GLASS : Tuesday 22nd January 2019.

'GLASS', which I saw at my local multiplex this week, will doubtless please fans of the 'Unbreakable series' (aka the 'Eastrail 177 Trilogy' following the derailment of the fictitious Eastrail #177 train in the first instalment of this series of now three) of films which launched in 2000 with 'Unbreakable', carried on with 2016's 'Split' and now sees its apparent conclusion with 'Glass'. All three films have been Directed, Written and Co-Produced by M. Night Shyamalan. 'Unbreakable' was made for US$75M and grossed US$248M, while 'Split' was made for just US$9M and grossed US$279M with both films being a critical success too. 'Glass' had a production budget of US$20M, and was released in the US and Australia last week, has so far grossed US$107M and has generated largely mixed or average Reviews. By way of a quick recap however, Samuel L. Jackson's character from 'Unbreakable', Elijah Price is a mass murderer and comic book theorist with Type 1 Brittle Bone Disease and superhuman intelligence. Bruce Willis's character also from 'Unbreakable', David Dunn, is a former college football prodigy turned security guard who possesses superhuman strength, stamina, and invulnerability as well as an extrasensory ability to see the crimes people have committed just by touching them. Dunn is the sole survivor of the Eastrail 177 train journey which killed all 131 other passengers on board, but left him completely unscathed - hence Unbreakable! Dunn turned Price into the authorities after discovering the full extent of his crimes. James McAvoy from 'Split' plays Kevin Wendell Crumb, a former Philadelphia Zoo employee with 23 different personalities whose body chemistry changes with each personality, resulting in a 24th personality known as 'The Beast'.

From 'Unbreakable' Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn and so does Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, aka Mr. Glass. From 'Split' we have James McAvoy, reprising his role as Kevin Wendell Crumb and the other 23 multiple personalities who reside within him, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, the only captive to survive an encounter with 'The Beast' (Kevin's 24th identity). Following the conclusion of 'Split' and about three weeks after that fact, we find David Dunn and his now adult son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) working together from the stockroom of David's Security shop to take down criminals whilst also attempting to home in on Kevin Wendell Crumb who has taken four cheerleaders captive somewhere across the city of Philadelphia. Crumb and his numerous persona's now collectively go by the name of 'The Horde', whereas Dunn's exploits have earned him the moniker 'The Overseer' on social media.

One day while out scouring a derelict part of the city, Dunn brushes up against Crumb in his nine year old 'Hedwig' persona, and using his powers of extra sensory perception is able to locate the cheerleaders whereabouts. He frees them, just as Kevin returns in the guise of 'The Beast' and immediately sets upon Dunn. The pair fight, with The Beast surprised at Dunn's strength and resilience. They crash through a window and fall to the ground several storey's below, but are captured by heavily armed Police authorities who escort the pair to the Raven Hill Memorial Psychiatric Hospital for observation and treatment.

Inside the heavily fortified psychiatric hospital, Dunn is placed into a room with powerful showers that will flood his room instantly in the event of an attempted escape, erratic behaviour or anything else that gives cause for concern. This is because Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) the head Doctor in charge of the facility, knows of Dunn's weakness when he is exposed to water. Similarly, The Horde are placed in a room with movement sensitive lights and cameras that flash on an off in an instant, so causing Crumbs multiple personalities to change with each flash of the high intensity bright lights, so effectively disarming The Beast. Staple's chosen field of medical expertise is in working with patients who claim to have special powers, and be superhuman, and to persuade them otherwise.

In the fullness of time, Staple assembles Elijah Price who has been confined to a wheelchair and remains mute and almost motionless the whole time, and who has been a long term resident of the hospital for some years now, with Crumb and Dunn in a room together. Her aim is to evaluate how the three interact with each other and debunk their theories that they are something special and convince them that are just normal human beings who may possess some kind of special skill but nothing extraordinary that can't be learned by anyone else. She also reveals that she has been given just three days to convince the three that they are normal, and if they can't be convinced then they'll have to suffer the consequences of a very long term stay in her facility under constant observation, scrutiny and treatment.

Meanwhile Joseph, Mrs. Price (Elijah's mother, played by Charlayne Woodard) and Casey Cooke all visit the hospital on separate occasions and meet individually with Staple and try to persuade her that Mrs. Price's son, Joseph's Dad, and Casey's former captor all have merits, are simply misunderstood and have good inside them. Staple is however, unconvinced.

The evaluation awakens something in Elijah, giving him the motivation to make his play. One night when the facility is quiet, the care staff are between shifts and otherwise distracted and security is at a minimum, Elijah breaks into The Hordes room wanting to meet with The Beast. After an introduction and time running out before the next care giver starts his shift, Elijah sets up a meeting for the next night, at which he will also see to it that David Dunn is freed too. Upon leaving the room, Crumb asks Elijah what he should call him, to which Elijah turns in his wheelchair and says 'first name Mister, last name Glass'. 

