Birthday's to share this week : 29th October - 4th November 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Ben Foster does on 29th October - check out my tribute to this Actor Producer Birthday Lad turning 37, 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 October

• Kate Jackson - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Winona Ryder - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actress | Producer
• Richard Dreyfuss - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Rufus Sewell - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor
• Ben Foster - Born 1980, turns 37 - Actor | Producer 

Monday 30th October

• Henry Winkler - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Kevin Pollak - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Juliet Stevenson - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actress 
• Clemence Poesy - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress | Writer | Director  

Tuesday 31st October

• Piper Perabo - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress | Producer
• Willow Smith - Born 2000, turns 17 - Actress | Singer
• Stephen Rea - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actor 
• Peter Jackson - Born 1961, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | 
• Dermot Mulroney - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer | Musician
• Rob Schneider - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director   

Wednesday 1st November

• Lyle Lovett - Born 1957, turns 60 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor | Composer | Producer | Director 
• Robert Luketic - Born 1973, turns 44 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Toni Collette - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Thursday 2nd November

• Stephanie Powers - Born 1942, turns 75 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• David Schwimmer - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Director | Producer 
• Jon M. Chu - Born 1979, turns 38 - Director | Producer | Writer 

Friday 3rd November

• Gary Ross - Born 1956, turns 61 - Writer | Director | Producer
• Dolph Lundgren - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Dylan Moran - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Writer
• Lulu (aka Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie) - Born 1948, turns 69 - Singer | Actress
• Roseanne Barr - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Kate Capshaw - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actress   

Saturday 4th November

• Loretta Swit - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actress | Singer
• Ralph Macchio - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Matthew McConaughey - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Sean 'Diddy' Combs - Born 1969, turns 48 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Producer | Actor | Writer | Director 

Benjamin A. Foster was born in Boston, Massachusetts to mother Gillian Kirwan and father Steven Foster - restauranteurs. He described his parents as 'free spirited Vietnam protesting hippies'. When he was four years old the family, together with younger brother Jon, relocated themselves to Fairfield in Iowa as a result of a burglary on their home while they were present in the house. Whilst living in Fairfield, Ben attended the Maharishi University of Management featuring a consciousness based education system that includes the practice of Transcendental Meditation technique (which he still practices to this day). Foster began his career as a jobbing Actor from the age of sixteen having dropped out of High School and moving to Los Angeles to chase his dream. However, he discovered acting much earlier on in his life when he wrote, Directed and starred in his own stage play at age twelve - which came second place in an international competition. By age fourteen he has attended the Interlochen Theatre Arts Summer Programme at Interlochen in Michigan, so it almost became inevitable that in time he'd move to Tinsel Town.

He gained his first acting gig in the direct to video release of 'Kounterfeit' - an action crime thriller from 1997 with Hilary Swank. This was followed up that same year with all 26 episodes on the Disney family comedy television series 'Flash Forward' which ran from 1996 through to 1997, with Foster playing a lead role as Tucker James. He followed this up with a single episode on 'You Wish' and then made for television films - 'I've Been Waiting For You', 'Breakfast with Einstein' and '1973' in 1998 with two episodes on 'Freaks and Geeks' and then feature film 'Liberty Heights' closing out the decade in 1999 as Written and Directed by Barry Levinson and also starring Adrien Brody.

2000 launched with a single episode on 'Family Law' and then RomCom 'Get Over It' with Kirsten Dunst, Colin Hanks, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, and Martin Short. TV movie 'The Laramie Project' based on a true crime murder story also starred Peter Fonda, Laura Linney, Steve Buscemi, Clancy Brown and Christina Ricci. This in turn led to two episodes on 'Boston Public' then comedy crime caper offering Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld 'Big Trouble' with Tim Allen, Stanley Tucci, Tom Sizemore, Johnny Knoxville, Rene Russo, Zooey Deschanel and Sofia Vergara. 'Bang Bang You're Dead'; 'Northfork' with James Woods, Nick Nolte and Daryl Hannah; '11:14' with Colin Hanks, Patrick Swayze, Hilary Swank and Barbara Hershey, 'The Punisher' based on the Marvel Comics character of Frank Castle, aka 'The Punisher' played by Thomas Jane with John Travolta, Will Patton, Roy Schneider and Rebecca Romijn; and then 'The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things' took us up to mid-decade.

2005 saw 'Hostage' - the action crime drama with Bruce Willis, and running concurrently over 23 episodes was the critically acclaimed television series 'Six Feet Under' between 2003 and 2005. These were followed up by 'Alpha Dog' based on a true crime story Directed by Nick Cassavetes and with an ensemble cast taking in Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton, Justin Timberlake, Emile Hirsch, Anton Yelchin, Sharon Stone, Amanda Seyfried, Amber Heard and Olivia Wilde. Foster's performance gained him a Breakthrough Performance Award win at the Young Hollywood Awards. 2006 also saw his turn as Warren Worthington III/'Angel' in 'X-Men : Last Stand', and then the James Mangold Directed Western drama '3:10 to Yuma' alongside Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. David Slade's vampire horror thriller '30 Days of Night' came next in 2007 with Josh Hartnett, Danny Huston and Melissa George, and in between time there were appearances on television series 'The Dead Zone' and 'My Name Is Earl'.

