Birthday's to share this week : 16th - 22nd August 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Steve Carell does on 16th August - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 53, 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 16th August

• Steve Carell - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• James Cameron - Born 1954, turns 61 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Rummer Willis - Born 1988, turns 27 - Actress
• Angela Bassett - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress | Producer
• Madonna - Born 1958, turns 57 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actress

Monday 17th August

• Steven East - Born 1963, turns 52 - Hospitality Professional | Odeon Online creator | Movie Blogger  
• Robert De Niro - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Sean Penn - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Director 
• Donnie Wahlberg - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer

Tuesday 18th August

• Edward Norton - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Christian Slater - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Robert Redford - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actor | Producer | Director  
• Roman Polanski - Born 1933, turns 82 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Madeline Stowe - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actress | Director | Writer

Wednesday 19th August

• Kyra Sedgwick - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actress | Producer
• Kevin Dillon - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor
• Matthew Perry - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer 

Thursday 20th August

• Andrew Garfield - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actor | Producer
• David O'Russell - Born 1958, turn s57 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Sylvester McCoy - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor 
• David Walliams - Born1971, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Joan Allen - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actress

Friday 21st August

• Carrie-Anne Moss - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actress | Producer  
• Kim Cattrell - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actress | Producer  
• Hayden Panettiere - Born 1989, turns 26 - Actress
• Peter Weir - Born 1944, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer 

Saturday 22nd August

• Ty Burrell - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor
• Kristen Wiig - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Valerie Harper - Born 1939, turns 76 - Actress 
• Honor Blackman - Born 1925, turns 90 - Actress

Steven John Carell was born in Concord, Massachusetts, USA to mother Harriet Koch, a psychiatric nurse, and father Edwin Carell, an electrical engineer. Running through his veins there is Polish, German and Italian ancestry with his grandfather being named Caroselli which was shortened to Carell. Steve was educated at Nashoba Brooks School, then The Fenn School, a private boys school in Concord, and then Middlesex School also in Concord. At school he played lacrosse, ice hockey and he learned to play the fife before going onto Denison University in Granville, Ohio where he majored in history in 1984. He was also an active member of the University Burpee's Seedy Theatrical Company where he perfected his art of improvisational comedy and was a DJ at the campus radio station WDUB under the name 'Sapphire Steve Carell'.

Before his first screen acting role in 1991 he scored a few television commercials, acted on stage in both touring children's shows and musicals, and was part of The Second City troupe in Chicago where he met Stephen Colbert who was his understudy for a time. His big screen acting career kicked off with a bit part in 'Curly Sue' in 1991 with TV movie 'Life As We Know It' also that year. In 1996 and for all of just eight shows he scored a gig on 'The Dana Carvey Show' which is attributed to launching his career.

During this period he secured a number of roles on others television shows too, including 'Come to Papa', 'Over The Top' 'Just Shoot Me' and 'Watching Ellie' and then as a regular on 'The Daily Show' with John Stewart from 1999 until 2005. As his television status began to rise so film offers stated to come in with 'Bruce Almighty' in 2003 opposite Jim Carey, 'Anchorman : The Legend of Ron Burgundy' with Will Ferrell in 2004 which would be considered as his first major film role, Woody Allen's 'Melinda and Melinda' in 2004 also, and then 'Bewitched' alongside Nicole Kidman and Will Farrell in 2005.

Judd Apatow Produced 'Anchorman' and was so impressed with Carell's performance that they collaborated together on 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' in 2005 which the two developed the story for, co-wrote and in which Carell starred as leading man garnering him an MTV Award for Best Comedic Leading Man. The next year he starred in the critically acclaimed 'Little Miss Sunshine' which picked up four Oscar nods and won two of those. Before reprising his role from 'Bruce Almighty' in 'Evan Almighty' there was some voice talent work on 'Over the Hedge' then leading to 'Dan in Real Life' and more voice work on 'Horton Hears a Who' before a resurrection of that 60's successful comedy spy series to the big screen 'Get Smart' in which he stars as leading spy man Maxwell Smart. The film did US$200M worldwide gross and was followed up by 'Date Night' and then more voice work as Gru on 'Despicable Me' in 2010 which he reprised again in 2013 in 'Despicable Me 2'.