Staple has however, recently extended her comprehensive network of security cameras across the complex, and Elijah's movements were caught on camera. Knowing that he cannot be trusted, having managed to successfully pull the proverbial wool of everyone's eyes for so long, Staple announces to Elijah, (back in his catatonic state) that they are bringing forward to the next day surgery on him to render his alleged superhuman thinking redundant.

The next day, post surgery, Elijah slashes the throat of one of his care givers with a shard of glass taken from a picture hanging in his room. It is also revealed in flashback that Elijah sabotaged the laser device (used in his surgery) the previous evening by removing the lens rendering its power useless. He visits The Horde with the notion of awakening The Beast, with a plan to pitch The Beast against David Dunn in a grand showdown in full view of the media at the grand opening of the city's tallest skyscraper later that same day. Elijah taunts Dunn with his plan, saying that if he doesn't comply he'll destroy the tower and all those inside it. Consequently, Dunn breaks the reinforced steel door down with his third shoulder barge attempt, knocking it clean off its hinges.

Meanwhile, Mr. Glass and Kevin Wendell Crumb are making it out of the hospital using a network of basement tunnels. They are intercepted by several guards, who are quickly dispensed with by The Beast, while Mr. Glass continues to wheel himself out into the open, to be joined by The Beast when his work is done with the guards.

Outside in the hospital grounds, The Beast and David Dunn face off and are pretty evenly matched - The Beast's raw unfettered aggression against anyone and everyone pitched against Dunn's considered unbreakable brute strength and resilience and his unwavering desire to protect those at risk and ultimately use his skills for good.

Staple has by now arrived, as have Mrs. Price, Joseph and Casey Cooke. Armed Police arrive in riot gear. She orders four armed men to fend off The Beast and Dunn but they are no match for the duelling pair and are quickly subdued. Looking on from his wheelchair, Mr. Glass tells The Beast that water is Dunn's weakness, but Joseph comes between them and reveals to The Beast that Elijah orchestrated the train crash that killed Kevin's father, the same train crash from which Elijah came to meet up with Dunn.

In a seemingly moment of clarity, The Beast thanks Mr. Glass for creating him, but also tells him that his purpose was to protect Kevin and therefore he cannot trust Mr. Glass. The Beast breaks Glass' shoulder and punches him severely in the stomach causing him to topple off his wheelchair onto the hard road surface breaking further bones in his brittle body. The Beast then throws Dunn into a water tank and jumps in after him holding him beneath the surface. Despite the effects of the water, Dunn is able to break through the walls of the tank causing a torrent of water to flood the grounds in the immediate vicinity and wash them both out. Dunn survives but has been weakened by his drenching. As The Beast retreats having taunted Dunn to finish off their duel at the new skyscraper, Casey confronts him and coerces Kevin to take control of his body so returning to his normal human state and taking control away from The Beast.

Staple's men then fire on Kevin while he is weak with a single laser pointed gun shot to the stomach. Three others then set upon a now weakened Dunn and begin to drown him in a flooded pothole. Staple lets Dunn touch her as he is drowned, giving him a vision of her participation in a secret society trying to keep the existence of superhumans a secret. Mr. Glass dies of his multiple bone fractures looked over by his weeping mother. Kevin dies of his gunshot wound in the arms of Casey, and Joseph arrives after Dunn was drowned, and is distraught by the death of his superhuman father whom he idolised. Staple promptly wipes clean all the footage from the one hundred or so internal and external security cameras so destroying any and all evidence of superhuman behaviours and what went down earlier that day. She also reports that her mission had been a complete success.

However, what is unknown to Staple, is that all the cameras around the psychiatric hospital had been hacked by Mr. Glass earlier in the day and had been live-streaming that coverage to a private network. Subsequently, Mrs. Price, Joseph, and Casey all receive a copy of the footage. They choose to release that footage to the public at large, and sitting together on a bench in a busy train station, they watch people increasingly accessing their mobile devices to watch the footage so creating an awareness of the existence of superhumans, and before you know it, it makes the primetime television news channels too.

I enjoyed 'Glass' but not nearly a much as I would have hoped. The film meanders in the mid-section, regurgitates old tropes that we have seen before, short delivers on the action and suspense spectacle and the ending is something and nothing and lacks the punch of a grand finale to a trilogy that up until the final few frames of 'Split' nobody saw coming. McAvoy gives a fine turn once again flexing his multi-personality The Horde by switching from one persona to another without missing a beat. This is his film, and it is richer for his performance. As for Jackson - well he really does diddly squat for the first half except stare blankly at the screen in a near comatose state save for the occasional facial twitch; and Willis is the stoic, expressionless die hard character that he has played in a hundred movies. Paulson just keeps on repeating herself, and Taylor-Joy is also underplayed when her back story could have been explored more. There are a few twists and turns in the film, and any levity comes from McAvoy's rapid fire ever changing character voices, mannerisms, quirks and traits which he nails every time. And as for the trademark Shyamalan surprise at the end, well don't hold your breath this time, because when it does eventuate, its not up to the standard of some of his more noteworthy offerings. All that said, I would describe this glass as half full, rather than half empty.

