What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 24th May 2018.

The 71st Cannes Film Festival which opened on 8th May drew to a close on Saturday evening 19th May. This year, Cate Blanchett acted as the Jury President for those twenty-one feature films competing for the prestigious Palme d'Or. The opening film was by Iranian Director and Screenwriter Asghar Farhadi with his Spanish language psychological thriller 'Everybody Know's' starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, with the closing film, and screening out of competition, was Terry Gilliam's lifetime in gestation on again off again passion project 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' starring Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver.

The prestigious Palme d'Or was awarded out of twenty-one films in competition to 'Shoplifters' - a Japanese family drama edited, written, and Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Set in Tokyo, this film centres on a family who rely on shoplifting as they cope with a life of poverty, whilst unofficially adopting a seemingly abused homeless girl with the Police beginning a search for the missing child. Beating out the competition in this category were the likes of 'Burning' from South Korea and starring Steven Yuen; 'BlacKkKlansman' from the USA, Directed by Spike Lee and starring Adam Driver, Topher Grace and Harry Belafonte, which took out the second most coveted award - the Grand Prix; 'Everybody Knows' as aforementioned; 'Under the Silver Lake' from the USA and starring Andrew Garfield, Topher Grace, and Riley Keough; and 'The Image Book' a French/Swiss Co-Production Directed by Jean-Luc Godard which won the Special Palme d'Or. Judges for this award also included Ava DuVernay, Lea Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Denis Villeneuve and Andrey Zvyagintsev.

In the Un Certain Regard category this year, in which eighteen films were showcased and overseen by Jury President Benicio del Toro, the Un Certain Regard Award was bestowed upon Swedish drama film 'Border' Directed and written for the screen by Ali Abbasi. This film staved off competition from the likes of 'Angel Face' from France starring Marion Cotillard; 'Donbass' from the Ukraine and the opening film in this selected category; 'The Dead and the Others' from Portugal and Directed by Joao Salaviza and Renee Nader Messora which won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize; 'Rafiki' from Kenya; 'Girl' from Belgium; 'Long Day's Journey into Night' from China; 'Manto' from India; and 'Die, Monster, Die' from Argentina.

For more, you can go to : www.festival-cannes.com

This week we have just two new release movies coming to your local Odeon, and they couldn't be more polar opposite if they tried! First up is the second stand alone film in a massive movie franchise spanning now forty years about a young up & coming space cowboy from a galaxy far far away who many of us have grown up with - and this is his origin story. We then have a change of pace and coming back down to Earth, to rural England in the late '50's and one woman's dream of opening her own country book store which is thwarted by many of the local residents who have very different ideas.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the two latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online. You are here cordially invited to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and meanwhile, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'SOLO : A STAR WARS STORY' (Rated MA15+) - described as a 'Space Western' this second film in the Star Wars standalone anthology series follows on the heels of 'Rogue One : A Star Wars Story' released in 2016 and is set prior to the events in 'A New Hope'. That first standalone instalment was Directed by Gareth Edwards and took in excess of US$1B at the global Box Office off the back of a US$200M Budget outlay. This film Premiered in Los Angeles on 10th May, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival on 15th May and gets its US release this week too. Filming began in January 2017 under the Directing leadership of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and after almost five months of principle photography were fired from the set due to creative differences. They were replaced by Ron Howard who completed the last four weeks or so of principle photography and about another five weeks of reshoots. Lord and Miller are credited as Executive Producers. Made for a reported US$250M, early Reviews have indicated generally positive press.

This film, as the name implies, centres on a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) and his adventures with his Wookie partner, best friend and first mate aboard the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo). Also starring Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, a smuggler on the rise and whom Solo meets with for the first time; Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett, a criminal and mentor to Solo; Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra, a long time childhood friend of Solo's; with Paul Bettany as crime lord Dryden Vos, and Thandie Newton as Val. Jon Favreau voices Rio Durant, Linda Hunt voices Lady Proxima and Anthony Daniels cameo's as Tak.

