new film 'Highly Strung' gets its World Premier at the Festival Opening Night Gala, with 'Youth' starring Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz and Jane Fonda bringing the festival to a close on 25th. If you are in the Adelaide locale in the latter half of October head on to the Palace Nova and Mercury Cinemas for more films in a ten day period than you can shake a choc top at.

This week however, there are six new cinematic offerings with which to tease, tempt and tussle you to a movie theatre kicking off with those damn pesky drug barons down Mexico way looking to create a snow storm as one fanciful FBI Agent seeks to bring it all crashing down. Then there is a past master of the horror genre who went off the rails a bit, but seemingly is back on track with this tale of outback country shenanigans with things that go bump in the night with an old couple up to no good down in the woods today! Then there is murder, mystery, mayhem and music in a sleepy English town where this grizzly story unfolds before the townsfolk can move on with their lives; and after this, two stories with the back-drop of the 70's - one in SanFran and the other in deepest darkest Melbourne but both totally separate; and wrapping up, an origin story involving a much loved character setting out on his own voyage of discovery.

So many films, so little time, but when you have made time to watch any one of the below Previewed films remember to drop a Comment below this or any other Post and showcase your filmic views, opinions and observations to the wider Bloggersphere. Enjoy your film.

SICARIO (Rated MA15+) - there is a very strong pedigree behind this film that should assure it of a high degree of success. Director Denis Villeneuve, Cinematographer Roger Deakins, and starring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro, Jon Bernthal and Victor Garber this film was made for US$30M and was in competition for the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May this year and is going out on general release now. 'Sicario' is cartel slang for 'hitman', and in the context of this film surrounds the drug war between the US and its border with Mexico. This, as you know, has been the subject of many a film over the years, but, already this film has garnered much interest and much acclaim for its gritty, raw, emotional and violent portrayal of the impact that the war on drugs has on those associated with it - directly and indirectly.

Our story here surrounds an idealistic FBI Agent Kate Mercer (Emily Blunt) who is tasked with chasing down a Mexican drug lord. She is operating under the watchful eye of an undercover assassin with a mysterious and questionable past and who is almost beyond the law, Alejandro (Benicio del Toro), and has been engaged by a special government task force to fight the ever escalating war on drugs, led by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin). As the Team get deeper and deeper into the war between duelling drug lords, so Agent Mercer must question her own moral compass, the fine line between right and wrong, and all the things she believes in to survive the battle she has been thrust in to. A must watch, and slated as one of the films of the year.

THE VISIT (Rated M) - M. Night Shyamalan has failed to ignite the success of his early offerings with  'The Sixth Sense' and 'Unbreakable', and so this time around he has Written, Produced and Directed and taken his destiny into his own hands with this dark horror thriller comedy that he made for a lean US$5M of his own hard earned cash and has so far realised a return of US$39M. The film sees brother and sister Tyler and Becca respectively (Ed Oxenbould and Olivia DeJonge) who get packed off to outback Pennsylvania to spend a week with their maternal grandparents Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie) and Nana (Deanna Dunagan) whom they have never met, while Mum (Kathryn Hahn) sails off into the sunset on a cruise with the new boyfriend. Once grandparents and grandkids get acquainted, all is going swimmingly until things start to go bump in the night and some strange happenings with the oldies start to occur, that make the young kids wonder if they'll ever make it home.

LONDON ROAD (Rated MA15+) - From 'Fury Road' to 'London Road' with 'Locke' and 'Legend' in between Tom Hardy is snapping up just about every role there is going - action epic, violent bio-pic, small independent and now art-house musical murder mystery. Directed by Rufus Norris, 'London Road' tells the true life story of a street in Ipswich, in England that back in 2006 became the centre of attention across the nation for all the wrong reasons. When the bodies of five women were found in Ipswich the residents of London Road found themselves at the centre of a multiple murder case - in their own back yards and on their doorsteps! The events that unfolded during the investigations surrounding the serial killing murders of five prostitutes who used to work the nearby streets, and the arrest and subsequent conviction of Steve Wright were picked up by the National Theatre and turned into a stage play that was originally Directed by Norris, who has now committed the story to celluloid and turned it into a musical - but not perhaps the kind you would expect! Using word for word dialogue of those real residents embroiled at the centre of the murder case and interviewed at the time, their stories come together through conversation, emotion, observation and anecdotes to showcase how they rallied around and came out the other end. Tom Hardy stars with Olivia Coleman and Anita Dobson.

CUT SNAKE (Rated MA15+) - This Australian thriller is Directed by Tony Ayres and takes its title from the Aussie saying 'as mad as a cut snake' - meaning stay away because that critter is mightily pissed off! And so it is here, as this film takes us back to the mid-70's Melbourne where Sparra Farrell (Alex Russell), a young guy in his mid-20's living a quiet life, working an honest job and has hooked up with a lovely young girl Paula (Jessica de Gouw). Things are going well as he tries to put his violent, darker past behind him and build a new life . . . until Pommie (Sullivan Stapleton) turns up. This ex-cell mate is a charismatic, foreboding man who quickly turns Sparra's life on its head and he finds himself heading into those bad old ways he has earlier turned his back on, and all the while he has Paula to consider and what she means to him.

THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL (Rated MA15+) - Written and Directed by Marielle Heller and based on the semi-autobiographical graphic novel of the same name by Phoebe Gloeckner this takes us back too to the mid-70's but this time San Francisco, where 15 year old would-be cartoonist Minnie Goetze (Bel Powley) gets it on for the first time with her mothers boyfriend Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard), and despite the twenty year age difference between them she relishes her first sexual experience, the awakening within her, and her desire for more. This coming of age story in the time of free-love, sex, drugs, and the American way she records in an audio diary and through her animated scribblings which move this unique story along in a non-judgemental emotional funny and provocative way. Krsiten Wiig stars as Charlotte - Minnie's mother. This has already garnered much positive press for its strong storyline, it's fresh approach to the teenage sexual awakening genre, solid performances and it has won several awards around the festival circuit on its way to our cinemas.

PAN (Rated PG) - Director Joe Wright has taken US$150M and turned this Peter Pan story into an origin tale that takes us way back when young twelve year old Peter (Aussie newcomer Levi Miller) was wet behind the ears and totally clueless about the ways of the world and what fate held in store for him. Whisked away to Neverland, Peter finds fun, adventure, excitement and danger around every corner but he meets new friends James Hook (no hook as yet, Garrett Hedlund) and Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara) who will help him thwart the pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) whilst discovering his true identity and purpose in life so sending him on his way as the much loved Peter Pan.

Six cracking reasons to get out amongst a bunch of like minded strangers to a warm dark place with a bright light, deafening surround sound, pre-show ads that go on for way too long, and a candy bar full of sugary tasty snacks that you don't really want, but you'll buy anyway. When you've done all this, share your thoughts . . . and then do it all over again next time!

See you at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-