What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 19th January 2017.

Last week I reported on the recent Golden Globe Awards that were held on 8th January. Two days before that however, on 6th January at the historic Avalon nightclub in Hollywood, the 6th International AACTA Awards (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) were held. These awards, which follow up Decembers Australian only awards, recognise international film achievement regardless of country or origin, in seven distinct categories. Hosted by Australian Actor Daniel MacPherson, and kicking off 2017's awards season, the star studded event played out with the eventual winners and grinners from those nominated a month earlier, being as follows :-

* Best Film : 'LA LA LAND',
* Best Direction : MEL GIBSON for 'Hacksaw Ridge',
* Best Actor : CASEY AFFLECK for 'Manchester By The Sea' (released in Australia on 2nd February).
* Best Actress : EMMA STONE for 'La La Land',
* Best Supporting Actor : DEV PATEL for 'Lion' (released in Australia today, see below),
* Best Supporting Actress : NICOLE KIDMAN for 'Lion' (released in Australia today, see below),
* Best Screenplay : KENNETH LONERGAN for 'Manchester By The Sea' (released in Australia on 2nd February).

Turning attention to this weeks latest release films, we have just two to tease you out on a hot Summer's day or night with some air conditioned relief in a cinema of your choosing. We launch with the third instalment in this high octane extreme adventure franchise that sees a heavily tattooed thrill seeking rogue athletic dude come back to life and save the planet from a potential weapon of worldwide destruction and a few crooked governments along the way. Hold on tight! Then we slow down the pace somewhat about the true story of one man's journey to trace his real family back in India from the comfort, security and love of his adopted Australian home. Take your Kleenex!

As always, your thoughts, opinions and observations are welcomed by your fellow readers here at Odeon Online so feel free to record a relevant, pertinent and unbiased Comment below this or any other Post when you have sat through your film of choice in the week ahead. We look forward to hearing from you, and in the interim, enjoy your movie going experience.

'xXx : THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE' (Rated M) - the 'xXx' franchise of films is hardly going to go down in history as the most successful, most groundbreaking, most acclaimed series of action movies to grace our screens, having grossed just $349M from the first two instalments off the back of a US$157M combined production budget. The 2002 launch film 'xXx' starred Vin Diesel as our thrill seeking extreme sports stuntman and rebel athlete Xander Cage who becomes a reluctant spy for the National Security Agency tasked with hunting down a bunch of bad-ass Ruskies. That film was Directed by Rob Cohen and grossed US$275M from its US$70M budget and received generally favourable reviews. The 2005 follow up however, was another story completely. Directed by Lee Tamahori for US$87M 'xXx : The State of the Union' starred this time around Ice Cube as XXX Agent Darius Stone, as Diesel had a scheduling conflict with another movie he was committed to at the time. That film grossed just US$71M and was received poorly by critics. Now in 2017 Xander Cage is back even though he was killed off to explain his absence from the second film. Going back as far 2006 Diesel stated that he would return as our titular hero with a look and feel more in keeping with his successful first instalment. It's taken eleven years to bring that dream to our cinemas and here we have it, and there is talk already of Diesel reprising his role for a fourth film which could into production as early as mid-year this year.

This time Directed by D.J.Caruso, Co-Produced by Vin Diesel and seeing a return to form as the risen from the dead Xander Cage, our extreme athlete comes out of self imposed exile recruited by the CIA to track down a weapon which can control all of the worlds military satellites. Known as Pandora's Box, in the hands of one Xiang (Donnie Yen), this weapon could have dire consequences on the world as we know it. And so Xander Cage recruits a crack team of like minded thrill seekers all with a particular set of skills to aid him in his quest to bring down Xiang. Conspiracy and corruption will ensue as Cage and his cohorts get wrapped up in it at the highest levels of world governments, including their own. Seeing Samuel L. Jackson return for the third time to the franchise as NSA Agent Augustus Eugene Gibbons, with Toni Collette, Ruby Rose and Tony Jaa amongst others you can be sure of high octane action, mind boggling stunts, explosive set pieces and a thumping sound track, with Cage looking positively 'dope' in the process!

