Birthday's to share this week : 2nd - 8th April 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Hugo Weaving does on 4th April - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 57, 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 2nd April

• Christopher Meloni - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Pedro Pascal - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actor
• Michael Fassbender - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actor | Producer
• Jesse Plemons - Born 1988, turns 29 - Actor
• Linda Hunt - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actress  

Monday 3rd April

• Cobie Smulders - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress | Singer
• Alec Baldwin - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actor | Producer 
• Eddie Murphy - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer | Director
• Ben Mendelsohn - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor |   

Tuesday 4th April

• Craig T. Nelson - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• David E. Kelley - Born 1956, turns 61 - Writer | Producer
• Hugo Weaving - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Robert Downey Jnr. - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Barry Pepper - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor
• Estelle Harris - Born 1928, turns 89 - Actress   

Wednesday 5th April

• Hayley Attwell - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress 
• Roger Corman - Born 1926, turns 91 - Producer | Director | Actor | Writer 
• Peter Greenaway - Born 1942, turns 75 - Director | Writer | Editor | Actor
• Mitch Pileggi - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actor

Thursday 6th April

• Billy Dee Williams - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actor 
• Barry Levinson - Born 1942, turns 75 - Producer | Director | Writer | Actor
• Michael Rooker - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Paul Rudd - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer  
• Zach Braff - Born 1975, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer
• Sofia Boutella - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress

Friday 7th April

• Francis Ford Coppola - Born 1939, turns 78 - Producer | Director | Writer 
• Ted Kotcheff - Born 1931, turns 86 - Director | Producer | Actor
• Jackie Chan - Born 1954, turns 63 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Stuntman | Singer  

Saturday 8th April

• Taylor Kitsch - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor | Director | Writer | Producer
• John Madden - Born 1949, turns 68 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Robin Wright - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Patricia Arquette - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actress | Producer 

Hugo Wallace Weaving was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, Africa to mother Anne Lennard, a tour guide and former teacher and Wallace Weaving a seismologist. At a year old the family returned to England where they lived in Bedford and then Brighton, and then onto Melbourne and Sydney in Australia and then a time in Johannesburg, South Africa before returning back to England. While there, he attended The Downs School, a preparatory school located in Wraxall, near Bristol, Somerset and then Queen Elizabeth's Hospital independent boys school in Clifton, Bristol. In 1976 his family relocated back to Sydney, where Weaving attending the independent boys school, Knox Grammar School. After leaving school he studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney from where he graduated in 1981.

Weaving secured his first film role in a bit part in 1981's ' . . . Maybe This Time', and this was followed up in 1983 with 'The City's Edge'. In the meantime Weaving starred as English Cricket Captain Douglas Jardine in the seven part miniseries 'Bodyline' recounting the events of the 1932-33 English Ashes Test tour of Australia. 'For Love Alone', 'The Right Hand Man', television mini-series 'The Dirtwater Dynasty', made for television movie 'A Long Way From Home : Dadah Is Death' with Julie Christie and John Polson, and then television three part mini-series 'Bangkok Hilton' with Nicole Kidman, Denholm Elliott and Noah Taylor saw out the decade. 

The '90's kicked off with his AACTA Award winning turn in the Jocelyn Moorhouse Written and Directed 'Proof' with Russell Crowe. This was followed up by the likes of Ned Kelly send-up comedy 'Reckless Kelly' for Director and Co-star Yahoo Serious, then comedy crime thriller 'Frauds' with Phil Collins, and 'The Custodian' with Anthony LaPaglia, Naomi Watts, Barry Otto and Bill Hunter. Perhaps his breakout role however, came with 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' in which Weaving starred as drag queen Anthony 'Tick' Melrose aka Mitzi Del Bra alongside Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Bill Hunter again. Based on its US$2M budget the film grossed US$30M, spawned a stage show, became a cultural touchstone for the LGBT community especially, and reaped in numerous award wins and nominations including an Academy Award for Best Costume Design. 

