JOHN HURT - dies aged 77 - R.I.P.

John Vincent Hurt - the acclaimed Actor of stage and screen died at his home in Cromer, Norfolk, England following a long battle with pancreatic cancer on 25th January - three days after his 77th Birthday.  Born in Chesterfield, Derby, England on 22nd January 1940 he had a strict upbringing by his amateur Actress mother Phyllis Massey and his Church of England clergyman father Arnould Herbert Hurt. They lived opposite a cinema but his parents forbade him from watching films there or mixing with other local children. He attended St. Michael's Preparatory School in Orford, Kent where his interest in acting was first sparked. He then attended Lincoln Grammar School, and at seventeen he enrolled in the Grimsby Art School to study art. Two years later he won a scholarship to Saint Martin's School of Art in London, and in 1960 he gained a scholarship to London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he studied for two years.

His first screen role came in the classic early '60's police drama series 'Z-Cars' on a single episode in 1962. His first big screen role came later that same year in 'Young and Willing' with his first major screen performance and perhaps his breakout role being as Richard Rich in the widely acclaimed 1966 film 'A Man For All Seasons' opposite Orson Welles, Robert Shaw, Leo McKern, Vanessa Redgrave and Susannah York. He gained his first BAFTA nomination for playing Timothy Evans, the man accused to be hanged for the murders committed by his landlord John Christie in the real life drama '10, Rillington Place' in 1971. A few years later in 1975, Hurt secured his first BAFTA win for his portrayal of Quentin Crisp in 'The Naked Civil Servant' - the story of the outrageous and flamboyant homosexual Crisp's coming of age and his elder years in a very conservative England. A year later, Hurt's prominence continued to rise with his acclaimed performance in the BBC television mini-series 'I, Claudius' as Roman Emperor Caligula opposite Derek Jacobi's Claudius.

1978 saw another award worthy performance in the Alan Parker Directed and Oliver Stone Written 'Midnight Express' about an American College student played by Brad Davis caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey where upon he is promptly thrown in a Turkish prison left to rot and subject to all manner of woes by his captors. The film garnered Hurt a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor and his first Academy Award nomination. 1979 saw his iconic role as Kane in Ridley Scott's 'Alien' - with his alien chest busting scene being hailed by many as one of the most memorable in cinematic history. For this role he gained another BAFTA Best Supporting Actor nomination. Continuing with his run of successes, 1980 saw Hurt play John Merrick in David Lynch's 'The Elephant Man'. This role secured the Actor another BAFTA win for Best Actor, as well as Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.

1980 also saw a role in Michael Cimino's 'Heaven's Gate' hailed at one time as being the biggest commercial and critical flop in film making history, but since then time has been kinder to this production. 1984 saw the big screen adaptation of George Orwell's '1984', and in 1989 he starred in 'Scandal' the retelling of the Profumo Scandal of 1963 that shook the British Government at the time involving the Minister of War and an exotic dancer.

The mid-'90's saw historical dramas 'Rob Roy' with Liam Neeson, 'Dead Man' with Johnny Depp, 'Wild Bill' with Jeff Bridges and then Sci-Fi offering for Robert Zemeckis 'Contact' with Jodie Foster. The new decade saw 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' and his first appearance in the Harry Potter franchise as Mr. Ollivander - the wand maker in 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' - a role he would reprise in 'The Deathly Hallows : Parts 1 and 2'. In 2004 he starred in Guillermo del Toro's 'Hellboy' and again in its sequel 'Hellboy : The Golden Army' in 2008 and in the meantime there was the historical Australian Western 'The Proposition', then 'V for Vendetta'  and 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'. More than thirty years after his award winning turn as Quentin Crisp he reprised the role for 2009's 'An Englishman in New York' for which he was again nominated for a BAFTA Award.

'44 Inch Chest', a remake of the classic Graham Greene novel 'Brighton Rock', the highly acclaimed big screen adaptation of 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' and then swords and sandals epic 'Immortals', horror comedy 'Only Lovers Left Alive', the acclaimed Sci-Fi action drama 'Snowpiercer' and then another swords and sandals retelling of 'Hercules' closed out 2014. 'ChickLit', 'The Journey' and the recently released 'Jackie' bring us up to date. In the meantime, Hurt lent his considerable voice talents to numerous films, television programmes, and documentaries over the years including the likes of 'Watership Down' and 'Lord of the Rings' as Aragorn both in 1978, Disney's 'The Black Cauldron' in 1985, Disney's 'The Tigger Movie' in 2000, Lars von Trier's 'Dogville' in 2003 and 'Manderlay' in 2005 for the same Director, and 'Perfume : The Story of a Murderer' in 2006. There were also innumerable television series including 'The Storyteller', 'Watership Down', 'The Alan Clarke Diaries', 'The Confession', 'The Hollow Crown', 'Labyrinth', 'Merlin', 'Doctor Who' as The War Doctor, and 'The Last Panthers' most recently.

Still to come and due for release throughout 2017 are 'That Good Night' which is complete, 'Damascus Cover' currently in Post-Production, and so too is 'My Name Is Lenny' and currently filming is 'Darkest Hour' in which Hurt played former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, opposite Gary Oldman's Winston Churchill.

All up over seven decades Hurt had accumulated 204 acting credits to his name, garnered two Academy Award nominations for 'Midnight Express' and 'The Elephant Man', gained one Golden Globe Award for 'Midnight Express' and a nomination for 'The Elephant Man', and won three BAFTA Awards for 'The Naked Civil Servant', 'Midnight Express' and 'The Elephant Man' plus four other nominations and the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema in 2012.