As such, 'Glass' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

'THE EXPENDABLES' - archive from 18th August 2010.

'THE EXPENDABLES' which I saw earlier in the week has been long awaited, eagerly anticipated and much hyped since it was made known that Sylvester Stallone was amassing an ensemble cast the like of which is seldom seen on the big screen together anymore, and, is paying tribute to the classic action movies of the 80's that many of the assembled cast starred in and made their names in back in the day! The Screenplay was written by Stallone, he stars as the head honcho of said 'Expendables' and he takes on Directing duties too. With a budget of US$82M this film grossed US$275M and opened up at number one at the Box Office in the USA, UK, China & India, and as we know has so far spawned two sequels and a total combined Box Office haul of US$791M, with 'Expendables 4' announced.

Stallone's Triple 'R' playbook of Rocky, Rambo and now Ross (Barney Ross his elite mercenary leader for hire and king pin of 'The Expendables') all have one thing in common - they enjoy a fight and generally come out on top! And so it is with his merry band of highly skilled, accomplished, and deadly mercenary sidekicks that takes the best of the action hero genre; big ticket actors of yesteryear who still have their mojo's intact; and adds a good dose of blades, guns, grenades and gadgets with a sprinkle of humour and wraps it up with tongue firmly planted in cheek as its nods heroically and enthusiastically at the movies I grew up with!

In this case those heroes are Jason Statham (Lee Christmas - knives), Jet Li (Yin Yang - martial arts), Dolph Lundgren (Gunner Jensen - sniper), Terry Crews (Hale Caesar - heavy weapons), Randy Couture (Toll Road - demolition) with Mickey Rourke (Tool - tattooist), Steve Austin as Randy Paine, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Trench Mauser, Bruce Willis as Mr. Church, and Eric Roberts as bad guy James Munroe.

Ross and his crew are engaged by the mysterious Mr. Church to overthrow a Dictator on a small island state (Vilena) in the Gulf of Mexico. On arrival The Expendables learn that The Dictator (General Gaza) is being kept in power to shield the profiteering exploits of an ex-CIA Officer James Munroe, who is holding hostage the daughter of the General as bargaining collateral and security. As more is discovered about the link between Munroe and Garza and why Mr. Church is so interested in this small island and what Munroe is up to, so the action ramps up, shit gets blown up, the body count goes up and it all wraps up nicely in the end.

This is good honest to goodness mindless entertainment that is a welcome throw back to the action heroes, the action films and the action nonsense of the 80's. Don't expect any more than that, but you can expect to be wildly entertained with a good dose of blood & guts, humour, excitement and adrenaline pumping action. Furthermore, to see Stallone, Willis & Schwarzenegger on the big screen in the same frame chewing up the dialogue in spades is worth the price of your ticket alone, and truly a rare moment in cinema history.

If you have yet to see 'The Expendables' and grew up like me on a diet of action movie fare with these heroes of the big screen,  rent or download the three and watch them back to back for a slice of nostalgia & some gritty no holds barred action! Great stuff!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

'RED' : archive from 10th November 2010.

There is a lot to like about action comedy 'RED' - which I saw last night and very entertaining it is too. Directed by Robert Schwentke and based on a limited comic book series of the same name this film was made for US$58M and made US$200M and stars Bruce Willis (always at his best in these actioners); John Malkovich (hamming it up & loving it); Morgan Freeman (as steady as ever); Helen Mirren (always delightful and to see her taking a bullet and toting a machine gun is worth the ticket price alone); Brian Cox, Karl Urban, Richard Dreyfus and Ernest Borgnine - what an all star line up and great fun.

The 'RED' here is the shortening for 'Retired and Extremely Dangerous' and refers to former black-ops CIA Agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) who is now happily retired and living the quiet life in suburban Cleveland. Chatting over the phone, as he does often, to Customer Service Agent Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) at the Pension Office who issue his monthly pension cheque which he promptly rips up just so he can call Sarah and chat away the day, he is later that night raided by a six-man hit squad that Frank quickly dispenses with. Realising that his phone has been tapped he gets over to Kansas City to protect Sarah, but when she refuses to leave with the guy she has only ever spoken to on the phone, he binds and gags her and so becomes his reluctant companion. Needing to uncover who is tracking him down and why, he turns to his former associates for help, while back at the CIA HQ Agent William Cooper (Karl Urban) is instructed to hunt down Frank and kill him.