In 1995 Weaving voiced the character of Rex, the Sheepdog in the hugely popular 'Babe' which won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and picked up six other nominations, together with a Golden Globe win for Best Motion Picture and four BAFTA nods too amongst its total haul of nineteen wins and 24 other nominations. The film took US$254M from its US$30M budget outlay, and as a result of this success Weaving reprised his voice role in the 1998 George Miller Directed, Written and Produced sequel 'Babe : Pig in the City'. Ten part television mini-series 'Bordertown' with Cate Blanchett followed in 1995, and then 'True Love and Chaos' with Ben Mendelssohn, Noah Taylor, Miranda Otto and Naveen Andrews. 1998 saw RomCom 'Bedrooms and Hallways' and then his AFI Award winning turn in crime drama thriller 'The Interview' with Tony Martin and Michael Caton. In between there was further television work on short-lived mini-series and a couple of short films too.

All this led to his starring role as Agent Smith in the ground breaking Sci-Fi actioner 'The Matrix'. Weaving would reprise his role in the two sequels both released back to back in 2003 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'The Matrix Revolutions'. The first instalment won four Academy Awards and two BAFTA's among its haul of 37 award wins and 45 nominations, with the two subsequent films bringing home another ten award wins and 59 nominations. All up the three films grossed US$1.63B from its combined US$363M budget outlay. Weaving also voiced his character in the video game release 'Enter the Matrix'.

'Strange Planet', 'The Old Man Who Read Love Stories', 'Russian Doll' came before Weaving's recurring role as Elrond in Peter Jackson's immensely popular and successful 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, kicking off with 'The Fellowship of the Ring' in 2001, then 'The Two Towers' in 2002 and culminating with 'The Return of the King' in 2003. The three films were made for a combined budget of US$281M and grossed worldwide US$2.9B. All up the three film series won seventeen Academy Awards, took a further eleven Oscar nominations, and all up won 438 award wins and took another 375 nominations. Subsequently Weaving his lent his Elrond voice talents to three video game releases - two in 2006 and one in 2009. 'Peaches', 'Little Fish' with Cate Blanchett and Sam Neill and then dystopian political thriller 'V for Vendetta' based on the limited edition DC Comics series of the same name was released in 2006 and took in an all star cast including Natalie Portman, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, John Hurt, Eddie Marsan and Tim Pigott-Smith.

The following year Weaving lent his voice talents to hugely successful franchise opener 'Transformers' as Megatron, the leader of the Deceptions who transforms into a silver Cybertronian jet. Weaving voiced Megatron for the first three films - taking in 2009's 'Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen' and 2011's 'Transformers : Dark of the Moon'. These first three films took US$2.67B at the global Box Office against a budget investment of US$545M with 'Transformers : Age of Extinction' released in 2014 and 'Transformers : The Last Knight' due for release imminently. 'The Tender Hook' and 'Last Ride' saw out the decade, with Weaving lending his voice talents once again to George Miller's Academy Award winning animated 'Happy Feet' as Noah the Elder, a role he would reprise in 2011's sequel, 'Happy Feet 2'.

2010 kicked off with Joe Johnston's horror fantasy 'The Wolfman' with Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Asa Butterfield, and Emily Blunt, with more voice work following on 'Legends of the Guardians : The Owls of Ga'Hoole'.  'Oranges and Sunshine', 'The Key Man', and the Marvel adaptation introducing us for the first time to 'Captain America : The First Avenger' as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull followed. The Sci-Fi multi-dimensional, time travelling 'Cloud Atlas' that divided Critics and just about clawed back its US$130M budget featured an ensemble cast headed up by Tom Hanks and Halle Berry and ended up picking up seventeen award wins from around the traps and another 72 nominations. 

Weaving then reprised his role of Elrond in Peter Jacksons adaptation of 'The Hobbit' launching with 'The Unexpected Journey' in 2012 and culminating with 'The Battle of the Five Armies' in 2014. Weaving's character did not appear in the middle instalment 'The Desolation of Smaug' in 2013. The three films were made for a combined US$675M and grossed worldwide US$2.9B and picked up seven Academy Award nominations and a total awards haul of 45 wins and 200 other nominations.

In between time there was 'Mystery Road' with Aaron Pederson, 'The Mule' with Leigh Whannell, 'Healing' with Don Hany, 'Strangerland' with Nicole Kidman and most recently Jocelyn Moorhouse's 'The Dressmaker' with Kate Winslet, Mel Gibson's 'Hacksaw Ridge' with Andrew Garfield, and just out 'Jasper Jones' with Toni Collette. This brings us up to date with drama television series 'Seven Types of Ambiguity' due for airing later this year in Australia, and historical drama film 'Black 47' with Jim Broadbent and Stephen Rea currently filming. 

