Showing posts with label 300. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 300. Show all posts

Saturday, 30 September 2017

Birthday's to share this week : 1st - 7th October 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Lena Headey does on 3rd October - check out my tribute to this Actress and Producer Birthday Girl turning 44, at the end of this feature.

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

Sunday 1st October
  • Julie Andrews - Born 1935, turns 82 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Singer
  • Stella Stevens - Born 1938, turns 79 - Actress | Director
  • Brie Larson - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actress | Director | Writer | Producer 
  • Randy Quaid - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actor | Producer
  • Zach Galifianakis - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Writer | Producer 
Monday 2nd October
  • Sting (aka Gordon Sumner) - Born 1951, turns 66 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Actor  
Tuesday 3rd October
  • Tommy Wiseau - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Writer | Director | Producer
  • Clive Owen - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor | Producer
  • Denis Villeneuve - Born 1967, turns 50 - Director | Writer 
  • Sean William Scott - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Producer
  • Lena Headey - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress | Producer
  • Neve Campbell - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Writer
  • Alicia Vikander - Born 1988, turns 29 - Actress | Producer  
Wednesday 4th October
  • Susan Sarandon - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actress | Producer | Singer
  • Alicia Silverstone - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress | Producer
  • Dakota Johnson - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actress
  • Armand Assante - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actor 
  • Christoph Waltz - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer  
  • Liev Schreiber - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Narrator 
Thursday 5th October
  • Vic Armstrong - Born 1946, turns 71 - Stuntman | Director | Actor
  • Clive Barker - Born 1952, turns 65 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor
  • Guy Pearce - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor | Director
  • Tom Hooper - Born 1972, turns 45 - Director | Producer 
  • Jesse Eisenberg - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
  • Jacob Tremblay - Born 2006, turns 11 - Actor
  • Kate Winslet - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actress   
Friday 6th October
  • Britt Ekland - Born 1942, turns 75 - Actress 
  • Elisabeth Shue - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actress
  • Olivia Thirlby - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actress 
  • Ioan Gruffudd - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actor   
Saturday 7th October
  • Marco Beltrami - Born 1966, turns 51 - Composer | Conductor | Songwriter | Producer
  • Tim Minchin - Born 1975, turns 42 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Writer | Actor | Producer
  • Shawn and Aaron Ashmore - Born 1979, turn 38 - Actors | Producers
  • Olivia Munn - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actress 
Lena Headey was born in Hamilton, the capital city of Bermuda to mother Sue and father John Headey a Police Officer from Yorkshire, England, who was stationed on the island at the time of his daughters birth up until she turned five. At five years of age, the family relocated back to England, to Somerset, and then at age eleven onto Shelley, in West Yorkshire, near to Huddersfield. Attending the secondary school, Shelley College, Lena first gained an interest in acting, and came to the attention of a casting agent during a school production staged at the London Royal National Theatre, subsequently being cast in the 1992 'Waterland' Directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal and starring Jeremy Irons, Ethan Hawke, Pete Postlethwaite, David Morrissey and Maggie Gyllenhaal. 

The following year, 1993, Headey scored roles in episodes of 'Spender', 'How We Used to Live' and 'Soldier Soldier' before her next big screen outing in the highly acclaimed James Ivory Directed 'The Remains of the Day' with Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Christopher Reeve, Hugh Grant, James Fox and Peter Vaughan. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, and five BAFTA's winning one, amongst a haul of sixteen wins and 33 nominations. That same year came 'Century' with Charles Dance, Clive Owen, Joan Hickson and Miranda Richardson and then the live action 'The Jungle Book' in 1994 Directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Jason Scott Lee, Sam Neill, John Cleese, Cary Elwes and Jason Flemyng. 'Gentlemen Don't Eat Poets' was up next in 1995, 'Face' in 1997 with Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone, 'Mrs. Dalloway' also that year with Vanessa Redgrave, John Standing, and Robert Hardy, then 'Twice Upon a Yesterday' with Douglas Henshall, Penelope Cruz, Mark Strong and Elizabeth McGovern and 'Onegin' in 1999 with Ralph Fiennes, Toby Stephens and Liv Tyler. In between time through the '90's there were short films, made for television films including 'Fair Game', 'Loved Up' and 'Devil's Advocate' as well as appearances on television series including 'Gold' and 'Band of Gold', 'Merlin' and 'Ballykissangel' and 'Kavanagh QC'

