Birthday's to share this week : 14th - 20th May 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Tim Roth does on 14th May - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 56, 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 14th May

• Francesca Annis - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actress
• Cate Blanchett - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Sofia Coppola - Born 1971, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actress
• George Lucas - Born 1944, turns 73 - Producer | Writer | Director | Editor 
• Robert Zemeckis - Born 1952, turns 65 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Tim Roth - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actor | Producer | Director  
• Danny Huston - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Director

Monday 15th May

• Chaz Palminteri - Born 1952, turns 65 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Grant Heslov - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director  

Tuesday 16th May

• Danny Trejo - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Pierce Brosnan - Born 1953, turns 64 - Actor | Producer 
• Jim Sturgess - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor | Singer
• Debra Winger - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actress | Producer  
• Tori Spelling - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer

Wednesday 17th May

• Trent Reznor - Born 1965, turns 52 - Composer | Songwriter | Actor | Writer  

Thursday 18th May

• Hugh Keays-Byrne - Born 1947, turns 70 - Actor | Director
• Yun-Fat Chow - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Writer
• Miriam Margolyes - Born 1941, turns 76 - Actress 
• Tina Fey - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Singer  

Friday 19th May

• Grace Jones - Born 1948, turns 69 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress
• Claudia Karvan - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress | Writer | Producer 
• James Fox - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor
• Peter Mayhew - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor 
• Morten Tyldum - Born 1967, turns 50 - Director | Producer  

Saturday 20th May

• Anton Corbijn - Born 1955, turns 62 - Director | Photographer
• Timothy Olyphant - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• Louis Theroux - Born 1970, turns 47 - Writer | Producer | Television Personality
• Cher (aka Cheryl Sarkisian) - Born 1946, turns 71 - Singer | Actress | Producer 

Timothy Simon Roth was born in the south London suburb of Dulwich to mother Ann, a painter and teacher and father Ernie, a Fleet Street journalist, painter and a member of the British Communist Party until sometime in the '70's. His father was born with the surname of 'Smith' in Brooklyn, New York and he later changed his surname to 'Roth' as used most commonly by those of German and Jewish decent in the 1940's out of support for the Holocaust victims, and because the English were less welcomed in the countries to which he travelled with his work.  The young Tim attended the boys grammar Strand School in south London's Tulse Hill area before studying sculpture at London's Camberwell College of Art from which he dropped out to pursue an acting career instead.

At the age of 21 Roth scored his screen debut in the made for television film 'Made in Britain' playing white supremacy skinhead Trevor in 1982. Next up was another made for television film 'Meantime' in 1984 as Directed by Mike Leigh and also starring Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina. More of the same followed in 1985 with the Agatha Christie whodunit 'Murder with Mirrors' starring also Bette Davis, John Mills and Leo McKern, an then 'Coppers' in 1988. In between time there were feature films including Stephen Frears 'The Hit' with Jim Broadbent and Terrence Stamp, 'A World Apart', 'To Kill a Priest' with Ed Harris, Christopher Lambert, Timothy Spall and Pete Postlethwaite, and then closing out the decade was Peter Greenaway's 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover' with Helen Mirren, Michael Gambon and Ciaran Hinds. In 1986 he also starred in 'King of the Ghetto' - a four part BBC2 television series about racial tensions in London's East End in the '80's.

The new decade launched with Robert Altman's 'Vincent & Theo' in which Roth starred as Vincent Van Gogh and later that same year Tom Stoppard's 'Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead' with Gary Oldman playing Rosencrantz and Roth playing Guildenstern alongside Richard Dreyfus and Iain Glen. 'Jumping at the Boneyard' followed in 1991 with Samuel L. Jackson. In 1992 maverick Writer and Director Quentin Tarantino cast Roth in his debut film 'Reservoir Dogs' as Mr. Orange, which kicked off a collaboration that has spanned up until QT's latest offering, taking in 1994's 'Pulp Fiction' and 1995's 'Four Rooms'. It was 'Reservoir Dogs' that really exposed Roth to an American audience, from which he has never looked back.

