Birthday's to share this week : 25th - 31st January 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Christian Bale does, on 30th January - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 41, 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 25th January

• Tobe Hooper - Born 1943, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer

Monday 26th January

• David Strathairn - Born 1949, turns 66 - Actor
• Scott Glenn - Born 1941, turns 74 - Actress
• Ellen DeGeneres - Born 1958, turns 57 - Television Personality | Writer | Producer | Actress
• Odeon Online - Born 2014, turns 1 - Movie Blog of choice!

Tuesday 27th January

• Mimi Rogers - Born 1956, turns 59 - Actress | Producer
• Bridget Fonda - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress
• James Cromwell - Born 1940, turns 75 - Actor | Producer
• Frank Miller - Born 1957, turns 58 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor
• Alan Cumming - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer

Wednesday 28th January

• Alan Alda - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Frank Darabont - Born 1959, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Elijah Wood - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actor | Producer
• Rosamund Pike - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actress

Thursday 29th January 

• Katherine Ross - Born 1940, turns 75 - Actress
• Oprah Winfrey - Born 1954, turns 61 - Television Personality | Actress | Writer
• Heather Graham - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Tom Selleck - Born 1945, turns 70 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Edward Burns - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Marc Singer - Born 1948, turns 67 - Actor

Friday 30th January

• Christian Bale - Born 1974, turns 41 - Actor
• Gene Hackman - Born 1930, turns 85 - Actor
• Phil Collins - Born 1951, turns 64 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor
• Vanessa Redgrave - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actress | Producer

Saturday 31st January

• Minni Driver - Born 1970, turns 45 0 Actress | Producer
• Portia de Rossi - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress
• Justin Timberlake - Born 1981, turns 34 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor | Producer
• Anthony LaPaglia - Born 1959, turns 56 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Philip Glass - Born 1937, turns 78 - Composer | Songwriter
• Dexter Fletcher - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Writer | Director | Producer

Christian Charles Philip Bale was born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales to English parents. His mother Jenny James was a circus performer and his father David Charles Howard Bale was a commercial pilot and talent manager. His childhood years were spent in various locations from Wales to southern England to Portugal to the United States. He attended Bournemouth Boys Grammar School and left at 16. The next year he moved to Los Angeles with his father when his parents divorced in 1991. 

His first screen acting role came in a fabric softener television commercial in 1982 and then a 'Pac-Man' breakfast cereal advertisement a year later. In 1984 he played for the first time in a theatre production opposite Rowan Atkinson in 'The Nerd' on London's West End. With work coming in as an up & coming Actor he auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama and was offered a place by all three institutions to study his craft but was convinced by his parents at the time to continue working - a decision he regrets still to this day!

His big screen debut came in in 1986 in the television film 'Anastasia : The Mystery of Anna' which quickly led to a starring role in in the television mini-series 'Heart of the Country', and then the fantasy film 'Mio in the land of the Faraway' opposite Christopher Lee. It was the 'Anastasia : The Mystery of Anna' movie that brought the young Bale to the attention of Steven Spielberg who cast him in his breakout role in 1987's 'Empire of the Sun'. This brought Bale much critical acclaim, winning too the inaugural award by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures for the Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor.

The success of 'Empire of the Sun' Bale found hard to adjust to and almost gave up acting as a career choice there & then. Kenneth Branagh however, convinced him to take a role in the 1989 big screen telling of Shakespeare's 'Henry V' with a critically acclaimed all star cast. From there he starred with Charlton Heston in 'Treasure Island', in Disney's 'Newsies' with Robert Duvall, 'Swing Kids' with Kenneth Branagh again, and then 'Little Women' with Wynona Ryder who introduced Bale to his future wife in 1994. He returned to Disney in 1995 to provide the voice for Captain John Smith in the animated feature 'Pocahontas' and in 1997 he played alongside Ewen McGregor in 'Velvet Goldmine'.