He was married four times during his life - from 1962 until 1964 to Actress Annette Robertson; he lived with French model Marie-Lise Volpeliere-Pierrot from 1967 through until 1983 and who was tragically killed in a horse riding accident; from 1984 until 1990 to Donna Peacock; from 1990 to 1996 to Joan Dalton with whom he had two children - Alexander 'Sasha' John Vincent Hurt born in 1990, and Nicholas 'Nick' Hurt born in 1993. Following this he was in a seven year relationship with Sarah Owens a presenter and writer. From 2005 up until the time of his passing he was married to Producer and Casting Director Anwen Rees-Myers. Upon marrying Rees-Myers he gave up smoking and drinking, putting his alcoholic days behind him.

In 2004 Hurt was honoured in the Queen's New Years Honours List with a Knighthood for services to drama by being made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He also received various other accolades including The John Hurt Centre in his name being an education and exhibition space in Cinema City, Norwich. He was also a patron of the Proteus Syndrome Foundation (thought to be the affliction that affected John Merrick - the character he portrayed in 'The Elephant Man'), and he was also a patron of Project Harar working with Ethiopian children affected by facial disfigurements.

John Hurt - so many memorable performances, so many iconic roles, such an instantly recognisable deep gravel like voice, in demand for 55+ years - your legacy will live on forever recorded on celluloid and in the hearts and minds of the movie going public and the television audiences you served so well right up until the time of your passing.

John Hurt - Rest In Peace
1940 - 2017.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 29th January - 4th February 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Isla Fisher does on 3rd February - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 41, at the end of this feature.

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

Sunday 29th January

• Katherine Ross - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actress
• Oprah Winfrey - Born 1954, turns 63 - Television Personality | Actress | Producer
• Heather Graham - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Isabel Lucas - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actress
• Tom Selleck - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Edward Burns - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Monday 30th January

• Gene Hackman - Born 1930, turns 87 - Actor
• Christian Bale - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor
• Vanessa Redgrave - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Tuesday 31st January

• Minnie Driver - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Producer | Singer  
• Portia de Rossi - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress
• Philip Glass - Born 1937, turns 80 - Composer | Musician | Songwriter
• Anthony LaPaglia - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Producer
• Dexter Fletcher - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Justin Timberlake - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer

Wednesday 1st February

• Terry Jones - Born 1942, turns 75 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Linus Roache - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor
• Michael C. Hall - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Singer  

Thursday 2nd February

• David Jason - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Gemma Arterton - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actress | Singer  

Friday 3rd February

• Morgan Fairchild - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress | Singer
• Isla Fisher - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress
• Nathan Lane - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Singer  

Saturday 4th February

• George A. Romero - Born 1940, turns 77 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor
• Patrick Bergin - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter
• Gabrielle Anwar - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress
• Natalie Imbruglia - Bron 1975, turns 42 - Actress | Singer | Songwriter

Isla Lang Fisher was born in Muscat, Oman to Scottish parents - mother Elspeth Reid, a romance novelist and father Brian Fisher, a banker who worked in Oman for the United Nations at the time of her birth. The family moved back to their hometown of Bathgate, in Scotland when Isla was young and then to Perth in Western Australia at age six. There she attended Swanbourne Primary School and then the independent Methodist Ladies College. Whilst at school she appeared in several school productions including 'Little Shop of Horrors'. Her acting career kicked off at just nine years of age appearing in kids television shows 'Bay City' and 'Paradise Beach' as Robyn Devereaux which ran for two series over 260 episodes from 1993 through 1994, and was syndicated across eleven countries including the USA, UK and France. This in turn led to her being cast in the role of Shannon Reed in the hugely popular long running Australian soap opera 'Home and Away' in which she starred in 376 episodes from 1994 through to 1997. In the meantime, she published two best selling novels at age eighteen aimed at the teenage market - 'Bewitched' and 'Seduced by Fame' with the help of her mother. Had her acting career not taken off, she would happily have become a writer.

After exiting the cast of 'Home and Away', she enrolled at L'Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq - a school in Paris where the physical art of theatre is studied emphasising the body, movement and space as the entry point in theatrical performance. Armed with these skills she appeared in a number of UK pantomimes and in a number of stage plays travelling the country. She went on to roles in the ITV mini-series 'Oliver Twist' in 1999, then an episode on the BBC series 'Sunburn' and then in 2001 in the mini-series 'Attila' with Gerard Butler, Powers Booth, Steven Berkoff, Liam Cunningham and Tim Curry. In 2001 she gained her first major role in the German slasher horror film 'Swimming Pool' (aka 'The Pool') alongside James McAvoy. She followed this with her role as Shaggy's love interest as Mary Jane in 2002's live action adaptation of 'Scooby Doo'. The film received generally lacklustre Reviews but it grossed US$276M from its US$84M budget outlay.

