Birthday's to share this week : 24th - 30th July 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Rose Byrne does on 24th July - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 37, 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 24th July

• Jennifer Lopez - Born 1969, turns 47 - Singer | Songwriter | Actress | Producer
• Rose Byrne - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actress
• Anna Paquin - Born 1982, turns 34 - Actress | Producer
• Lynda Carter - Born 1951, turns 65 - Actress | Singer
• Gus Van Sant - Born 1952, turns 64 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Doug Liman - Born 1965, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Writer | Cinematographer  

Monday 25th July

• Matt LeBlanc - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• D.B.Woodside - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor  

Tuesday 26th July

• Kevin Spacey - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer
• Jeremy Piven - Born 1965, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Jason Statham - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• Helen Mirren - Born 1945, turns 71 - Actress | Director
• Sandra Bullock - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Olivia Williams - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actress
• Kate Beckinsale - Born 1973, turns 43 - Actress  

Wednesday 27th July

• Julian McMahon - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers - Born 1977, turns 39 - Actor | Producer  

Thursday 28th July

• Randall Wallace - Born 1949, turns 67 - Writer | Director | Producer  

Friday 29th July

• Stephen Dorff - Born 1973, turns 43 - Actor | Producer
• David Warner - Born 1941, turns 75 - Actor  

Saturday 30th July

• Peter Bogdanovich - Born 1939, turns 77 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer
• Arnold Schwarzenegger - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor | Producer
• Jean Reno - Born 1948, turns 68 - Actor
• Frank Stallone - Born 1950, turns 66 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Richard Linklater - Born 1960, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Laurence Fishburn - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Terry Crews - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor
• Simon Baker - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Christopher Nolan - Born 1970, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer | Cinematographer
• Lisa Kudrow - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Vivica A. Fox - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actress | Producer
•  Hilary Swank - Born 1974, turns 42 - Actress | Producer | Singer

Mary Rose Byrne was born in the Sydney suburb of Balmain, New South Wales, Australia to mother Jane - a primary school administrator and father Robin, a semi-retired market researcher and statistician. She is the youngest of four - with an older brother George (born in 1976), and two sisters, Alice (born in 1973) and Lucy (born in 1972). She attended Balmain Public School, and then Hunters Hill High School - a public co-educational secondary day school. From the age of eight she took a keen interest in acting and joined the Sydney based Australian Theatre for Young People (whose noted alumni include Nicole Kidman, Toni Collette, Rebel Wilson and Baz Luhrmann), and from there the University of Sydney. In 1999, she studied acting at the Atlantic Theatre Company in Manhattan founded in 1985 by David Mamet and William H. Macy.

Her first film role came at just thirteen years of age, cast in the Australian film 'Dallas Doll' with Sandra Bernhard and released in 1994. Over the next few years she appeared in single episodes of several Australian television drama series including 'Echo Point', 'Fallen Angels', 'Wildside', 'Big Sky' and 'Heartbreak High'. Her next big screen role came with Gregor Jordan's 'Two Hands' in 1999 with a young Heath Ledger and Bryan Brown and Susie Porter.

From here the new decade launched with the award winning comedy drama 'My Mother Frank' with Sam Neill, and 'The Goddess of 1967' which won Byrne a Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival for her role as BG - a blind girl on an outback Aussie road trip with a Japanese IT worker and occasional computer hacker. Next up was here role as Dorme - a handmaiden to senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) in 'Star Wars : Episode II - Attack of the Clones' in 2002. After this came 'City of Ghosts' with Matt Dillon who also wrote and Directed, 'I Capture the Castle' with Bill Nighy, 'The Night We Called it a Day' with Dennis Hopper, 'The Rage in Placid Lake' with Ben Lee, 'Take Away' with Vince Colosimo, and the Wolfgang Petersen Trojan War epic 'Troy' with Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom.