'LION' (Rated PG) - this drama film Directed by first time Garth Davis is based on the autobiographical book 'A Long Way Home' by Saroo Brierley and tell the story of his life as played out by Sunny Pawar as the young Saroo back home in India, and Dev Patel as the older Saroo at home in Australia. Already highly acclaimed by critics the world over, the film was made for just US$12M and has so far grossed US$19M plus twenty award wins and a further 62 nominations including the yet to be announced winners for this years BAFTA's, as well as this years yet to be released Academy Award nominee announcements. The story here centres around five year old Saroo who unwittingly boards a train for Calcutta and gets off 1600 kilometres from home, in a strange land and ends up in an orphanage. Some time later he learns that he had been adopted by Sue and John Brierley (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham respectively) in Tasmania, Australia. Fast track two decades and Saroo moves to Melbourne to study hospitality management, and falls in with a group who persuade him to track down his real family back in India using Google Earth. This is his story. Take a box of tissues for this weepie tale of loss, hope, belonging and identity.

With just two new filmic offerings coming to a big screen near you each giving us something different, together with those still out on general release, you have ample opportunity to catch a movie of choice in the run up to the end of the (Australian) school summer holidays. Then, share your thoughts with us here. In the meantime, I'll see you somewhere, sometime in the week ahead at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 17th - 23rd July 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Vin Diesel does on 18th July - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 49, 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 17th July

• F. Gary Gray - Born 1969, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Actor
• Jason Clarke - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor
• David Hasselhoff - Born 1952, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Donald Sutherland - Born 1935, turns 81 - Actor | Producer | Writer  

Monday 18th July

• James Brolin - Born 1940, turns 76 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Paul Verhoeven - Born 1938, turns 78 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Vin Diesel - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Kelly Reilly - Born 1977, turns 39 - Actress | Producer
• Elizabeth McGovern - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actress
• Kristen Bell - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actress | Producer | Singer

Tuesday 19th July

• Benedict Cumberbatch - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor
• Atom Egoyan - Born 1960, turns 56 - Producer | Director | Writer | Editor | Cinematographer
• Abel Ferrara - Born 1951, turns 65 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Songwriter
• Mark Webber - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• George Dzundza - Born 1945, turns 71 - Actor

Wednesday 20th July

• Cormac McCarthy - Born 1933, turns 83 - Writer | Producer
• Josh Holloway - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
• Frank Whaley - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor | Director | Writer
• Diana Rigg - Born 1938, turns 78 - Actress
• Sandra Oh - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actress 

Thursday 21st July

• Juno Temple - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actress
• Charlotte Gainsbourg - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actress
• Norman Jewison - Born 1926, turns 90 - Producer | Director
• John Lovitz - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Michael Caton - Born 1943, turns 73 - Actor
• Josh Hartnett - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actor | Producer

Friday 22nd July

• Terence Stamp - Born1938, turns 78 - Actor | Director
• Paul Schrader - Born 1946, turns 70 - Writer | Director
• Danny Glover - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Albert Brooks - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor | Director | Writer
• Willem Dafoe - Born 1955, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• David Spade - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• John Leguizamo - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Rhys Ifans - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor
• Franka Potenta - Born 1974, turns 42 - Actress | Singer
• Selena Gomez - Born 1992, turns 24 - Singer | Actress

Saturday 23rd July

• Ronny Cox - Born 1938, turns 78 - Actor
• Woody Harrelson - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Daniel Radcliffe - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actor 