The rest of the '90's saw the likes of 'Bodies, Rest & Motion'; period piece 'The Perfect Husband'; Brooklyn Soviet Jewish crime drama 'Little Odessa'; then 'Captives';  Scottish historical biographical adventure film 'Rob Roy' with Liam Neeson, John Hurt, Brian Cox, Eric Stoltz and Jessica Lange; Woody Allen's 'Everyone Says I Love You' with Goldie Hawn, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts and Edward Norton; 'Gridlock'd' with Tupac Shakur and Thandie Newton; 1930's Harlem set gangster film 'Hoodlum' with Laurence Fishburn, Andy Garcia and Vanessa Williams; murder mystery 'Deceiver'; fantasy romance offering 'Animals with the Tollkeeper' with Rod Steiger, John Turturro and Mickey Rooney; and then in 1998 'The Legend of 1900'. 

In 1999 Roth Directed his first feature film - 'The War Zone' a grim and gritty look inside an English family plagued by incest and sexual violence. The firm starred Ray Winstone, Tilda Swinton and Freddie Cunliffe and received much critical acclaim for its portrayal of the subject matter and picked up nine award wins and ten more nominations.

The 2000's clicked over with Roland Joffe's historical biographical drama 'Vatel'; Nora Ephron's 'Lucky Numbers' with John Travolta; Tim Burtons' reimagining of 'Planet of the Apes' as General Thade; Werner Herzog's 'Invincible'; a new spin on 'The Three Musketeers' with 'The Musketeer'; English Civil War drama 'To Kill a King' with Roth portraying Oliver Cromwell; John Sayles American political satire 'Silver City'; Wim Wenders road movie drama 'Don't Come Knocking'; gambling crime drama 'Easy Money' featuring an ensemble cast; Francis Ford Coppola's 'Youth Without Youth'; Michael Haneke's English language remake of his own earlier 1997 Austrian version of 'Funny Games' with Naomi Watts; and Louis Leterrier's Directed second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe 'The Incredible Hulk'.

'Pete Smalls Is Dead' opened up 2010 with Peter Dinklage and Steve Buscemi, followed up by 'Arbitrage' in 2012 with Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon; 'Broken' with Cillian Murphy and comedy crime thriller 'The Liability' both that same year. In 2013 espionage thriller 'Mobius' was released and this was followed by 'Grace of Monaco' with Nicole Kidman as Grace and Roth as Prince Rainier. In time for the 2014 World Cup 'United Passions' was released about FIFA - footballs governing body, with Roth playing FIFA President Sepp Blatter who was the eighth President of the Association from 1998 through until 2015. 'October Gale' came later that year as did highly acclaimed historical biographical drama 'Selma' with David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, and Tom Wilkinson. Mexican drug cartel drama '600 Miles', then 'Chronic' and then first person actioner 'Hardcore Henry' with Roth playing Henry's father. Action comedy 'Mr. Right' with Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick and then Quentin Tarantino's post American Civil War Western 'The Hateful Eight' featuring an ensemble cast that included Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Michael Madsen, Walton Goggins, Bruce Dern, Damian Bichir, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Zoe Bell.

Bringing us up to date is just released in the USA '1 Mile To You'. In between time there have been notable television series appearances on 48 episodes of 'Lie to Me' with Roth playing the lead character of Dr. Cal Lightman in this mystery crime drama series in which Roth is a world leading expert in facial expressions and involuntary body language. The series ran for three season from 2009. There was also the two part television mini-series 'Sea Wolf' in 2009, the six part historical mini-series 'Klondike' in 2014, and the three part mini-series 'Rillington Place' with Roth playing the role of John Christie the infamous 1940's and early '50's London serial killer.

Next up for Roth is an appearance on the next season of acclaimed television series 'Twin Peaks' which picks up 25 years after the events of the first two series, and due to go to air later this year. Currently in post-production is 'The Jesuit' - an action crime drama offering with Ron Perlman, Brian Cox, Neal McDonough and Paz Vega; gambling debt crime comedy 'The Brits Are Coming' also in post-production with Uma Thurman, Stephen Fry, Maggie Q and Sofia Vergara and 'The Padre' currently filming and due in 2018 with Nick Nolte and Luis Guzman.

All up Roth has one hundred Acting credits to his name, three as Producer and one as Director. In his time he has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award and a Golden Globe for 'Rob Roy' but he did win the BAFTA for his performance. All up Roth has accumulated a total eighteen award wins and a further 22 nominations. Roth has been married to Niki Butler since 1993 with whom he has two sons - Timothy born in 1995 and Michael born in 1996. He has an older son Jack who is also an Actor, born in 1984 to Lori Baker. Roth survived years of child sexual abuse at the hands of his paternal grandfather which he didn't reveal until the time of his Directorial debut with the release of 'The War Zone' which dealt with similar issues within a family.