2009 brought 'The Messenger' Directed and Co-Written by Oren Moverman to critical acclaim about an injured American soldier returning from a Tour of Duty in Iraq who becomes involved with with the widow of a fallen officer. Also starring Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton the film was nominated for two Academy Awards, and picked up seventeen award wins and a total 46 nominations including a number of Best Actor wins and nominations for Fosters performance. Sci-Fi action horror 'Pandora' with Dennis Quaid and Norman Reedus closed out the decade.

'Here', then the remake of
the classic early '70's Charles Bronson actioner 'The Mechanic' in 2011 as Directed by Simon West and starring Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop/The Mechanic followed, with '360' and gritty crime drama 'Rampart' Directed again by Oren Moverman and starring Woody Harrelson, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Bernthal, Brie Larson and Cynthia Nixon all came along that same year.

2012 saw crime drama action film 'Contraband' with Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi, then in 2013 the biographical drama 'Kill Your Darlings' about the intertwined lives of three great poets - Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs and starring Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, and Jack Huston. The David Lowery Written and Directed 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' with Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, and then the true story of Navy Seals on a mission to take out a notorious Taliban leader, when their capture or kill objective goes horribly wrong on a remote mountain side - 'Lone Survivor'. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana and Directed by Peter Berg the film was nominated for two Academy Awards and picked up a SAG Award for best stunt ensemble among its haul of five wins and sixteen nods.

Stephen Frears sports biopic of the failed Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, starred Foster as the seven time cycling champion ultimately outed for his banned substance abuse that fuelled his multiple victories, his fame and his fortune. Also starring Chris O'Dowd, Jesse Plemons, Dustin Hoffman and Lee Pace 'The Program' had a limited release but garnered Foster much critical praise for his impressive portrayal of the doomed cyclist. Historical seafaring search and rescue film 'The Finest Hours' was released in 2016 with Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Eric Bana, John Ortiz and Holliday Grainger.

2016 also saw the modern day Western set in America's West Texas rust belt about a couple of down on their luck brothers who resort to desperate measures to save their family ranch from the bank foreclosing. 'Hell or High Water' also starred Chris Pine, Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham and was nominated for four Academy Awards, three BAFTA's, three Golden Globes amongst its combined tally of 39 Award wins and another 160 nominations. This was followed by action adventure fantasy film 'Warcraft' as Directed by Duncan Jones and starring Travis Fimmel, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Clancy Brown and Ruth Negga. Costing US$160M this video game adaptation grossed US$433M making it the highest grossing video game film adaptation of all time. 'Inferno' based on the Dan Brown book of the same name about Professor of Symbology Robert Langdon played for the third time by Tom Hanks, and his attempts to foil a deadly global plot masterminded by a wealthy industrialist intent on wiping out half the worlds population because it can't sustain itself. Foster plays that guy.

Bringing us up to date are the French comedy Directed, Co-Written and also starring Guillaume Canet 'Rock'n Roll' with Marion Cotillard and the soon to be released Western drama set in 1892 'Hostiles' with Christian Bale, Jesse Plemons, Stephen Lang, Peter Mullan and Rosamund Pike. Also due soon and in post-production is 'My Abandonment' and hitman revenge film 'Galveston' with Beau Bridges and Elle Fanning due later in 2018.

All up Foster has 53 Acting credits under this belt so far, and one as Producer on 'Rampart'. He also has a stage credit for appearing alongside Gillian Anderson in 2014 in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' at London's Young Vic Theatre, later transferring in 2016 to New York's St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. He has so far garnered seven Award wins for 'Hell or High Water', 'The Messenger' and 'Alpha Dog' plus a further thirty nominations.

Foster was in a long term relationship with Actress Robin Wright from early on in 2012, becoming engaged to be married two years later, only to call it all off in late 2014. They reconciled their differences a few months later only to abandon the relationship for good by August 2015. Fourteen months later in October 2016 he became engaged to Actress Laura Prepon, and the couple celebrated the birth of their first child together, a daughter in August of this year.

Ben Foster - described by some Critics as giving powerful 'unhinged' and 'intense' performances that even 'make a bad film worth seeing'; often plays crazy, violent roles; has a soft, mellow and calming voice; was ranked highly on the '30 under 30' Actors list and the '10 Actors to Watch' list and has already gained the accolades and recognition to prove it, and, is only improving with age and is increasingly in demand. With a varied body of work across the small screen, the silver screen and the stage taking in just about all genres (except a song and dance number . . . yet!), we'll stay tuned for your further offerings. In the meantime, Happy Birthday to you Ben, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE SNOWMAN : Tuesday 24th October 2017.

'THE SNOWMAN' which I saw earlier this week is potentially the first in what may turn out to be new film franchise for this Norwegian crime fighting detective Harry Hole, based on the Oslo Crime Squad character created by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo in the popular series of novels that have been translated into forty languages, and having sold over thirty million copies worldwide. Harry Hole appears in eleven novels so far, first launched in 1997 with 'The Bat', taking us up to 2017 with the release of 'The Thirst'. 'The Snowman' upon which this film is based is the seventh book in the series and was published in 2007. This film is Directed by Tomas Alfredson, whose previous Directing credits include the acclaimed 'Let The Right One In' and 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'. The film cost US$35M to bring to the big screen and has so far recouped US$23M, and has garnered generally lacklustre Reviews.