All up Weaving has 84 Acting credits to his name and two as Producer. He has so far accumulated 23 award wins and another 25 nominations. Aside form an extensive film and television career he has also appeared in numerous stage plays for the Sydney Theatre Company more recently in 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses' in 2012, 'Waiting for Godot' in 2013 and 'Macbeth' in 2014. Weaving has been with his long term partner Katrina Greenwood since 1984 with whom he has two children - Harry (born in 1989) and Holly (born in 1993). Harry has followed in his fathers footsteps and has become an Actor too under the name Harry Greenwood. Weaving is an ambassador for 'Voiceless' the animal protection institute campaigning for animal rights.

Hugo Weaving - a diverse and successful career on film, television and stage; has starred in four mega franchise films series - 'The Matrix', The Lord of the Rings', 'The Hobbit' and 'Transformers' as well as an eclectic collection of local independent fare. Continues to be in demand, like a fine wine is maturing with age, has an instantly recognisable voice, loves working in Australia, and is always surprising us with his roles. Happy Birthday to you Hugo, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 5th - 11th March 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Matt Nable does on 8th March - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 45, 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 5th March

• Eva Mendes - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actress
• Dean Stockwell - Born 1936, turns 81 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Matt Lucas - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer    

Monday 6th March

• Rob Reiner - Born 1947, turns 70 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Songwriter | Composer
• Tom Arnold - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Alan Davies - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Writer | Television Personality  

Tuesday 7th March  

• Bryan Cranston - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Matthew Vaughn - Born 1971, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Peter Sarsgaard - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Rachel Weisz - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Producer  

Wednesday 8th March 

• Aidan Quinn - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Producer
• Matt Nable - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actor | Writer
• Freddie Prinz Jnr. - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• James Van Der Beek - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Writer  

Thursday 9th March 

• Jean Marc-Vallee - Born 1963, turns 54 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor
• Oscar Isaac - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actor | Singer
• Juliette Binoche - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress  

Friday 10th March  

• Sharon Stone - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Chuck Norris - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Paul Haggis - Born 1953, turns 64 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Jon Hamm - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Rafe Spall - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actor   

Saturday 11th March

• Jerry Zucker - Born 1950, turns 67 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Peter Berg - Born 1964, turns 53 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Terrence Howard - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Johnny Knoxville - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Thora Birch - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actress | Producer

Matthew Nable was born on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, an area taking in Palm Beach in the north (where famed Aussie beachside soap opera 'Home and Away' is set, and partially filmed) down to Manly in the south (a distance of about 30kms) with its famed 2kms strip of golden ocean surf beach that rivals Bondi as a beachside destination for locals and tourists alike. The author of this Blog also lives on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, and it is not uncommon to see Matt Nable working out at the gym where I also train, or out and about in Manly or the surrounding suburbs. Hence this weeks Tribute, keeping it local! As a young lad, Nable would often find his existence uprooted as he moved from army base to army base across Australia with his serving soldier father, growing up under the watchful eye of the might of the Australian military. His father also worked as a trainer for the Australian National Rugby League Team - The Kangaroo's, and Matt's younger brother Adam went into the League professionally. Matt played for the Manly-Waringah Sea Eagles Club making five appearances in 1991 and 1992. He then played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in 1995 making three appearances. He then moved to England for two years playing first for Carlisle and then the London Broncos. After this he turned his back on Rugby League and tried his hand at Amateur Boxing competing for the State Light-Heavyweight title. Following this he worked as a personal fitness trainer and in beer sales.

He gave all of this up to follow his dream to become a Writer. With the help and encouragement of his friend and mentor, Australian novelist Thomas Keneally, he wrote a Screenplay based on his unpublished novel 'The Final Winter' a story that focuses around Grub who is the captain of the Newtown Jets football team in the early 1980's and his determination to uphold what rugby league traditionally stood for while dealing with his own identity crisis. In 2007 the film of Nable's Screenplay was released with Nable playing the lead role of Grub. The film was critically praised, although did little at the Box Office.