Marc Sinclair was born in Alameda County, California, USA to mother Delora Sherleen Sinclair, an astrologer. He never knew his biological father, and was raised in New York City by his mother and stepfather Irving Vincent, an acting coach and theatre manager. He has a younger brother and sister and a fraternal twin Paul Vincent who works as a film editor. He started his acting career by accident at the age of seven when he and a bunch of mates broke into a local theatre intent on vandalising the property, but were caught before they could by the Artistic Director, who offered the lads roles in an upcoming play, or, call the Police. They opted for the former option. That was in a children's play 'Dinosaur Door' produced at the Greenwich Village Theatre for the New City. His career onstage progressed to a New York Repertory Company run by his stepfather, and from there to Hunter College - a public university and part of the City University of New York where his skills in creative writing led him to an interest in screenwriting. By seventeen with a muscle toned build he was bouncing at several hip & trendy New York night spots, and it was then that he changed his name to Vin Diesel.

After three years majoring in English at Hunter College he dropped out and headed to Hollywood to make his acting fame and fortune - but this was no easy task, and after a year as a struggling actor he returned to New York. His screen debut came in an uncredited role on the Penny Marshall Directed film of 'Awakening' in 1990 with Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. At about this time his mother gave him a book 'Feature Films at Used Car Prices' which motivated Diesel to take his destiny into his own hands. From here, in 1994 he Wrote, Produced, Directed and starred in his own semi-autobiographical short film 'Multi-Facial' about an actors struggle with the audition process. It screened at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Three years later in 1997 Diesel Wrote, Produced, Directed and starred in his first fill length feature film 'Strays' which played in competition at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. The next year, on the strength of 'Multi-Facial' Steven Spielberg cast him in his WWII epic 'Saving Private Ryan'.

In 2000, he secured a major role in the Ben Affleck and Giovanni Ribisi film 'Boiler Room' with his breakout role coming later that same year as Riddick in the Sci-Fi actioner 'Pitch Black'. He would reprise the role in 2004 in 'The Chronicles of Riddick' teaming up again with Director David Twohy. Diesel also Produced the film. Whilst hardly a commercial success at the Box Office barely recovering its US$110M budget, it did well enough on the DVD after sales market, prompting a further sequel in 2013, 'Riddick' which again Diesel Produced and Twohy Directed this time for a more modest US$40M. A further instalment has recently been announced.

2001 saw his action hero status reach new heights in his first outing as Dominic Toretto in 'The Fast and the Furious' Directed by Rob Cohen for US$38M and returning US$207M so guaranteeing a follow-up. Diesel skipped 2003's sequel '2 Fast 2 Furious' and had an uncredited cameo in the 2006 'The Fast and the Furious : Tokyo Drift', but has appeared in all films since - in 2009's 'Fast & Furious'; 2011's 'Fast Five'; 2013 'Fast & Furious 6' and 2015's 'Furious 7'. So far all seven films have been made for a combined US$759M and have grossed worldwide US$3,90B. 'Furious 7' currently stands at the #7 ranking highest grossing films of all time at a haul of US$1,52B. 'Fast 8' is currently filming for a 2017 release, and 'Fast & Furious 9 and 10' have been announced for 2019 and 2021 respectively.

2002's 'xXx' also helped cement Diesel's action star status with his role being reprised in 2017's 'xXx : The Return of Xander Cage'. 2003 brought 'A Man Apart' Directed by F. Gary Gray; 2005 saw the action comedy 'The Pacifier' which returned US$199M from its US$56M outlay, and then 'Find Me Guilty' for Sidney Lumet in 2006 with Diesel playing mobster Giacomo DiNorscio - the subject of the longest Mafia court case in American history. 2008 saw 'Babylon A.D.' - a SciFi action film with Mark Strong, Gerard Depardieu and Michelle Yeoh. In 2009 he wrote, Produced, Directed and starred in the 20 minute short film 'Los Bandeleros' providing a back story for the characters and events leading up to the start of the fourth 'Fast & Furious' film, so bridging the gap between that film and 'Tokyo Drift'.

2014 saw the Marvel Cinematic Universe sleeper hit 'Guardians of the Galaxy' with Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista and Diesel as the voice of 'Groot' - a tree like humanoid. The film made US$774M at the global Box Office, with a sequel now in post-production for a 2017 release.