He saw out the decade and saw in the new with another big screen adaptation of Shakespeare in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' with again an all star cast and 'All the Little Animals' with John Hurt. This was followed up by his turn as Patrick Bateman in 'American Psycho'. In it Bale inhibited his character of the deranged murdering Wall Street executive for which he trained obsessively to develop his body and prepare his mental state to match that of his character as depicted in the Brett Easton Ellis book.

Next up came 'Shaft' alongside Samuel L. Jackson, 'Captain Correlli's Mandolin' with Nicolas Cage and then in quick succession came 'Laurel Canyon', 'Reign of Fire' and 'Equilibrium'. 2004 saw Bale back to prominence as Trevor Reznik in 'The Machinist' - a role for which he slimmed down drastically by 63lbs (27kgs) to a body weight of just 128lbs (55kgs) by taking a crash diet and going without sleep for prolonged periods.

His next role was the polar opposite requiring Bale to regain all those lost kilos and bulk up considerably gaining 105lbs (45kgs) in muscle in six months to play the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan's 2005 'Batman Begins'.  The success of this brought two hugely successful sequels in 2008 with 'The Dark Knight' and then again in 2012 with 'The Dark Knight Rises'. The three films together and as a complete package, and singularly, were received to both critical and commercial acclaim generating US$2.5B in Box Office and after sales receipts off a total production cost of US$585M.

In the meantime, and since, there has been 'The New World' and 'Harsh Times' in 2005; 'Rescue Dawn' and 'The Prestige' in 2006; '3:10 to Yuma' and 'I'm Not There' in 2007; and then 'Terminator : Salvation' and 'Public Enemies' in 2009. 'The Fighter' in 2010 with Mark Wahlberg brought more critical success, leading to 'The Flowers of War' in 2011, 'Out of the Furnace' and 'American Hustle' in 2013 and most recently 'Exodus : Gods and Kings' with Director Ridley Scott in 2014 and still on general release. Next up is Terrence Malick's 'Knight of Cups' with Cate Blanchett due for release later this year, and an as yet untitled project for the same Director which is currently in post-production. Then will come 'Creed of Violence' and 'Jungle Book : Origins' for 2016/17.

Bale has 48 acting credits to his name and a total 59 award wins and a further 58 nominations. He won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for 'The Fighter' and was nominated for Best Actor for 'American Hustle'. The same was true of the Golden Globes and he was nominated similarly at the BAFTA's.

He has been married to Sandra 'Sibi' Blazic since 2000 and together they have a daughter Emmaline born in 2005 and a son born in mid-2014. He is an active supporter of 'Greenpeace', the 'World Wildlife Fund' and he and his wife sit on the Board of Trustees of the 'Dian Fossey Gorilla Foundation'.

Christian Bale - intense character Actor going to extraordinary lengths to portray the physical, mental and emotional states of his roles; often teams up with Christopher Nolan and Terrence Malick; a natural at putting on an accent - American especially; and often plays either historical roles or those of fractured, obsessive, detached and lonely characters and always with conviction and intensity. Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 4th December 2014.

With Australian Summer time now officially underway; Private Schools having finished their year now and embarking on an eight week Summer Holiday until the end of January; and the mercury steadily rising in those thermometers, we can expect a slew of new cinematic offerings over the coming weeks and it kicks starts here on 4th December with a swathe of new films to get you out in to the temperature controlled air conditioned comfort of a cinema seat.

With no less that ten, yes ten, new release films this week alone we have everything from the Biblical epic on the grandest scale; there is a cult classic Ozploitation from the early 80's remade for a whole new audience; a Disney offering telling us it's a bad day in 'da family hood' as things go from bad to worse for this close knit clan; a number of foreign language films to tempt; a weepie; an Aussie love story that turns sour; and an animated Sci-Fi that fuses real and computer generated life together in a cyber world of the future.

There has gotta be something here for just about everyone; and so when you have checked any one or more of this weeks impressive haul of new releases, drop me a line in the Comments Box immediately below this or any other Post and share your thoughts on your filmic experience with the world. Enjoy your film!

