Birthday's to share this week : 1st - 7th March 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? 

Daniel Craig does on 2nd March - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 47, at the end of this feature.

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

Sunday 1st March

• Harry Belafonte - Born 1927, turns 88 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Roger Daltrey - Born 1944, turns 71 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor
• Javier Bardem - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer
• Ron Howard - Born 1954, turns 61 - Director | Producer | Actor
• Zack Snyder - Born 1966, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Dirk Benedict - Born 1945, turns 70 - Actor | Producer
• Justin Bieber - Born 1994, turns 21 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor
• Lupita Nyong'o - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actress | Producer

Monday 2nd March

• Bryce Dallas Howard - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actress | Writer | Director
• Daniel Craig - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
• Jon Bon Jovi - Born 1962, turns 53 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor

Tuesday 3rd March

• George Miller - Born 1945, turns 70 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Jessica Biel - Born 1982, turns 33 - Actress | Producer
• Miranda Richardson - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress

Wednesday 4th March

• Len Wiseman - Born 1973, turns 42 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Paul W. S. Anderson - Born 1965, turns 50 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Adrian Lyne - Born 1941, turns 74 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Scott Hicks - Born 1953, turns 62 - Director | Producer | Writer

Thursday 5th March

• Dean Stockwell - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actor
• Matt Lucas - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Television Personality
• Eva Mendes - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actress
• Samantha Eggar - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actress

Friday 6th March 

• Rob Reiner - Born 1947, turns 68 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Tom Arnold - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Alan Davies - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Writer | Television Personality

Saturday 7th March

• Matthew Vaughn - Born 1971, turns 44 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Bryan Cranston - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Peter Sarsgaard - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Producer
• Cameron Daddo - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Producer
• Rachael Weisz - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actress | Producer

Daniel Wroughton Craig was born in Chester, Cheshire, England to Carol Olivia Williams - an art teacher, and father Timothy John Wroughton Craig a publican and former Merchant Navy midshipman. He attended primary school in the small country towns of Frodsham and Holyoke and then Hilbre High School in West Kirby. At 16, he moved to Calday Grange Grammar School also in West Kirby as a sixth form student - but only briefly. His interest in acting started at age six and his mother took him to acting classes at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre. He appeared in several school productions, including 'Oliver', 'Romeo & Juliette' and 'Cinderella'. He moved to London at 16 following his brief time at Calday Grange Grammar School, having been accepted into the National Youth Theatre to tour Manchester and then Valencia and Moscow. 

He joined the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studied for three years graduating in 1991 having studied with the likes of Ewan McGregor, Damian Lewis, Joseph Fiennes and Alistair McGowan. In 1993, Craig appeared in a Royal National Theatre production of 'Angels in America', but it was in 1992 that his big screen debut came in the adaptation of the Bryce Courtenay novel 'The Power of One'. For the next few years he worked in television starring in 'Anglo Saxon Attitudes', 'Boon' and 'Covington Cross' in 1992 and then 'Sharpe's Eagle', episodes of 'Zorro', 'Drop the Dead Donkey', 'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, 'Between the Lines' 'Heartbeat' and 'Screen Two' all in 1993. Over the following years he appeared in 'A Kid in King Arthur's Court' with Kate Winslet, 'Saint Ex' with Bruno Ganz, 'Elizabeth' with Cate Blanchett, and a few others that flew under the radar to close out the decade.

From here on things began to ramp up for Craig with 'Love & Rage', 'I Dreamed of Africa', 'Some Voices' and 'Hotel Splendide' all in 2000. It was however, he role opposite Angelina Jolie in the 2001 'Lara Croft : Tomb Raider' that brought him to Hollywood's attention with the Sam Mendes Directed and Tom Hanks and Paul Newman starring 'Road to Perdition' that followed in 2002. His starring role in 'Layer Cake' in 2004 added further shine to his rising star which was followed up by 'The Jacket' with Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley, 'Munich' starring Eric Bana and Directed by Steven Spielberg, 'Infamous' with Toby Jones, and then his first outing as James Bond, 007, in 'Casino Royale'  Directed by Martin Campbell.