Research reveals that Harry Hole (here portrayed by Michael Fassbender) is a brilliant and driven detective prone to using unorthodox methods in his work, a classic loose cannon in the police force. Hole is unmarried and he has few close friends. He frequently makes enemies among his colleagues who, nevertheless, grudgingly respect him. He is a chain smoker and heavy drinker, although for the most part has his reliance on alcohol under control. The effects of his problems however, sometimes bring him into repeated conflict with his superiors, and some colleagues. Hole is also one of just a handful in the force to have undertaken special interrogation techniques and firearms training with the FBI.

Our film opens up on a desolate snow covered mountain side dwelling. Up pulls a VW Golf Police car, and out steps an overweight getting on in years man who delivers two gas cylinder bottles to the house, stashes them away inside and then sits down at the dining table with the mother of the household and her young teenage son. It is presumed to be sometime in the early 80's. The man tests the young lad on notable dates in history, and when the boy falters or answers incorrectly the women gets a stern beating. One such wrong answer sends the mother crashing backwards off her chair and onto the floor. Next up the young lad is spying on the mother and the man through the bedroom window as they have sex. When the boy is seen, the man hurriedly gets up out of the bed, gets dressed, storms out of the house ranting as he does so and speeds off in his car. The mother and boy give chase in the car across the spartan snow covered landscape. At some point the mother releases her hands from the steering wheel and the car careers off the road onto a frozen lake. The boy is screaming at his mother but she doesn't hear, her gaze fixed firmly on the road ahead, emotionless. The boy pulls on the handbrake and the car skids to a halt. He gets out of the passenger side door hearing the ice crack beneath the vehicle. His mother sits motionless as the boys struggles to open the drivers side door to free his mother. But she doesn't want to be freed as the vehicle slowly sinks into the icy depths below and disappears.

We then cut to the present day and waking up from a drunken stupor in a park shelter is Detective Harry Hole of the Oslo Police. He has been absent without leave for the past week or so, and meanders into the office to check on his mail, and is greeted by his superior officer with a reminder of leave protocols, a quick slap on the wrist and told not to do it again. He then ventures outside to a smoking balcony where he meets new recruit Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Fergusson) who has been assigned to his office. They exchange social niceties and go their separate ways, only to meet up hours later when Hole sees Bratt leaving for the day and catches a ride. She is on her way to a reported missing persons case, and Hole tags along. Meanwhile, in Hole's stash of mail is a handwritten cryptic letter sent directly from a supposed killer with a picture of a snowman at the bottom of the page - its plays on Hole's mind momentarily, but then he seems to dismiss it.

The missing person in question is Birte Becker (Genevieve O'Reilly) a married mother of a six or seven year old daughter. The night before her disappearance we see her car being followed by another on the way home from work. She arrives and is greeted by the young child, but the waiting father Filip Becker (James D'Arcy) is angry at her being late and he storms out of the house with bags packed on his way to some important business meeting out of town, leaving mother and daughter alone in the house. The next morning, the child wakes up and mother is gone. No sign of her, and a neighbour alerted the Police who send Bratt along to investigate. Outside in the garden is a squat snowman, with twigs for arms and coffee beans for a wry smile, gazing up the house.

The next case of a missing person requires a drive out to some remote farmstead for a case of a missing Sylvia Ottersen (Chloe Sevigny), but when they arrive Sylvia Ottersen is alive and well and shrugs it off as a prank call form her jilted boyfriend. Hole and Bratt leave from whence they came, only to be alerted over the Police band radio that Sylvia Ottersen has been reported missing . . . two minutes ago! They hastily turn around and return to the farmstead to be greeted by Ane Pedersen (Chloe Sevigny), Sylvia's identical twin, only to find the decapitated corpse of Sylvia Ottersen on the ground in the chicken shed. At this point Hole and Bratt surmise that the Snowman is playing with them and that he must have been watching them all along, calling in that Sylvia was missing even before she was butchered. Hole surveys the surrounding buildings and locates the head of Sylvia perched on top of a snowman at the bottom of a frozen abandoned silo.

In between time we catch glimpses of a back story featuring some Bergen based ace detective who came close to uncovering the Snowman murders some ten or fifteen years back. Detective Gert Rafto (Val Kilmer) was a drunken no nonsense kinda guy who met with a very sticky end at the hands of the Snowman, that was cleverly masked over to make it look like a suicide. When Hole goes to Bergen to investigate he is met by DC Svensson (Toby Jones) who simply reports that it was a plain and simple suicide and was therefore not investigated further. Hole, however, thinks there was more to it and examines further. His closer examination reveals a connection between Rafto and Bratt.

