Birthday's to share this week : 18th-24th December 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jonah Hill does on 20th December - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 33, 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 18th December

• Katie Holmes - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actress | Producer | Singer | Director
• Rachel Griffiths - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actress | Writer | Director | Producer
• Keith Richards - Born 1943, turns 73 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor
• Steven Spielberg - Born 1946, turns 70 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Ray Liotta - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actor | Producer
• Brad Pitt - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor | Producer
• Steve Austin - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Producer
• Robson Green - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Television Personality
• Casper Van Dien - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Monday 19th December

• Jake Gyllenhaal - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actor | Producer
• Jennifer Beals - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actress | Producer 

Tuesday 20th December

• Jenny Agutter - Born 1952, turns 64 - Actress
• Jonah Hill - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Todd Phillips - Born 1970, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Eduardo Sanchez - Born 1968, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor  

Wednesday 21st December

• Samuel L. Jackson - Born 1948, turns 68 - Actor | Producer
• Jeffrey Katzenberg - Born 1950, turns 66 - Producer | Writer
• Ray Romano - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Keifer Sutherland - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Steven Yuen - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actor  
• Jane Fonda - Born 1937, turns 79 - Actress | Producer
• Julie Delpy - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actress | Writer | Director | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Editor 

Thursday 22nd December

• Vanessa Paradis - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actress | Singer
• Ralph Fiennes - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actor | Director | Producer 
• Hector Elizondo - Born 1936, turns 80 - Actor | Producer

Friday 23rd December

• Nick Moran - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Estella Warren - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actress

Saturday 24th December 

• Ryan Seacrest - Born 1974, turns 42 - Producer | Writer | Actor | Television Personality

Jonah Hill Feldstein was born in Los Angeles, California, to mother Sharon Lyn Chalkin, a costume designer and fashion stylist, and father Richard Feldstein a tour accountant for rock band, Guns N' Roses. He grew up in the affluent neighbourhood of Cheviot Hills and attended The Centre for Early Education, then the Brentwood School and thereafter the Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica. Following high school he attended Bard College - a private liberal arts college in New York, then The New School in New York City and then the University of Colorado Boulder. He has a sister Beanie Feldstein, an actress, and a brother Jordan Feldstein who manages singer/songwriter Robin Thicke and pop/rock band Maroon 5.

Whilst at College, Hill started writing his own plays and performing in them too, gaining quite a following in his New York East Village neighbourhood. He was in turn befriended by Rebecca and Jake Hoffman (the children of Dustin Hoffman) who introduced the young Hill to their Dad. Dustin Hoffman persuaded Hill to audition for a part in 'I Heart Huckabees' in which Hoffman was starring, and he secured a small role in what was to be his screen debut. That was in 2004. After this he gained brief roles in Judd Apatow's Directing debut, 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' and 'Grandma's Boy', before a more substantial role in Apatow's 'Knocked Up' with Seth Rogen. By now it was 2007 and in between time there had also been appearances in 'Click' with Adam Sandler, 'Accepted' with Justin Long, 'Evan Almighty' with Steve Carell, and '10 Items or Less' with Morgan Freeman and seven episodes on comedy television series 'Campus Ladies'. These all lead to his first lead role in the Judd Apatow Produced 'Superbad' alongside Michael Cera, Seth Rogen and Bill Hader. The film returned US$170M from its US$20M outlay and was critically praised too.

'Walk Hard : The Dewey Cox Story' followed with an uncredited role, then 'Strange Wilderness', 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', 'Just Add Water', an uncredited appearance in 'Night at the Museum : Battle of the Smithsonian' before another outing for Judd Apatow with Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler in 'Funny People', with 'The Invention of Lying' Written, Directed and Starring Ricky Gervais. In the meantime there had been television appearances on 'Wainy Days', 'Reno 911!', and 'The Simpsons' before the decade closed out.



2010 saw 'Cyrus' for Jay and Mark Duplass, 'Get Him to the Greek' with Russell Brand, and 'Moneyball' with Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman which garnered Hill Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations for his Supporting Role as Peter Brand in this tale of the Oakland A's baseball team. This was followed up with 'The Sitter'.