Cementing his role as Bond for the first time with a Box Office haul of US$600M and numerous award wins and nominations, before his next outing as everybody's favourite spy he appeared with Nicole Kidman in 'The Invasion', and again with Nicole Kidman in 'The Golden Compass'. 2008 followed up with 'Quantum of Solace' for Bond once again bringing in US$586M and again a slew of award wins and nominations - but not quite the success of its 'Casino Royale' predecessor. 

'Defiance' was next with Live Schreiber and Jamie Bell later in 2008, 'Cowboys and Aliens' with Harrison Ford in 2011, 'Dream House' in 2011 also with Naomi Watts and Rachael Weisz, 'The Adventures of Tin Tin' for Director Steven Spielberg to which Craig gave his voice talents to Red Rackham and Sakharine, and then the Hollywood remake of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' with Rooney Mara for Director David Fincher.

Craig's third outing as James Bond came in 2012 with the hugely successful 'Skyfall' which also marked the 50th anniversary of the franchise that kicked-off with 'Dr. No' in 1962. 'Skyfall' to a global Box Office of US$1.1B+ making it the most financially successful Bond film of all time and putting it in the Top 10 of most successful films of all time . . . currently sat in ninth place.






2012 saw Craig playing perhaps the role of his life as James Bond saving (the real) HRH Queen Elizabeth II as part of an opening ceremony sketch for the London Summer Olympic games which was seen by a global audience of in excess of 1.5 billion television viewers.  From late 2013 to early 2014 Craig and his wife Rachael Weisz starred in the Broadway play 'Betrayal'. 'Spectre' is currently filming for a late 2015 release which will be Craig's fourth starring role as Bond with 'Bond 25' recently released to which Craig has committed. In the meantime 'The Girl who Played with Fire' has been announced with David Fincher on Directing duty and Craig reprising his role as Mikael Blomqvist.

Craig has 65 acting credits to his name, and a total 12 award wins and 23 other nominations. In 1992 he married actress Fiona Loudon and divorced two years later in 1994. This led to a seven year relationship with German actress Heike Makatsch which ended in 2001 and then Satsuki Mitchell from 2005 until 2010. In late 2010 he began dating long term friend and former co-star Rachael Weisz (whose birthday it is later on this week on 7th March) and the two were married in mid-2011. Craig has a daughter - eighteen year old daughter Ella from his first marriage. He supports several charities such as 'S.A.F.E. Kenya' using street theatre to tackle social issues, HIV/AIDS, water supply and violence against women. Also 'Opportunity Network' is supported to provide education access to New York's low income students, and Craig has worked too with former co-star Judi Dench on International Women's Day causes.

Daniel Craig - blond haired, blue eyed, rugged appearance, muscular framed, deep smooth voiced and the man who reinvigorated Bond into a Box Office sensation. Firmly established now as a bona fide cinematic draw card, and all round nice guy, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

SELMA : Wednesday 25th February 2015.

I got around to seeing 'SELMA' last night - the US$20M story that has so far grossed US$54M as Directed by Ava DuVernay recounting the true life events of the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965 that was a catalyst for positive change to  the equal voting rights of oppressed, victimised and harassed black African American citizens in the state of Alabama where this film is set, and where the events depicted in the film largely unfold. This film was nominated at the recent Academy Awards for Best Motion Picture and Best Original Song - for which it won the latter, and all up can boast a total awards haul of 35 wins and a further 71 nominations to date.

Telling the story of Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo in fine form as MLK) who after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 focuses on the racial hardships endured by black African Americans, particularly in Alabama where segregation, discrimination, and acts of violence were commonplace at that time. The small town of Selma has has its fair share of oppression handed down by its townsfolk, the local rangers and sheriff's office and the mayor himself toward any black individual who dares to register to vote or who does not follow the local acts of segregation - despite what the law might otherwise say. Extreme acts of violence are meted out on a frequent basis resulting in numerous deaths that go unpunished, unpublicised and largely unnoticed in the northern States. But as the civil rights movement gathers momentum, so King travels to Selma to support the oppressed locals and add weight to the cause, given his direct line to President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson).

President LBJ though has more important things on his agenda than helping out the personal crusade of MLK - he recognises what's going on down south, he recognises that it is wrong, and he recognise that something needs to be done -  but it is not on his priority list given that he had been in office only a matter of months and he has 101 things on his radar compared to MLK's one!