Another side story involves Arve Stop (J.K. Simmons) as an unscrupulous sinister media mogul who is spearheading Oslo's bid for the Winter Olympic Games which is about to be announced. Bratt has a feeling in her bones about Stop and goes undercover to investigate further, installing a hidden camera in his hotel room where she intends to proposition herself to him. Stop had dealings with Frederick Aasen (Adrian Dunbar) back in 2006 involving some kind of industrial development that went tits up leaving Aasen very bitter indeed. Needless to say it doesn't end well for Bratt as the Snowman gets to her first before Stop retires to his room for the night, and the Snowman has erased all footage from the hidden camera, and any evidence of a struggle.

The final plot scenario is the story of Hole's on again off again long term relationship with his ex-partner and art dealer Rakel (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her teenage son Oleg (Michael Yates) by her first marriage. Hole feels more than a semi-fatherly connection to Oleg despite Rakel's husband Mathias (Jonas Karlsson) also playing adoptive father duty who works as a medical consultant specialist that sees him away quite often on business or attending conferences, so giving Rakel the chance to rekindle with Hole, albeit temporarily - a fact that Mathias seems to accept.

Meanwhile back to the chilling killing as the body count rises and dismembered corpses turn up in all manner of locations, there seems little to connect the murderous spree other than motherhood, by neglect, abortion, jealousy etc. while their mysterious vanishings seems to coincide with fresh snow fall. Hole seems to do little actual detective work here, leaving all the investigative work to Bratt only to come along at the end and join the dots and bish bash bosh the serial killer is out in the open and exposed back where it all began in that desolate snow covered mountain side dwelling where Rakel and Oleg's lives are hanging in the balance. Hole sits across the table from his two loved ones almost powerless having to answer questions that determine whether the electric motorised garrote held by the Snowman is tightened or loosened around Rakel's neck. Needless to say, it comes down to a face off on a frozen lake with Hole shot to the ground and the Snowman approaching ready to plug him again at close range to finish the job.

This is a disjointed film where, alas, the sum of its parts are not greater than the (Harry) Hole. With a strong ensemble supporting cast who for the most part are left wanting to do more with the little screen time and dialogue afforded them, the film meanders from one grizzly killing to the next while Hole and Bratt join the seemingly simple dots to expose the serial killer. Fassbender and Ferguson are well cast, but that alone can't save this film that is too busy with side stories that go nowhere and add little value instead of getting down and dirty with the detective work and concentrate on what drives The Snowman to commit his unthinkable crimes. When the quality of Scandinavian police driven crime drama film and television is so good, despite the snow covered Norwegian vistas, this film feels like a hurried by the numbers affair that I'm sure will leave the legions of fans of the source novel thinking WTF! If Harry Hole does return to the big screen in another adaptation, and Fassbender could do so easily, let's hope that the lessons learned from this first instalment bode well for any follow-up as there is just enough of a foundation to do so.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

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

With the release of 'Thor : Ragnarok' this week, and as Previewed below, this brings to a close the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie releases for 2017 following on from 'Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2' and 'Spider-Man : Homecoming' seen earlier this year. So what Superhero offerings do we have to look forward to in the coming years from the MCU? Shown below, is what we know so far on the cards for release over the next few years or in development either from the direct MCU or the periphery.
* 'Black Panther' - due in February 2018, Directed by Ryan Coogler and staring Patrick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther with Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Andy Serkis.
* 'The New Mutants' - due in April 2018, Directed by Josh Boone and starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin/Majik, Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbaine, Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie/Canonball, Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa/Sunspot and Blu Hunt as Danielle Moonstar/Mirage.


* 'Avengers : Infinity War, Part 1' - due in May 2018, Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and starring all the usual Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy suspects and Josh Brolin as Thanos.
* 'Deadpool 2' - due in June 2018, Directed by David Leitch and starring Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool.

* 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' - due in July 2018, Directed by Peyton Reed, and staring Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne/Wasp with Bobby Cannavale, Michale Pena, Michael Douglas, Laurence Fishburn, Walton Goggins and Michelle Pfeiffer.
* 'X-Men : Dark Phoenix' - due in November 2018, Directed by Simon Kinberg and starring Sophie Turner as Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix, with all the usual X-Men suspects returning from the more recent films.
* 'Gambit' - due in February 2019, Directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau/Gambit.
* 'Captain Marvel' - due in March 2019, Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck and starring Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel.
* 'Avengers : Infinity War, Part 2' - due in May 2019, Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and starring all the usual Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy suspects and Josh Brolin as Thanos.
* 'Spider-Man : Homecoming 2' - due in July 2019, Directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
* 'Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3' - due in 2020, Directed by James Gunn, and starring all the usual Guardians suspects.
* Also reportedly in the works are 'Inhumans' that has been on again off again and 'Venom' supposedly Directed by Ruben Fleisher and starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom.

This week, with five new release movies to choose from, we kick start with a MCU Superhero offering that sees this particular hero down on his luck and fighting for his survival and that of his lands and his people; then an outwardly quite peaceful community is turned upside down when an inwardly corrupt underbelly of violence and corruption manifests itself; followed up by a WWII drama of the lengths ordinary people will go to to protect the life of an innocent; then a black dramedy about the power of social media and the impact upon two very different lives when they come together; and closing out with a French film of two women who share a connection with the same man and come to rely on each other for different reasons.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are here cordially invited to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and meanwhile, enjoy your big screen Odeon experience during the coming week.