The Australian comedy 'The Wannabes' followed in 2003 with a bit part in Scott Caan's Directing debut 'Dallas 362' alongside Scott Caan, Jeff Goldblum and Selma Blair. 'I Heart Huckabees' came next with an all star cast as Directed by David O. Russell, and then 'Wedding Crashers' with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson winning the Actress a Breakthrough Performance Award. 'London' followed with Chris Evans, Jason Statham and Jessica Biel, and then RomCom 'Wedding Daze' with Jason Biggs in 2006. Crime film 'Lookout' came next with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels, then comedy offering 'Hot Rod' and then the romantic dramedy 'Definitely, Maybe' with Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Kline, Rachel Weisz, and Abigail Breslin. 'Confessions of a Shopaholic', another RomCom, closed out the decade with Fisher in the starring role alongside John Lithgow, John Goodman, Hugh Dancy, Kristin Scott Thomas and Lynn Redgrave.

2010 brought 'Burke and Hare' - the black comedy Directed by John Landis and starring Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis in the title roles respectively. This was followed up by the RomCom 'Bachelorette' with Kirsten Dunst, Rebel Wilson and Lizzy Caplan, before Baz Luhrmann's epic retelling of 'The Great Gatsby' with Fisher starring as Myrtle Wilson beside Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, Carey Mulligan and Jason Clarke. The film made US$351M at the Box Office from its US$105M investment and won 46 awards (including two Oscar's and two BAFTA's) and another 74 nominations. That same year, Fisher starred in 'Now You See Me' as Henley Reeves with Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. The film was a critical and commercial success, although Fisher was unable to reprise her role in the 2016 follow-up and was replaced by Lizzie Caplan.

The crime comedy 'Life of Crime' with Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins and Will Forte came along in 2013, and was followed up in 2015 by supernatural horror straight to video offering 'Visions'. A cameo role as herself in 'Klown Forever' in 2015 led to action comedy 'Grimsby' with Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Rebel Wilson and Penelope Cruz. Tom Ford's acclaimed 'Nocturnal Animals' in late 2016 with Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson and the critical and commercial failure 'Keeping Up with the Joneses' saw out 2016 and brings us up to date.

In the meantime, Fisher lent her voice talents to the animated features 'Horton Hears a Who!' in 2008, to 'Rango' in 2011, and to 'Rise of the Guardians' in 2012. She also has had appearances in several television series including 'Pilot Season', the animated 'Neighbors from Hell', 'Bored to Death', 'Arrested Development' and animated series 'Sofia the First' most recently.

All up, Fisher has 44 acting credits to her name, and she has thus far accumulated four award wins and ten nominations. She married to English Actor, Producer, Comedian and Screenwriter Sacha Baron Cohen having met at a party in Sydney, Australia in 2002. They were married in a Jewish ceremony in 2010 after Fisher converted to Judaism after three years of study in 2007. They have three children together - daughters Olive (born in 2008) and Elula (born in 2011) and son Montgomery (born in 2015). Fisher published her first solo written children's book 'Marge in Charge' in 2016.

Isla Fisher - voted on numerous 'Top' lists, often mistaken for friend Amy Adams; wanted to marry Elvis Presley when she was young even though he died in 1977 and she was born in 1976; often plays in RomCom's and comedies, but is also playing it straight in horrors, in crime dramas, in animated productions leaving only Sci-Fi on her list to tick off. Committed to her husband and her children, committed to her new religious beliefs, loves acting saying it is the greatest fun in the world and considers herself 'very Australian'. A child actress who has blossomed into a children's author, a leading lady, and an in demand supporting Actress, Happy Birthday to you Isla, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

LION : Tuesday 24th JANUARY 2017.

'LION' which I caught earlier this week is a drama film Directed by first timer Garth Davis and is based on the autobiographical book 'A Long Way Home' by Saroo Brierley and tells 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$28M plus twenty-two award wins and a further 67 nominations including the yet to be announced winners for this years BAFTA's for which it has five nominations as well as this years Academy Award nods for which it has six including Best Film and Best Supporting Actor/Actress nods for Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman respectively. After premiering at TIFF in early September, the film went on a limited release in the US in late November before its wider release from January onward.

The story here starts with brothers Saroo (Sunny Pawar) and his older brother Guddu (Abhisek  Bharate) in 1987 stealing coal from a moving train, so that they can purchase farm fresh milk from the local market to take home to their mother and young sister. It's all pretty innocent stuff and the two boys are the closest of siblings - looking out for each other, larking around and getting in and out of mischief. There is a genuine love for each other that is warmly displayed by the two young child Actors here, but most notably by the five year old Sunny Pawar who has a screen presence to behold, and you can't help but be captivated by his every move.

When Guddu wakes one night to go to work in a neighbouring village Saroo pleads with him to allow him to go along, showing off his strength and manual lifting prowess. Against his mothers wishes Guddu relents and the two disappear into the night. They arrive at a train station where Guddu orders Saroo to remain on a bench until he returns with orders for work. Saroo is fighting to stay awake and dozes off. Sometime later, Saroo wakes and it is still dark but there is no sign of his brother. He calls after Guddu repeatedly and marches up and down the platform and the tracks searching for his older brother but to no avail. He climbs onto a train and promptly falls asleep in a deserted carriage. He wakes later and the empty train is travelling at speed through unfamiliar territory. And so the train keeps travelling for 1,600kms with little Saroo its only passenger, eventually coming to a halt in far away Calcutta.

Saroo gets off the train hungry, thirsty and a long way from home, but still he calls out for Guddu and his Mum, not comprehending the enormity of the distance he has travelled or where he is. He cannot even speak the local dialect (Bengali) because he speaks Hindi. He is however, quick to adapt to his surroundings and proves to be quite resourceful, ever confident that he will someday be reunited with his Mum and his his brother, and how they too will be eagerly searching for him. Along the way over the several months that pass Saroo narrowly escapes being abducted, and then falling into the hands of a kindly gentleman who is not all who he seems. He eventually is handed over to the Police who after questioning place him into the hands of an orphanage where he remains being fed, watered and reasonably well cared for over several more months.

