Birthday's to share this week : 11th - 17th June 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Kodi Smit-McPhee does on 13th June - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 21, 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 11th June

• Hugh Laurie - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Peter Dinklage - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
• Shia LaBeouf - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer   

Monday 12th June

• Richard Ayoade - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actor | Writer | Director | Producer
• Dave Franco - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Frances O'Connor - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actress  

Tuesday 13th June

• Malcolm McDowell - Born 1943, turns 74 - Actor | Producer
• Stellan Skarsgard - Born1951, turns 66 - Actor | Producer
• Tim Allen - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Chris Evans - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Aaron Taylor-Johnson - Born 1990, turns 27 - Actor 
• Kodi Smit-McPhee - Born 1996, turns 21 - Actor
• Ally Sheedy - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actress 
• Kathy Burke - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress | Writer | Director | Producer  
• Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actresses | Producers | Twin Sisters 

Wednesday 14th June

• Diablo Cody - Born 1978, turns 39 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Donald Trump - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actor | Producer | Television Personality | President of the USA | Leader of the Free World   

Thursday 15th June

• Jim Belushi - Born 1954, turns 63 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | 
• Ice Cube (aka O'Shea Jackson) - Born 1969, turns 48 - Singer | Songwriter | Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Jake Busey - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer
• Neil Patrick Harris - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Helen Hunt - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actress | Director | Producer | Writer 
• Courteney Cox - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress | Producer | Director | Singer  

Friday 16th June

• James Bolam - Born 1935, turns 82 - Actor 
• Arnold Vosloo - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Producer
• John Choo - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
• Daniel Bruhl - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor | Producer   

Saturday 17th June

• Ken Loach - Born 1936, turns 81 - Director | Writer | Producer
• Thomas Haden Church - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Greg Kinnear - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Jason Patric - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor 
• Will Forte - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer
• Louis Leterrier - Born 1973, turns 44 - Director | Producer 
• Scott Adkins - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Producer

Kodi Smit-McPhee was born in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia to mother Sonja and father Andy McPhee - an Actor and professional wrestler. Kodi has an older sister, Sianoa, born in early 1992, and she is an Actress, Singer and Songwriter. When the young Kodi was about three years of age the family unit relocated to Melbourne.

Smit-McPhee's debut screen appearance came in the 2006 Stuart McDonald Directed 52 minute short film 'Stranded', and this was followed up by 'Fatal Contact : Bird Flu in America' with Joely Richardson and Stacy Keach. Another short film of fifteen minutes also appeared in 2006 - 'End of Town' and then four episodes on the first and only season of television series 'Monarch Cove', before biographical drama 'The King' about the story of Graham Kennedy, described as Australia's first and greatest home grown television superstar. These in turn led to Smit-McPhee's breakout role at the tender age of ten in the Richard Roxburgh biographical drama 'Romulus, My Father' playing the young son Raimond Gaita to father Romulus (Eric Bana) and mother Christina (Franka Potenta). Smit-McPhee won the Young Actors Award at the 2007 Australian Film Institute Awards, was also nominated for Best Lead Actor, and won a Special Achievement Award at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards.  

'The Tender Hook' followed in 2008 with Rose Byrne and Hugo Weaving, and then another awards worthy performance in John Hillcoat's 2009 post-apocalyptic world adventure drama 'The Road' based on the Cormac McCarthy novel and starring alongside Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron. 

'Matching Jack' came next in 2010 with Richard Roxburgh, Colin Friels and James Nesbitt. More award wins and nominations followed for his performance in the 2010 Matt Reeves Written and Directed remake of the earlier 2008 Swedish film 'Let the Right One In', with horror mystery 'Let Me In' opposite Chloe Grace Moretz and Richard Jenkins. Aussie drama film 'Dead Europe' followed as did live action/animated Sci-Fi drama film 'The Congress' with Robin Wright, Paul Giamatti, John Hamm, Danny Huston and Harvey Keitel. 'Romeo & Juliet' with Hailee Steinfeld, Damian Lewis, Stellan Skarsgard and Paul Giamatti also arrived at our screens in 2013, as did 'A Birder's Guide to Everything' with Ben Kingsley. 