Tim Roth - part of 'The Brit Pack' back in the '80's with Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Colin Firth and Paul McGann; has an ever increasing number of tattoos marking significant events in his life; often plays in historical dramas; often plays in Quentin Tarantino films (four and counting) but missed out in 'Inglourious Basterds' due to scheduling conflicts; often plays slightly twisted unhinged characters; is often convinced that he'll never score an acting gig again in between roles; and despite his London accent can do various accents very well which has helped him secure many a film with European and American auteur Directors. Never dull, never predictable, never repetitive, Happy Birthday to you Tim from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

SELMA : Wednesday 25th February 2015.

I got around to seeing 'SELMA' last night - the US$20M story that has so far grossed US$54M as Directed by Ava DuVernay recounting the true life events of the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965 that was a catalyst for positive change to  the equal voting rights of oppressed, victimised and harassed black African American citizens in the state of Alabama where this film is set, and where the events depicted in the film largely unfold. This film was nominated at the recent Academy Awards for Best Motion Picture and Best Original Song - for which it won the latter, and all up can boast a total awards haul of 35 wins and a further 71 nominations to date.

Telling the story of Martin Luther King (David Oyelowo in fine form as MLK) who after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 focuses on the racial hardships endured by black African Americans, particularly in Alabama where segregation, discrimination, and acts of violence were commonplace at that time. The small town of Selma has has its fair share of oppression handed down by its townsfolk, the local rangers and sheriff's office and the mayor himself toward any black individual who dares to register to vote or who does not follow the local acts of segregation - despite what the law might otherwise say. Extreme acts of violence are meted out on a frequent basis resulting in numerous deaths that go unpunished, unpublicised and largely unnoticed in the northern States. But as the civil rights movement gathers momentum, so King travels to Selma to support the oppressed locals and add weight to the cause, given his direct line to President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson).

President LBJ though has more important things on his agenda than helping out the personal crusade of MLK - he recognises what's going on down south, he recognises that it is wrong, and he recognise that something needs to be done -  but it is not on his priority list given that he had been in office only a matter of months and he has 101 things on his radar compared to MLK's one!

Supporting James Bevel (Common) who had called for a non-violent protest march from Selma to Alabama's capital, Montgomery (50 miles away) with the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference of which King was the leader) the first attempt was made on 7th March 1965 but ended violently when local Selma whites, the police, and rangers turned on the peaceful demonstrators with guns, batons, clubs, tear gas to squash the protest. This however, was televised to 70 million people including the President, MLK, J.Edgar Hoover, and George Wallace (Tim Roth in excellent form as the bigoted Governor of Alabama) who watched these events unfold on national television. 'Bloody Sunday' as it came to be known, and as tragic as it was, was a turning point in the civil rights movement.

Advocating at all times non-violent protest as a demonstration of force, will & sheer determination by the blacks, King as his growing followers in the wake of Bloody Sunday, regrouped and attempted to march again on 9th March 1965. Taking his ever expanding followers to Edmund Pettus Bridge that day, he halted the gathered group behind him and paused mid-way across the bridge. Kneeling down in prayer, his group followed suit and did the same at which King then stood, turned around and headed for whence he came, even though the law enforcement officers, local rangers and sheriff's department had retread this time. King was however, still fearful of reprisals and a repeat of Bloody Sunday despite the media coverage.

On 25th March 1965 the full march went ahead with the knowledge of LBJ and George Wallace who sat by and watched the huge non-violent demonstration march on Montgomery from Selma fifty miles away. By now the worlds media had turned their attention to this civil rights campaign that was joined by growing numbers of white sympathisers, clergy, dignitaries and celebrities of the time (Sammy Davis Jnr., and Harry Belafonte for example, are shown in real footage of the time). Upon arriving at the steps of state capitol building in Montgomery, King delivered another rousing speech that later became known as the 'How Long, Not Long' speech in which he states that equal rights for black African Americans would now be not far away.

As a result of this and the growing pressure on LBJ from MLK, his ever growing followers and advocates, and from escalating numbers of white followers in the aftermath of Black Sunday, the President of the United States passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to law on 2nd July that year and received an over whelming majority of support.