One day, the time comes when he is given the news that he has been adopted by an Australian family living in Tasmania - Sue and John Brierley (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham respectively). This is backed up by the news that the local authorities have searched in vain for his Mother, so far as posting photo's of young Saroo in the newspaper that has a readership of fifteen million. Later, we see Saroo board the plane with his carer, arrive in Hobart and receive a warm welcome by his new adoptive Mum and Dad. Saroo adapts well to his new family, and the three of them bond beyond anyone's expectations. A year or so later Sue and John adopt another young Indian lad, Mantosh, (Keshav Jadhav) who settles in less well to his new surroundings and rebels by self-harming.

Fast track two decades and Saroo is a grown adult living at home with his Mum and Dad and has plans for his life, while Mantosh has rebelled against the establishment and lives in a hut somewhere in Hobart's forest hinterland. Saroo is about to leave for Melbourne University where he is to study Hospitality Management with designs on owning his own hotel one day. Once in Melbourne he quickly befriends a number of Indian students and American girl Lucy (Rooney Mara). One evening over dinner at a student house, Saroo remembers a certain food from his childhood that is served, and in turn he confides in the group that he was adopted at a very young age and whilst he has a strong desire to trace back his family, he has scant memories and wouldn't know where to start. One of the students suggests that Saroo should use the new Google Earth application to search out his family and where he hailed from. It is 2008.

Meanwhile, Saroo and Lucy fall for each other, but as time progresses and Saroo's search draws nothing but blanks, so he retreats further inside himself at the expense of his relationship with Lucy. He breaks off his relationship, and in the meantime has said nothing to his parents Sue and John about his search for his birth mother, for fear that they will be offended, and that he would appear to them to be ungrateful. Sensing that Saroo is so pre-occupied and has distanced himself from his family, causes Sue to fall into a prolonged state of ill health. Later on Saroo visits his parents and in a touching moment he expresses his sorrow at Sue's inability to bear children. Unknown to him however, Sue was not infertile as Saroo had believed, but she and John all along chose to help other less fortunate children through adoption, rather than bolstering the worlds burgeoning population further.

By now several years have passed by since Saroo started his search on Google Earth. His room is adorned with maps of India, train timetables from the time, notes and random scribblings that his vague memories have revealed. One evening while feeling frustrated and helpless, he randomly scrolls though the Indian landscape on Google Earth, and notices a formation of rocks that held a familiarity to the place his mother worked. He narrows down the search zooming in on the landscape from above and discovers the place where he lived - a town called Khandwa, with the specific area known as Ganesh Talai. He reveals to his parents that he has found the location of his town and in his head he can retrace the steps exactly to his former home. He tells Lucy too, asking for her to wait for him to return. He boards a flight bound for India to complete the final leg of his 25 year search.

By now it is 2012, and Saroo arrives in Khandwa and sure enough is able to retrace those steps he took many many times as a young lad all those years ago. But his former family home is now a run down stable for goats and sundry livestock. Disheartened he comes across an English speaking local who understands him and beckons him to follow. Out onto the street he follows and is greeted by a procession of colourful Sari wearing women of all ages. At the front is Saroo's birth mother, Kamla Munshi (Priyanka Bose) and his sister. Their re-connection after all this time is emotional to say the least. A crowd gathers round and cheer as the three embrace, knowing that Kamla never gave up hope that her son would one day return.

In the closing sequence we see real footage of the Brierly's visiting Kamla in Khandwa in 2013. We also learn that Saroo had been mispronouncing his name his entire life, and that in fact it is 'Sheru' - a derivative Hindi word for 'Lion'.

This really is a remarkable true story that avoids all the talking heads and voiceovers you might expect from such a production. It is a simple story told with a deft touch by this first time Director, underpinned by strong, grounded and believable performances from its cast - not the least being young Sunny Pawar who is the standout here caught between two very different worlds. But credit where it's due too to Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman for their performances also that keep it real and emotional. The second half labours in places, but this is only a minor criticism - after all, just how interesting can you make someone else relentless Google Earth search? Take a box of tissues for this uplifting weepie tale of loss, hope, belonging and identity. You won't be disappointed!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 26th January 2017.

Continuing with the Awards Season updates, the 43rd Annual People's Choice Awards were held at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles on 18th January 2017, recognising the people and their work in popular culture as voted by the general public. In the film category (there are also music, television and digital categories amounting to a total 65 awards handed out on the night) there are sixteen awards given as highlighted below. The ceremony was hosted by Actor, Comedian, Writer, Producer and Television Personality Joel McHale.