In the meantime, there was 'Dinner for Schmucks' in 2010, 'Crazy, Stupid Love' in 2011, 'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World' in 2012 and 'Hope Springs' that same year. 'The Way Way Back' and 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone', 'Anchorman 2 : The Legend Continues' were all released in 2013 with a number of short films before his Oscar nominated turn in 2014's highly acclaimed 'Foxcatcher' as John du Pont. That same year freeing himself of the shackles of a very straight, serious, brooding role as the murderous multi-millionaire, he starred in 'Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day', before reprising his role as the voice of the younger Gru in 'Minions' released earlier this year.

Next up for Carell is 'Freeheld' that has wrapped filming, 'Battle of the Sexes'  in pre-production, 'The Big Short' in post-production, and 'Acme' recently announced. Of course amidst all of this there is/was Carell's award winning performance in the US version of the hugely successful British Comedy series 'The Office' in which he starred as Michael Scott from 2005 until 2013 in 138 episodes, although he exited the show in 2011 but made an appearance in the final instalment. For this gig he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Comedy and picked up Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for each year in which he starred.

All up Carell has 65 Acting credits and has picked up an Academy Award nomination for 'Foxcatcher' another 25 award wins and a further 93 nominations for his body of work. He has been married to Nancy Carell since 1995 with whom he starred in 'Saturday Night Live' and whom he has known since his days at Second City starring along the way too on 'The Daily Show', 'The Office' and 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin'. Together they have two children, Elizabeth (born 2001) and John (born 2004) and in 2009 they bought the Marshfield Hills General Store in Massachusetts which they also operate, and where they have a Summer house.

Steve Carell - frequent Will Ferrell and Stephen Colbert collaborator; often awkwardly humorous; usually lacks any self-awareness; but proven he has range, diversity, and dramatic complexity; and can be pathetic, comedic and dramatic all at once, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 18th June 2015.

You can tell that an extended mid-year school holiday is just around the corner because this week there is more kid-friendly film fare on offer down Australia way than there has been of late by way of two animated features, with a trio of doco style outings and a foreign language movie to round out the something for everyone approach this week.

With six films to make your choice from in the coming week, when you have visited your nearby multiplex or local independent cinema, share your thoughts with your fellow readers and record a comment, a view, an observation about your movie going experience with the like minded individuals who pour over this Blog every week. Use the Comments box at the end of this, and every, Post to do so. Enjoy your film.

INSIDE OUT (Rated PG) - in fact this was released last week, and here once again we have our creative talented friends at Pixar coming up with the animated goods yet again as they have done so may times before - 'Toy Story 1, 2 and 3', 'Up', 'Cars', 'The Incredibles', 'Finding Nemo', 'WALL-E' and 'Monsters Inc.' to name a few of their most highly successful genre defining features. Now we have another family oriented classic in waiting with 'Inside Out' - Directed by Pete Docter who wrote the Screenplay and came up with the story too. This is the tale of young Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) an early teenager who is confronted with the prospect of moving from her all too familiar mid-western town to San Francisco when her dad gets relocated there with his job. Inside her head are a series of mixed emotions all pulling her state of mind in different directions as they conflict with each other as she tries to come to terms with her new home situation, new school, new city and new friends.

Those emotions are made up of Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) who all spring to life as characters inside her head (aptly named 'Headquarters') when she is confronted with different situations and circumstances on the outside.  Joy is the glue that cements these emotions together but at times Joy can be overcome with Fear, Anger, Sadness and Disgust when life's sometimes treacherous journey veers from the path and speed humps are placed in the way - as often experienced by many a teenager who might be out of their comfort zone - as is Riley's case here. Also starring the voice talents of Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Lane, and Frank Oz amongst others. This film has already garnered much positive press, and it has the right pedigree and all the touchstones to be another classic from this hugely successful studio - for kids . . . of all ages!