This is a solid film offering recounting that true story that changed the course of history. It is not an MLK bio-pic by any stretch, but, it educates, illuminates and demonstrates the black/white divide of the time, the violence of the era and the oppression suffered by so many who were just seeking what was constitutionally theirs anyway. The performances are top notch especially from David Oyelowo as MLK, from Carmen Egogo at MLK's wife Coretta Scott King, Common as James Bevel, Tim Roth as George Wallace, and Tom Wilkinson as LBJ. Along the way there are further lesser roles that nonetheless add gravitas including Giovanni Ribisi as Lee White (advisor and aide to LBJ), Oprah Winfrey as Annie Lee Cooper, Cuba Gooding Jnr. as Fred Gray, Martin Sheen as Federal Judge Frank Minis Johnson and Dylan Baker as J. Edgar Hoover looking to discredit and unsettle the King family as only he knows best.

At times the film plods along, and at just over two hours running time, it could have perhaps been abbreviated just a little, but in the final analysis this is a strong, powerful, riveting and occasionally disturbing film that you should watch to see just how far we have come as we approach the 50th anniversary of that march, and just how far we have still left to go!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 12th February 2015.

As Summer marches on in Australia and the heat and the humidity ramp up, interspersed with the occasional clap of thunder and sudden brief rain storm, we find ourselves once again at pains to decide which new release movie to go and see in the coming week. And for the week ahead we have six new offerings to choose from nonetheless that offer something for everyone, unless that is you happen to be under the age of 15!

Arriving at a movie theatre near you this week then we have two more films in Oscar contention  - of which one is for Best Picture and the other Best Documentary Feature amongst others; then there is the book that sold 70 million copies finally 'coming' to a big screen near you; a very controversial comedy that almost started WWIII . . . literally!; an outback Aussie zombie gore fest that has to be the must-see of the week (just my humble opinion); an English comedy of holidays, relationships, birthdays and heartbreak; and to cap it off a doco about a whistle blower a few years back that exposes a issue close to all of our hearts!

With more detail shown below, be sure to catch something new in the week ahead, and when you do, don't be shy, make a Comment directly below this or any other Post and share with our ever expanding readership your thoughts on your chosen movie and your film going experience!

SELMA (Rated M) - in 1964 Dr. Martin Luther King accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. At around about the same time four African American girls are killed by an explosion en route to their church, and in the town of Selma, Alabama a black woman Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey, who also Produces here) attempts to register a vote to which she is by rights entitled, but is prevented from doing so by a white registrar. Subsequently MLK (here played by David Oyelowo) meets with President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to have legislation passed to enable black citizens to vote without fear of refusal or reprisal - the President says he has more important things to do! King then travels to Selma with a number of other colleagues and followers, and in the meantime J. Edgar Hoover (Dylan Baker) advises the President that he thinks King is problematical. Cooper, whose voting rights were denied, has a scuffle with the town Sheriff in front of the local courthouse and as a result she, King and several others are arrested. The Alabama Governor George Wallace (Tim Roth) speaks out against King. King's new wife Coretta (Carmen Ejogo) seeks support from Malcolm X (Nigel Thatch) and as time progresses the atmosphere becomes more intense in Selma and the rallied black community and the local white law enforcers and political leaders jockey for position and the upper hand.

What follows is the recounting of the Selma to Montgomery march and the bloody battles that ensued along the way as local authorities and officers of the law let loose with tear gas, clubs, batons and many on horseback to break up the march and disperse the activists. The violence was extreme with many injured, and this all plays out on national television with Johnson then having to back peddle to get legislation hurried through Congress to give the black citizens unencumbered voting rights. King uses his best oratory skills to rally his supporters and garner new too, and as the march draws to a relatively peaceful conclusion in Montgomery his final address there is cut with real footage from the day. Directed by Ava DuVernay for a cost of US$20M this has a strong cast headed up by English Oyelowo, that is not an MLK bio-pic but a recounting of the Selma story that served to help change the course of history in which King played a fairly significant role. Nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Song at the upcoming Academy Awards it is one to watch, and another based on real events.