'THE BOOKSHOP' (Rated PG) - this British, German and Spanish Co-Production is based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Penelope Fitzgerald and is helmed and Written for the Screen by Spanish Film Director Isabel Coixet. The film Premiered at the Valladolid International Film Festival in Valladolid, Spain in late October last year, has received generally positive Reviews picking up twelve Award wins and a further 32 nominations from around the film festival circuit and so far grossing US$3.5M in Box Office receipts. Set in the English coastal town of Hardborough, in Suffolk in 1959, Florence Green (Emily Mortimer) a middle aged widow, decides to open a book shop in 'The Old House', a rather dilapidated damp abandoned old residence that's said to be haunted by numerous ghosts. After much local opposition and many sacrifices, she eventually opens the doors on her bookshop which goes well for the first year and then sales begins to wane. Edmund Brandish (Bill Nighy), a local, is Florence's best customer and meanwhile Violet Gamart (Patricia Clarkson) also wants The Old House in which to set up an Arts Centre. What ensues is a political minefield spearheaded by Gamart's nephew, an MP, that Florence must navigate through if she is to preserve her beloved book shop, or succumb to local pressures that may leave her little choice but to move on.

With just two new release films out this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

CARRIE FISHER - dies aged 60 - R.I.P.

Carrie Frances Fisher passed away on Tuesday 27th December following complications brought on by a massive heart attack while aboard a flight from London to Los Angeles on Friday 23rd December. She has been hospitalised since arriving in Los Angeles. She was sixty years of age having been born on October 21st 1956. Fisher was an Actress, Producer and Writer whose career spanned five decades across film, television, and writing, and can be described in every sense as a true product of Hollywood. Her father was legendary Singer and Actor Eddie Fisher who was the most successful pop singles artist of the first half of the 1950's. Her mother was the acclaimed Debbie Reynolds who started acting in 1950 on stage and screen and continued with her acting career right up until the time of her tragic passing on the day following the death of her daughter. Fisher and Reynolds were married from 1955 until 1959, and Carrie was a product of that marriage, before Fisher left and married Reynold's best friend Elizabeth Taylor.

Best known for her role as Princess Leia Organa in the original Star Wars films - 'A New Hope' (1977), 'The Empire Strikes Back' (1980) and 'Return of the Jedi' (1983), she reprised her role for 2015's 'The Force Awakens' and her likeness was used digitally for the closing scene of the recent first stand alone Star Wars story 'Rogue One'. She will also appear posthumously in 'Star Wars : Episode VIII' due in late 2018 as General Leia Organa. 'Star Wars' was only hers second big screen role following a part in 1975's 'Shampoo' with Warren Beatty, Julie Christie and Goldie Hawn and this followed on from her small screen debut in 1969, in the made for TV movie 'Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children'.

Fisher attended the Beverly Hills High School until fifteen, and then due to conflicting acting demands she gave up her schooling and never graduated.  In 1973 she enrolled in London's Central School of Speech and Drama which she stuck at for eighteen months. In 1978 she enrolled in the Sarah Lawrence College in New York to study the arts but left before graduating because of the demands of 'Star Wars'.

In the decades that followed Fisher was seldom out of work appearing in numerous film and television roles. These included more memorable feature films such as 'The Blues Brothers' (1980) as Jake Blues vengeful ex-lover; Woody Allen's 'Hannah and Her Sisters' (1986); 'The Burb's' (1989) opposite Tom Hanks; 'When Harry Met Sally' (1989) with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan; 'Sibling Rivalry' (1990) with Kirsty Alley; 'Drop Dead Fred' (1991) with Rik Mayall; 'This Is My Life' (1992) with Julie Kavnar; and uncredited roles in 'Hook' and 'Austin Powers : International Man of Mystery'.

In the meantime Fisher had penned her first novel in 1987 - the semi-autobiographical 'Postcards from the Edge' in which she fictionalised and satirised real-life events such as her drug addiction of the late 1970s and her relationship with her mother. The book became a best seller and in 1990 a film version of the book was released that was adapted for the screen by Fisher. The film starred Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, Annette Benning, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman and Richard Dreyfus and it picked up numerous award nominations for Streep and MacLaine including Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nods. She went onto release two further novels by the turn of the century - 'Surrender the Pink' and 'Delusions of Grandma' in 1990 and 1993 respectively.