Next up was a big screen rendition of the successful 1987 television series '21 Jump Street', released in 2012. Co-Written by Hill and also starring him as one of the two lead roles opposite Channing Tatum, the film made US$222M off its US$42M budget outlay, making a sequel inevitable. That sequel came in the form of '22 Jump Street' again Co-Written and Starring Hill as Morton Schmidt once again opposite Channing Tatum's Greg Jenko. The second film in the series made US$332M off its US$50M budget. A third cross-over film is in the works mashing up 'Jump Street' with 'Men In Black' in what is so far known as 'MIB 23' in which Hill will seemingly reprise his role once more as Schmidt.

In between time there was 'The Watch' with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, a small role in QT's 'Django Unchained', 'This is the End' with Seth Rogen and James Franco and then his Academy Award nominated turn in the highly acclaimed and commercially successful Jordan Belfort Bio-Pioc 'The Wolf of Wall Street' opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, and for Director Martin Scorsese. 'True Story' followed in 2015 with James Franco again.

This brings us up to this year which has seen 'Hail, Caesar' for Joel and Ethan Coen with an all star cast including George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton and Scarlett Johansson, and then the Todd Phillips Co-Written and Directed 'War Dogs' with Miles Teller and Bradley Cooper, with Hill starring as real life US Army contract arms dealer Efraim Diveroli.

Over the years too Hill has lent his voice talents to several film characters including on 'Horton Hears a Who!' in 2008, 'How to Train Your Dragon' as Snotlout in 2010 and again in 'HTTYD 2' in 2014, 'Megamind' as Tighten, in 2010, 'The Lego Movie' as Green Lantern in 2014 and in this years 'Sausage Party' as Carl. He will reprise his Snotlout voice work in 'How to Train Your Dragon 3' due in 2019 and currently in pre-production.

All up Hill has 52 Acting credits to his name, eight as Producer, and six as Writer. He has garnered two Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and one BAFTA nomination together with 53 other award nods and five wins so far. He made a concerted effort to lose weight to secure better roles and subsequently did, in more serious roles gaining acclaim along the way. He took the role in 'The Wolf of Wall Street' for nothing, just to have the opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese - his 'favourite filmmaker of all time', and he would do it again in a second!

Jonah Hill - Screenwriter, Comedian, Actor, Producer; as equally committed to piling on the weight as to getting it off for his roles; plays is funny, plays it serious; and has become more watchable as his talent has matured and his star has risen - Happy Birthday to you Jonah, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online- 

Birthday's to share this week : 26th April - 2nd May 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Channing Tatum does on 26th April - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 35, 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 26th April

• Channing Tatum - Born 1980, turns 35 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Kevin James - Born 1065, turns 50 - Actor | Producer
• Jet Li - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor | Producer
• Joan Chen - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer

Monday 27th April

• Kevin McNally - Born 1956, turns 58 - Actor | Writer

Tuesday 28th April 

• Jessica Alba - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actress | Producer
• Penelope Cruz - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actress | Producer
• Bridget Moynahan - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress

Wednesday 29th April

• Michelle Pfeiffer - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress
• Uma Thurman - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actress | Writer
• Daniel Day-Lewis - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor
• Jerry Seinfeld - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Television Personality
• Philip Noyce - Born 1950, turns 65 - Director | Producer | Writer | Cinematographer

Thursday 30th April

• Kirsten Dunst - Born 1982, turns 33 - Actress
• Lars von Trier - Born 1956, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Jane Campion - Born 1954, turns 61 - Director | Producer | Writer

Friday 1st May

• Joanna Lumley - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress | Producer
• James Badge Dale - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actor
• Wes Anderson - Born 1969, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Jamie Dornan - Born 1982, turns 33 - Actor

Saturday 2nd May

• Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actor | Producer
• David Suchet - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor | Producer
• Stephen Daldrey - Born 1961, turns 54 - Director | Producer

Channing Matthew Tatum was born in Cullum, Alabama to mother Kay Faust, an airline employee and Glenn Tatum, a construction worker. When he was six years of age the family moved to to Mississippi where he lived rurally close to the great river. He grew up engaging in many athletic sports including soccer, American football, basketball, track and martial arts - even practising the latter under the tutelage of a 10th dan. His teenage years were mostly spent in Tampa where he attended Gaither High School, and thereafter Tampa Catholic High School from which he graduated in 1998. From there he attended Glenville State College in West Virginia on a football scholarship but dropped out to return home to work assorted odd jobs. These included working as a roofer before starting as a male stripper under the alias 'Chan Crawford'.