2000 launched with RomCom 'Ropewalk' and then mystery thriller 'Gossip' with James Marsden, Norman Reedus, and Kate Hudson, followed by drama 'Aberdeen' with Stellan Skarsgard and Charlotte Rampling for which Headey won critical acclaim. Comedy crime caper 'The Parole Officer' with Steve Coogan and Stephen Dilane, then 'Possession' with Gwyneth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhart and Toby Stephens, and 'Ripley's Game' with John Malkovich, Dougray Scott and Ray Winstone, followed by crime comedy 'The Actors' with Michael Caine, Michael Gambon, Dylan Moran and Miranda Richardson. Horror adventure offering 'The Cave' came next in 2005 which fared poorly at the Box Office and critically, but Terry Gilliam's 'The Brothers Grimm' with Matt Damon, Heath Ledger and Monica Bellucci fared much better, as did 'Imagine Me & You' with Piper Perabo, with critics hailing Headey's performance as a lesbian in the movie.

Historical action fantasy '300' as Directed by Zack Snyder was released in 2006 with Gerard Butler, Michael Fassbender, David Wenham, Rodrigo Santoro with Headey in the role as Queen Gorgo - a role she would reprise in 2014's '300 : Rise of an Empire' with Noam Murro this time Directing.









A change of pace came next with 'St. Trinian's', then horror thriller 'The Broken', WWI biographical adventure film 'The Red Baron', then Hollywood set drama 'Whore' and then another horror thriller 'Laid to Rest' before Sci-Fi horror drama 'Tell Tale' directed by Michael Cuesta and starring Josh Lucas and Brian Cox. In the intervening years there had been further short film appearances, and television series appearances on the likes of 'The Long Firm' and 'The Super Hero Squad Show' in which Headey lent her voice talents to Mystique and Black Widow.

Headey headlined the television series 'Terminator : The Sarah Connor Chronicles' over 31 episodes and two seasons in 2008 and 2009 starring as Sarah Connor with Thomas Dekker playing her son sent back from the future John Connor, as they both try to evade the government authorities as they scheme a way of destroying Skynet to prevent Armageddon. The show was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards and all up picked up three award wins and a total 25 nods.

The new decade rolled over with 'Pete Smalls is Dead' with Peter Dinklage, the reboot of the Sci-Fi action crime film 'Dredd' with Karl Urban as Judge Dredd and Headey as Ma-Ma, the leader of a gang of drug dealers and the films principle villain. She starred opposite Ethan Hawke again in the Sci-Fi horror thriller 'The Purge' which was made on a tiny budget of just US$3M and recouped US$90M at the Box Office, and followed this up with fantasy action film 'The Mortal Instruments : City of Bones', then 'The Adventurer : The Curse of the Midas Box' with Michael Sheen, Sam Neill and Ioan Gruffudd, which in turn led to 'Low Down' with Peter Dinklage again, John Hawkes, Glenn Close, and Elle Fanning. 'Zipper' closed out 2015 with Patrick Wilson, Ray Winstone and Richard Dreyfuss.

Action horror romance (but not as Jane Austen wrote it!) 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' was released in 2016 with Lily James, Jack Huston, Sam Riley and Charles Dance, and then 'Kingsglaive : Final Fantasy XV' to which Headey lent her voice in this feature length Sci-Fi animated action adventure together with those of Sean Bean and Aaron Paul. Crime drama film 'Thumper' was released in the US in April this year, but has not seen a release in Australia (yet!). In the meantime, Headey has also lent her voice talents to the children's animated series 'Danger Mouse' and 'Uncle Grandpa'.