Supporting James Bevel (Common) who had called for a non-violent protest march from Selma to Alabama's capital, Montgomery (50 miles away) with the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference of which King was the leader) the first attempt was made on 7th March 1965 but ended violently when local Selma whites, the police, and rangers turned on the peaceful demonstrators with guns, batons, clubs, tear gas to squash the protest. This however, was televised to 70 million people including the President, MLK, J.Edgar Hoover, and George Wallace (Tim Roth in excellent form as the bigoted Governor of Alabama) who watched these events unfold on national television. 'Bloody Sunday' as it came to be known, and as tragic as it was, was a turning point in the civil rights movement.

Advocating at all times non-violent protest as a demonstration of force, will & sheer determination by the blacks, King as his growing followers in the wake of Bloody Sunday, regrouped and attempted to march again on 9th March 1965. Taking his ever expanding followers to Edmund Pettus Bridge that day, he halted the gathered group behind him and paused mid-way across the bridge. Kneeling down in prayer, his group followed suit and did the same at which King then stood, turned around and headed for whence he came, even though the law enforcement officers, local rangers and sheriff's department had retread this time. King was however, still fearful of reprisals and a repeat of Bloody Sunday despite the media coverage.

On 25th March 1965 the full march went ahead with the knowledge of LBJ and George Wallace who sat by and watched the huge non-violent demonstration march on Montgomery from Selma fifty miles away. By now the worlds media had turned their attention to this civil rights campaign that was joined by growing numbers of white sympathisers, clergy, dignitaries and celebrities of the time (Sammy Davis Jnr., and Harry Belafonte for example, are shown in real footage of the time). Upon arriving at the steps of state capitol building in Montgomery, King delivered another rousing speech that later became known as the 'How Long, Not Long' speech in which he states that equal rights for black African Americans would now be not far away.

As a result of this and the growing pressure on LBJ from MLK, his ever growing followers and advocates, and from escalating numbers of white followers in the aftermath of Black Sunday, the President of the United States passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to law on 2nd July that year and received an over whelming majority of support.

This is a solid film offering recounting that true story that changed the course of history. It is not an MLK bio-pic by any stretch, but, it educates, illuminates and demonstrates the black/white divide of the time, the violence of the era and the oppression suffered by so many who were just seeking what was constitutionally theirs anyway. The performances are top notch especially from David Oyelowo as MLK, from Carmen Egogo at MLK's wife Coretta Scott King, Common as James Bevel, Tim Roth as George Wallace, and Tom Wilkinson as LBJ. Along the way there are further lesser roles that nonetheless add gravitas including Giovanni Ribisi as Lee White (advisor and aide to LBJ), Oprah Winfrey as Annie Lee Cooper, Cuba Gooding Jnr. as Fred Gray, Martin Sheen as Federal Judge Frank Minis Johnson and Dylan Baker as J. Edgar Hoover looking to discredit and unsettle the King family as only he knows best.

At times the film plods along, and at just over two hours running time, it could have perhaps been abbreviated just a little, but in the final analysis this is a strong, powerful, riveting and occasionally disturbing film that you should watch to see just how far we have come as we approach the 50th anniversary of that march, and just how far we have still left to go!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

COWBOYS AND ALIENS : archive from 31st August 2011.

Saw 'COWBOYS and ALIENS' last night! Based on a lesser known comic book this film cost US$163M to make and bring to the big screen and in the final analysis made just a little more than that at US$175M despite the pedigree of its Director and lead cast. Here we have Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford; James Bond and Indiana Jones; the Old West and the Final Frontier battling it out in an 1873 Arizona setting where them pesky good for nothing aliens is holed up in dem dar mountains gettin' up to all sorts of no good! Time to assemble a posse, saddle up the horses and take care of business!

So I'm thinking - has this genre ever been done successfully on the big screen before and I'd be hard pressed to answer that question let alone say 'yes'! That said, John Favreau puts in a solid effort as Director eeking out a strong enough FX laden old west tale underpinned by a fistful of dollars to make the action and the storyline convincing and two 'A' listers to give it gravitas - but judging by the worldwide take, audiences stayed away!