* Favourite Movie and Favourite Family Movie : 'FINDING DORY'
* Favourite Thriller Movie : 'THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN'
* Favourite Drama Movie : 'ME BEFORE YOU'
* Favourite Action Movie : 'DEADPOOL'
* Favourite Comedy Movie : 'BAD MOMS'
* Favourite Movie Actor : Ryan Reynolds
* Favourite Movie Actress : Jennifer Lawrence
* Favourite Action Movie Actor : Robert Downey Jnr.
* Favourite Action Movie Actress : Margot Robbie
* Favourite Dramatic Movie Actor : Tom Hanks
* Favourite Dramatic Movie Actress : Blake Lively
* Favourite Comedy Movie Actor : Kevin Hart
* Favourite Comedy Movie Actress : Melissa McCarthy
* Favourite Animated Movie Voice : Ellen DeGeneres for 'FINDING DORY'
* Favourite Movie Icon : Johnny Depp

This week there are four new offerings coming to your local multiplex or independent theatre. We start off with a prohibition era gangster film charting one mans rise to the top of the heap as seen through the lens of this Actor who also Writes and Directs in this his fourth feature behind the camera. We then move to a hugely acclaimed coming of age drama charting the life of one lad from young boyhood to manhood and his sexual awakenings and the drug scene that makes him what he is. Next up is an intense psychological thriller of multiple split personalities and the kidnapping of three girls as Directed by the master of suspense and surprises, and a career defining performance from the lead Actor, before wrapping up with the sixth instalment in a huge video game adapted film franchise that features the undead, mutant monsters and an evil corporation hell bent on wiping out civilisation as we know it.

As always you are cordially invited to share your movie going insights, observations and opinions with your like minded Cinephiles here at Odeon Online by leaving your relevant, constructive and pertinent Comment below this or any other Post. Meanwhile, enjoy your film in the week ahead.

'LIVE BY NIGHT' (Rated MA15+) - acclaimed Actor, Producer, Screenwriter and Director Ben Affleck is back with his fourth Directorial offering after 2007's 'Gone Baby Gone', 2010's 'The Town' and 2012's 'Argo', but with this 1920's era gangster offering based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane he has so far garnered his most lacklustre Director reviews. With Affleck Directing and starring as well taking the script credit and a Co-Producer credit alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, featuring a strong cast and a budget of US$65M the film has grossed just US$16M since its US release at Christmas. Perhaps timing is everything given the time of the year the film is released, what it is up against at the Box Office and the awards seasons focusing attention on more critically acclaimed fare. All that said, there are positives to be had, including strong visuals, an impressive cast and an entertainment factor - just not in the same league as Affleck's other three award winning feature films.

Set in Prohibition era Boston initially where Joe Coughlin (Ben Affleck) has been raised by his father Thomas Coughlin (Brendan Gleeson) the head of the Boston Police Department. When Joe falls in love with Emma Gould (Sienna Miller), the mistress of Albert White (Robert Glenister) who is the figurehead of the Irish Gang of Boston, the rival Italian Mafia Boss blackmails Joe to kill White. When he refuses he flees to California with Emma and along the way commits a daring bank robbery in which three policemen are killed. When Joe is imprisoned on a lesser charge he falls into the clutches of the Mafia Boss and is sent to Tampa, Florida to protect the interests of his rum production empire. Joe himself starts to rise to (underworld) prominence by investing in clubs and casino's but is targeted by the Ku Klux Klan starting an all out war for dominance, but where and how will it all end? Also starring Chris Cooper, Elle Fanning and Zoe Saldana.

'MOONLIGHT' (Rated M) - Written for the screen and Directed by Barry Jenkins based on the play 'In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue' by Tarell Alvin McCraney, this film has gained universal acclaim since its release Stateside in October last year, has made US$16M from its US$5M budget outlay and has garnered an impressive 140 award wins and another 222 nominations including The Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture plus five other nominations, four BAFTA nominations with winners yet to be announced and the yet to be released Academy Award hopefuls. Telling the coming of age story in three distinct chapters, we here chart the life of young Chiron (Alex Hibbert) known as 'Little' because of his meek and mild personality and stature. He lives with his abusive drug addicted mother Paula (Naomi Harris) in Miami whom he hates. In the second chapter Chiron is now a teenager played by Ashton Sanders. Here Chiron has his first sexual encounter, and gets arrested as a result of being the victim of an initiation ritual. In the final chapter Chiron now known as 'Black' (played by Trevante Rhodes) is a drug dealer in Atlanta. Grappling with himself across three defining segments in his life, this films charts the pain and torment of growing up, the pleasure and beauty of love and the consequences of your actions on your own life and those around you. Disturbing, heartbreaking, personal, tender and insightful this is a grounded drama that should be on your must see list.

'SPLIT' (Rated M) - Written, Co-Produced and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan this is described as a psychological horror film, but for me it's fits more in the thriller domain and certainly is edge of the seat stuff as the story progresses. The film costs US$10M to make and represents a return to form for the Writer/Director following 2015's successful found footage horror offering 'The Visit' which cost just US$5M and returned US$99M and was well received by Critics. The film kicks off in a fast food restaurant where a bunch of teenage girls are wrapping up celebrating a birthday party. Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula) are wanting to go home with Dad who refuses to leave outsider Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) alone without a lift home. A few moments pass, and in the car park and into the drivers seat gets a stranger that none of the girls have seen before. Before you know it he sprays a chemical into each of the girls faces that instantly renders them unconscious. Dad is nowhere to be seen. The unknown captor drives off with the three girls. The character at the heart of the film is Kevin Wendell Crumb suffering from dissociative identity disorder whereby he frequently exhibits the personality traits of any one of 23 alternate personalities (all of them played out expertly by James McAvoy). As these characters manifest themselves they can be dangerous, monstrous, creepy, funny, harmless, young, old, male, female. What unfolds as these alternate personalities spring forth is the emergence of an all powerful, dominant, almost superhuman 24th personality known only as 'The Beast' which Kevin's analyst, Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley), can only begin to understand, and whilst the three held captive girls attempt to escape their captor. I caught an early viewing of this film a week before its Australian release, so check out my full Review posted on 20th January if you want more.