All this of course leads us into Headey's portrayal of Cersei Lannister in the HBO series 'Game of Thrones' which has so far aired over seven seasons since 2011 with Headey appearing in 58 episodes to date. Based on the George R.R. Martin collection of books 'A Song of Ice and Fire', Headey plays a ruthless queen for which she has received widespread critical acclaim, including Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2014, 2015 and 2106. All up the show has garnered 253 award wins and a further 422 nominations, with Season Seven recently finished airing, with the final season, Season Eight going to air in 2018.

Next up for Headey and due for release in 2018 is drama film currently in Post-Production 'The Flood' with Iain Glen, and also due in 2018 is biographical comedy drama 'Fighting With My Family' Written, Directed and starring Stephen Merchant with Dwayne Johnson, Vince Vaughn and Nick Frost.

All up Headey has 73 Acting credits to her name so far, and two as Producer. She has five award wins  - four of which are for 'Game of Thrones' and the other for film, 'Aberdeen', and an additional 35 award nominations including Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy and SAG Awards nods. For nine years Headey dated English Actor Jason Flemyng from 1994 to 2003. Thereafter she married musician Peter Loughran in mid-2007 with whom she has a son, Wylie (born in 2010). The couple separated in 2011 and divorced in late 2013. In July 2015 Headey gave birth to a daughter, Teddy, with Director Dan Cadan. Headey has actively campaigned on behalf of animal rights, and she also supports the LGBT organisation 'NOH8'.

Lena Headey - one time vegetarian; heavily tattooed; trained in archery, horse-riding; practices yoga often; and takes boxing classes too. Has starred with many of her GOT cast colleagues in film and television outside of the GOT series, including Peter Dinklage, Charles Dance, Stephen Dilane, Sean Bean and Peter Vaughan; and is happy to play to any genre taking in action, adventure, fantasy, Sci-Fi, horror, comedy, biographical, historical despite never having been to acting school and is self taught in her chosen profession. Ranked on numerous 'Hot 100' lists back in 2007, 2008 and 2009 especially and is known for her distinctive, mellow and rich tone of voice, her arched eyebrows and her calming personality. We await the outcome of 'GOT S8' with huge anticipation, and will continue to watch closely what you do next. In the meantime Lena, a Happy Birthday to you, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Saturday, 27 February 2016

Birthday's to share this week : 28th February - 5th March 2016

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Zack Snyder does on 1st March - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 50, 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 28th February
  • John Turturro - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actor | Director | Writer
  • Mike Figgis - Born 1948, turns 68 - Director | Producer | Writer | Cinematographer | Editor | Composer | Musician
Monday 29th February
  • Joss Ackland - Born 1928, turns 88 - Actor
Tuesday 1st March
  • Roger Daltry - Born 1944, turns 72 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor | Producer
  • Javier Bardem - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
  • Ron Howard - Born 1954, turns 62 - Director | Producer | Actor
  • Zack Snyder - Born 1966, turns 50 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Dirk Benedict - Born 1945, turns 71 - Actor | Director
  • Harry Belafonte - Born 1927, turns 89 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor | Producer
  • Lupita Nyong'o - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actress
Wednesday 2nd March
  • Bryce Dallas Howard - Born 1981, turns 35 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director
  • Rebel Wilson - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actress | Writer | Producer
  • Daniel Craig - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | 007
Thursday 3rd March
  • George Miller - Born 1945, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Miranda Richardson - Born 1958, turns 58 - Actress
  • Jessica Biel - Born 1982, turns 34 - Actress | Producer
Friday 4th March
  • Patsy Kensit - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actress
  • Len Wiseman - Born 1973, turns 43 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Paul W. S. Anderson - Born 1965, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Adrian Lyne - Born 1941, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Scott Hicks - Born 1953, turns 63 - Director | Writer
Saturday 5th March
  • Matt Lucas - Born 1974, turns 42 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
  • Dean Stockwell - Born 1936, turns 80 - Actor
  • Samantha Eggar - Born 1939, turns 77 - Actress
  • Eva Mendes - Born 1974, turns 42 - Actress
Zachary Edward Snyder was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA to mother Marsha Reeves, a painter and photography teacher at Daycroft School - a co-ed private boarding school which the young Snyder would later attend. His father, Charles Edward Snyder was an executive recruiter. He was raised in Riverside, Connecticut and as a Christian Scientist. His mother inspired him to study painting and after he completed high school he attended the Heatherley School of Fine Art in London, England, after which he attended The Arts Centre College of Design in Pasadena, California where he shared classes with a young Michael Bay.