This is a simple enough story of Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) who is on the run from the law and suffering a bad dose of memory loss. Waking up in the desert Lonergan is wearing a strange bracelet and has an odd looking wound and no recollection of how he acquired either. After dispensing with some low life drifters Lonergan heads for the nearest one-horse town of Absolution to have his wounds treated and to gain some R&R. He is noticed as a wanted man and subsequently a scuffle ensues with Sheriff John Taggart (Keith Carradine) resulting in him being knocked unconscious by a mystery woman Ella Swanson (Olivia Wilde). Being locked up with local drunk Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano) in no time Dolarhyde's father and local wealthy cattleman Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) arrive to have young Percy set free, and in the process so too Lonergan.

At this point there is an alien attack and all intergalactic hell breaks loose in the street, and which Lonergan's shiny new bracket falls off his wrist and becomes the weapon of choice to thwart them darn pesky aliens! During this conflagration an alien ship is downed and an injured alien makes an escape, hotly pursued by a posse of men wanting to know what just happened! Meanwhile Lonergan slinks away unseen into the night.

What follows are a series of alien attack set pieces and derring-do as humans and aliens are picked off on either side and often in gruesome bloody fashion. Throughout this Lonergan's memory starts to come back with images of stolen gold, double crossing his gang and perhaps where the aliens are holed up. The aliens it seems are mining gold resources and experimenting on humans to understand their weaknesses and in turn eradicate all human life on planet earth. The aliens are however, not indestructible and can be overcome with Lonergan's bright shiny bracelet thingy, a deftly thrown hunting knife, and a few fatally delivered gun shot wounds. And so it's on for young & old to move the alien varmints outta town and off the planet, and so the gathered posse heads for the hills to find the alien lair and kill or be killed.

Needless to say casualties ensue on either side but in the final analysis it's Humans 1/Aliens 0 and there is butt kicking and plenty of fun to be had as those aliens get their comeuppance. Surviving the onslaught Lonergan walks away free with Dolarhyde Senior and the Sheriff attempting to persuade him to stay and help rebuild the town. Declining the invitation but still a wanted man the Colonel and the Sheriff promise him that they will claim that he was killed in the alien attack, and so Lonergan rides off into the sunset . . . and all is good again, in the Wild West!

This is a good fun, entertaining sub-genre offering mashing up a Wild West yarn with some Sci-Fi hokey-pokey alien shenanigans and certainly worth the price of a ticket! Of course this is now out on DVD and BluRay and whilst it won't go down in history as genre defining, it's a little out of the box and still a little gritty, hard-nosed and rough edged to make it a worthwhile viewing in front of your own small screen at home.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 26th February 2015.

In Australia, this weekend marks the official last day of Summer, but I'm sure not the last day of sunshine, blue skies, warm days and plenty of good reasons to get outdoors! One very good reason to get out of course is to go see a new release movie, and this week we have three new films to tempt, tease and tantalise that movie dollar from out of your wallet! With the Oscar winners and grinners announced earlier this week too, there still remains plenty of great movies that featured in this years Academy Awards that are still on general or limited release giving you lots of reasons to see a new, or recently released, film. Whatever you decide, when you have seen your movie of choice share your thoughts with our other readers at Odeon Online and spread the word - good, bad or ugly!

This week then we have coming to a movie theatre near you a Big Apple period piece from the early 80's as crime in that town was hitting record highs, and one young entrepreneurial fellow sees an opportunity to make some big bucks, but, first he has to overcome some issues of his own as well as those crims circling overhead poised ready to go in for the kill! Then there is a second telling of a certain hotel in Jaipur, India for the elderly and beautiful that was a sleeper hit in 2012 and is now openings it's doors on a second property hoping to entice some new 'inmates', and, to wrap things up nice & sweetly, we have a sugar coated saccharine infused film about the dangers of the sweet sticky stuff on our health that we may not fully appreciate! Enjoy your film(s) in the week ahead!

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR (Rated MA15+) - Written, Produced and Directed by J. C. Chandor, who brought us the excellent 'All is Lost' last year, has this time turned his hand to 1981 New York - defined as one of the city's most violent and corrupt . . . ever! Made for a modest US$20M we are introduced to Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) the owner and hard working salesman of Standard Oil - a heating oil company that is doing well, but could be doing much better. Aside from a bitterly cold winter (which of course is great for business), Standard Oil has been plagued by the hijacking of several of its trucks leaving one driver badly beaten and wounded. Abel's wife Anna (Jessica Chastain) believes in fighting fire with fire but Abel is reluctant to resort to such means. While this is going on Abel's business is under scrutiny by the DA's Office and Assistant DA Lawrence (David Oyelowo) for suspicion of price fixing, tax evasion and various other alleged dodgy dealings.