'The Last Witch Hunter' was released in 2015 with Elijah Wood and Michael Caine which brings us up to date. Next up is Ang Lee's 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' with Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, Steve Martin and Chris Tucker due in November this year, and a whole bunch of sequels due over the next five years as already mentioned within this Post, including a fourth Riddick instalment with 'Furia' recently announced. All up Diesel has forty Acting credits to his name, 22 as Producer, five as Director and four as Writer. He has seven award wins and a further 26 nominations. He has also lent his voice talents to 'The Iron Giant' in 1999, several video games based on his character Riddick, and as 'Groot' in 'Guardian's of the Galaxy' and its follow up due early next year.

In 1995 he formed 'One Race Films' - a video production company behind many of his films, and with it a subsidiary company 'Tigon Studios' - a video game development business, and another subsidiary 'Racetrack Records' - a record label, music studio and production company. He has been in a long term relationship with Mexican born model Paloma Jimenez since 2007, and together they have three children - Hania Riley (born 2008), Vincent Sinclair (born 2010) and Pauline (born 2015) named after his good friend and 'Fast & Furious' Co-Star Paul Walker who died in November 2013.








Vin Diesel - he of the deep instantly recognisable voice, avid 'Dungeons and Dragons' player for 20+ years now, deeply private in his personal life, a lover and supporter of the Dominican Republic where he filmed 'Los Bandeleros', and the action star of four burgeoning film franchises still going strong after 15+ years and that keep audiences coming back for more - Happy Birthday to you Vin, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 10th - 16th May 2015

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Danny Trejo does on 16th May - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 71, 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 10th May

• Bono (Paul Hewson) - Born 1960, turns 55 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Actor
• Meg Foster - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actress
• Maureen Lipman - Born 1946, turns 69, Actress

Monday 11th May

• Holly Valance - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actress | Singer
• Frances Fisher - Born1952, turns 63 - Actress
• Tim Blake Nelson - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director

Tuesday 12th May

• Bruce Boxleitner - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor
• Stephen Baldwin - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• Domhnall Gleeson - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actor
• Emilo Estevez - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Jason Biggs - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actor | Producer
• Ving Rhames - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor | Producer
• Gabriel Byrne - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor | Producer
• Emily VanCamp - Born 1986, turns 29 - Actress
• Susan Hampshire - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actress

Wednesday 13th May

• Zoe Wanamaker - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actress
• Robert Pattinson - Born 1986, turns 29 - Actor
• Harvey Keitel - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actor | Producer
• Joe Johnston - Born 1950, turns 65 - Director | Producer
• Tim Pigott-Smith - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor

Thursday 14th May

• Tim Roth  - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer
• George Lucas - Born 1944, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Robert Zemekis - Born 1951, turns 64 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Danny Huston - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Director
• Cate Blachett - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actress
• Sofia Coppola - Born 1971, turns - Director | Writer | Actor

Friday 15th May

• Chazz Palminteri - Born 1952, turns 63 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Grant Heslov - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director

Saturday 16th May

• Pierce Brosnan - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actor | Producer
• Danny Trejo - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor | Producer
• Jim Sturgess - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actor
• Megan Fox - Born 1986, turns 29 - Actress
• Debra Winger - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actress | Producer

If you ever need a bad ass Mexican to star in your screen adaptation then Danny Trejo is your man. Born Dan Trejo and of Mexican decent, to mother Alice Rivera and construction worker father Dan Trejo in Echo Park, Los Angeles our archetypal muscled moustached Mexican lookalike was in and out of trouble and in and out of jail in his early years. As a child he already had a drug habit and a criminal record and was imprisoned several times for armed robbery and drug related offences. Over an eleven year period he served time in Tracy, Folsom, Susanville, San Quentin and Soledad prisons in California throughout, the 60's. During his time on the inside at San Quentin he trained as a boxer and went on to win Championship titles in the prisons lightweight and welterweight divisions. He also enlisted in a 12 step rehabilitation programme which he credits as being the main reason he kicked his drug habit. He has been sober too for 45 years now.