Snyder started his career shooting music videos for the likes of Morrissey, Soul Asylum and Alexander O'Neal, and then television commercials for Subaru, Nissan, Audi and BMW, as well as Nike, Reebok and Gatorade. He launched his movie career in 2004 with the remake of George A. Romero's classic horror 'Dawn of the Dead' which he did so on a budget of US$26M from which it made US$103M.





In 2007, he followed this up with both Screenwriter and Director credits on the big screen adaptation of Frank Miller's '300' which delivered US$456M from US$65M and largely cemented Snyder's place and that of its star Gerard Butler, on the road to cinema success. Two years later Snyder Directed the previously deemed 'unfilmable' 'Watchmen' based on the limited series DC characters that appeared in the mid-80's. This filmed grossed US$185M off its US$130M budget, and it would be fair to say that it polarised audiences and critics the world over, which would explain why perhaps we have yet to see a sequel or a reboot.

His next offering was released in 2010 and was a change in pace and a change in direction with a CG animated fantasy epic aimed squarely at the family audience. Directed by Snyder, 'Legend of the Guardians : The Owls of Ga'Hoole' cost US$80M and delivered US$140M, and as an US/Australian co-production it starred a whole bunch of Aussie voice talent that read like a Who's Who of the local film industry - Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving, Joel Edgerton, Anthony LaPaglia, David Wenham, Sam Neill, Richard Roxburgh, Barry Humphries, Barry Otto, Ryan Kwanten and Abbie Cornish as well as some imports including Helen Mirren, John Hurt and Jim Sturgess.

The following year , Snyder Wrote, Produced and Directed 'Sucker Punch' which barley recovered its budget bringing in just US$90M and very lacklustre reviews. Starring Abbie Cornish, Emily Browning, Jena Malone with Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm and Scott Glenn, the original concept for the film was all his with a female asylum inmate imagining herself and three other female inmates all teaming up to escape before she undergoes a lobotomy. This female driven multi-levelled fantasy action film clearly failed to strike a chord with audiences the world over despite its high production values, strong cast, unusual storyline and the creative imagination of its originator! You can't win 'em all Sucker!

From here however, he recovered quickly to Direct the Superman reboot with 'Man of Steel' in 2013 with Henry Cavill in the red cape and blue body suit acting out the first instalment of the DC Extended Universe, and off its US$225M budget brought home US$668M in Box Office takings, and paving the way for this years much hyped and eagerly awaited 'Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice'.





In the meantime, Snyder took a Producer and Writer credit on 2014's '300 : Rise of an Empire', and is an Executive Producer on 'Suicide Squad' due in August this year. With the DC Extended Universe ramping up with the very soon to be released 'Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice' we have here Henry Cavill reprising his Superman role from a few years prior and following up from the antics with General Zod (Michael Shannon) at the end of that last film and rejoined by Amy Adams, Diane Lane and Laurence Fishburn with Ben Affleck at Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Jason Mamoa at Aquaman, Jesse Eisenberg at Lex Luthor and Jeremy Irons as Alfred all joining the DC Extended Universe anew.

Next up Snyder is Producing 'Wonder Woman' which is filming currently for a 2107 release, 'The Flash' and 'Aquaman' both for 2018, and he is Directing 'The Justice League Pt. 1' for 2017, and 'The Justice League Pt. 2' for 2019. Spearheading the DC Extended Universe on Directing or Producing duties, Snyder is clearly most at home in the superhero and comic book genre.