Abel knows he needs to expand, grow and become master of his destiny and so hatches a plan to purchase a fuel oil terminal at a $2M+ price tag. Securing a bank loan, remortgaging the house and borrowing money from family, friends and business associates he finalises the deal and pays a substantial deposit. At the same time he moves into a new model home with wife and family, as competitor intimidation begins to ramp up against him, threats are made against his drivers and the DA get more suspicious as events continue to unfold all around him. All the while too unsavoury characters crawl out of the woodwork who want a slice of his action, or want to see him fail and Abel is jockeying his personal and family life, business affairs, the DA's Office, a criminal undercurrent and the need to raise the necessary funds to finalise his terminal deal before it all falls in a heap . . . and it's bloody cold outside! Nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Supporting Role this film has so far picked up eight award wins and a further 32 nominations, and if gritty period Noo Yawk crime dramas are your thing then this is likely to please.

THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (Rated PG) - 2012's 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' was made for a mere US$10M and grossed US$138M so it was inevitable that a second outing would come our way one day . . . and that day has arrived, this week! Directed once again by John Madden, this film sees us eight months hence from where the first film finished and reunites Hotel owner and entrepreneur Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel) with his former hotel guests and cast members Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Ronald Pickup and Celia Imrie who all remain resident at the hotel, carving out new lives in Jaipur and seemingly relatively content with their lot. The hotel though is at capacity with new arrivals due imminently - Guy & Lavina (Richard Gere and Tamsin Grieg) and limited space available. With his wedding also approaching Sonny has his eye on a second property that puts further demands on his already hectic life. How will all this play out intertwined with the exploits of the guests, a new hotel in the offing, family intervention and the new hotel co-manager and resident guest Muriel Donnelly (Maggie Smith) - who seems to be the keeper of secrets amongst fellow guests, and possibly the Miss Fixit to ensure the course of true love runs smoothly and an emerging business runs proficiently! Check-in, and see for yourself!

THAT SUGAR FILM (Rated PG) - there will be similarities thrown around here with Morgan Spurlock's film of 2004 - 'Super Size Me' that involved surviving on a McDonald's diet for a whole month for breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper and everything in between. Here Aussie Actor come Director Damon Gameau chooses to go for sixty days on a high sugar diet but it must be stressed that there is no consumption of soft drinks, junk foods, or chocolate bars and sweet treats here. Instead the focus is very much on those foods that are freely available and deemed to be 'healthy'! Consuming the equivalent of 40 teaspoons of sugar a day (average for Australian's) everyday for two months Gameau here tells the story of how this physically and emotionally impacts his own body, but, this is also an exercise in education with expert contributions, informative advice, and insights into the challenges that the sugar industry has to deal with, and what to look out for on your supermarket shelves so that you really can choose healthy, and improve your diet. The film features cameo contributions from the likes of Stephen Fry, Brenton Thwaites, Isabel Lucas, Zoe Tuckwell Smith and Jessica Marais too. A film  for the whole family and something the kids should definitely see - it might make you think very differently about the sweet stuff!

That's it then for this week with three opposing films to choose from offering something sweet, something spicy and something sour to tickle your filmic taste buds. When you've had a taste - give us your thoughts on this weeks movie menu! Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

The 87th Academy Awards - 22nd February 2015.

On Sunday evening 22nd February 2015 the 87th Annual Academy Awards were held at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre. Hosted this year, for the first time, by Actor, Producer, Director, Comedian and various other employments tags, Neil Patrick Harris - this Hollywood night of nights was attended by the glitterati, glamourati and paparazzi of the film industry that make up the highly anticipated back slapping, hand wringing, teeth clenching, finger crossing and emotionally charged Oscar ceremony.

With awards given out in 24 categories, this year there were seventeen films that had multiple nominations going into awards night. These were 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' each having nine nominations; 'The Imitation Game' had eight; 'American Sniper' and 'Boyhood' had six apiece; 'Foxcatcher', 'Interstellar', 'Whiplash' and 'The Theory of Everything' all had five; 'Mr. Turner' had four; 'Into the Woods' and 'Unbroken' with three; and with two nominations each were 'Guardians of the Galaxy', 'Ida', 'Wild, 'Selma' and 'Inherent Vice'.