'RESIDENT EVIL : THE FINAL CHAPTER' (Rated MA15+) - this film sees the sixth instalment in the Sci-Fi action horror series that began its big screen life back in 2002 having been adapted for the screen from the popular video game of the same name. Back then Paul W.S. Anderson was hired to Write and Direct - a role he stuck with four of the films including the last three as Director, as Writer on all six and as Co-Producer on all six too. Milla Jovovich has played Alice, the #1 kick-ass leather clad protagonist in all six films fighting against the Umbrella Corporation, the main antagonist in the series - a bioengineering pharmaceutical company that creates bioweapons. Umbrella was responsible for the zombie apocalypse, which occurred after the corporation's T-virus infected the Earth's population. The first five films cost a combined US$250M to make, and so far those films have returned US$916M with 'The Final Chapter' earning so far US$35M since its release in Japan at Christmas. The film is released in the US on 27th January. Here the story takes place three weeks after the events closed out 'Resident Evil : Retribution' that sees Alice return to Raccoon City where it all began and where Umbrella Corporation are gathering forces and readying themselves for the final attack on the remaining survivors of the apocalypse. As Alice joins forces with some old allies and friends you can bet it will be a bloody brutal battle against marauding hordes of the undead and pesky mutant monster types. The films also stars Ruby Rose, Iain Glen, Ali Larter and Shawn Roberts.

For films aimed squarely at the late-teen market and above this week, but offering the undead, unhinged split personalities, prohibition gangsters, and one mans coming of age story with the back drop of the War on Drugs. What's not to like here? Get yourself out to a movie theatre in the week ahead and catch a film of choice as Previewed here, or as Reviewed previously. In the meantime, I'll see you in the coming week sometime, somewhere at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 22nd - 28th January 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Rosamund Pike does on 27th January - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 38, 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 January

• Piper Laurie - Born 1932, turns 85 - Actress
• Linda Blair - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actress
• Diane Lane - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actress
• John Hurt - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor
• Jim Jarmusch - Born 1953, turns 64 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor | Composer  

Monday 23rd January

• Shin'ichi (Sonny) Chiba - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor | Producer | Director | Stuntman
• Rutger Hauer - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Richard Dean Anderson - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actor | Producer
• Richard Roxburgh - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Ewen Bremner - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actor | Producer  

Tuesday 24th January

• Adrian Edmondson - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Ed Helms - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer
• Nastassja Kinski - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actress | Producer  

Wednesday 25th January

• Tobe Hooper - Born 1943, turns 74 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Composer
• Whit Stillman - Born 1952, turns 65 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Thursday 26th January

• Scott Glenn - Born 1941, turns 76 - Actor
• David Strathairn - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actor
• Ellen DeGeneres - Born 1958, turns 59 - Television Personality | Actress | Writer | Producer  

Friday 27th January

• Mimi Rogers - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actress | Producer
• Bridget Fonda - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress
• Rosamund Pike - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actress
• James Cromwell - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor | Producer
• Frank Miller - Born 1957, turns 60 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor
• Alan Cumming - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer  

Saturday 28th January

• Alan Alda - Born 1936, turns 81 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Frank Darabont - Born 1959, turns 58 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor
• Elijah Wood - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Will Poulter - Born 1993, turns 24 - Actor | Writer  

Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike was born in London, England, to mother Caroline and father Julian Pike - both opera singers. Her father currently works at the Birmingham Conservatoire as Professor of Music and Head of Operatic Studies. Her parents work commitments saw the family travel extensively across Europe in Rosamund's earlier years up until when she was seven or so years of age. She won a scholarship to the  acclaimed independent Badminton Girls School, near Bristol, and while appearing in a production of 'Romeo and Juliet' as Juliet at the National Youth Theatre was noticed by a talent agent, who aided her in her early professional acting career aspirations. She eventually secured a place to study English Literature at Wadham College, at Oxford University from where she graduated. She took a year off to pursue her acting, gaining stage appearances in 'Skylight', 'All My Sons' and several Shakespeare plays. She graduated with a degree in 2001.

While still studying at Oxford she acted and Directed various stage plays, and from 1998 gained work on television. These included appearances on the Sci-Fi pilot for 'Seven Days' as a CIA Agent, the made for TV movie 'A Rather English Marriage', on three episodes of the BBC four part mini-series 'Wives and Daughters', on one episode of the Police procedural drama series 'Trial and Retribution' and then the two part 'Love in a Cold Climate'. In 2002 however, Pike gained her big screen debut playing Bond girl Miranda Frost, an undercover MI6 Agent and double agent to Pierce Brosnan's James Bond in Lee Tamahori's 'Die Another Day' - the twentieth film in the forty year running franchise. Whilst the film gained mixed critical reviews it did bring in US$432M and was the highest grossing Bond film of all-time, up to that point.

From here Pike has rarely been very far away from our big screens. In 2004 she starred in the Israeli film 'Promised Land', and then 'The Libertine' with Johnny Depp and John Malkovich. 2005 followed with Joe Wrights adaptation of 'Pride & Prejudice' with Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Donald Sutherland and Judi Dench and then a complete change of pace and genre with the Sci-Fi action horror offering 'Doom' with Karl Urban and Dwayne Johnson. 'Fracture' came next in 2007 with Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling and David Strathairn, then 'Fugitive Pieces', 'An Education' with Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper and Emma Thompson and then a return to Sci-Fi action mystery with Jonathan Mostow's 'Surrogates' with Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, and James Cromwell seeing out the decade. In the meantime, there had been further small screen appearances too on 'Foyle's War', 'The Tower' and made for television film 'Freewill'.