Frank then heads off to New Orleans to see his CIA Mentor Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman) living in a nursing home who advises the same hit squad that attacked Frank, took out a New York Times Reporter. So Frank and Sarah head to New York looking for clues where they come across a hit-list, but not before Cooper has arrived on the scene and bungles his attempt to get to Frank and secure the list, resulting in his (temporary) arrest. From there they get to Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) also a former black-ops CIA Agent and now retired, but a deeply paranoid conspiracy theorist.

Upon reading the list Boggs comes to the realisation that all those shown therein are linked to an earlier 1981 Guatemalan covert operation in which Frank and Marvin were involved. One on the list is still alive and so he is tracked down and before being gunned down from an above helicopter reveals that the mission in Guatemala involved the extraction of an important individual who is now the Vice President of the free world (Julian McMahon), but back then was involved in the massacre of village civilians.

Along the way there are further altercations with Cooper in which Frank is injured but manages to escape, they seek safe haven in the home of former assassin Victoria (Helen Mirren) who joins the quest, and they secure a meeting with an illegal arms dealer (Richard Dreyfus) whose name is not on the list but whom they believe is linked in some way that they have yet to uncover. At this point the house is surrounded by Cooper and his CIA henchmen who open fire, but in the confusion and the hail of bullets our RED Team escape courtesy of ex-Russian Secret Agent and former lover of Victoria (Brian Cox).

This all leads to a fundraiser for the Vice-President back in Chicago which the RED Team infiltrate and successfully manage to kidnap the Vice-President which Frank now wants to trade for Sarah who was taken captive by Cooper during in the firefight back at Victoria's house. As all the protagonists come together the body count rises as the Vice President is killed by the arms dealer who is killed by Frank leaving Cooper to clean things up as he agrees to let the RED guys walk free no further questions asked!

'RED 2' was released in 2013 and with a  bigger budget at US$84M grossed close to US$150M reuniting the same surviving cast and joined by Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, David Thewlis, Tim Pigott-Smith and Neal McDonough. 'RED 3' is apparently in the works.

I really enjoyed this mash up of tongue in cheek humour and action, and commend you to see this if you haven't already, and on a dark cold wet evening sit in the comfort of your own lounge and watch 'RED 1 & 2' back to back - you won't be disappointed as the oldies kick-ass, and Mirren exhibits bad-ass sass! Great fun!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 15th - 21st March 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Bruce Willis does on 19th March - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 60, 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 15th March

• Jai Courtney - Born 1986, turns 29 - Actor
• David Cronenberg - Born 1943, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Greg Nicotero - Born 1963, turns 52 - Make-Up & Special Effects Artist | Producer | Director | Actor 
• Renny Harlin - Born 1959, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Eva Longoria - Born 1975, turns 46 - Actress | Producer | Director

Monday 16th March

• Gore Verbinski - Born 1964, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Bernardo Bertolucci - Born 1941, turns 74 - Director | Producer | Writer

Tuesday 17th March

• Rob Lowe - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Kurt Russell - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Gary Sinise - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Patrick Duffy - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actor | Director
• Lesley-Anne Down - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actress

Wednesday 18th March

• Queen Latifah - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actress | Writer | Singer
• Vanessa Williams - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actress | Writer | Singer
• Luc Besson - Born 1959, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Adam Levine - Born 1979, turns 36 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor

Thursday 19th March

• Bruce Willis - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Harvey Weinstein - Born 1952, turns 63 - Producer
• Ursula Andress - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actress
• Glenn Close - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actress | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer

Friday 20th March

• Holly Hunter - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress | Writer
• David Thewlis - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor
• Spike Lee - Born 1957, turns 58 - Producer | Director | Writer | Actor
• William Hurt - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor

Saturday 21st March

• Gary Oldman - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Matthew Broderick - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor
• Timothy Dalton - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor
• Rosie O'Donnell - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actress | Writer

Walter Bruce Willis was born in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany to mother Merlene and father David - a US soldier. Living on a US Military Base for his very early life, he was later raised in Penns Grove, New Jersey. He is the oldest of four children with sister Florence and two brothers David and Robert - the latter of which died of pancreatic cancer in 2001. Willis attended Penns Grove High School in his hometown where he developed a stutter but learned to deal with it through stage acting. 

Finishing High School he worked as as a security guard at the Salem Nuclear Power Plant and  as a transport driver at the DuPont Chambers Works Factory. Having spent time also as a private investigator he joined Montclair State University in the Drama Programme, but left in his junior year and moved to New York City where he supported himself as a bar tender whilst treading the boards in various Off-Broadway stage plays.