All up, he has twelve Directing credits to his name, eight as Producer, five as Writer and he has so far picked up three award wins and seven nominations for his work. His Directing efforts have grossed so far over US$1.6B. In 2004 he formed Production Company 'Cruel and Unusual Films' with his wife Deborah Snyder with who he has worked on every film since '300', and whom he married in 2004 and with whom they have a son - Eli - often cast by his father to star in his films. Snyder has six children, four by his former marriage to Denise Weber.

Zack Snyder - packs a punch in the body count stakes, often relies on heavily stylised slo-mo action sequences but also is at home in the fast paced ramped up combat scenes, got it wrapped up with DC and intending to give Marvel Studios a run for their money! Is he the man for the job - Zack's the man who can! Loving' your work and looking forward to more - Happy 50th Birthday Zack, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Saturday, 7 November 2015

Birthday's to share this week : 8th - 14th November 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Gerard Butler does on 13th November - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 46 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 8th November
  • Michael Nyqvist - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actor | Producer
  • Richard Curtis - Born 1956, turns 59 - Writer | Producer | Director
  • Gordon Ramsey - Born 1966, turns 49 - Celebrity Chef | Restauranteur | Television Personality
  • Tara Reid - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actress | Producer
  • Parker Posey - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress
Monday 9th November
  • Tony Slattery - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor | Writer
Tuesday 10th November
  • Taron Egerton - Born 1989, turns 26 - Actor
  • Walton Goggins - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Producer
  • Hugh Bonneville - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor
  • Roland Emmerich - Born 1955, turns 60 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Ennio Morricone - Born 1928, turns 87 - Composer | Singer | Songwriter
Wednesday 11th November
  • Leonardo DiCaprio - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actor | Producer | Writer
  • Stanley Tucci - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
  • Scoot McNairy - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actor | Producer
  • Calista Flockhart - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress
  • Demi Moore - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actress | Producer
Thursday 12th November
  • Anne Hathaway - Born 1982, turns 33 - Producer
  • Radha Mitchell - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress | Producer
  • Ryan Gosling - Born 1980, turns 35 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
Friday 13th November
  • Gerard Butler - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer
  • Steve Zahn - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor
  • Whoopi Goldberg - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Television Personality
Saturday 14th November
  • Olga Kurylenko - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actress
  • Josh Duhamel - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actor
  • Paul McGann - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor
Gerard James Butler was born in Paisley, Scotland to mother Margaret, and father Edward Butler, a book-keeper. He is the youngest of three children, and at six months old moved with the family unit to Quebec, Canada. Twelve months later he was back again with his mother, when his parents marriage collapsed. It would be another 14 year before he would see his father again. Butler attended St. Mirin's and St. Margaret's High School in Paisley where he became Head Boy and did well enough in his studies to secure a place at law school at the University of Glasgow. Whilst in his teens he also studied at the Scottish Youth Theatre. At 16 Butler junior was reunited with Butler senior and over the next few years they became quite close. At University he was elected President of the Law Society. At 22, Butler senior died of cancer. Before his last year of law school, Butler decamped to California spending the majority of the year at Venice Beach and mostly in a drunken stupor. Upon graduating he moved to Edinburgh and joined a practise as a trainee lawyer but the week before qualifying was fired for his unruly partying behaviour. At 25 he relocated himself to London to chase his dream of becoming famous when his potential law career slipped away.

Unable to secure any acting gigs initially he worked several jobs including waiting at table, in telemarketing and demonstrating toys at toy fairs. His first acting role came in the Steven Berkoff stage adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Coriolanus' - given to him because he auditioned so well above the other Actors, despite his lack of any formal acting training or experience. He was now 27, and a year later scored the role of Renton in the stage play of 'Trainspotting'. His big screen debut came in 1997 with 'Mrs. Brown' playing Billy Connolly's younger brother and opposite Judy Dench.

He followed this up with a bit part in Bond's 'Tomorrow Never Dies', British horror offering 'Tale of the Mummy', then 'Fast Food', 'One More Kiss' and 'The Cherry Orchard' to see out the decade. At 30 Butler moved to L.A. where over the next few years would secure roles in 'Tomb Raider 2', 'Phantom of the Opera' and 'Dracula 2000'.