As the decade turned over there was the satirical thriller 'Burning Palms', comedy drama 'Barney's Version' with Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman and Minnie Driver, the British film 'Made in Dagenham' with Bob Hoskins and then the Bond spoof 'Johnny English Reborn' with Rowan Atkinson which was a commercial success raking in US$160M from its US$45M budget outlay, but less of a critical one. 'The Big Year' with Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson came along in 2011 and bombed at the Box Office, unlike Pike's follow up film as Queen Andromeda in the epic adventure action fantasy 'Wrath of the Titans' with an all star cast featuring Sam Worthington, Bill Nighy, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Edgar Ramirez, Danny Huston and Toby Kebbel. That film made US$306M at the global Box Office from its US$150M budget but fared well less well critically too.

The first instalment in big screen adaptation of Lee Child's character 'Jack Reacher' was released in 2012 with Pike starring as defence lawyer Helen Rodin opposite Tom Cruise as former US Military Police Officer turned drifter and righter or wrongs Jack Reacher.  The film recovered US$219M from its US$60M outlay, and has so far spawned one sequel - last years 'Jack Reacher : Never Go Back'. 'The Devil You Know' and then Edgar Wright's end of the world Sci-Fi comedy 'The World's End' with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Pierce Brosnan, Eddie Marsan and Paddy Considine was released in 2013 to widespread critical acclaim. Pike teamed up with Brosnan for the third time in Nick Hornby's black comedy adaptation of 'A Long Way Down'. She also paired up with Simon Pegg again in 'Hector and the Search for Happiness' which also starred Toni Collette - her Co-Star from 'A Long Way Down'.

'What We Did On Our Holiday' was her third film offering of 2014, and closing out that year was David Fincher's acclaimed psychological thriller 'Gone Girl' in which Pike starred as Amy Dunne the missing and deranged wife opposite Ben Affleck's Nick Dunne. The film grossed US$370M from its US$61M budget, and garnered Pike her first Best Actress Academy Award nomination, as well as Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG, and AACTA nods. All up the film received 64 award wins and a further 171 nominations.



2015 saw 'Return to Sender' with 'A United Kingdom' released just before Christmas and in the US not until early February. Here Pike stars opposite David Oyelowo in this biographical romantic drama film set in the late '40's when Seretse Khama, the Prince of Bechuanaland meets and falls in love with Ruth Williams, a London office clerk, and the couple have to deal with the fall out from their frowned upon inter-racial, mixed colour union.




Since 2015 Pike has voiced the characters of Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and Captain Ridley O'Bannon in the remake of the cult '60's Gerry and Sylvia Anderson television series 'Thunderbirds' with this updated telling 'Thunderbirds Are Go' across two seasons so far and 39 episodes. Next up and due for release in 2017 are 'Hostiles', a Western with Christian Bale, Jesse Plemons, Stephen Lang and Ben Foster; 'High Wire Act', an action thriller with Jon Hamm; 'Entebbe' based on the 1976 terrorist hijacking of a passenger plane forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda, also starring Daniel Bruhl; and 'The Man with the Iron Heart' (formerly known as 'HHhH') with Mia Wasikowska, Jason Clarke and Jack O'Connell. Then due in 2018 and currently in pre-production is 'The Bends' another action thriller.

All up Pike has 42 Acting credits under her belt, excluding a number of stage acting roles, has one Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe, SAG and AACTA nomination for her role in 'Gone Girl' and all told has so far accumulated 29 award wins and a total 51 other nominations. She was previously engaged to Director and Producer Joe Wright, and has since been in a steady relationship with mathematical researcher Robie Uniacke since 2009 and they have two sons together - Solo (born in 2012) and Atom (born in 2014).

Rosamund Pike - an English rose, never typecast and plays to her strengths, has been awarded as a Bond Girl and for 'Gone Girl', plays the cello and the piano, speaks both French and German, has the looks and increasingly the star power, and is very clearly in demand on stage, television and the big screen. Happy Birthday to you Rosamund, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

SPLIT : Wednesday 18th January 2017.

I was lucky enough to catch an advance screening earlier this week of M.Night Shyamalan's psychological thriller, 'SPLIT' one week ahead of its Australian release on Thursday 26th January. Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Shyamalan this is described as a psychological horror film, but for me it's fits more in the thriller domain and certainly is edge of the seat stuff as the story progresses. The film costs US$10M to make and represents a return to form for the Writer/Director following 2015's successful found footage horror offering 'The Visit' which cost just US$5M and returned US$99M and was well received by Critics. In between time however, we had to endure 'After Earth' in 2013, 'The Last Airbender' in 2010, 'The Happening' in 2008, and 'Lady in the Water' in 2006. Before these of course we had his breakout films which were more highly regarded than his latter day offerings - 'The Sixth Sense' in 1999, 'Unbreakable' in 2000, 'Signs' in 2002 and 'The Village' in 2004. In 'Split' Shyamalan harks back to his early work with suspense, thrills, dark humour, gripping performances from his lead Actors and his trademark surprises that will keep you guessing as the credits roll.