EXODUS : GODS AND KINGS (Rated M) - Sir Ridley Scott (profiled in my Birthday Tribute this week) is back at doing what he perhaps does best - delivering us epic scale, big spectacle, well crafted and visually stylish movies. He has done it before propelling us into space travel Sci-Fi horror ('Alien' & 'Prometheus') and future dystopian landscapes ('Blade Runner'), and thrusting us back in time to ancient civilisations, cultures and myths ('Gladiator', 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'Robin Hood'). This time though it's the Old Testament taking us a back to circa 1200BC as we see Moses (Christian Bale) rising up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses (Joel Edgerton) to free 600,000 Hebrew slaves and escort them through Egypt to flee the land gripped by plague, and Ramses tortuous regime.

Filmed largely on location in southern Spain and finished off at Pinewood at a budget of US$140M there will be everything here that your learned in school - rivers of blood; plagues of locusts, frogs, bats; a parting of The Dead Sea; burning bushes; epic conflict; bloodshed; wars, tears, gnashing of teeth and table beating with clenched fists. Ridley Scott does this stuff so well, and has amassed a cast too that reunites him with Sigourney Weaver as Tuya and supported by Aaron Paul as Joshua, Ben Kingsley as Nun, John Turturro at Seti, Ben Mendelsohn at Hegep and a cast of some 6,000 or so extras spread over several filming locations. This is big and the trailers seen so far make this look very impressive on the big screen, and for the second epic offering of the season so far (after 'Interstellar') it has got to be on your must-see list!

TURKEY SHOOT (Rated MA15+) - the original film of the same name on which this remake is based is/was a 1982 Ozploitation cult-classic Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith. Set in a future post-apocalyptic dystopian world where deviants, mutants, weirdo's and miscreants are rounded up into prison camps and then randomly set free as canon fodder in a game of cat & mouse to the death for the pleasure of their captors - only one such captors has ideas on survival of his own. And so to 2014 and this time helmed by Jon Hewitt and starring Dominic Purcell as a disgraced Navy Seal thrust into a survival reality TV game show with a bunch of other killers, assassins and undesirables all needing to take each other out by any means foul or fair to win their freedom. Rick Tyler however (Purcell) claims his innocence all along, and in fighting for his own survival he must also prove his innocence. Is this likely to go down in the annals of gore-heavy cult-classic remakes - probably not, but sill could be entertaining enough for a (re)visit!

THE CAPTIVE (Rated MA15+) - Canadian Director Atom Egoyan has given us a taught, tense psychological thriller surrounding the disappearance of ten year old Cass and the long search for her over an eight year or so period. When father Matthew (Ryan Reynolds) leaves her unattended for just a few moments he returns only to find her gone. Reporting this immediately to the Police he quickly becomes the prime suspect. Over time his search continues, his marriage breaks down, and he continues to be questioned by Police once a year as time passes on the anniversary of her disappearance at the hands of a paedophile ring. Whilst she might be dead Matthew never gives up hope even as the years clock by, and then little trinkets of Cassie's begin to appear at the hotel where mother Tina (Mireille Enos) now works as a cleaner. Disturbing, dark, emotional and bleak subject matter this may resonate a little like last years 'Prisoners' but this goes deeper than a revenge story as questions go unanswered for years but parental anguish never subsides for the love of a lost one unaccounted for.

THE CONGRESS (Rated M) - written and Directed by Ari Folman this combines both human elements and animated Sci-Fi fantasy as the two become fused together in the second half of the film when ageing actress (Robin Wright playing herself) sells her digital image to a movie production house in order that her digitised self can continue to be used well into the future and beyond her human use by date. Fast forward twenty years and Wright is invited to speak at The Congress in The Animated Zone which she can only enter by taking a drug allowing herself to become an animated version of herself. When the studio announces plans to sell Wright so that anyone can become an animated version of her, she at first agrees but then detracts and voices her opinion to the gathered crowds at The Congress against becoming a 'product'. As the film progresses so we toy with newer technologies still and the blurriness with what is perceived as real or not, and just how far can technology take us in cyberspace and beyond the Internet age. Starring John Hamm, Kodie Smit-McPhee, Harvey Keitel, Danny Huston and Paul Giamatti this is likely to test your observation, concentration and powers of deduction and will leave you pondering long after the credits have rolled.