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY (Rated MA15+) - the book sold 70 million copies worldwide and spawned two further books in the series which, if this is successful, will spawn two further films in all likelihood. Directed by Sam Taylor Johnson this has Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey - the two main characters in this story of two individuals  - she a young literature student and he a hugely successful and wealthy international businessman - drawn together by sexual desire, but in her naivety she comes to realise that Grey wants/needs to control everything and do so on his terms, which in turn opens up a whole new world of possibilities! The budget to deliver this to the big screen came in at about US$40M and is likely to do plenty more than that in the final analysis given the book sales and the anticipation around its big screen adaptation.

THE INTERVIEW (Rated MA15+) - just about anybody and everybody in the movie going world knows of the trouble this film has caused on the international stage and the subsequent fall out from it. World leaders have become involved, Sony Entertainment was cyber-hacked exposing to the world all manner of things not intended for public consumption, the head of Sony Pictures stood down, the release date was put back as the film had to be re-cut, and all because the subject matter about an interview with, and an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was deemed by him and his cronies to be war mongering. Furthermore, it was threatened by a certain extremist group that if shown on general release those pesky North Koreans would consider this an act of war and take all necessary action against the heinous West without mercy! Really - WTF! Anyway the said satirical spoof concerns Seth Rogen and James Franco as two hapless but reasonably successful television journalists granted an interview with said world leader, and then tasked by the CIA to take out this leader once they have won his confidence. Unlikely to go down in history as the greatest comedy of all time, but, it will go down in history as the movie that almost caused North Korea to fire on North America and in doing so caused much angst, table thumping and gnashing of teeth in the process. As a result of the Hoo-Haa it was released on digital rental on Christmas Eve 2014 and very limited cinema release thereafter where it garnered US$40M and US$9M respectively making is Sony's most successful digital release to date.

WYRMWOOD : ROAD OF THE DEAD (Rated MA15+) - what's not to like about an Aussie outback zombie gore fest that might be best described as 'Mad Max' meets 'The Walking Dead' - bring it on I say! Written by brothers Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner and Directed by the former this tells the story of family man and mechanic Barry (Jay Gallagher) whose very existence is pulled assunder on the eve of a zombie apocalypse. Forewarned by his sister Brooke (Bianca Bradey) that the zombies are attacking which seems to be the result of a meteor storm hitting Earth and a disease ensuing that turns the population into the flesh eating, gut munching walking dead. Needless to say only a few survive to fight of the marauding masses of the un-dead, but Brooke is kidnapped by a mad scientist hellbent on experimenting on her and various other survivors, and so Barry needs to team up, tool up and man up to rescue Brooke, overthrow the mad evil scientist and save his own skin before he too becomes zombie fodder! Brilliant!

WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAY (Rated PG) - for a slightly more low key offering there is this Brit Pic comedy starring David Tennant, Rosamund Pike (as husband and wife team Doug and Abi respectively) who are on the verge of divorce but have not yet braved up and told Doug's dad of the pending separation. Travelling then up to Scotland to celebrate Dad's birthday - Gordy McLeod (Billy Connolly) it seems that you can't keep a secret a secret for very long especially where three young whipper-snapper grandchildren are concerned. Touted as a solid enough romp with strong performances from the three lead adult actors and pretty good turns from the three grand kids too (Emilia Jones, Amelia Bullmore and Bobby Smalldridge) together with the backdrop of the Scottish highlands this is sure to please lovers of Connolly and a good British comedy yarn that can hold its own.

CITIZENFOUR (Rated M) - this documentary film is up for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category and is Directed by Laura Poitras who back in January 2013 started receiving anonymous encrypted e-mails from a source known as 'Citizenfour' concerning illegal covert surveillance operations run by the NSA in conjunction with various other government agencies around the world. Fast track to mid-2013 she, and colleague reporters Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill jet off to Hong Kong to attend the first of many meetings with Edward Snowdon. Taking her camera along to capture the intimate details of those meetings, this film tells the blow by blow account of the information that spilled forth, and the perpetrators of that information and those embroiled in it. It could be compelling viewing giving you an insiders view of Snowdon - his rationale, his state of mind and what he hoped to gain in going public by outing those that would threaten our security, our privacy and our right of freedom.

A real mixed bag then of cinema content this week ahead that is sure to please on some level, somewhere and with someone. Where you're done, remember to reserve your Comments and your feedback of your filmic experience with your rapidly growing favourite movie Blog, and share away!

Movies - catch one this week, at least!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-