2014 saw Smit-McPhee work with Matt Reeves again in 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' with Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell and Keri Russell. The same year also saw 'All the Wilderness' with Danny DeVito, Virginia Madsen and Isabelle Fuhrman, and then Sci-Fi post-drought apocalypse actioner 'Young Ones' with Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning. 

Western 'Slow West' as Directed and Written by John Maclean was released in 2015 and also starred Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelssohn, and this lead into the seven part one hundredth anniversary television drama mini-series special 'Gallipoli' with Smit-McPhee taking a lead role as seventeen year old Thomas 'Tolly' Johnson who lies about his age so that he can enlist in the First World War effort with his brother, and ultimately fight at Gallipoli in the raging, bloody and long drawn out battle that helped create the legend of the ANZAC's.

In 2016 Smit-McPhee starred as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in Bryan Singer's 'X-Men : Apocalypse' based on the popular and long running film franchise founded on the Marvel Comics characters. This ninth film in the 'X-Men' franchise stars an ensemble cast that you will be well aware of, and took US$544M at the global Box Office. 

Next up for Smit-McPhee is 'The Solutrean' Written and Directed by Albert Hughes and due for release towards the back end of this year. The film tells the survival story set 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age as a young caveman struggles against the elements to find his way home after a hunting expedition goes awry. 

All up Smit-McPhee has 26 Acting credits to his name, having lent his voice talents also to the animated features 'ParaNorman' and 'Maya the Bee Movie'. He has already amassed three award wins for his performances in 'Romulus, My Father' and 'Let Me In' plus a further 23 nominations. Kodi is now a resident of Los Angeles, California where he lives with this Actress sister. 

Kodi Smit-McPhee - the young lad from Adelaide has done good; just 21 years of age and already has worked with some of the best Acting and Directorial talent in the business, and, has the accolades to prove it; is a star on the rise; in demand and sought after; and has got the talent to work across just about all genres. Happy 21st Birthday to you Kodi, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE WATER DIVINER : Tuesday 13th January 2015.

I went into Russell Crowe's Directorial debut offering, 'THE WATER DIVINER' with reasonably high expectations and came out feeling decidedly let down. Aussie Russ is an Oscar winner after all; has built up a relatively strong portfolio of films; worked with some of the best Directors, Screenwriters and Cinematographers that are working today; has come across a story that could have been far greater than the sum of its parts; and has a story too that should resonate with just about every living soul in Australia and New Zealand at least given that its subject matter is about to have its centenary.

This is a fairly simple tale of northern Victoria farm dwelling Joshua Connor (Crowe, with lead Actor credit too) in the immediate lead up to and the aftermath of WWI. It is 1919, and he owns and lives on a huge farm and, you guessed it, has water divining skills too. These skills we see fairly early on as he walks around some distant paddock with a couple of wire coat hangers searching for water, and behold, when said wires cross and remain crossed - there be water! And so he starts to dig in the belting heat of the day until he is fifteen feet down and strikes . . . water! Clearly the man has talent!

What we then learn is that Joshua and his wife have three sons - all in their late teens who have packed themselves off to war in 1914, and Joshua reminisces about their departure with the three young lads literally ride off into the sunset to go to war. We then fast forward to late 1915, and the ANZAC's have been battling it out in their fiercest fighting with the Turks at Gallipoli. Overcome by the weight of sheer numbers the ANZAC's eventually retreat having sustained some 10,000 casualties versus 70,000 on the side of the Turks. In flashback however, we see some close quarter fighting between these two opposing sides and in the exchange of machine gun fire sons Edward (James Fraser) and Henry (Ben O'Toole) are killed leaving Arthur (Ryan Coor) injured by their sides.