Th early part of the new decade saw turns in a number of TV series including 'Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married', the mini-series 'Attila' and 'The Jury' over multiple episodes. He was cast in Joel Schumacher's film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Phantom of the Opera' in 2004 because of his singing talent gained playing in a rock band during his University years. His performance was largely praised, despite the lacklustre reviews the film received. With 'Reign of Fire', 'Timeline' and 'Dear Frankie' in 2004, he followed these up with what many describe his breakout performance as King Leonidas in 2005's '300' as the role that really put him on the map.

The next few years saw 'P.S. I Love You', 'Nim's Island' with Jodie Foster, 'RocknRolla' for Guy Ritchie, 'The Ugly Truth', 'Gamer' and 'Law Abiding Citizen'.

2010 delivered for Butler the action comedy 'The Bounty Hunter' and then voice work on the successful animated feature 'How to Train Your Dragon' which he reprised again in 2014, and is set to do so once more in the third instalment slated for a 2018 release. Having starred in 'Coriolanus' at the start of his acting career on stage, he got the opportunity to do so again in the film adaptation by Director/Actor and Producer Ralph Fiennes.




This was followed up by 'Machine Gun Preacher' in 2011, and then in 2012 'Chasing Mavericks' and 'Playing for Keeps' with actioner 'Olympus Has Fallen' in 2013 - a role he is to reprise next year in 'London Has Fallen' with Morgan Freeman and Aaron Eckhart again.





Next up there is 'Gods of Egypt' for Aussie Director Alex Proyas, 'Geostorm' for Dean Devlin, 'London Has Fallen' which are all in post-production with 'The Headhunter's Calling' currently filming, and 'How to Train Your Dragon 3' recently announced. Butler has 52 acting credits to his name, nine Production credits and six Soundtrack credits, and he is the recipient of two award wins and another twelve nominations.

Living between Glasgow and Los Angeles, Butler claims to be dry of alcohol consumption, and successfully cured himself of pain killer dependency in rehab, which he became addicted to following a surfing accident while shooting 'Chasing Mavericks'. He is the proud part owner of the Jamaican Tallawahs cricket team which he bought into in 2013, and he has actively supported 'Mary's Meals' since 2010 which sets up school feeding programmes in some of the worlds poorest areas.

Gerard Butler - deep gravelly Scottish voice, touted once to play James Bond after Pierce Brosnan, has a reputation as an all round nice guy, not formally trained in acting and almost qualified as a lawyer, and, he has maintained his six pack abs since 2005's '300' - good on ya, and Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-




Saturday, 19 September 2015

Birthday's to share this week : 20th - 26th September 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

David Wenham does on 21st September - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 50 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 20th September
  • Jon Bernthal - Born 1977, turns 38 - Actor
  • Gary Cole - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actor
  • Sophia Loren - Born 1934, turns 81 - Actress
  • Asia Argento - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actress | Director | Writer
Monday 21st September
  • Bill Murray - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor | Writer
  • Luke Wilson - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
  • Stephen King - Born 1947, turns 68 - Writer | Producer | Actor
  • David Wenham - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor
  • Ethan Coen - Born 1957, turns 58 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
  • Jerry Bruckheimer - Born 1943, turns 72 - Producer
Tuesday 22nd September
  • Tom Felton - Born 1987, turns 28 - Actor
  • Scott Baio - Born 1960, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director
  • Nick Cave - Born 1957, turns 58 - Writer | Composer | Actor
Wednesday 23rd September
  • Anthony Mackie - Born 1978, turns 37 - Actor
  • Jason Alexander - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director
  • John Woo - Born 1946, turns 69 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Alex Proyas - Born 1963, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Writer
Thursday 24th September
  • Brad Bird - Born 1957, turns 58 - Director | Producer | Writer
  • Kevin Sorbo - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
Friday 25th September
  • Pedro Almodovar - Born 1949, turns 66 - Director | Producer | Actor
  • Will Smith - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
  • Mark Hamill - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actor | Producer
  • Jason Flemyng - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Director
  • Michael Madsen - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
  • Michael Douglas - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor | Producer
  • Catherine Zeta-Jones - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actress
  • Heather Locklear - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actress | Producer
Saturday 26th September
  • Linda Hamilton - Born  1956, turns 59 - Actress
  • Olivia Newton-John - Born 1948, turns 67 - Singer | Actress
  • Jim Caviezel - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor
David Wenham was born in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville to Kath and Bill Wenham. Growing up a Roman Catholic he attended the Christian Brothers High School, in Lewisham, Sydney. He has an older brother, Peter, and five older sisters - Helen, Carmel, Anne, Kathryn and Maree . . . not so bad for a Roman Catholic family!