'THOR : RAGNAROK' (Rated M) - this is the third film in the 'Thor' franchise and the seventeenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and has been much hyped, keenly awaited and highly anticipated since the first trailers were released and New Zealander Taika Waititi was announced for Directing duties. With a production budget of US$180M and filmed largely at Australia's Gold Coast film studios, the film has already received largely positive press, hailing it the best of the three so far, ahead of its US release in early November, and its Australian release this week. The first two films in the series, 2011's 'Thor' and 2013's 'Thor : The Dark World' were made for a combined US$303M and grossed between them close to US$1.1B, so expectations are running high for this instalment. By way of a lesson into Norse mythology, Ragnarok is a series of future events, including a great battle, foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures (including the gods Odin, Thor and Loki), the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water. Following such a cataclysmic event, the world will resurface afresh, renewed and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet, and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors.

This film then, is set four years after the events of 'Thor: The Dark World', and two years following on from 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'. Here we find Thor (Chris Hemsworth), held captive on the planet Sakaar without his hammer Mjolnir. He is forced into a gladiatorial duel, which he must win, against an old friend, the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) in order to return to his home realm of Asgard in time to stop the villainous Hela, Thor's sister and Goddess of Death, who has been inadvertently released from prison where she has been locked away for the past few millennia (Cate Blanchett) and the impending Ragnarok, the end of all Asgardian civilisation. Also reprising their roles from previous films are Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange with Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster (one of the Elders of the Universe), Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Karl Urban as Skurge, Director Taika Waititi plays a MoCap stone creature Korg, and of course Stan Lee has his trademark cameo appearance. Sounds like a whole lotta fun, with Taika Waititi adding his own unique flavour to this film, which has already won over the Critics.

'SUBURBICON' (Rated MA15+) - here we have a crime comedy caper Directed by George Clooney and Co-Produced and Co-Written by him too with his other frequent scribing collaborators Joel and Ethan Coen, and Grant Heslov. The film had its World Premier screening at the Venice Film Festival in early September where it was in main competition, and then it screened too at the more recent Toronto International Film Festival, and is due for release in the US this week too, as it is here in Australia. The film has been in gestation for many years, having been written initially by the Coen brothers with Joel Silver way back in 1986 shortly after the release of their first film 'Blood Simple'. In 2005 it was reported that Clooney would Direct and star in the film, and twelve years later that goal is finally realised. Set in the peaceful, harmonious, sharing, caring community of Suburbicon with its picket fences, affordable housing, lush manicured lawns and clean leafy streets, it is the summer of 1959. The Lodge family - Gardner, and his wife Margaret (Matt Damon and Julianne Moore respectively) and their young family are living the idyllic life until a home invasion on the Lodge household sends the prefect nuclear family into a tailspin, leaving Gardner to navigate the town's dark and hidden core of deceit, violence and betrayal. Also starring Oscar Isaac, the film has so far received lacklustre Reviews.

'ANOTHER MOTHER'S SON' (Rated PG) - this British WWII drama film is based on a true story from the German occupied Channel Islands, and is Directed by Christopher Menaul. The film Premiered in London back in March this year and now gets a limited release in Australia. Telling the story set on the island of Jersey, Louisa Gould (Jenny Seagrove) hides an escaped young Russian PoW, Feodor 'Bill' Burriy (Julian Kostov) by secreting him away from the German forces for the duration of the war. As the war effort increases and it becomes evident that Churchill will not risk an assault on the Channel Islands to recapture the British soil, the island dwellers spirit starts to subside under the pressure of hunger, occupation and oppression. Against these very trying circumstances, Louisa battles to safeguard her family's sense of humanity, and to protect the Russian boy as if he was one of her own children. Also starring John Hannah, Ronan Keating and Susan Hampshire.

'INGRID GOES WEST' (Rated MA15+) - Directed and Co-Written by Matt Spicer this black comedy drama film Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year, had its Australian Premier at this years Sydney Film Festival, was released Stateside back in August and now arrives at selected Australian cinemas having so far grossed US$3M and received generally positive Reviews. The story here centres around young Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza), who after the death of her mother and a series of self-imposed personal setbacks in her life, decides to cut lose of her dead end no hope existence by moving out West to get to know her social media obsession, a Los Angeles social mover and shaker named Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olson). After a quick bond is forged between these unlikely new friends, the facade slowly begins to crack in both their lives with comically malicious results. Also starring O'Shea Jackson, Wyatt Russell and Billy Magnussen.

'THE MIDWIFE' (Rated PG) - here we have a French foreign language offering that Premiered out of competition at this years Berlin Film Festival back in February, was released in France at the end of March and has so far recovered just under US$6M from its US$8M budget outlay. Directed and written for the screen by Martin Provost, this film tells the story of Claire Breton (Catherine Frot) a stressed and up tight midwife who has dramas on going in both her work and her personal lives, who forms an unlikely friendship with Beatrice Sobo dite Sobolevski (Catherine Deneuve), the free-spirited, sensual mistress of her late father. Though complete opposite personalities, the two women come to count on each other after Beatrice reveals that she has brain cancer, and has no one else to turn to. What is Claire to do when confronted with such a predicament and when faced either with rejection or her sense of duty? Starring also Olivier Gourmet and Quentin Dolmaire as Simon, Claire's student aged son.