Upon leaving prison he worked as a youth drug counsellor and was asked for assistance with cocaine issues on the set of 'Runaway Train'. The screenplay for this film was written by Edward Bunker, a successful crime writer and former prison inmate of Trejo's in San Quentin. At this point Bunker offered Trejo $320 a day to train boxing skills to the movies headline star Eric Roberts. He caught the eye of the Director who subsequently cast him in a small role in the film . . . as a boxer.

That was 1985 and 'The Boxer' in 'Runaway Train' was credited to Daniel Trejo and from there he never looked back. From that point on Trejo became one of the most prolific Actors in Hollywood putting out numerous films year on year since the late 80's and with many of Hollywood's A-Listers and action stars. These have included the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone, Steven Seagal, Antonio Banderas, Charles Bronson, Nicholas Cage, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Harrison Ford, John Malkovich, Al Pacino, Vin Diesel and Johnny Depp.

His filmography back in those earlier days include many B-List offerings, straight to video output and more mainstream fare but usually trademarked by mean, menacing, criminal tough guy type roles that allowed Trejo to flex his muscles, show off his tattoos, get his shirt off, kill off some other bad guys and mutter a few lines. These notable outings have included 'Bulletproof', 'Lock Up', 'Marked for Death', 'Blood In Blood Out', and  'Anaconda'.

But for all of these Trejo made some wise decisions too appearing in the Robert Rodriguez vampire offering that also launched the career of George Clooney - 'From Dusk 'til Dawn' in 1996. There was also 'Desperado' with Antonio Banderas; Michael Mann's classic heist film 'Heat' with De Niro and Pacino; 'Con Air' with Cage & Malkovich, 'Six Days Seven Nights' with Harrison Ford, two follow up 'From Dusk 'til Dawn' instalments and his stint on the recent successful TV series spin-off; 'Reindeer Games' with Ben Affleck, 'xXx' with Vin Diesel, and 'Grindhouse' with Rodriguez and Tarantino in which he reprises his 'Machete' role from 'Spykids' into more adult action fare in a fake trailer sequence that went onto to spawn so far two full feature length films with a third underway. Let's also not forget 'Predators', again with Rodriguez.

His film output seems to be increasing by the year almost as though he thinks his bubble will burst any minute. In 2006 he released 14 films; in 2007 there were 13; in 2008 there were 12; 13 again in 2009; in 2010 a staggering 29; in 2011 a lame 16; 13 in 2012; 21 in 2013; and 17 last year. Right now he has three films completed awaiting release this year, 12 in post-production, four currently filming, three in pre-production, and three recently announced.

Included in his output there have been numerous television series including 'From Dusk 'til Dawn', 'St. George', 'Sons of Anarchy', ' Dr. Fubalous' 'King of the Hill', 'Breaking Bad', 'Burn Notice', ' The Young and the Restless', 'The X-Files' and 'Walker, Texas Ranger'. He has also lent his voice talents to 'Grand Theft Auto', the recent 'The Book of Life' and 'A Horse Story'. Additionally he has appeared in numerous music clips and video games. All up he has 294 Acting credits and eleven Producer credits, and there seems to be no let up.

He is second cousin to Robert Rodriguez, has two sons - Danny Boy born in 1981, Gilbert Trejo born in 1988 and a daughter Danielle Trejo born in 1990.  He was married to Debbie Shreve from 1997 to 2009.

Danny Trejo - at 71 still going strong, heavily inked with a trademark chest tattoo of a sombrero wearing woman, mean grizzled features, tough guy image nearly always type cast, muscled and moustached, and knocking out movies like they're going outta fashion . . . love your work! Happy Birthday to you Mr. Trejo, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 21st - 27th December 2014.