His first gig as a dancer was in Ricky Martin's 2000 music video for 'She Bangs' for which he earned $400. Having done some work in the fashion industry he began modelling for Armani and Abercrombie & Fitch, and then television commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew, and then in turn for Nautica, Dolce & Gabana, American Eagle and Emporio Armani.

His screen acting debut came in 2005's 'Coach Carter' with Samuel L. Jackson, although it was 'Step Up' a year later that gave him wider acclaim, and it was on this film that he met his future wife. In between time there was 'Havoc', 'Supercross', a small part in Steven Spielberg's 'War of the Worlds'  and then 'She's the Man'.

'A Guide to Recognising your Saints' followed in 2008 with a large ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jnr., Shia LeBeouf, Chazz Palmenteri, Rosario Dawson and Eric Roberts, and then 'Battle in Seattle' and 'Stop Loss' with Ryan Phillippe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt about soldiers returning from the Iraq War, followed up with a cameo reprisal of his role as Tyler Gage in 'Step Up 2 : The Streets' in the meantime.

Then came 'Fighting' in 2009 after which he teamed up with Director Michael Mann on 'Public Enemies' with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, playing Pretty Boy Floyd, and then the actioner  'G. I. Joe : The Rise of Cobra' and 'Dear John'. From this point forward he became determined to Produce the films in which he was starring which led him to 'Haywire' Directed by Stephen Soderbergh with again an ensemble cast with the likes of Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas and Bill Paxton. There was also 'The Vow' '21 Jump Street' with Jonah Hill, and 'Magic Mike' based on his own experiences as a Florida male stripper.

Following some busy years in 2011 and 2012 which also took in 'The Dilemma' and 'The Eagle', 2013 was to prove no different with 'Side Effects' once more for Stephen Soderbergh, the reprisal of his role as Duke/Conrad Hauser in 'G.I. Joe : Retaliation' then a cameo in 'This is the End' and 'White House Down' and a cameo in 'Don Jon' too rounding out the year. 2014 brought '22 Jump Street' with Jonah Hill again and then the highly acclaimed 'Foxcatcher' and the less well received 'Jupiter Ascending' earlier this year. 

Next up for Tatum is 'Magic Mike XXL' continuing the story of Michael 'Magic Mike ' Lane due for release later this year, and Quentin Tarantino's 'The Hateful Eight' also due in late 2015. 'Hail Caesar' is in post-production for Joel & Ethan Coen and starring Josh Brolin and George Clooney amongst an all star line-up and due in 2016, as is '23 Jump Street' and 'X-Men : Apocalypse' currently in pre-production for release later in 2016 also. In the latter he'll play the character 'Gambit' which it is announced will get it's own spin-off in 'Gambit' in 2016/17.

Tatum has so far 42 acting credits and nine Producer credits to his name, with a Writer credit too for 'Magic Mike XXL'. He has garnered nineteen award wins and 48 other nominations. He has two Production Companies - '33andOut Productions' and 'Iron Horse Entertainment'. He is married to Jenna Dewan whom he met on 'Step Up' and they celebrated their wedding in July 2009 - together they have a daughter - Everly Elizabeth Maiselle, born in May 2013. He admits to suffering ADD and dyslexia as a child and has developed a drinking habit which he states as being too much.

Channing Tatum - athletic, physical, muscular, deep voiced and often playing tough guys roles but equally at home in softer emotional roles, your rise in the last ten years has been steady but steep and is set to continue doing so - we'll keep watching! Happy Birthday to you Channing, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 19th June 2014

This week as Winter takes a grip on the Sydney evenings, there are four new offerings to get you out to your local movie theatre with the best value in town, and let's face it - what better value than just $20 to keep you entertained in a warm dark place for a few hours as you gaze in awe at a giant screen and listen to events unfold in glorious ear thumping surround sound. So with two sequels - one to that iconic 80's Johnny Depp Police staged small screen dramedy reset for the big screen, and the other a recent Dreamworks animated treat that is a mash-up of dinosaurs, dungeons, dragons and Viking delinquents. Then we have a Euro atmospheric character-driven suspenseful twist 'n' turn thriller tale, and an original rock 'n' roll road trip featuring a singer songwriter muso sporting a giant papier-mâché noggin that never reveals the true noggin that lurks beneath.