Shown below then, are the winner & grinners from Oscar Night 2015 in the main categories :-

Best Picture : 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'
Best Animated Feature Film : 'Big Hero 6'
Best Documentary Feature Film : 'CitizenFour'
Best Foreign Language Film : 'Ida'

Best Achievement in Directing : Alejandro G. Inarritu for 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'

Best Actor in a Leading Role : Eddie Redmayne for 'The Theory of Everything' 
Best Actress in a Leading Role : Julianne Moore for 'Still Alice'
Best Actor in a Supporting Role : J.K.Simmons for 'Whiplash' 
Best Actress in a Supporting Role : Patricia Arquette for 'Boyhood'

Best Cinematography : 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' 
Best Visual Effects : 'Interstellar'
Best Production Design :  'The Grand Budapest Hotel'
Best Costume Design : 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'
Best Make-Up & Hair : 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'
Best Original Music Score : 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'

Best Original Screenplay : 'Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'
Best Adapted Screenplay : 'The Imitation Game'

In the final analysis both 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' walked away with four golden statues each from nine nominations each, and 'Whiplash' took three from its five nominations.

For this Reviewer and Movie Critic this years Academy Awards were one of the most closely contested  in recent years - in my humble opinion. The competition was very strong and because of it final decisions could have gone any way. I am surprised that not more was made of 'Boyhood, 'Nightcrawler', 'The Imitation Game', 'Mr. Turner', 'Foxcatcher' and 'American Sniper' for example - all excellent movies and Reviewed previously at this Blog. If nothing else it has been good to see such a rich year in terms of cinematic content resulting in closely fought contests this awards season, and, with the promise of more to come over the next twelve months.

Keep watching, keep reading and, see as many movies as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 22nd - 28th February 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? 

Emily Blunt does, on 23rd February - check out the tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 32, 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 22nd February

• Jonathan Demme - Born 1944, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Kyle MacLachlan - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor
• Nigel Planer - Born 1953, turns 62 - Actor | Writer
• Julie Walters - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actress | Singer
• Drew Barrymore - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actress | Producer | Director | Singer

Monday 23rd February

• Emily Blunt - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actress | Singer
• Dakota Fanning - Born 1994, turns 21 - Actress | Singer
• Kristen Davis - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actress | Producer
• Peter Fonda - Born 1940, turns 75 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Tuesday 24th February

• Billy Zane - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actress | Producer 
• Edward James Olmos - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Ben Miller - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Dennis Waterman - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor | Singer

Wednesday 25th February 

• Tom Courtenay - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actor
• Neil Jordan - Born 1950, turns 65 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Lee Evans - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor | Writer
• Sean Astin - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Tea Leoni - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actress | Producer

Thursday 26th February

• James Wan - Born 1977, turns 38 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor

Friday 27th February

• Timothy Spall - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor 
• Joanne Woodward - Born 1930, turns 85 - Actress | Producer

Saturday 28th February 

• John Turturro - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor | Director | Writer
• Mike Figgis - Born 1948, turns 67 - Director | Producer | Composer | Editor | Actor | Cinematographer

Emily Olivia Leah Blunt was born in Roehampton, South West London to mother Janice Dixon - a teacher and former Actress, and Barrister Oliver Simon Peter Blunt who is a QC and one of the highest profile Barristers in the UK. She is the second of four children - those others being Felicity, Sebastian and Suzanna. She attended Ibstock Place School and independent co-education school in Roehampton and at 16 she moved to Hurtwood House School - a private sixth-form co-educational residential school, near Dorking, Surrey, England, which is renowned for its performing arts programme, and at which she excelled in sport, singing and cello.

From age seven the young Emily developed a stutter, and despite many attempts by her parents to cure her of this affliction, it wasn't until age twelve when an acting teacher asked her to portray a character using a different voice that she finally was able to move on successfully.

in 2000, she was signed up by an Agent who took her off to London's West End and the BBC where she gained roles in 'Foyle's War' in 2003, 'Agatha Christie's Poirot' in 2004 and 'Empire' in 2005 for TV. Around the same time she could be seen treading the boards opposite Judi Dench in 'The Royal Family' at The Theatre Royal in 2001/02, in 'Vincent in Brixton' at The National Theatre in 2002 and in 'Romeo and Juliet' at The Chichester Festival Theatre in 2002 also.