The film kicks off in a fast food restaurant where a bunch of teenage girls are wrapping up celebrating a birthday party. Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula) are wanting to go home with Dad who refuses to leave outsider Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) alone without a lift home. He offers to drive her home as its only a short distance out of his way, and so in the car park he is loading up his boot in broad daylight and the three girls climb inside the car. A few moments pass, and into the drivers seat gets a stranger that none of them have seen before. Before you know it he sprays a chemical into each of the girls faces that instantly renders them unconscious. Dad is nowhere to be seen. The unknown captor drives off with the three girls.

Later we see the girls captor carrying them into a room that is to become their prison cell. It is bare brick, three made up camp beds, and a gleaming white en suite bathroom. There are no windows and a single heavily bolted wooden door. Through a crack in the door they can see that there is an adjacent room with just one entry door and they can hear a voice on the other side. The door unlocks and in walks Dennis (James McAvoy) - a well built stocky man, obviously strong, a little nervous, but with a commanding presence. He establishes some ground rules, and leaves. The girls meanwhile contemplate their fate - as Claire seeks out a plan to break out of her prison confines using the teenage karate lessons learned by Marcia to overcome their captor. Casey meanwhile seems content to wait and see what unwinds - to watch and observe until the time is right to take decisive action.

Meanwhile various characters come and go - all of them played out by James McAvoy who at heart is Kevin Wendell Crumb suffering from dissociative identity disorder whereby he frequently exhibits the personality traits of any one of 23 alternate personalities. As these characters manifest themselves they can be dangerous, monstrous, creepy, funny, harmless, young, old, male, female.

Whilst we don't see Kevin until close to the end when his state of mind is explained, we do meet a well to do English matriarch with sinister overtones (Patricia), a nine year old simpleton lad who likes dancing to Kanye West (Hedwig), an OCD caretaker who is fastidious about cleanliness and hygiene (Dennis), and a gay fashion designer (Barry). All of these personalities are played out expertly by McAvoy using items of clothing as his only props to suit the personality he is portraying whilst his facial expressions, mannerisms and voice convey the mood and tone of the character he is inhibiting.

Meanwhile, Claire hatches a plan to escape through the roof of their prison cell and does so by means of ventilation ducting just wide enough for her to scale through. She exits in a nearby room and is promptly recaptured, and for her troubles is locked up in a storeroom all alone, feeling desperately sorry for herself and fearing the worst. Then Marcia has a go when she and Casey are invited to the kitchen for dinner. She slams a wooden chair into the turned back of one of Kevin's female alternates and makes a bolt for it, only to be recaptured in a dead end room from which there is no exit. She too is banished to another empty storeroom to contemplate her fate.

While all of this is going on Kevin's more sinister personalities are increasingly requesting daily emergency sessions with his analyst Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley) who has been treating Kevin for a number of years and has met just about all of his personalities. She specialises in the field of DID and has been chipping away to gain a full understanding of what makes each of his 23 personalities tick. It is here that we are introduced to the possibility of a 24th personality emerging - known as 'The Beast', that will dominate over the other 23, with his physical and mental strength. No one has yet seen The Beast in manifested form, but the other personalities know that he is coming, and when he does . . .

In micro-flashbacks too we catch short little bursts of what made Casey the young woman she is today. On hunting trips aged five or six when Casey (Izzie Coffey) first learned to shoot a shotgun and kill a deer under the tutelage of her father and Uncle, through to her fathers premature death and her being raised by her abusive Uncle. These life lessons as young as she is, have taught her to be patient, to give nothing away, and to play along with her captor gaining what little confidence and trust she can along the away. And in the end, it pays off as she emerges the heroine of the piece while her two friends succumb.

Dr. Fletcher becomes increasingly alarmed by Kevin's demands for sessions on a now daily basis by sending multiple e-mails at all hours of the day and night. She keeps digging away at times uncertain of which character she is addressing, but always placating the personality with kind words, generous compliments, and her own engaging character. All the while the tension mounts between them, only adding to the suspicion between the two parties.

Eventually 'The Beast' manifests itself and it is everything and more that Kevin and his various personalities had imagined. Domineering, powerful, almost superhuman, and definitely to be feared. In the final analysis there are some gruesome casualties along the way, but Casey survives with the help of a shotgun and some carefully aimed shots from the relatively safe confines of a locked cage. Whilst she survives, so does The Beast who we see treating his own wounds in some derelict home having escaped his own underground lair. He morphs from one personality to another having conversations with himself about the state of his shot up body, and what to do next.

As Casey is rescued we see the exact location above ground where Kevin housed his deep underground quarters in which he lived, held his prisoners captive and how he was able to move about relatively easily. There is a metaphor here for the behaviours exhibited by some of Kevin's personalities too. In a final scene where breaking news reveals the ordeal that Casey went through and the casualties of that experience, we cut to a diner and the dialogue between two patrons harks back to an earlier film where the antagonist is committed to an institution for the criminally insane, drawing comparisons between that character and the one of Kevin Wendell Crumb.

McAvoy carries this film with his seamless portrayal of a myriad of dangerous, unhinged, twisted personalities easily showcasing his awards worthy talents. Here too the storytelling and Direction of Shyamalan marks his welcome comeback with an original and compelling story, and those trademarks we have come to expect from his earlier works especially. See this on the big screen for the larger than life opening credits sequence, and the expert personalities adopted by each of McAvoy's alternate persona's - this film belongs to him, and he clearly relished the multiple characters the role presented him with.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-