He then left New York for California and auditioned for numerous television shows. He appeared in the mid-80's in the likes of 'Miami Vice' and 'The Twilight Zone', and then secured the role as David Addison Jnr. out of 3,000 other hopeful Actors in the successful five series long 'Moonlighting' alongside Cybill Shepherd from 1985-1989. Having starred in a number of small uncredited film roles in the early 80's, his first big screen break came with Blake Edwards in 'Blind Date' with Kim Bassinger in 1987, and then with Edwards again in 'Sunset' in 1988. That same year he took his first outing in a film that would catapult him into the movie stratosphere with an action hero franchise that is now synonymous with his name - 'Die Hard'. The Actor performed all of his own stunts in the first film, and subsequently the series that has so far seen five films for John McClane has generated a total worldwide Box Office haul of US$1.44B off a combined production budget of US$390M.

The success of 'Die Hard' gave rise to two sequels in the 90's with 'Die Hard : Die Harder' in 1990 and 'Die Hard with a Vengeance' in 1995 which cemented Willis' star status as a bona fide action hero. But with these successes came less well received fare with the likes of 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' , 'Striking Distance', 'Hudson Hawk' and 'Color of Night'. Quentin Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction' in 1994 gave his career a lift as did Terry Gilliam's '12 Monkey's' in 1995 and Luc Besson's 'The Fifth Element' in 1997. Others that flew largely under the radar included 'Last Man Standing', 'Mercury Rising', 'Breakfast of Champions', 'The Story of Us', interspersed with more quirky popular fare 'North' and 'Death Becomes Her'. 'Armageddon' for Director Michael Bay received very average critical ratings but with a Box Office stash of US$554M was the biggest commercial success of 1998 worldwide. 'The Sixth Sense' brought Willis back into the limelight and helped him close out the 90's on a high note with upcoming Director M. Night Shyamalan.

Continuing his busyness into the 2000's he kicked off with 'The Whole Nine Yards' for which he reprised his role as Jimmy 'The Tulip' Tudeski in 2004's 'The Whole Ten Yards', and 'Unbreakable' with M. Night Shyamalan once more. Playing either the hardened war hero in the likes of 'Hart's War' and 'Tears of the Sun', or the grizzled police officer type in 'Hostage', '16 Blocks', 'Live Free or Die Hard', 'Surrogates' and 'Sin City', his career continues to entertain and draw an audience for the on-screen spectacle he provides.

As 2010 clicked over his action status continued unabated with 'The Expendables' in 2010 headed up by stable mate Sylvester Stallone and all all star 80's ensemble action hero cast, and then again with 'The Expendables 2' in 2012 - he pulled out of 2014's 'Expendables 3' because allegedly he demanded a bigger pay cheque which Stallone and his Producers were not prepared to pay. 'RED' in 2010 and 'RED 2' in 2013 also helped keep the action star mantle in place, with other notable offerings including  'Looper' and 'Moonrise Kingdom' in 2012, 'A Good Day to Die Hard' in 2013 and 'Sin City : A Dame to Kill For' in 2014. 'Catch .44', 'Lay the Favourite', 'The Cold Light of Day', 'G.I.Joe : Retaliation' and 'The Prince' bring us up to date. Next up is 'Vice' likely to go straight to DVD & BluRay in early 2015, with 'Rock the Kasbah' later in 2015 and 'Captive' and 'Extraction' due in 2016.

Outside of the movie business, Willis is an astute property owner and investor, and businessman. For a few years he co-owned Production Company 'Cheyenne Enterprises', several small businesses, was co-founder of 'Planet Hollywood' and owns a small percentage of 'Sobieski Vodka'.

He has 104 acting credits to his name and would be regarded as one of Hollywood's busiest jobbing Actors. He also has seven Producer credits to his name and wrote the story too for 'Hudson Hawk'. He won the Golden Globe in 1987 for 'Moonlighting' and has two Primetime Emmy Awards for 'Moonlighting' and 'Friends' and all up has garnered twenty award wins and a further 33 nominations throughout his career to date. He also has enjoyed success as a singer and recording artist with three solo albums and four compilation albums.

He was married to Actress Demi Moore from 1987 to 2000 with whom he has three children - Rummer (born 1988), Scout (born 1991), and Talulah (born 1994). In 2009 Willis married model Emma Harding with whom he has two children - Mabel (born 2012) and Evelyn (born 2014). A supporter of the constitutional right to bear arms, he has some Republican political leanings but describes himself a 'apolitical', and he has actively supported military intervention in Iraq as a means to restore democracy and freedom ultimately. He took a pay cheque of US$5M for the first 'Die Hard' instalment in 1998 and US$25M twenty years later for 'Live Free or Die Hard' . . . not a bad pay day!