Blunt made her screen debut in 'Boudica' (aka 'Warrior Queen') in 2003 - a television drama, and later that same year she gained acclaim for playing Catherine Howard in the extended television film of 'Henry VIII'. Her breakout role came in 2004 in 'My Summer of Love' with more success opposite Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson in 'Gideon's Daughter' for which she won the Golden Globe.

Next year came 'The Devil Wears Prada' opposite Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway for which she once again received critical acclaim with both BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress. 'Irresistible' came out that same year with Susan Sarandon and Sam Neill. 2007 proved to be a busy year with four release films - 'Wind Chill', 'Dan in Real Life' with Steve Carell, 'Charlie Wilson's War' with Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and 'The Jane Austen Book Club'. 'The Great Buck Howard', 'The Young Victoria', 'Sunshine Cleaning' and short film 'Curiosity' all came before the end of the decade.

The new decade heralded a reteaming with Bill Nighy for 'Wild Target', as well as 'The Wolfman' with Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, 'Gulliver's Travels' with Jack Black, and then 'The Adjustment Bureau' with Matt Damon in 2011 and a cameo in the all star cast of 'The Muppets'. 2012 proved productive too with 'The Five Year Engagement' with Jason Segel, 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' with Ewan McGregor, 'Your Sister's Sister' with Rosemary DeWitt, and then 'Looper' with Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

'Arthur Newman' followed in 2013 with Colin Firth and in 2014 'Edge of Tomorrow' with Tom Cruise and most recently 'Into the Woods' with Meryl Streep once more. Next up for 2015 is 'Sicario' with Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, and then currently in pre-production for 2016 are 'Barton & Charlie & Checco & Bill' and 'The Huntsman' with Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron.

Blunt has 36 acting credits to her name and she has garnered 15 award wins and another 34 nominations including the Golden Globe for 'Gideon's Daughter' and four other nominations, and two BAFTA nominations.

For three years Blunt was romantically involved with crooner Michael Buble from 2005 to 2008. In later 2008 she met Actor John Krasinski and the couple married in mid-2010. They have a daughter Hazel, born in February 2014. Her brother-in-law is Actor Stanley Tucci who is married to Blunt's sister, Felicity. She enjoys horse riding, television cooking shows, is an alto singer and a Grade 8 cellist.

Emily Blunt - going from strength to strength with the mould broken and taking on action adventure, Sci-Fi, period pieces, crime comedy and romance with a 'unique set of skills' that also includes big screen, small screen and stage, and, various musical capabilities too. Much achieved already and much to come - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE INTERVIEW : Tuesday 17th February 2015.

All the hoop-la surrounding 'THE INTERVIEW' which I saw last night at a big screen multiplex is well known now around the world and will be forever cast in movie folklore as the film that caused more that a stir at Sony Pictures, resulted in the theatrical release by Columbia Pictures being put back about twelve weeks, that had the North Korean authorities rattling their sabres and gnashing their teeth at Uncle Sam, and the so called hackers that infiltrated Sony Pictures Entertainment computer network -  the 'Guardians of Peace' - demanding that the 'movie of terrorism' be pulled, or there would be 'stern' and 'merciless' retaliation against the West if the films release went ahead! Really - WTF?

So what is all the fuss about? This US$42M film Directed (with Evan Goldberg), Produced (with Evan Goldberg), Written (with Evan Goldberg) and starring Seth Rogen amongst others is a farce, a satire and a comedy of errors that front & centre pokes big time fun at the ruler of North Korea for sure, and in ways that are none too complimentary. First he is painted up then he is torn down and meets his demise in a final set piece that gives the tyrannical leader his comeuppance so that ultimately some balance can be restored to this 'misunderstood' country!  In this respect this film follows plot contrivances that we have seen more times in the movies for the past fifty or so years than you can poke a North Korean warhead at - so nothing new here, and, we have come to rely on Seth Rogen coming up with something controversial to gain a reaction before . . . and so it is here!