HUMAN CAPITAL (Rated MA15+) - this Italian offering based on the American book of the same name by Stephen Amidon comes to us from Director Paolo Virzi and has already won a raft of awards. In short we see the repercussions on two families in the aftermath of a waiter knocked off his bike when cycling home from work one evening just before Christmas. The driver of the vehicle doesn't stop, and the injured waiter lies in the road left to suffer. The next day in hospital, the waiter's life is ebbing away.  This is where the films begins, and then we are taken back six months exploring the intricacies, anxieties, failings and desires of the two families responsible for this accident, but not yet knowing who is the perpetrator of the crime. On one side is a very wealthy banking family and on the other a struggling hard-up little hope middle class family whose lives become interwoven as a consequence of this accident, but not before we have visited the main players back stories and how these collide in a heap of greed, manipulation, emotion and excess. Nominated as the Italian entry for Best Foreign Language Film at next years Academy Awards.

THE MYSTERY OF HAPPINESS (Rated PG) - this Argentinian offering from Director Daniel Burman tells the story of Eugenio (Fabian Arenilles) and his life long business partner Santiago (Guillermo Francella) - they set up business together in their youth and have been together ever since. They are soul mates and have come to know each other almost inside out. One day Eugenio disappears without any trace it seems and so Santiago and Eugenio's wife Laura (Ines Estevez) embark on a search to find him but in time discover that they have a connection and prefer to remain together in each others company rather than finding the lost husband and business partner. A film about love, loyalty, relationships, the search for happiness and fulfilment and following your dreams.

THE GREEN PRINCE (Rated M) - this doco/drama/thriller is based on the real life events surrounding Mosab Hassan Yousef a Palestinian living in Ramallah. Growing up he is intent at going to fight the Israeli's but at 17 is arrested for gun smuggling and interrogated by the Shin Bet - Israel's Security Forces, and is sent off to prison. In prison he witnesses first hand the tactics, torture and treatment by Hammas of the inmates, and hears of the ever escalating campaign of suicide bombings. Fearful for his own safety he agrees to turn spy for Israel but is deeply ashamed for doing so, and as for his new Shin Bet handler Gonen he is deeply pleased for securing such a prize, as he has 'bagged' the eldest son of a founding member of Hammas. Yousef aided and abetted the Israeli Security Forces for ten years, and 'The Green Prince' was the name given to him by his handlers given his background.

LOVE IS NOW (Rated M) - this little Aussie flick charts young love across one long Summer as Audrey (Clare van der Boom) and Dean (Eamon Farren) - the former an experienced photographer, and the latter a happy snapper - embark on a journey following the New South Wales Summer harvest trail. With love in the air, the free spirit in the wind, and a world of adventure beckoning what unfolds is a journey of discovery that neither of them had anticipated. Directed by Jim Lounsbury and filmed entirely using a Nikon digital single reflex camera.

YOU'RE NOT YOU (Rated M) - this is likely to be this weeks big weepie so take your box of Kleenex, and be prepared. Directed by George C. Wolfe and based on the book of the same name by Michelle Wildgen, this stars Hilary Swank as Kate who is a talented classical pianist recently diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - a neurodegenerative disorder resulting in difficulty to eat, swallow and breathe due to muscle wasting). Husband Evan (Josh Duhammel) enlists the help of Bec (Emmy Rossum) - a young college student who has little or no experience of such things, and is needed because the marriage between Kate & Evan is about to implode. As time progresses the two opposing female characters forge a close bond despite their differences and both come to face their demons, explore new emotions and learn more of who they really want to be.

ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY (Rated PG) - 12 year old Alexander (Ed Oxenbold) has been having a run of bad luck but nobody takes his seriously! At midnight on his 12th Birthday he wishes that everyone else in his family could experience the sort of bad luck he has had to contend with, and so the next day everyone else in his family fall foul to the worst of luck you can imagine. Brother, sister, mum and dad all have the worst luck just when they need things to go right for drivers license test, stage performance, car pooling, job interview . . . and that's just the beginning! It gets worse and young Alex feels somehow responsible . . . be careful what you wish for! Also starring Steve Carrel as Ben Cooper (Dad), Jennifer Garner as Kelly Cooper (Mum), Dylan Minnette as Anthony Cooper (older brother) and Kerris Dorsey as Emily Cooper (older sister) needless to say it all goes horribly wrong before the day rights itself and everything turns out sunshine & rainbows in the end!

WOW! what a big week for movies! Something for every taste almost and plenty to choose from. Get out there and keep cinema alive, and then share your thoughts with your favourite Blog - Odeon Online.

Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 30th November - 6th December 2014.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Ridley Scott does, on 30th November - 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 30th November

• Mark Forster - Born 1969, turns 45 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Mandy Patinkin - Born 1952, turns 62 - Actor
• Ben Stiller - Born 1965, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Ridley Scott - Born 1937, turns 77 - Director | Producer | Production Designer
• Terrence Malick - Born 1943, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer
• David Mamet - Born 1947, turns 67 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Gael Garcia Bernal - Born 1978, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Director

Monday 1st December

• Woody Allen - Born 1935, turns 79 - Director | Producer | Actor | Writer
• Treat Williams - Born 1951, turns 63 - Actor
• Bette Midler - Born 1945, turns 69 - Actress | Producer

Tuesday 2nd December

• Lucy Liu - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Britney Spears - Born 1981, turns 33 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actress

Wednesday 3rd December

• Julianne Moore - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actress | Producer
• Daryl Hannah - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actress | Producer
• Amanda Seyfried - Born 1985, turns 29 - Actress | Producer
• Brendan Fraser - Born 1968, turns 46 - Actor | Producer
• Jean-Luc Godard - Born 1930, turns 84 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor | Cinematographer

Thursday 4th December

• Jeff Bridges - Born 1949, turns 65 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Jay Z - Born 1969, turns 45 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor
• Marisa Tomei - Born 1964, turns 50 - Actress
• Tyra Banks - Born 1973, turns 41 - Actress | Producer | Writer

Friday 5th December 

• Frankie Muniz - Born 1985, turns 29 - Actor | Producer
• Nick Stahl - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actor

Saturday 6th December

• Judd Apatow - Born 1967, turns 47 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Nick Park - Born 1958, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer

Ridley Scott was born in the north-east of England in South Shields, and is the middle of three sons born to mother Elizabeth and father Colonel Francis Percy Scott. Frank was the eldest of the three, and Tony the youngest - both of whom are deceased. Scott's father was an officer in the Royal Engineers, and therefore absent from for much of the boys younger lives. He attended Grangefield Grammar School and then West Hartlepool College of Art where he graduated with a Diploma in Design. From there he went on to the Royal College of Art in London where he was instrumental in establishing a film department.

Graduating in 1963 he had already made a short film, 'Boy and Bicycle' starring both brother Tony and father Francis, before joining the BBC in set design work. Attending a trainee Directors course while there his first Directing role was on an episode of the iconic BBC Police drama of the time 'Z-Cars'. In 1968 he and Tony founded Ridley Scott Associates - a film and television commercial company who amongst many others brought the iconic 1974 'Hovis' bread commercial to our TV screens.

His film Directorial debut came in 1977 in 'The Duellists' and is set in the Napoleonic Wars period and stars Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine - it won an award at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Film. Next up was 1979's iconic 'Alien' which made for just US$11M brought in US$105M globally and gave him international success both commercially and critically; it spawned three sequels; a spin off series with 'Predator'; the recent prequel (of sorts), 'Prometheus' also Directed by Scott in 2012; and made a cinematic icon of Sigourney Weaver in the role of Ellen Ripley. Sticking with the Sci-Fi theme Scott gave us 'Blade Runner' as his next offering in 1982 with Harrison Ford based on the Philip K. Dick novel; 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'. Costing US$28M to make and grossing just US$33M it was not a commercial success, but time has been very kind to this outstanding film, and it now regarded a classic and the touchstone of the genre.