Bruce Willis - head shaven, wisecracking, smirking gun toting action hero; Box Office draw card; predictably familiar; always entertaining and as colourful off-screen as on it - keep doing what you do and we'll keep putting our bums on seats you watch you do it! Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 21st - 27th December 2014.

It's Christmas week - do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Samuel L. Jackson does, on 21st December - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy 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 or 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 21st December

• Samuel L. Jackson - Born 1948, turns 66 - Actor | Producer
• Kiefer Sutherland - Born 1966, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Jeffrey Katzenberg - Born 1950, turns 64 - Producer
• Ray Romano - Born 1957, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Jane Fonda - Born 1937, turns 77 - Actress
• Julie Delpy - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Editor

Monday 22nd December

• Vanessa Paradis - Born 1972, turns 42 - Actress | Singer
• Ralph Fiennes - Born 1962, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Hector Elizondo - Born 1936, turns 78 - Actor
• David S. Goyer - Born 1965, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer

Tuesday 23rd December

• Nick Moran - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Estella Warren - Born 1978, turns 36 - Actress

Wednesday 24th December - Christmas Eve

• Ricky Martin - Born 1971, turns 43 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor
• Stephanie Meyer - Born 1973, turns 41 - Writer | Actor

Thursday 25th December - Christmas Day

• Sissy Spacek - Born 1949, turns 65 - Actress
• Annie Lennox - Born 1954, turns 60 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress

Friday 26th December - Boxing Day

• Jared Leto - Born 1971, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Songwriter | Producer | Director
• Temuera Morrison - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actor
• Steve Bisley - Born 1951, turns 63 - Actor
• Phil Spector - Born 1939, turns 75 - Songwriter
• Fred Schepisi - Born 1939, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer

Saturday 27th December

• Gerard Depardieu - Born 1948, turns 66 - Actor | Producer | Director

Samuel Leroy Jackson was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee as an only child. His father, Henry Jackson lived away from home in Kansas City, Missouri and died from alcoholism - he met him only twice. His mother, Elizabeth Montgomery was a factory worker and later a supplies buyer for a local hospital and she raised Samuel with the maternal grandparents and extended family. He graduated from the Riverside High School in Chattanooga where he acme proficient over the years in playing the French horn and trumpet. He went on to Morehouse College to study marine biology, and after joining a local acting group to earn extra points he switched his major to drama.

Following public speaking classes he appeared in 'The Threepenny Opera' and various stage plays and TV movies before making his feature film debut in 1972 in 'Together for Days'. His early roles prompted him to relocate to New York City in 1976 where he appeared in stage plays including 'The Piano Lesson' and 'Two Trains Running', but, at the same time he developed a liking for alcohol, heroine, and then cocaine resulting i him being unable to continue with this splays as they moved on to Broadway. 

During his early career he was mentored by Morgan Freeman and introduced to Spike Lee who would go on to Direct him in several films throughout the years, including bit parts in his earlier offerings - 'School Daze' in 1988 and 'Do the Right Thing' in 1989. Martin Scorsese game him a small role too in 1990's 'Goodfellas'. During this time his drug addiction deepened, and had previously overdosed on heroine several times before moving onto cocaine. His family subsequently entered him into a New York drug rehabilitation clinic which he came out of successfully, and went straight into filming 'Jungle Fever' again with Spike Lee . . . starring as a crack cocaine addict - a role he described as 'cathartic' and which won him much critical acclaim including a 1991 Cannes Film Festival 'Supporting Actor' Award.

After this he received multiple offers including 'Juice', 'Strictly Business', 'Patriot Games' and then 'Jurassic Park' with Steven Spielberg, and 'True Romance' with Tony Scott and his first brush with Writer/Director Quentin Tarantino. Following this Tarantino specifically wrote the role of Jules Winnfield for Jackson in 'Pulp Fiction' which went on to give him Best Supporting Actor Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, and the BAFTA win.

More film offers began to flood in during the mid-90's which included 'Kiss of Death', 'Die Hard : With a Vengeance', 'Hard Eight', 'Trees Lounge' and 'A Time to Kill' in 1996 which gave him another Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.  The latter half of the 90's played out with 'The Long Kiss Goodnight' with Geena Davis, 'Jackie Brown' reunited with Quentin Tarantino, 'Sphere' with Dustin Hoffman, 'The Negotiator' with Kevin Spacey, 'Deep Blue Sea' with Director Renny Harlin and then as Mace Windu in George Lucas' reboot of the Star Wars franchise in 'Episode 1: The Phantom Menace'.