So once again a real diversity of offerings - get out and see a movie, and then let me know what you think!

FRANK (Rated CTC) - This is not your typical Rock 'n' Roll road trip movie, because this Rock 'n' Roll road trip movie features an offbeat singer musician who constantly and incessantly wears a giant papier-mâché head. As such 'Frank' is played by Michael Fassbender (although you wouldn't know it!) who is front man for his band 'The Soronprfbs' (yes, the spelling is correct!) who just happen to catch the watchful eye of Jon (played by Domhnall Gleeson) who is a wannabe musician too, but is starved of any kind of motivation or inspiration to make anything of himself and his fledgling musical career . . . until he meets the weird, whacky and wonderful Frank! Jon attempts to infiltrate the band when their keyboard player has a nervous breakdown, but does the band really want to be infiltrated? Frank is in search of the perfect sound and his obsession drives him to the point of near insanity whilst looked upon by Jon and the other band members (joined by Maggie Gyllenhaal as Clara). This will not be for everyone, and some might find it frustrating, annoying and disconcerting but it is likely to provide a different point of view of a struggling genius trying to come to terms with his musical demons!

THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY (Rated M) - a Directorial debut from former Screenwriter Hossein Amini (scribe behind the impressive 'Drive') who has crafted a tale that flicks between the Athens, Crete and Istanbul of 1962 as tour guide cum hustler Rydal (played by Oscar Isaac) is drawn into the web of wealthy American couple Chester (played by Viggo Mortensen) and Colette (played by Kirsten Dunst) when a sudden unexpected act of violence reveals that all is not quite what it, and who they all, might seem. As the web of intrigue, drama and suspense moves along the plot takes on a darker edge as all three characters reveal their flaws, their secrets and their desperation to bring their situation to a climax with edge-of-your-seat consequences.

22 JUMP STREET (Rated MA15+) - after the successful and iconic TV series of the late 80's that largely hatched the career of one Mr. Johnny Depp, it was almost inevitable (by today's standards) that a movie version would hit the silver screen sooner or later. And so it was in 2012 that Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill hit our big screens with the cop characters 'Jenko' and 'Schmidt' respectively. After the capers of that first instalment of this movie franchise a second had to be, and so the hapless cops are at it again on college campus this time and undercover to crack a crime ring operating somewhere within the frat-pack. When each undercover cop gets distracted and side tracked by other interests on campus they have to reconcile the value of their own relationship/partnership, and hopefully draw the right conclusion in time to thwart the crime syndicate, deal with the criminal element and get student life back on the straight & narrow. No doubt there will be guns, explosions, chases, token T&A, bad language aplenty, and questionable conduct all around which should make this a sure fire hit . . . if you're 17 years of age!

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (Rated PG) - with a $500M box office haul globally the 2010 sleeper hit 'How to Train your Dragon' was bound to spawn a sequel for the Dreamworks Studio, and is now the meat in the sandwich of a trilogy, with the final instalment due a few years from now. Featuring the voice talents of Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Djimon Hounsou, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and America Ferrera amongst others, the same expertly animated crew from that first outing are back once again. This time though those wet behind the ears youngsters have grown up somewhat and are now well into their teens. Five years has elapsed on screen and in the Viking Village and 'Hiccup' and his trusty dragon steed 'Toothless' need to venture forth into the big bad world and discover what's out there beyond the village, for themselves. Their journey of discovery leads them into danger needless to say which results in a battle to preserve the peace and save the future of both men and dragons.  With top notch animation, more dragons newly created than you could ever poke a stick at, and humour aimed squarely at the adult market too, this is sure to be a crowd pleaser for lovers of the genre, and the earlier film.

What's not to like here this coming week? With something for almost everyone, young and young-at-heart, and the funny or the serious there has got to be something here to tempt $20 out of your pocket, and, if you combine that investment with a mega cup of the brown fizzy stuff and a choc top then you have a night to remember!

Enjoy the movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-