During this time too Fisher began working on script refinements for numerous films including 'Lethal Weapon 3', 'Outbreak', 'The Wedding Singer', 'The River Wild', 'Sister Act', 'Coyote Ugly', 'Last Action Hero' and 'Stop! Or my Mom will Shoot'. This in turn led to a particularly productive period over a fifteen year stretch from the early '90's onward as a go to script doctor refining the screenplays for other writers. These included the dialogue for the 'Star Wars' prequel films. In 2004 she published a follow-up novel to 'Postcards from the Edge', titled 'The Best Awful There Is' - another semi-autobiographical work this time said to fictionalise the story of her relationship with the gay agent Bryan Lourd, father of her daughter, Billie Lourd. In 2008 she published her own autobiographical humorous book 'Wishful Drinking' which was based on her one woman stage show which ran at LA's Geffen Playhouse from late 2006 into early 2007. The show continued a successful run touring around select theatres, culminating in a run on Broadway from late 2009 through until early 2010. She made the comment in her book "Now I think that this would make for a fantastic obit—so I tell my younger friends that no matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra." - a comment that has been much used in the media since the announcement of her death earlier this week. In 2010 HBO filmed a feature length documentary of the stage show.

In 2000 she payed a former Actress in slasher horror offering 'Scream 3' and then 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' before Co-Writing the 2001 made for television movie 'These Old Broads' which starred her mother Debbie Reynolds with Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine and Joan Collins. This was followed up by a string of 'B-Movies' that included 'Heartbreakers', 'Wonderland', 'Stateside', 'Undiscovered', 'Cougar Club', 'The Women', 'Fanboys', 'White Lightnin'' and horror slasher flick 'Sorority Row'. During this decade there had been numerous television appearances too including the likes of 'Smallville', 'Weeds', '30 Rock', 'Entourage' and twenty-three episodes on 'Family Guy' as the voice of Angela.

Since 2010, aside from the 'Star Wars' instalments as previously mentioned, there have been David Cronenberg's 'Maps to the Stars' in which Fisher cameo's as herself, and single episodes on 'The Bing Bang Theory', 'Legit', two episodes on 'Girlfriends Guide to Divorce' and four episodes on Channel 4's 'Catastrophe'. Fisher died after filming Season 3 had wrapped on 'Catastrophe' which will go to air in 2017. Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds were also the subject of a 2016 documentary film which Premiered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival - 'Bright Lights : Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds' which goes to air on HBO sometime in 2017.

All up Fisher had 89 Acting credits to her name, eleven as Writer and one as Producer. She was the recipient of one award win and a further nine nominations. She was married to singer/songwriter Paul Simon from 1983 until 1984 although they had been dating since 1977, and continued to do so until 1990 after their divorce. For a brief time she was engaged to Dan Aykroyd in 1980. She had a subsequent relationship with talent agent Bryan Lourd with whom she had a daughter Billie Catherine Lourd born in 1992. She also revealed in her autobiography published this year - 'The Princess Diarist' that back in 1976 she and Harrison Ford enjoyed a short lived affair during the filming of 'Star Wars'.

She publicly discussed her diagnosis of bipolar disorder and her reliance on cocaine and prescription drugs. She is reported to have stated that her drug use was a form of self-medication using pain killers such as Percodan to "dial down" the manic aspect of her bipolar disorder. In 2008 she discussed her electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments stating that at one point, she was receiving ECT every six weeks to 'blow apart the cement' in her brain. In 2014, she went on record that she was no longer receiving the treatment. Earlier this year Harvard College granted Fisher its Annual Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism, noting that 'her forthright activism and outspokenness about addiction, mental illness, and agnosticism have advanced public discourse on these issues with creativity and empathy'.

Carrie Fisher - prolific Screenwriter, Author and Actress who forever is etched in our memories for playing one of films greatest heroines across one of films greatest epic blockbusting franchises. May you forever rest in peace, and may the force be with you as brightly in the next world as it was in your former one. Thanks for the memories.

Carrie Fisher - Rest In Peace.
1956-2016.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

ROGUE ONE : A STAR WARS STORY - Thursday 15th December 2016.