Back to 1919 rural country Victoria and Joshua and his wife Eliza (Jacqueline McKenzie) try to keep the dream alive that there sons have survived the war against all hope. Tragically Eliza takes her own life racked with the pain of their loss, and burying her in the local cemetery Joshua vows to bring his sons home to lie beside her. And so he jumps on a boat in no time to make the three months journey to Istanbul where his search begins.

What follows is Joshua being hijacked by a little trumped up kid who nicks his bag and all his belongings but leads him to a hotel where he meets Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko) the owner of the establishment looking for paying guests in the aftermath of a war stricken country. First Ayshe greets Joshua warmly, but when she learns that he is Australian she wants him evicted, excommunicated and extracted immediately given what went down at Gallipoli. Interestingly though it is no time at all before Ayshe becomes the love interest and romantic glances and playful conversation ensue! Meanwhile Joshua starts his search via the local war office to determine the whereabouts of his believed dead sons, with the aid of a diary whose last entry was August 7th 1915. He gets very short shrift from the stereotypical stuck-up stiff upper lipped pompous arse that is Captain Charles Brindley (Dan Wyllie) who wants to promptly return Joshua back from whence he came and let the Army deal with such matters. Having none of it and getting no where fast Ayshe gives Joshua a lead of a sailor friend who can get him to Gallipoli quickly and efficiently by water if he crosses his palm with silver, and so Joshua does just that.

Before you know it Joshua is there face to face with Lt. Col. Cyril Hughes (Jai Courtney) who presents a warm considerate caring hand to Joshua, but sees his quest as fruitless amongst the 10,000 or so ANZAC bodies that have to be found, identified and accounted for - what hope is there of finding three young lads across the whole peninsula? But, let's not forget that Joshua IS 'The Water Diviner' and surely he can divine human remains too . . . and yes he can! It seems that fairly easily he has a sense for where they are likely to be and behold a few inches under the surface beneath caked mud and clay Hughes' men dig up the remains of Edward and Henry as evidenced by their dog tags. But no Arthur!

All of this is overseen by Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan) who gives the most solid and convincing performance of the entire cast. He was the man leading the campaign for the Turks at Gallipoli and therefore responsible for the death of so many ANZAC's - including probably Edward & Henry. Now post-war he is aiding the Australian contingent locate their dead soldiers given his intimate knowledge of the Gallipoli terrain. An unlikely friendship develops between Joshua and Hasan that eventually leads Joshua to learn that Arthur may still be alive having been taken prisoner after his brothers were killed.

And so the search shifts to Arthur amidst the backdrop of continuing Greek and Turk unrest across the streets of Istanbul and beyond, the love interest between Joshua and Ayshe, Ayshe's own family troubles, and the brick walls that Brindley continues to build around Joshua. Eventually riding through some remote Turkish village on horseback with Hasan and set upon by Greek rebels Joshua has a divining sense that Arthur is holed up somewhere in the locale . . . and by Jove, he is!

As for Crowe's Directing achievement, on the one hand we see some moments of real tension - a billowing dust storm in flashback sweeping toward the farm where Joshua comes to the rescue of his three young sons; some moments of beauty - inside Istanbul's Blue Mosque more for artistic effect than anything else - a gap filler almost because this film was the first ever to be allowed to film inside this famed temple; but everything else is stilted, disjointed, the acting wooden and the storyline plods along with stereotype characters, scene fillers and cheesy dialogue.

As an Actor I like Russell Crowe and he has more than proven his credentials over the years, but as a first time Director - he still has some way to go to fine tune his Directing skills if he is to add this skill to his Resume with any real merit. You don't need to see this on the big screen and can easily wait for the DVD/BluRay. Having been released in Australia and New Zealand on Boxing Day 2014, it get its US release on 24th April 2015 . . . not an insignificant date!

 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-