In 2006 Byrne was cast by Sofia Coppola in the historical drama 'Marie Antoinette' with Kirsten Dunst and then 'Sunshine' for Danny Boyle, and post apocalyptic zombie horror '28 Weeks Later' with Jeremy Renner, Idris Elba and Robert Carlyle. 'Just Buried' with Jay Baruchel, 'The Tender Hook' with Hugo Weaving', 'Knowing' with Nicolas Cage, and 'Adam' with Hugh Dancy saw out the decade. In the meantime there were further television series appearances on 'Murder Call', 'Casanova', and the full five seasons over 59 episodes on US legal thriller series 'Damages' with Glenn Close which ran from 2007 until 2012.

2010 saw 'Get Him to The Greek' with Russell Brand, followed by the James Wan supernatural horror 'Insidious', as Renai Lembert - a role she would reprise in 2013 in 'Insidious : Chapter 2'. The first film returned US$97M from its US$1.5M budget outlay, and the second US$162M from US$5M. Byrne did not return for the prequel released in 2015. Turning from horror to comedy , next up was Paul Feig's 'Bridesmaids' in 2011 with Kristen Wiig, Rebel Wilson, and Melissa McCarthy before her first outing as geneticist Moira MacTaggert in 'X-Men : First Class', and again in this years 'X-Men : Apocalypse'.

'The Place Beyond the Pines' with Ryan Gosling came next in 2012 and the British comedy 'I Give It a Year' with Rafe Spall, and then 'The Internship' with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. 2014 kicked off with 'Bad Neighbours' starring alongside Seth Rogen and Zac Efron, and her role as Kelly Radner she would reprise in 'Bad Neighbours 2 : Sorority Rising' earlier this year. Also that year was 'Adult Beginners', 'This Is Where I Leave You', the third cinematic offering of 'Annie' and documentary 'Unity' in which Byrne is one of one hundred Actors providing the narrative exploring humanity's transformation shown across five segments - 'Cosmic', 'Mind', 'Body, 'Heart' and 'Soul'.

'Spy' came next with Melissa McCarthy again, and then 'The Meddler' opposite Susan Sarandon earlier this year. Next up is the made for television movie 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' and 'Home Again' both in pre-production, and 'Larrikins' due in 2018 and currently filming, to which Byrne brings her voice talents together with this of Margot Robbie, Naomi Watts, Jacki Weaver, Hugh Jackman and Ben Mendelsohn in this Australian animated feature Co-Directed by Tim Minchin.

All up Byrne has 56 acting credits, and she has so far accumulated twelve award wins and another 24 nominations. She was the face of Max Factor from 2004 until 2009, became the face of Australia's Oroton in 2014, has made numerous 'Most Beautiful People' lists over the years, is a supporter of UNICEF Australia and is an ambassador of Sydney's NIDA Young Actors Studio. She was in a six year relationship with Brendan Cowell that ended in early 2010, and in 2012 she began dating Bobby Cannavale with whom she has a child Rocco Robin born in February this year.

Rose Byrne - highly valued, much in demand and widely sought after; able to turn it on for drama, comedy, horror, Sci-Fi, period piece and thrillers and definitely not one to be pigeon holed or type cast; regards Australia as her emotional home, New York her second home but also owns a place in London with her sister; and despite failing at an 1988 audition for 'Home and Away' has done pretty well for herself. Good on ya Rose, and Happy Birthday to you - from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online- 

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 21st May 2015.

With Winter fast approaching (in Australia anyway!) there are plenty of reasons to get out to your local multiplex to be entertained with a movie of choice from blockbusting epic, to original horror, to thought provoking Sci-Fi and most things in between. And, in the weeks ahead there is more cinematic goodness to come, to add heaps more excuses for your big screen viewing pleasure as the cooler months take hold - unless of course you live in the northern hemisphere!

For the week ahead there are three new offerings that recreate a classic horror chiller updated for the modern era; an undercover espionage action comedy caper; and an historical true story drama spanning sixty years. Of course added to this there are plenty more large and small movies and mainstream and independent films to choose from. So, do yourself a favour and catch a big screen experience in the week ahead. When you're done, drop a Comment below this or any other Post and share your views with our ever growing world wide readership! Enjoy your film!