Following this, 2008 saw a role in an American Police drama made for television movie - 'SIS' ('Special Investigation Squad'). This was followed up with seven episodes on Australian major crime drama series 'East West 101', and then Australian drama film '33 Postcards' with Guy Pearce in 2011, and high octane actioner 'Killer Elite' that same year featuring Robert De Niro, Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Ben Mendelsohn and Dominic Purcell.



In 2012 Nable took the lead role of Jock Ross in television six part mini-series 'Bikie Wars : Brothers In Arms' - the true story of the lead up, reasons and the repercussions of the 'Milperra Massacre' where two warring Motorcycle Clubs - The Bandidos and The Comancheros faced off in the car park of a western Sydney pub on Fathers Day, 1984. He followed this up that same year with five episodes on 'Underbelly : Badness' as Detective Sergeant Gary Jubelin in this multi-season award winning Television series that takes the viewer through a thirteen episode run in the rise and fall of real life Australian underworld figures as told from both sides of the law. Later that year he appeared as prison guard Villalobos with a convincing American accent in 'K-11'.

Next Nable appeared as Boss Johns in the third movie instalment in the Chronicles of Riddick franchise, in Sci-Fi actioner 'Riddick' alongside Vin Diesel in the title role with Karl Urban. The film returned US$99M from its US$38M budget. 2013 also saw the Aboriginal drama story 'Around the Block' with Christina Ricci, Ruby Rose and Jack Thompson. 'Fell' came next with Nable playing two roles in the outback Australian drama from debut Director Kasimir Burgess.




Western Australian prison break action crime drama 'Son of a Gun' came next in 2014 with Ewan McGregor, Brenton Thwaites and Alicia Vikander, before the seven part television wartime drama mini-series 'Gallipoli' marking the 100th anniversary in 2015 of that epic WWI battle. This in turn gave way to Police drama series 'Winter' with Rebecca Gibney starring as Sydney Homicide Detective Eve Winter, with Nable appearing in all six episodes. Following on from this in 2015 Nable secured himself ten episodes on DC Superhero television series 'Arrow' playing Ra's al Ghul (Arabic for 'Head of the Demon') one of the Batman's greatest enemies. He is the leader of a vast organisation dedicated to purifying the human race and returning the Earth to a more pristine state. He is a master of martial arts and an expert swordsman. Nable reprised his role as Ra's al Ghul on one episode of 2016's 'Legends of Tomorrow'.

Another television mini-series followed in 2016 running over four episodes was Australian swimming drama 'Barracuda' with Nable playing swim coach Frank Torma to high school swimming protege and Olympic hopeful Danny Kelly (Elias Anton). A turn in Mel Gibson's highly acclaimed 'Hacksaw Ridge' came next, and this was followed on two episodes of the first season of American crime drama 'Quarry'. Returning to Australian television he took the lead role in the first season of eight episodes as Detective Gary Hyde in 'Hyde & Seek'.

Paranormal horror thriller 'Incarnate' with Aaron Eckhart and Carice van Houten was released Stateside in early December and has just about recovered its US$5M budget, before a wider release. 'Jasper Jones' was released in Australia on 2nd March with Nable starring alongside Hugo Weaving, Angourie Rise and Toni Collette in this 1965 coming of age story involving the dead body of a young girl, local racism in a small mining community, a marriage break up, first love and the true meaning of courage.

Next up is 'In Cold Light' currently in post-production for a later 2017 release and tells the story of the interrogation of a respected Priest from a boys school by a ruthless Inspector, following the murder of one of the Priest's students. Nable plays the Inspector. This is followed up by bikie film '1%' which Nable also wrote, and is in post-production for release this year and for which Nable bulked up by an additional 15kgs.

All up Nable has 26 acting credits to his name, and two as Writer. He has two award nominations under this belt so far. In addition to writing screenplays and acting in a broad range of film and television roles both at home in Australia and Stateside, he has written two novels - 'We Don't Live Here Anymore' in 2009, and 'Faces in the Clouds' in 2011. He married Cassandra in 2000 and together they have three children.

Matt Nable - came to the acting world later in life but has gained considerable traction over the last ten years since turning attention to it, often plays the tough guy, and is very open about his bipolar disorder which takes its ups and downs on the busy Actor and Writer emotionally, which in turn has helped him with the character development in the roles he has played. Grounded on Sydney's Northern Beaches and equally in demand in Sydney as he is in Hollywood, clearly the future is very bright and the demand is high. Happy 45th Birthday to you Matt, from your local Odeon Online crew.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 2nd March 2017.