With all the hoo-haa surrounding 1984 and the Orwellian angst propagated at the time, Scott Directed a US$900K television commercial for the new Apple Macintosh computer which aired during the SuperBowl of that year. That advertisement was seen too as the cornerstone and a masterpiece of modern televised advertising. As the 80's played out Scott Directed 'Legend' in 1985 with Tom Cruise and Tim Curry; 'Someone to Watch Over Me' with Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers in 1987; and 'Black Rain' with Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia in 1989.

The 90's brought 'Thelma & Louise' in 1991 with Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon and a young Brad Pitt and was a critical and commercial success, unlike the Christopher Columbus Americas discovery telling '1492' in 1992, which cost US$47M to make and grossed just over US$7M. 'White Squall' followed with Jeff Bridges and then 'G.I.Jane' with Demi Moore and Viggo Mortensen.

As the new century clicked over, so came 'Gladiator' with Russell Crowe giving Scott one of his biggest critical and commercial successes with a worldwide gross of US$458M off a US$103M budget, and five Academy Awards including Best Film and Best Actor for Crowe. In the wake of this came 'Hannibal' in 2001 - the follow up to 'Silence of the Lambs', and then 'Black Hawk Down' later that same year with Eric Bana amongst a big name cast.

From here came more modest success with 'Matchstick Men', 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'A Good Year' before 'American Gangster' with Russell Crowe again and Denzel Washington in 2007 bringing  critical and commercial acclaim once more. 'Body of Lies' featured next with Leonardo DiCaprio and acting stablemate Russell Crowe, and then a retelling of the much told 'Robin Hood' with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett making US$322M off a US$155M budget. In 2012 Scott returned to Sci-Fi for the first time in almost 30 years with a 'Alien' origin story with 'Prometheus' starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender which again gave him critical success and a box office haul of $403M from a production cost of US$120M. 2013 saw 'The Counsellor', a relatively low budget offering at just US$25M but with an all start cast taking in Diaz, Bardem, Pitt, Fassbender and Cruz and based on a Cormac McCarthy story, it made a return of US$71M.

Being a very busy man, even at 77 this week, Scott has 97 Producer credits to his name, 34 as Director, and ten as Production Designer. Directorially, he has 'Exodus : Gods & Kings' about to hit our cinemas and starring Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley and Sigourney Weaver; and 'The Martian' is currently filming with Matt Damon, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Kristin Wiig and Jessica Chastain and is due for release in 2015; and a TV mini-series 'The Hot Zone' has been announced. As Producer, 'Prometheus 2' is in pre-production for 2016, with a 'Blade Runner' sequel, 'Potsdamer Platz', 'Emma's War' and 'David' all announced for future release.

Nominated as Best Director for Academy Awards for 'Black Hawk Down', 'Gladiator', and 'Thelma & Louise' but has yet to win  golden statue; he also has two Golden Globe nominations and a win for 'RKO-281' in the mini-series or TV movie category; and four BAFTA nominations and recipient in 1995 of the Michael Balcon Award - in total then 23 award wins and 48 other nominations throughout his illustrious career. He was awarded a KBE (Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire) in 2003 by HRH Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his services to the film industry.

He was married to Felicity Heywood from 1964 to 1975 and to Sandy Watson from 1979 to 1989 with whom he has three children between the two marriages - Jake (born 1965), Luke (born 1968) and Jordan (born 1978) - all of them work in the film & TV business either behind or in front of the camera. His current partner is actress Giamina Facio whom Scott has cast in the majority of his films since 2000. In 1995 he and brother Tony purchased London's Shepparton Studios which subsequently merged with Pinewood Studios and set about upgrading and expanding the facilities and studios into the renowned production centre it is today.

Ridley Scott - still going strong after all these years; diverse film and television portfolio; highly regarded as the Actors Director; maker of several classic movies; and a keen eye for detail and stunning visuals of the past and the future, we continue to eagerly await your next offering! Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-