I saw 'ROGUE ONE : A STAR WARS STORY' on its opening night in Australia, and sat in a near packed theatre, which burst into applause when the end credits rolled - a sure sign of a film's approval and pending success. And so from a galaxy far far away comes the first Star Wars spin off in this highly anticipated, eagerly awaited, much hyped 'Rogue One' offering. Produced by LucasFilm, Distributed by Disney, Directed by Gareth Edwards and costing US$200M, this film stands alone in the Star Wars universe set just before the events that unfolded in the first film in this hugely successful and popular franchise 'A New Hope'. That initial film released in 1977 set in motion a behemoth that would become part of our popular culture, spawning so far seven feature films, this spin-off, numerous animated television series, books, toys and merchandise. The value of the franchise is estimated at somewhere north of US$31B, the films to date have garnered 27 Academy Award nominations and last years 'The Force Awakens' is the third highest grossing film of all time raking in US$2.1B at the global Box Office. Production of 'Star Wars : Episode VIII' is ongoing with Writer/Director Rian Johnson at the helm and due in cinemas in December 2017. It has been reported, but remains unconfirmed, that the title of the next instalment will be 'Star Wars : Forces of Destiny'.

The premise for the 'Rogue One' set up comes from the opening crawl of 'A New Hope' which states amongst other things that ' . . . Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the Death Star . . . ' From these brief introductory words, Screenwriters Tony Gilroy and Chris Weitz have moulded this story of the Rebel Alliance against the Empire. As the film opens we see a young Jyn Erso being hurriedly bundled up and packed off by her father Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) to escape from the arriving Imperial Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) and his black armour clad Deathtrooper henchmen. Krennic is demanding that Galen returns to finish the work he started on the Death Star - the Galactic Empire's new super weapon of destruction capable of destroying entire planets. But Galen is reluctant, and in a standoff his wife is killed. Meanwhile young Jyn has fled to the mountains to safety - it is the last time she will see her father for many years. Sometime later, an underground bunker in which Jyn is stowed away is opened by Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) and the young girl is taken away to safety.

We then fast forward fifteen years or so and Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) an Imperial fighter pilot defects across to the Rebel Alliance and is in possession of a holographic message from Galen Erso which he is to deliver only to Saw Gerrera who resides on the planet Jedha. In the meantime a now adult Jyn (Felicity Jones) is freed from captivity by the Rebellion who have an agenda to use her to track down her father, and then kill him to prevent the Death Star from being completed. Jyn teams up with Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) an Intelligence Officer with the Rebel Alliance and his reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2S0 (Alan Tudyk) and the three travel to Jedha where there is an uprising against Empire forces on the ground there.

Once on Jedha, Jyn and Andor meet up with blind warrior Chirrut Imre (Donnie Yen) who believes in the power of The Force, and his sidekick Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) a Rebel warrior and mercenary. They in turn lead Jyn to Gerrera who are reunited for the first time in years, and Gerrera is by now holding Rook captive. Rook has handed over the hologram message to Gerrera who in turns shows the message to Jyn. In it Galen expresses his love for his daughter and explains that he was forced against his will to finish his work on the Death Star project. He goes on to explain that he has secretly embedded a vulnerability deep within the reactor programme which is almost undetectable, and which can be used to ultimately destroy the Death Star. The plans are held at a high security data bank deep within an Imperial stronghold on the planet Scarif.

In the meantime, back on the Death Star Krennic is held to task over the completion and readiness of the weapon by Imperial Governor Grand Moff Tarkin (Guy Henry made to look like Peter Cushing). With complete confidence Krennic orders a demonstration of the weapons might and power by targeting the capital city of Jedha, and reducing it and its surrounds to rubble and dust. In the attack the population is wiped out and with it Gerrera too who elects to stay behind. Jyn, Andor, K-2S0, Imre, Malbus and Rook manage to narrowly escape the conflagration. Tarkin congratulations Krennic on his achievements but has his own agenda to take the credit for the weapon and have Krennic discredited for various security breaches that have occurred while under his command.