The 89th annual Academy Awards were held on Sunday evening 26th February 2017 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California hosted for the first time by Television Personality Jimmy Kimmel. Awards were presented in 24 categories in front of a global audience of several hundred million viewers, with the who's who of film and television talent announcing the winners on the night including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, Halle Berry, Mark Rylance, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brie Larson, Alicia Vikander, Javier Bardem, Amy Adams, Seth Rogen, Michael J. Fox, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, Samuel L. Jackson, Warren Beatty, and Faye Dunaway. The night was not without incident, which will go down in Oscar history, when the wrong Best Picture Winner was announced after the Producers of 'La La Land' were into their acceptance speeches and had to hand their golden statues to the Producers of 'Moonlight' as the rightful recipient of this most prestigious and coveted award. All that aside, the usual glitz and glamour was on show for all the world to see on this Hollywood Night of Nights, which yielded the following list of winners & grinners in the main categories:-

* Best Picture : 'Moonlight' (eventually!)
* Best Director : Damien Chazelle for 'La La Land'
* Best Animated Feature Film : 'Zootopia'.
* Best Foreign Language Film : 'The Salesman' (from Iran)
* Best Actor : Casey Affleck for 'Manchester by the Sea'
* Best Actress : Emma Stone for 'La La Land'
* Best Supporting Actor : Mahershala Ali for 'Moonlight'
* Best Supporting Actress : Viola Davis for 'Fences'
* Best Original Screenplay :  'Manchester by the Sea' by Kenneth Lonergan
* Best Adapted Screenplay : 'Moonlight' by Barry Jenkins
* Best Original Score : 'La La Land'
* Best Original Song : 'La La Land' - 'City of Stars'
* Best Visual Effects : 'The Jungle Book'.

All up 'La La Land' took out six Oscars out of the fourteen it was nominated for, with Best Cinematography and Best Production Design in addition to those four mentioned above; 'Moonlight' took out three; 'Manchester by the Sea' and 'Hacksaw Ridge' each took out two, with the latter picking up Best Editing and Best Sound Mixing gongs.

This week there are five new release films kicking off with an ageing ailing Superhero action offering that sees a popular mutant character bow out for the last time, together with his mentor, but he won't go down without a fight! Then we turn to an Australian period piece coming of age drama set in remote Western Australia and based on  much loved book; then a modern political intrigue thriller set in the corridors of power in Washington D.C.; followed by a WWII couple trying to turn the tide against Hitler's onslaught by writing postcards, and wrapping up with Groundhog Day revisited for this student who has a few things to work out.

Remember too that you are cordially invited to record your own relevant and constructive movie going thoughts and observations by leaving a Comment below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and meanwhile, enjoy your movie experience this week.

'LOGAN' (Rated MA15+) - Hugh Jackman has been playing the character of James 'Logan' Howlett aka 'Wolverine' aka 'Weapon X' for the past seventeen years and has appeared in nine 'X-Men' films including this latest release which he says will be his last outing as the titular wisecracking adamantium clawed Superhero. He first appeared in 2000's 'X-Men' and then in 2003's 'X2', then in 2006 in 'X-Men : The Last Stand'. In 2009 Logan got his first stand alone feature in 'X-Men Origins : Wolverine' and was Directed by Gavin Hood bringing in US$374M at the global Box Office. 'X-Men : First Class' followed in 2011, then 'The Wolverine' in 2013 another stand alone feature Directed by James Mangold and bringing in US$415M in worldwide receipts. 'X-Men : Days of Future Past' was released in 2014, and then 'X-Men : Apocalypse' in 2016. All up those first eight 'X-Men' films in which Wolverine/Logan has appeared have generated US$3.6B at the Box Office from a budget outlay of US$1.2B. Now 'Logan' is back in his final instalment (allegedly) and is once again Directed by James Mangold and this time on a US$127M budget in this third stand alone offering and the tenth film in the 'X-Men' franchise. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival a few weeks ago and gets its worldwide release this week. Early reports have been very positive, with some saying it is the best 'X-Men' film to date.