As the new century turned over Jackson was more in demand than ever opening with 'Rules of Engagement', 'Shaft' and 'Unbreakable' with Bruce Willis again all in 2000. He reprised Mace Windu three more times in 'Attack of the Clones', 'Revenge of the Sith' and the CGI animated 'The Clone Wars', and in the meantime took on 'Changing Lanes' with Ben Affleck, 'xXx' and its sequel 'xXx : State of the Union' with Vin Diesel, 'Basic' with John Travolta, 'S.W.A.T.' with Colin Firth, 'Kill Bill, Volume 2' with Tarantino again, and the voice of Frozone in the successful animated feature 'The Incredibles'.

2006 brought cult actioner 'Snakes on a Plane' - a role he took because of its title rather than the intricacies required from a nuanced performance, 'Black Snake Moan' and '1408' in 2007, and a busy year in 2008 with 'Jumper', 'Soul Men', 'Lakeview Terrace', 'The Spirit', 'Gospel Hill' and his first uncredited appearance as Nick Fury in 'Iron Man'. Since then he has reprised the role of Nick Fury in 'Iron Man 2', in 'Thor', 'Captain America : The First Avenger', 'The Avengers', 'Captain America : The Winter Soldier', the upcoming 'Avengers : Age of Ultron' due for release mid-2015 and in the TV Series 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D'.

He worked with Quentin Tarantino again narrating several scenes in 'Inglourious Basterds' and then in 'Django Unchained' and is currently filming with him once more in the 'The Hateful Eight' due out later on in 2015. Meanwhile he teamed up with Spike Lee once more in 'Oldboy' with Josh Brolin, the rebooted 'RoboCop' with Gary Oldman, with 'Kite' and 'Big Game' bringing us up to date. 'Kingsmen : The Secret Service' with Colin Firth is due out imminently, 'Cell', 'Barely Lethal' and 'Avengers : Age of Ultron' are all currently in post-production for a 2015 release, 'The Hateful Eight' and 'Tarzan' are currently filming, 'Moose' is in pre-production, and 'Nick Fury' and 'xXx : The Return of Xander Cage' have been announced. He has lent his voice talents to numerous animated features and video games, has 159 acting credits to his name, and has thirty award wins and another sixty award nominations under his belt. These include the Academy Award nomination for 'Pulp Fiction', four Golden Globe nominations for 'Jackie Brown', 'A Time to Kill', 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Against the Wall', and the BAFTA win for 'Pulp Fiction'. 

He is an avid golfer, a basketball fan of the Toronto Raptors and Harlem Globetrotters and a keen follower of Liverpool Football Club. He launched a campaign in support of Alzheimers Disease research in mid-2013 and also 'One for the Boys' advocating testicular cancer checks. He made a conscious decision to of bald, began a vegan diet and subsequently lost 40lbs in weight (18kgs). He has been married to LaTanya Richardson since 1980 and they have a daughter Zoe, born in 1982.

He is also acclaimed as the highest grossing film actor of all time with his movies grossing (depending on what you read) in excess of US$5.6B (The Movie Times), US$9.3B (The Numbers), US$8.3B (Box Office Mojo) and US$7.4B (The Guinness Book of Records). He is a prolific actor because he loves acting and loves the film making process and what he believe he can bring to the role and the character portrayed. 

Samuel L. Jackson - often mistaken for Laurence Fishburne; eaten alive by both a shark and a dinosaur; still the epitome of wise-ass bad-ass cool even at 66; known for your deep authoritarian voice and use of whiplash MoFo quips; often portrays violent and intimidating but always entertaining and keeping it real - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

SIN CITY : A DAME TO KILL FOR - Tuesday 23rd September 2014

Before seeing 'SIN CITY : A DAME TO KILL FOR' at my local multiplex earlier this week, I had to reappraise myself with the original film from 2005 that set the bar so very high and introduced us to Frank Miller's gritty, dark, menacing characters inhabiting Basin City where 'Sin City' is based. Directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller back then brought us in to the monochromed world of classic film noir straight from the pages of the graphic novel in all its exaggerated, stylised, violent, sexy beauty. With a strong cast, sharp dialogue, and never before seen imagery on the big screen, the bar was cast high. And so with high expectations for the follow-up and a wait of almost ten years the final analysis shows that 'Sin City : A Dame to Kill For' can only but limbo under the bar of its predecessor, let alone rise above it!

Again, as before, this next instalment is based on four stories - 'Just Another Saturday Night', 'The Long Bad Night, Parts 1&2', 'A Dame to Kill For' and 'Nancy's Last Dance', and we see a number of characters from the first film return this time around - a few played by different actors. The time in which these four chapters play out also weaves back and forth, and the story behind 'A Dame to Kill For' in this film plays out before 'The Big Fat Kill' in the first film with two different actors playing the same character in both . . . so you need to pay attention (Clive Owen then, and now Josh Brolin as Dwight McCarthy, and Michael Clarke-Duncan then, and now Dennis Haysbert as Manute)!