POLTERGEIST (Rated M) - In 1982 'Poltergeist' hit our big screens Directed by Tobe Hooper and scared the bejeezus out of us all for its modern take on supernatural demonic possession in suburban USA. Written for the screen by Steven Spielberg based on his own story, it was also Produced by him too and on a budget of just US$10.7M it grossed over US$121M and spawned two sequels in 1986 and 1988. Now in 2015, 'Poltergeist' is back and rebooted for the modern age and a whole new audience keen to be shocked, scared and surprised once again. This time around we are Directed by Gil Kenan based on Spielberg's original story and Produced by Sam Raimi.

Sam Rockwell stars as Eric Bowen and Rosemary DeWitt as his wife Amy, with young children Kendra (Saxon Sharbino), Madison (Kennedi Clements) and Griffin (Kyle Catlett) whose suburban home is invaded by angry spirits, who become more and more angry and increasingly malevolent as time progresses. When the apparitions manifest themselves in differing ways and with rising frequency they take the households youngest daughter into their netherworld of supernatural evil forces. The family have to muster their combined strength, resolve, determination and the forces of good to overcome the forces of evil in order to recover their daughter, and live happily ever after . . . maybe!

SPY (Rated MA15+) - Written, Produced and Directed by Paul Feig with a US$65M budget this is a CIA action comedy about desk jockey Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) who despite being trained as a field agent has sat behind the scenes for years as the ears and eyes of Bradley Fine (Jude Law) a top agent out in the field thwarting criminals and wrongdoers on a grand scale. When Fine is topped off by Bulgarian arms trader Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne), Susan persuades her superiors that she should go undercover for the first time to capture Boyanov, avoid a potential global disaster and avenge the death of Fine. With more accomplished Agents available including Rick Ford (Jason Statham) and Karen Walker (Morena Baccarin), Cooper is in the box seat because Boyanov knows the identity of the CIA's top agents who now need to lie low for fear of blowing Coopers cover. This is likely to be everything you would expect from Melissa McCarthy with slap stick set pieces, cat & mouse, agents and double agents, spies and super spies, weapons of mass destruction all underpinned with a solid cast to add weight and gravitas . . . but will it be enough to carry this film?

WOMAN IN GOLD (Rated M) - Directed by Simon Curtis for US$11 and so far grossing US$37M this is the true story of Austrian Jewish refugee Maria Altmann who fled Nazi Austria just before the start of WWII to seek safe harbour in America knowing that 'the writing was on the wall'. Maria is successful in her escape attempt but she must abandon her parents, family and loved ones to the fate of the Nazi's and their pillaging and looting. Fast forward sixty years and Altmann is now living in Los Angeles, and following the funeral of her sister she discovers a number of letters written in the 1940's revealing attempts to recover certain works of art stolen by the Nazi's during the War. One such piece was painted by her Aunt, now known throughout Austria as 'Woman in Gold'. Altman (Helen Mirren) engages young inexperienced lawyer Randol Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds) who makes a claim to the Art Restitution Board In Austria to have the painting returned to its rightful owner, but of course the Austrian authorities will have none of it. The picture they claim is theirs and now hangs as a national treasure in an art gallery. And so begins a case that goes all the way to the US Supreme Court where the matter is filed as The Republic of Austria vs. Altmann and where Schoenberg and Altmann battle it out in court with the Austrian art world over a cold case that spans the past sixty years. If you're not all together up on art history or know of this story then check out the film to see how the ruling went, and where this famed painting now hangs. Daniel Bruhl, Katie Holmes,  Charles Dance, Elizabeth McGovern and Jonathan Pryce also star.

Three films all offering something different. Get out amongst it in the week ahead and do yourself a favour and catch any one of these, or the other great content currently doing the rounds - there's bound to be something out there for you!

Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-