Set in a near future world where the mutant population is dwindling, with no new mutant births in over twenty years. With it Professor X's (Patrick Stewart) dreams of a brave new world featuring a new stage of mutant evolution have slowly died. Logan (Hugh Jackman) has settled into a life as a limo driver somewhere on the Mexican border and scrapes together a meagre living while hustling medication for an increasingly infirm and ageing Professor X whom he cares for in a ram shackle home shared with Caliban (Stephen Merchant) who looks after and attends to the ailing Professor whose telepathic powers have now become unstable with his advancing years. Logan too is ageing and his powers aren't what they used to be. Logan's efforts at lying low and trying to escape his legacy are thwarted with the sudden arrival of mystery woman Gabriella (Elizabeth Rodriguez) who seeks his help for Laura Kinney (Dafne Keen) a young eleven year old girl with powers very similar to Logan's own - after all, she is a female clone created from his blood. Dark forces are hot in pursuit of young Laura and so Logan is drawn back into the centre of the action as he seeks to protect the young girl despite his failing abilities. Richard E. Grant and Boyd Holbrook also star.

'JASPER JONES' (Rated M) - based on the 2009 book of the same name by author Craig Silvey, this Australian drama film was made for AU$5.5M, is Directed by Rachel Perkins, and stars a line up of fine Aussie acting talent. Set in the mid 1960's in a remote Western Australian mining town, Charlie Butkin (Levi Miller) a bookish early teenage lad is visited unexpectedly on Christmas evening by Jasper Jones (Aaron L. McGrath) - a mixed white/Aboriginal rebellious outcast in the community who pleads with Charlie for his help. Jasper leads Charlie to a clearing in the bush where hanging from a tree, very dead and battered is Jaspers girlfriend. With Jasper fully aware that he is likely to be blamed for the girls death, he plans a cover up with Charlie. What ensues over the following week is an investigation, finger pointing, speculation and suspicion that will consume the whole community. Meanwhile, Charlie's coming of age story involves him facing up to the tragedy of his family break-up, him meeting his first true love and what it means to be really courageous. Also starring Toni Collette, Hugo Weaving, Matt Nable, Angourie Rice and Dan Wyllie.

'MISS SLOANE' (Rated M) - this political thriller set in Washington D.C. is Directed by John Madden, cost US$13M to make, was released Stateside in late November last year and has received generally positive Reviews and garnered its lead actress, Jessica Chastain, a Golden Globe nomination. Set amidst the power play of political activists, Elizabeth Sloane (Chastain) is revered as a political lobbyist without equal, who always wins and is known for her cunning and her never say die attitude. However, when she is confronted by the most powerful political opponent of her career, she comes to realise that perhaps there is more to life than winning. Also starring John Lithgow, Mark Strong, Sam Waterston and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

'ALONE IN BERLIN' (Rated M) - this WWII fictionalised drama is based on the 1947 novel of the same name by Hans Fallada which is based on real life couple Otto and Elise Hempel, is Directed by Vincent Perez and Premiered at the February 2016 Berlin International Film Festival and began its staggered worldwide release in Germany in September last year, eventually arriving Down Under this week. Telling the story of Otto and Anna Quangel (Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson respectively) who upon learning of the death of their only son, begin their personal quest to undermine the Nazi's and Adolf Hitler. The couple start writing postcards with messages urging people to stand and protest against Hitler and his Nazi's, and then placing the cards in prominent places where they will attract the most attention. Police Inspector Escherich (Daniel Bruhl) is tasked with finding the originator of the postcards, and seeing that justice is served as only the Gestapo know how to serve it.

'BEFORE I FALL' (Rated M) - based on the 2010 book of the same name by Lauren Oliver, this drama film is Directed by Ry Russo-Young and surrounds Samantha Kingston (Zoey Deutsch), a high school senior student who on 12th February, discovers that she may be living the last day of her life over and over and over again, until she gets it right! Knowing that you only had one day left on this mortal coil, what would you do, where would you go, who would you see, what would you say. Amidst all of these questions and others, she must unfathom the mystery surrounding her death and discover the true meaning of everything she may yet lose over the course of one inexplicable week. The film has received generally positive Reviews.

That's it for this week! Five films to tempt you out to your local movie theatre with a comic book adaptation, three book adaptations and a work of fiction  Plenty of varied choice then, and remember to share your views with your like minded cinephiles. In the meantime, I'll see you somewhere, sometime at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-