With five new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, taking in the third instalment in this popular MCU Superhero franchise, a comedy crime offering, a WWII drama, a commentary on the influence of social media and a foreign language film of a midwife and a mistress.  Remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephiles afterwards here at Odeon Online, and in the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

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

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Gwendoline Christie does on 28th October - check out my tribute to this Actress Birthday Girl turning 39, 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 October

• Derek Jacobi - Born 1938, turns 79 - Actor 
• Christopher Lloyd - Born 1938, turns 79 - Actor
• Jan de Bont - Born 1943, turns 74 - Cinematographer | Producer | Director 
• Jeff Goldblum - Born 1952 turns 65 - Actor | Producer
• John Howard - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actor 
• Bill Condon - Born 1955, turns 52 - Director | Writer | Producer
• Spike Jonze - Born 1969, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Actor | Writer | Cinematographer
• Catherine Deneuve - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actress | Singer
• Saffron Burrows - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress 
• Carmen Ejogo - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress | Singer 

Monday 23rd October

• Emilia Clarke - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actress
• Alex Gibney - Born 1953, turns 64 - Producer | Director | Writer
• Ang Lee - Born 1954, turns 63 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Sam Raimi - Born 1959, turns 58 - Producer | Writer | Director | Actor 
• Ryan Reynolds - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Producer | Writer  

Tuesday 24th October

• F. Murray Abraham - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor 
• Martin Campbell - Born 1943, turns 74 - Director | Producer 
• Kevin Kline - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor | Singer 
• Jacqueline McKenzie - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actress | Writer | Director

Wednesday 25th October 

• Gale Anne Hurd - Born 1955, turns 62 - Producer | Writer   

Thursday 26th October

• Jaclyn Smith - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actress
• Rosemary DeWitt - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actress 
• Dylan McDermott - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Director | Writer | Producer
• Cary Elwes - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Rupert Wyatt - Born 1972, turns 45 - Director | Writer | Producer
• Seth MacFarlane - Born 1973, turns 44 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor | Animator | Singer | Songwriter 

Friday 27th October

• John Cleese - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor | Writer | Producer 
• Ivan Reitman - Born 1946, turns 71 - Producer | Director | Writer 
• Roberto Benigni - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actor | Writer | Director | Producer  

Saturday 28th October

• Kevin Macdonald - Born 1967, turns 50 - Director | Producer Writer 
• Joaquin Phoenix - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Lauren Holly - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actress | Producer 
• Julia Roberts - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actress | Producer 
• Gwendoline Christie - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actress 

Gwendoline Christie was born in Worthing, West Sussex, England to a housekeeping mother and a sales and marketing father. As a child she trained as a gymnast and had designs on turning this into her professional vocation in life, but a spinal injury ended that career aspiration so she turned to acting instead.  In 2005 she graduated from the Drama Centre London, a college of the University of the Arts London. 

Christie launched herself onto stage first appearing in various theatrical productions including 'Pravda' in 2006 at the Chichester Festival Theatre, then 'Mirandolina' at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre and then in 2007 in 'Cymbeline' at London's Barbican Theatre. In 2007 she gained her first role in the short 63 minute drama Sci-Fi film 'The Time Surgeon'. She then returned to the theatre for 'Giantbum', 'Skin Deep' and 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' at the West End Theatre Royal Haymarket in London all staged in 2009. That same year she secured a minor role in Terry Gilliam's 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' alongside the likes of Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer, Andrew Garfield and Tom Waits. She returned to the theatre once more in 2010 to appear in 'Dr. Faustus' again at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, with her performance as Lucifer being described as a 'stand out'.

In 2010 she appeared in a single episode of the BBC Television series 'Seven Ages of Britain' covering the history of Britain's art and artefacts over the past two thousand years. Christie appeared in the seventh episode titled 'Age of Ambition' covering the period from 1914 through to the present day. In 2012 Christie was cast in her breakout role as Brienne of Tarth in the hugely popular and successful 'Game of Thrones' HBO Television series that has just seen season seven go to air with the concluding season eight be aired either in 2018 or 2019. Her character was first introduced during the second season, and is described as unusually tall, muscular and a plain looking woman. After appearing as a recurring cast member for two seasons, she was promoted to the main cast from season four onwards. 

Running concurrently Christie appeared in twenty-six episodes of the British science fantasy television series 'Wizards vs Aliens' which ran for three seasons over thirty-six episodes from late October 2012 through to late 2014. In the meantime, she was cast in a bit-part by Terry Gilliam again in 2013 'The Zero Theorem' with Christoph Waltz, Matt Damon, David Thewlis, Ben Whishaw, Peter Stormare, Tilda Swinton and Melanie Thierry. 