'Just Another Saturday Night' opens the film and once again we meet hulking 300lb meathead Marv (Mickey Rourke) semi-conscious by the side of the road amid a two car pile up and a bunch of strewn dead bodies. Not remembering how he got there or how he came by the nice coat and gloves he is wearing he can recall slugging down some beers at 'Kadies Saloon' and watching Nancy Callahan dance. Sensing though that something ain't quite right he leaves and immediately comes across four young frat boys outside dousing a homeless guy with petrol and brandishing a cigarette lighter. Marv in his own subtle way quickly dispenses with the gang of four and slits the ringleaders throat, which brings him back to the coat and how he acquired it.

'The Long Bad Night Parts 1&2' sandwiches 'A Dame to Kill For' and here we are introduced to young cocky gambler Johnny (Joseph Gordon Levitt) who arrives in Basin City and heads to Kadies Saloon where a high stakes card game is playing out behind closed doors. He initially has success on two poker machines thanks to his Lady Luck, a dancer at the Club called Marcie. They enter the game and take their place opposite Senator Roark (Powers Booth) - the kingpin of Basin City and the most powerful man in the State. Playing for high stakes Johnny cleans out the Senator and leaves taking his Lady Luck for a night on the town to celebrate. On the way back to their hotel they are set upon by the Senator and his henchmen who break three of Johnny's fingers with pliers and shoot him in the leg. Leaving him by the side of the road in agony, Johnny swears revenge. In Part 2, Johnny gets himself fixed up - the bullet removed and his fingers reset and splinted in time for another high stakes game with the Senator the next night, so that he can exact his revenge. . . maybe!

'A Dame to Kill For' reintroduces us to Dwight McCarthy this time played by Josh Brolin struggling with his demons, his turbulent past and his memories of violence and death. Trying to make a fresh start he works as a Private Detective for hire, and is reacquainted with former lover Ava Lord (Eva Green) four years after they split, and she subsequently married wealthy tycoon Damien Lord. Following a clandestine meeting at Kadies Saloon we are reintroduced to Manute (Danis Haysbert) who is the Minder of Ava Lord who she claims is mistreated physically and mentally by her evil corrupt husband. Determined to rescue her and reignite the old flame that once existed between them, Dwight takes the law into his own hands and teams up with Marv to get the job done and overcome the equally hulking Minder Manute. Things don't go well back at the Lord mansion - people die, the husband murdered, the Police get involved and that all goes wrong too! In the end justice is served at the end of a gun, but not before startling revelations, and death, destruction and mayhem all around!

In the final chapter 'Nancy's Last Dance' we meet the grown nineteen year old Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) ten years on from being saved by John Hartigan (Bruce Willis) in 'Sin City'. Nancy is now a dancer at Kadies Salloon and has crawled inside a bottle of late drowning her sorrows in an attempt to forget her one true love (Hartigan) for whom she has held a candle all these years even though he is dead by his own hand at the end of the first film. Hartigan returns as a ghost - unseen and unheard by Nancy or anyone else, and over looking her he sees her pain and is powerless to do anything about it. Nancy wants revenge on Senator Roark for what his son did to her when she was nine and for causing the death (indirectly) of John Hartigan. She enlists the help of Marv to dispense with Roark once and for all and so the two mount a bloody assault on the Roark Estate.

Once more Rodriguez and Miller have amassed a solid ensemble cast that includes, in addition to those already mentioned, Rosario Dawson, Ray Liotta, Stacy Keach, Christopher Lloyd, Jeremy Piven, Christopher Meloni and Lady Gaga. All the touchstones are there from the original movie - classic film noir graphic novel vibe; excellent on-screen graphics; some great one-liners especially from Marv; a gritty dangerous dark underworld where it nearly always rains; and exaggerated images and scenes emphasising the style, the look and the feel of a place you really don't wanna go!

Despite all this - I couldn't help thinking that this was over cooked unlike its predecessor. The violence is gratuitously graphic and when you've seen ten on-screen decapitations you've seen them all! Great gushing arcs of spurting blood - deep red or bright white when another arrow pierces a skull; or a head is removed from its shoulders; or bullets rip through an arm, a chest, a head; or a Samurai Sword slices and dices through a limb, a neck, a chest or a stomach; or bodies are thrown asunder from fast moving cars, speeding motor bikes, or from third storey windows. Sometimes less is more, and we saw that to better effect in 'Sin City' and this time by adding more brutality and more T&A to move the plot along and tell us that life in Sin City is cheap, fast and ugly Rodriguez and Miller have done themselves a disservice. 'Sin City : A Dame to Kill For' is certainly worth a look for a whole bunch of reasons, but it does fall short of the expectations from the pair that brought us the first ground breaking film.

-Steve, at OdeonOnline-