The story revolves around a handful of central characters with Seth Rogen as Aaron Rappaport the Producer of evening celebrity tabloid kitsch talk show 'Skylark Tonite', whose amiable, handsome, fashionable but dimwitted Host is Dave Skylark (James Franco). Rappaport and Skylark have good history behind them, they are close mates and as good as brothers - always larking about as much as their wealth, celebrity, and libidos will allow - which is pretty much all the time. They talk as though they are seventeen, although Rappaport tries at times to remain aloof and a little more mature, in complete contrast to Skylark. After celebrating the shows 1,000th episode Rappaport yearns to to inject some more seriousness into the nightly proceedings with guests of note rather than celebrate air heads, has beens and wannabes! And so a plan is hatched to secure an interview with Kim Jong-un (Randall Park), to which Producer Rappaport must go to extraordinary lengths to secure even though the North Korean ruler is Skylark's number one fan!

When news of this pending interview is beamed around the world everyone has an opinion that Skylark will mess things up royally, and what the hell is that doofus doing interviewing Kim Jong-un anyway? At this point the CIA make an appearance and Agent Lacey (Lizzy Caplan) advise the Producer and the Host that when they meet Kim Jong-un for the interview in North Korea, they are to 'take him out'! At first they ask - 'what, for a drink, for dinner, to party' and then the harsh reality dawns that they are to assassinate him, but in a carefully planned closely monitored execution operation for which their extraction is also planned to ensure success.

So far so good, and the hapless duo set out on their mission. Upon arriving Skylark and Kim Jong-un hit it off immediately, and we see that the North Korean leader is a humble, down to earth, fun loving and misunderstood man who was downtrodden at a young age by his mother and father giving rise to the misconceptions that exist about him today. He likes margaritas, listens to Katy Perry, shoots hoops on his own basketball court, is kept entertained by small guitar playing children, cares for his people, has a collection of classic cars . . . and a few tanks, and keeps a bevy of beautiful scantily clad Korean babes to keep him 'amused'! What's not to like here? Skylark is bowled over, Rappaport not so!

With Skylark now convinced that Kim Jong-un is an OK dude and the rest of the world are mistaken the plan starts to unravel. The leaders assistant handling the interview telecast from the Korean end - Sook Yung Park (Diana Bang) and Rappaport get the hots for each other, and in a moment of passion it is revealed that she hates Kim Jong-un herself and wishes for him to be overthrown and a new balance of power installed. Later on over dinner Skylark begins to see for himself the truth behind Kim Jong-un's facade of mis-information, lies and conspiracy and so reveals to Rappaport what he has witnessed and that their plan must be reinstated, and so the interview is to go ahead beamed around the world as originally planned.

With a carefully scripted text, pre-determined questions and already defined outcomes for the camera the interview progresses. It is not long though before all mayhem is let lose in the studio behind the scenes where Rappaport and Sook are attempting to thwart those loyal to Kim Jong-un who wish for the interview to be scrapped now that Skylark is getting the upper hand and his guest is buckling under pressure on live TV revealing his true personality. Needless to say, here it does turn to mayhem with rapid gunfire in a confined space, several fingers being bitten off, a joy stick going where the sun don't shine, and spurts of the sticky crimson stuff arcing through the air gratuitously! It's all just a little OTT at this point, and of course it doesn't end there, as the interviewee makes his escape to a waiting helicopter later seen circulating overhead as half a dozen nukes are being primed on the US, and Skylark, Rappaport and Sook arrive in a tank on the ground below ready to face off against their quarry!

Needless to say Kim Jong-un buys the farm, and our three heroes all walk off into the sunset - but in two different directions! This film has an extreme storyline there is no doubt, but we've seen worse (think 'Team America' anyone!) and there are more than enough sight gags, gross out humour, sexual references aplenty, drugs, booze and Katy Perry touch stones to keep any teenage juvenile amused for approaching two hours. The film also stars a string of celebrity cameo's that for some, if you blink you'll miss, and despite its release headaches it has made about US$12M at the Box Office and over US$40M in digital rentals when Sony released it on-line on December 24th. With subsequent very limited general release in certain territories, it is due for BluRay and DVD release Stateside on 17th February 2015. This film certainly won't go down in history as one of the world's great satirical comedies of all time, but it will be recognised as causing WWIII . . . well nearly, maybe, perhaps!

  
-Steve, at Odeon Online-