In 2015 Christie appeared as Commander Lyme in the final instalment in the 'Hunger Games' franchise of films - 'The Hunger Games : Mockingjay, Part 2'. The concluding film grossed US$654M off its production budget of US$160M and starred an ensemble cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour-Hoffman and Julianne Moore. The four films in the series were made for a combined US$493M and grossed worldwide at the Box Office a total haul of US$2.97B. 

Also that same year, Christie appeared as Captain Phasma in 'Star Wars : The Force Awakens', the seventh film in the 'Star Wars' series. Directed by J.J. Abrams the film starred Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, John Bodega, Domhnall Gleeson, Daisy Ridley and Andy Serkis amongst others and grossed just short of US$2.1B at the global Box Office off a budget of US$259M making it the third highest grossing film of all time currently. Christie will reprise her role as Captain Phasma in the soon to be released eighth film titled 'Star Wars : The Last Jedi' due in December and Directed by Rian Johnson.  

Coming back down to Earth with a massive bump, Christie cameoed as herself in 2016's 'Absolutely Fabulous : The Movie' with Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley reprising the characters they made so famous in the hit televisions series of the same name - Eddy and Patsy respectively. 

2017 saw the mystery drama television series Co-Written and Co-Directed by Jane Campion 'Top of the Lake : China Girl' in which Christie plays Miranda Hilmarson, a Constable in the Sydney Police Force. This series is a sequel to a highly acclaimed 2013 production 'Top of the Lake' and sees Elizabeth Moss reprising her role from the first series joined by Nicole Kidman. 

This brings us up to date, with 'Star Wars : The Last Jedi' up next, then 'The Darkest Minds' due in September 2018 - a Sci-Fi thriller based on the Alexandra Bracken series of books concerning a disease that wipes out 98% of America's children, with the remaining 2% developing super powers and subsequently placed into internment camps. The story surrounds a sixteen year old girl who escapes and joins others on the run evading the government. Then there is 'The Women of Marwen' due in November 2018 and currently filming as Directed by Robert Zemeckis and also starring Steve Carell, Diane Kruger, Janelle Monae and Elza Gonzalez.

All up Christie has sixteen Acting credits to her name so far, and she has five award nominations, including a Saturn Award nod for Best Supporting Actress on 'Game of Thrones'. 

Gwendoline Christie - a statuesque 6'3" tall; trained in horsemanship, sword fighting and stage combat for her 'GOT' role; has been a mad keen fan of Madonna for as long as she can remember and was invited by the songstress to appear on stage with her at her Sydney gig in 2016. With your star beginning to now glow consistently brightly, in demand, and already acclaimed across stage, screen and television there is much to look forward to. Happy Birthday Gwendoline, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

AMERICAN ASSASSIN : Tuesday 17th October 2017

'AMERICAN ASSASSIN' which I finally got around to seeing earlier this week is an action thriller based on series of books written by Vince Flynn, with 'American Assassin' being published in 2010. Although it is not the first book in the series of sixteen so far, rather the eleventh, it is a prequel novel that establishes Mitch Rapp as the main character cementing his back story and how he ultimately comes to be an undercover CIA Counter Terrorism Agent. Rapp's primary focus is uncovering and undermining terrorist attacks on the US, and he is an aggressive, opinionated Agent prepared to take measures that are more extreme than might be usually deemed commonly acceptable. His ongoing frustration with procedures, policy and red tape is a major theme throughout the entire series. Vince Flynn died in June 2013 aged 47, and ongoing books in the series are written by Kyle Mills. Antoine Fuqua was originally brought on to Direct, when CBS acquired the movie rights to the series of books back in 2008. Then Edward Zwick was announced to Direct, then Jeffrey Nachmanoff and finally Michael Cuesta, who delivers this film released in the US and Australia in mid-September at a budgeted cost of US$33M having taken as at mid-October US$55M. The lead character of Mitch Rapp was originally offered to Chris Hemsworth back in 2012 for US$10M but he turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. Then came along Gerard Butler, Matthew Fox and Colin Farrell with a much younger Dylan O'Brien being offered the gig in 2016.

And so this origin story potentially setting up a film franchise (think 'Jason Bourne' and 'Jack Reacher') introduces us to Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) who was orphaned at the age of fourteen when his parents were killed tragically in a car accident, and who in later years proposes marriage to his girlfriend only for her to be gunned down and killed moments later in a beachside Islamist terrorist attack somewhere on the Spanish coast. We then fast forward eighteen months, and now at the age of 23 Rapp is seeking revenge, and has been in training ever since that fateful day waiting to come face to face with the terrorists responsible.

Rapp uses his apartment as a makeshift gym to train hard and get super fit. He also uses it to frequent an Internet message board linked to the terrorist cell responsible for his girlfriends death. He is repeatedly quizzed about his knowledge of Islam and jihad to test his resolve to join forces with the cell in opposition of the US oppressor. He is granted a face to face meeting with the terrorist leader in which he aims to single handedly take out the cell - such has been the extent of his own self-training and preparedness over the last year or so. He arrives in Tripoli, is blindfolded and taken to a secret meeting point where he is tied to a chair. His blindfold is removed and his girlfriends killer sits in front of him. Before he can execute his own plan, the terrorist killer is shot through the head and US Special Forces descend on the building wiping out all those terrorist types in attendance. Rapp is angered by the fact that he was denied the opportunity to exact his vengeance out on the terrorist leader himself and repeatedly stabs the lifeless body before being man handled outta there by US soldiers.