MINIONS (Rated PG) - The 'Minions' first appeared in 2010's 'Despicable Me' full length animated feature which grossed US$543M off US$69M and gave us a sequel in 2013 with 'Despicable Me 2' which brought home US$971M from US$76M which in turn will give us 'Despicable Me 3' in June 2017. In the meantime though we have this prequel set in the 1960's before The Minions met up with Gru in the aforementioned films. In case you didn't know it Minions are small yellow creatures that have been kicking around our planet since the dawn of time, whose very existence is purely and simply to serve world domineering masters. In their wake they have left dead & buried the T-Rex, Napoleon, Count Dracula and Genghis Khan to name a few over the years and so they decide to hide away to Antarctica to regather and regroup, but without a master in the offing come the swinging sixties they alight to America in search of a master to serve. And so we follow Kevin, Stuart and Bob (all voiced by Pierre Coffin) to a villain convention where they meet Scarlett Overkill (Sandra Bullock) and her husband Herb (John Hamm) and fight for the right to become her next henchmen as she seeks to rule the world! As the animated action advances from Antarctica to New York to London the minions learn that there is a far greater threat to the very existence of minions everywhere, that they must turn their attention to before it's too late.

THE NIGHTINGALE (Rated G) - this is a Chinese French film Directed and Written by Phillippe Muyl and set in China as an old man (Zhigen) and his spoiled granddaughter (Renxing) travel across the countryside in order to fulfil a promise to his late wife. That promise was to travel from Beijing to Yangshuo to set free a bird that has been his only companion in the city since she passed away. The old mans son (Chongyi) is a successful driven businessman and his wife (Qianying) equally successful and determined. As grandfather and granddaughter embark on their journey and learn to bond with each other along the way, so Chongyi and Qianying ponder their lives and what so motivated them to achieve the trappings of success and wealth the have . . . and at what cost. Featuring breathtaking scenery and strong performances you may have seen such films before, but the Chinese connection here might just make for a very different viewing experience.

WALKING THE CAMINO (Rated PG) - Directed and Produced by Lydia B. Smith this documentary follows a mixed bag of modern day pilgrims as they seek to walk the historic 1,000 year old Camino de Santiago trail, across northern Spain as it weaves its way westward along a 500 mile coastal route from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela where the remains of St. James are allegedly buried. With a film crew of 12, the six week hike gets up close & personal with six groups of travellers all experiencing their own voyage of discovery for differing reasons and motivations whilst enduring hardships, blisters, heat and cold equipped only with sturdy walking boots and their lives packed upon their backs. Filmed between 2008 & 2009 this walking talking documentary is sure to inspire anyone with a love of history, the rolling countryside and a spirit of adventure.

GOING CLEAR (Rated M) - Directed, Produced, Written and Narrated by Alex Gibney this film seeks to expose the truth behind Scientology, and is based on Lawrence Wright's book 'Going Clear : Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief'. The film delves into the world of founder L. Ron Hubbard, the religion he created, his beliefs, those of the many celebrity followers (Cruise & Travolta), testimony from a number of its ex-members (Director Paul Haggis included) , and the exploitation and abuse handed down to those ex-members that had been witnessed and experienced first hand. Flatly denied, rebuffed and rebuked by the Church of Scientology, the film has nonetheless been seen by almost six million viewers on HBO when it aired Stateside in March this year, and is a piece of brave film-making that has be told and has to be seen.

TANGERINES (Rated PG) - this Estonian-Georgian film is Directed, Produced and Written by Zaza Urushadze and is set during the War in Abkhazia in a rural village in Abkhazia (Georgia) in 1992/93. When the hostilities begin a tangerine farm is abandoned save for two Estonian men Ivo and  Markus who remain to harvest their crop. Caught in the cross fire of two small waring factions, the two men survive as do two others - each from either side of the attacking line - Ahmed a Chechen mercenary and Niko a Georgian volunteer, but both are injured. The two farmers however, give them shelter and care and make them agree to a pact to bring no harm to each other while in their care - to which the two wounded but recovering soldiers reluctantly agree. Needless to say the tension begins to mount as there recovery improves but in time they begin to see each others insecurities, failings, strengths and weaknesses and work up a mutual respect for each other putting aside their political, religious and cultural differences. When passing Russian soldiers drop by for a routine inspection it all goes horribly wrong with dire consequences for the four men that will have more far reaching consequences. The film was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe earlier this year and has garnered too eleven award wins and seven total nominations so is likely to be well worth a look.

There you have it - six films to surprise, delight, enthral and excite and give you every good reason to escape the cold Winter evenings and relocate to a warm movie theatre. Share your views afterwards and don't be backward in coming forward with your own movie Review at Odeon Online.

See you at the movies!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-