It's Christmas week - do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Samuel L. Jackson does, on 21st December - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy 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 or 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 December

• Samuel L. Jackson - Born 1948, turns 66 - Actor | Producer
• Kiefer Sutherland - Born 1966, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Jeffrey Katzenberg - Born 1950, turns 64 - Producer
• Ray Romano - Born 1957, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Jane Fonda - Born 1937, turns 77 - Actress
• Julie Delpy - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Editor

Monday 22nd December

• Vanessa Paradis - Born 1972, turns 42 - Actress | Singer
• Ralph Fiennes - Born 1962, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Hector Elizondo - Born 1936, turns 78 - Actor
• David S. Goyer - Born 1965, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer

Tuesday 23rd December

• Nick Moran - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Estella Warren - Born 1978, turns 36 - Actress

Wednesday 24th December - Christmas Eve

• Ricky Martin - Born 1971, turns 43 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor
• Stephanie Meyer - Born 1973, turns 41 - Writer | Actor

Thursday 25th December - Christmas Day

• Sissy Spacek - Born 1949, turns 65 - Actress
• Annie Lennox - Born 1954, turns 60 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress

Friday 26th December - Boxing Day

• Jared Leto - Born 1971, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Songwriter | Producer | Director
• Temuera Morrison - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actor
• Steve Bisley - Born 1951, turns 63 - Actor
• Phil Spector - Born 1939, turns 75 - Songwriter
• Fred Schepisi - Born 1939, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer

Saturday 27th December

• Gerard Depardieu - Born 1948, turns 66 - Actor | Producer | Director

Samuel Leroy Jackson was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee as an only child. His father, Henry Jackson lived away from home in Kansas City, Missouri and died from alcoholism - he met him only twice. His mother, Elizabeth Montgomery was a factory worker and later a supplies buyer for a local hospital and she raised Samuel with the maternal grandparents and extended family. He graduated from the Riverside High School in Chattanooga where he acme proficient over the years in playing the French horn and trumpet. He went on to Morehouse College to study marine biology, and after joining a local acting group to earn extra points he switched his major to drama.

Following public speaking classes he appeared in 'The Threepenny Opera' and various stage plays and TV movies before making his feature film debut in 1972 in 'Together for Days'. His early roles prompted him to relocate to New York City in 1976 where he appeared in stage plays including 'The Piano Lesson' and 'Two Trains Running', but, at the same time he developed a liking for alcohol, heroine, and then cocaine resulting i him being unable to continue with this splays as they moved on to Broadway. 

During his early career he was mentored by Morgan Freeman and introduced to Spike Lee who would go on to Direct him in several films throughout the years, including bit parts in his earlier offerings - 'School Daze' in 1988 and 'Do the Right Thing' in 1989. Martin Scorsese game him a small role too in 1990's 'Goodfellas'. During this time his drug addiction deepened, and had previously overdosed on heroine several times before moving onto cocaine. His family subsequently entered him into a New York drug rehabilitation clinic which he came out of successfully, and went straight into filming 'Jungle Fever' again with Spike Lee . . . starring as a crack cocaine addict - a role he described as 'cathartic' and which won him much critical acclaim including a 1991 Cannes Film Festival 'Supporting Actor' Award.

After this he received multiple offers including 'Juice', 'Strictly Business', 'Patriot Games' and then 'Jurassic Park' with Steven Spielberg, and 'True Romance' with Tony Scott and his first brush with Writer/Director Quentin Tarantino. Following this Tarantino specifically wrote the role of Jules Winnfield for Jackson in 'Pulp Fiction' which went on to give him Best Supporting Actor Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, and the BAFTA win.