Next we cut to a CIA Safe House in which Rapp has been holed up for questioning and observation for thirty days. Here Deputy CIA Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) recognises Rapp's particular set of special skills which she describes as being 'off the chart' and as such a prime candidate for a Black Op's unit codenamed Orion.

Rapp is assigned to further training in the back woods of Virginia at the hands of former US Navy SEAL Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton) who is also a veteran of the Cold War, and well versed in all matters relating to covert operations, Black Op's, and deadly close quarter combat. He spends the following weeks training Rapp and other recruits in his ways - some of which succeed while many fall by the wayside and don't have what it takes.

Meanwhile, word filters down through intelligence channels to Kennedy and her superior, Director Thomas Stansfield (David Suchet) that weapons grade nuclear material has gone missing from a decommissioned Russian nuclear facility. The nuclear material appears to be en route to Iranian militants, who are none to pleased with their government's nuclear deal with the U.S.

Meanwhile, in a busy city square somewhere in Poland hiding in plain sight, while finalising the sale of the nuclear material, the plutonium is intercepted by a third party, who eliminates the sellers before disappearing into the crowd. Back in Virginia, Hurley sees television news footage about the incident in Poland and identifies the perpetrator as a former Navy SEAL and Orion operative believed to have been killed in action and now going by the codename 'Ghost' (Taylor Kitsch). Hurley's team, with latest recruit Rapp, is sent to Turkey to intercept the buyer 'Ghost' is working for.

In Istanbul, looking to conduct a quick sting operation to capture the buyer, Hurley's team now also joined by a deep undercover Orion Agent named Annika (Shiva Negar) is rumbled, and the attempted intercept of the all important trigger device is foiled. Rapp chases the buyer to his apartment, and after thwarting his bodyguard kills him too, and removes his laptop computer. The information they are able to download leads the team to Rome, where they identify the nuclear physicist necessary to craft the nuclear material into a functional nuclear device. While in Rome, Rapp comes to realise that Annika is an Iranian foreign agent. She tries to explain that she is working for the mainstream Iranian faction attempting to stop the hardline militants from acquiring nuclear capability, but is taken into CIA custody, and seen now as a threat. During a meeting between Hurley and an Iranian contact (Annika's uncle), Ghost ambushes them, kills the contact and captures Hurley.

At a CIA safe house in Rome, Annika is being moved under guard by two agents when Rapp intercepts the car she is travelling in and frees her. Recognising that with Hurley now captured the mission is now compromised and handed over to the CIA to work through, and his services are no longer required. However, Rapp has his own rebellious plans, and so working with Annika they locate the makeshift subterranean nuclear laboratory that Ghost and his team are using to complete the nuclear device. After secretly securing access to the tunnels, Rapp locates and frees a badly injured Hurley having been tortured by Ghost using a vice, a blowtorch, a pair of pliers and live electrical current.

In an explosion engineered by Rapp, Ghost is able to effect his getaway with the now armed nuclear device having taken out all of his team that weren't killed by the explosion. Annika is, however, captured by Ghost and she kills herself with his gun before he escapes onto a boat with the now counting down nuclear device. Based on an earlier conversation, Hurley deduces that Ghost intends to make a suicide attack against the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet which are engaged in exercises somewhere off the coast, based on his desire to die at sea.

Just as Ghosts boat is leaving the dockside, Rapp chases after it and leaps onto the deck. The two are engaged in close quarter hand to hand combat while being tossed about the cabin below deck as the boat gathers speed across a choppy sea. Eventually good overcomes evil and Rapp kills Ghost, leaving Rapp in control of a speeding boat with an armed nuclear weapon on board, and no way of disabling it. By now Hurley has been picked up by Navy helicopter and is following Rapp from the air. The Sixth Fleet are under orders to prepare for a nuclear detonation. Hurley, using a loudhailer calls down to Rapp to toss the nuclear device overboard, as they all stand a better chance of survival if the explosion occurs underwater. Rapp does so, and with a thirty or so second count down Rapp is airlifted onto the helicopter with Hurley, and off they fly in the opposite direction. Within seconds the nuclear device detonates causing a massive tsunami that inundates the Sixth Fleet ships, although they all mostly survive the blast to sail another day.

This is a fairly pedestrian by the numbers spy type thriller that we have seen executed just as well, if not better, hundreds of times before, usually by a gentlemen named Jason, Jack, James or John (read Bourne, Reacher, Bond and Wick respectively). The action when it comes is fast paced and well executed; but the plot treads familiar boards; the relationships between Rapp, Hurley and Kennedy are by the book; and it becomes all too predictable as it wears on. O'Brien and Keaton give solid enough performances and at well under two hours running time the film doesn't outstay its welcome. Given the closing scene of this film, and the fact that there are another fifteen books in the series so far, it is likely that we haven't seen the last of Mitch Rapp.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-