He attended the University of Western Sydney and graduated from the Theatre Nepean there, shortly after which he began acting. He secured his first small screen role in 'Sons and Daughters' in 1987, and from this point on he never really looked back. From here there was a string of television movies, and television series including 'Police Rescue', 'A Country Practice', One of Us', 'Blue Heelers', his award winning turn in 1997's 'Simone de Beauvoir's Babies' and then 'SeaChange' in 1998/99.

His big screen debut came in 1992 in 'Seeing Red' with 'Greenkeeping' following that same year. Other films followed as did television appearances until 'Cosi' in 1996 with Toni Collette, Barry Otto, Ben Mendelssohn, Rachel Griffiths, Colin Friels and Jakki Weaver - almost a 'Who's Who' of Aussie Acting talent. 'Idiot Box' came next and then 'The Boys' with with Toni Collette once more and then Alex Proyas' 'Dark City' with Kiefer Sutherland, Rufus Sewell and Wiliam Hurt. As the 90's drew to a close there was 'A Little Bit of Soul', and 'Molokai' before opening the new decade in 2000 with 'Better Than Sex'.

2001 brought 'Russian Doll' with Hugo Weaving; Baz Luhrmann's 'Moulin Rouge'  with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor; 'The Bank' with Anthony LaPaglia, and 'Dust' with Joseph Fiennes.

Following this there was more substantial fare with the likes of 'The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers' and then 'Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King' as Faramir. 'Gettin' Square' with Sam Worthington and Timothy Spall came next, and then 'Van Helsing' and Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale. 

2005 saw 'Three Dollars'  and John Hillcoat's Aussie Western 'The Proposition' with Noah Taylor, Guy Pearce and Ray Winstone. In Zack Snyder's '300' he portrays 'Dilios', the only Spartan to survive The Battle of Thermopylae enabling him to reprise his role in the 2007 video game and the 2014 sequel '300 : Rise of an Empire'. 

In the meantime, there was 'Australia' for Baz Luhrmann again with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman and Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies' in 2009 with Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Channing Tatum and Jason Clarke. Then there was 'Pope Joan', 'Oranges and Sunshine' with Emily Watson and more recently 'Paper Planes'. In between time Wenham has lent his voice talents to 'Legends of the Guardians : The Owls of Ga'Hoole' and 'Blinky Bill : The Movie' released just this week. In addition, there has been a whole bunch of television series - 'Killing Time' in 2011, 'Top of the Lake' in 2013, and 'Better Man, 'The Code' and 'Banished' more recently. 

Next up there is 'Beyond the Known World', 'Goldstone', 'Lion', 'Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Men Tell No Tales' all currently in post-production, and 'Force of Destiny' recently completed. All up Wenham has fourteen award wins and a further thirty nominations under his belt. He also has a number of stage acting credits to his name including 'Jerry Springer : The Opera' and 'The Crucible'.

Wenham has had a long term relationship with Kate Agnew since 1994 and with whom he has two daughters - Eliza Jane born December 2002 and Millie born in November 2008.

David Wenham  - voted Australia's Most Sexiest Man Alive; a former BINGO caller and insurance clerk; goes by the nickname of 'Daisy'; was the subject winner of the 2000 'Archibald Prize' for portrait painting; and, was the reader of the poem titled 'The Crocodiles are Crying' at Steve Irwin's funeral just a few short years ago. Happy Big-5-Oh! to you Dave, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-