More film offers began to flood in during the mid-90's which included 'Kiss of Death', 'Die Hard : With a Vengeance', 'Hard Eight', 'Trees Lounge' and 'A Time to Kill' in 1996 which gave him another Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.  The latter half of the 90's played out with 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' with Geena Davis, 'Jackie Brown' reunited with Quentin Tarantino, 'Sphere' with Dustin Hoffman, 'The Negotiator' with Kevin Spacey, 'Deep Blue Sea' with Director Renny Harlin and then as Mace Windu in George Lucas' reboot of the Star Wars franchise in 'Episode 1: The Phantom Menace'.

As the new century turned over Jackson was more in demand than ever opening with 'Rules of Engagement', 'Shaft' and 'Unbreakable' with Bruce Willis again all in 2000. He reprised Mace Windu three more times in 'Attack of the Clones', 'Revenge of the Sith' and the CGI animated 'The Clone Wars', and in the meantime took on 'Changing Lanes' with Ben Affleck, 'xXx' and its sequel 'xXx : State of the Union' with Vin Diesel, 'Basic' with John Travolta, 'S.W.A.T.' with Colin Firth, 'Kill Bill, Volume 2' with Tarantino again, and the voice of Frozone in the successful animated feature 'The Incredibles'.

2006 brought cult actioner 'Snakes on a Plane' - a role he took because of its title rather than the intricacies required from a nuanced performance, 'Black Snake Moan' and '1408' in 2007, and a busy year in 2008 with 'Jumper', 'Soul Men', 'Lakeview Terrace', 'The Spirit', 'Gospel Hill' and his first uncredited appearance as Nick Fury in 'Iron Man'. Since then he has reprised the role of Nick Fury in 'Iron Man 2', in 'Thor', 'Captain America : The First Avenger', 'The Avengers', 'Captain America : The Winter Soldier', the upcoming 'Avengers : Age of Ultron' due for release mid-2015 and in the TV Series 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D'.

He worked with Quentin Tarantino again narrating several scenes in 'Inglourious Basterds' and then in 'Django Unchained' and is currently filming with him once more in the 'The Hateful Eight' due out later on in 2015. Meanwhile he teamed up with Spike Lee once more in 'Oldboy' with Josh Brolin, the rebooted 'RoboCop' with Gary Oldman, with 'Kite' and 'Big Game' bringing us up to date. 'Kingsmen : The Secret Service' with Colin Firth is due out imminently, 'Cell', 'Barely Lethal' and 'Avengers : Age of Ultron' are all currently in post-production for a 2015 release, 'The Hateful Eight' and 'Tarzan' are currently filming, 'Moose' is in pre-production, and 'Nick Fury' and 'xXx : The Return of Xander Cage' have been announced. He has lent his voice talents to numerous animated features and video games, has 159 acting credits to his name, and has thirty award wins and another sixty award nominations under his belt. These include the Academy Award nomination for 'Pulp Fiction', four Golden Globe nominations for 'Jackie Brown', 'A Time to Kill', 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Against the Wall', and the BAFTA win for 'Pulp Fiction'. 

He is an avid golfer, a basketball fan of the Toronto Raptors and Harlem Globetrotters and a keen follower of Liverpool Football Club. He launched a campaign in support of Alzheimers Disease research in mid-2013 and also 'One for the Boys' advocating testicular cancer checks. He made a conscious decision to of bald, began a vegan diet and subsequently lost 40lbs in weight (18kgs). He has been married to LaTanya Richardson since 1980 and they have a daughter Zoe, born in 1982.

He is also acclaimed as the highest grossing film actor of all time with his movies grossing (depending on what you read) in excess of US$5.6B (The Movie Times), US$9.3B (The Numbers), US$8.3B (Box Office Mojo) and US$7.4B (The Guinness Book of Records). He is a prolific actor because he loves acting and loves the film making process and what he believe he can bring to the role and the character portrayed. 

Samuel L. Jackson - often mistaken for Laurence Fishburne; eaten alive by both a shark and a dinosaur; still the epitome of wise-ass bad-ass cool even at 66; known for your deep authoritarian voice and use of whiplash MoFo quips; often portrays violent and intimidating but always entertaining and keeping it real - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-