Jyn, Andor and their newly formed crew track Galen to a research facility, and they head there with the intention that Jyn will rescue her father, whilst Andor has designs on killing him as per the wishes of the Rebellion. When it comes to it however, Andor cannot pull the trigger. At the same time Krennic arrives having learned that someone has leaked intelligence to the Rebels, and he intends to see to it that justice be served. He lines up Galen and his team of engineers and scientists and threatens to kill them all, if the perpetrator does not fess up, at which point Galen steps forward. Krennic orders the shooting of all the engineers and scientists anyway at which point a Rebel airstrike occurs on the facility ultimately resulting in the demise of Galen, and he dies in Jyn's arms. With the research facility destroyed, Jyn, Andor and the crew make a speedy getaway as does Krennic. Jyn now tries to persuade the Rebellion to converge on Scarif to steal the plans for the Death Star, but with no evidence to confirm her fathers story as per the now destroyed hologram message, the leadership of the Rebellion do not agree to her scheme, which they believe is too dangerous.

Frustrated by this inactivity, Andor agrees to accompany Jyn on her mission to Scarif and with her crew and various other Rebel volunteers, they set off. Using Rook as the former Imperial fighter pilot whose security clearances are still intact, their ship passes through the only portal in Scarif's defence system, and come to land in the proximity of the data bank tower. Jyn, Andor and K-2S0 make off to the tower to retrieve the plan schematics, while the others create a diversion to draw attention away from the three.

Meanwhile the non-agreeable leadership of the Rebellion have caught wind that Jyn and Andor have taken a team to Scarif and are proceeding with their plan anyway. Subsequently they agree to join the fight and mount a fleet to go to their aid. Krennic has also arrived on Scarif and orders the retrieval of every last piece of communication ever sent, written or recorded by Galen in an attempt to clear his name and reinstate his reputation with Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones). As a number of Rebel forces breach the access portal to Scarif, so a ground and air attack ensues leaving Jyn and Andor to access the data bank high up within the fortified and heavily secured tower.

Ultimately Jyn secures the necessary schematics but K-2SO is killed by Stormtroopers and Andor is shot and injured by Krennic. She needs to access the communication tower at the highest point to be able to send the schematics to the waiting Rebel Command Ship, but the access portal needs to be open for the signal to transmit the plans successfully. With an air battle raging all around the tower, Krennic appears before Jyn can transmit the plans. Krennic declares her mission a failure and the Empire victorious and as he motions to shoot her, he is in fact shot and disabled by Andor who re-emerges just in time for the plans to be transmitted as the Rebel forces destroy the planetary shield allowing access through the portal.

On the Death Star Tarkin orders the destruction of Scarif now that its defences have been breached and the base compromised. With it Krennic is killed as are all of those left remaining. An Imperial Force led by Darth Vader gain access to the Rebel Command Ship to retrieve the stolen plans. As Darth Vader wipes out everything in his path using his trusty light sabre and the powers of his mind, a Rebel foot soldier makes a quick getaway with the plans saved to a memory card and thrusts them into the hands of Princess Leia (Ingvild Deila made to look like Carrie Fisher) who states that these plans will give the Rebellion much needed hope for the future.

I was very pleasantly surprised by 'Rogue One'. The film has all the touchstones of the 'Star Wars' mythology that we have come to know and love. Director Gareth Edwards has remained true to the basic premise of the films that have been its forebearers by retaining the look and feel of a Star Wars film but it also has the strength in the story, the performances, the VFX and the continuity to stand proudly on its own two feet. Felicity Jones is particularly good in her role as Jyn Erso and gives a convincing performance that is as good as any you'll likely to see this year in a film of this kind, and the support cast are strong too and believable. Since the film Premiered in Hollywood on 10th December, there has been overwhelming support for the film and audiences have responded very positively, setting high expectations for a very strong Box Office return. So far it has returned US$291M during its opening weekend globally, with the film yet to open in China in South Korea. A second spin off film charting the early life of Hans Solo is slated for a mid-2018 release, with a third understood to surround Boba Fett scheduled for sometime in 2020. See it on the big screen while you can - you won't be disappointed.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 15th December 2016.

Awards Season is upon us, and with it the AACTA (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) Awards were held at Sydney's Star Casino on Wednesday 7th December. Attended by a who's who of Australian and overseas film and television talent including Mel Gibson, George Miller, Geoffrey Rush, Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen it is fair to say that the glitterati, the glamourati, and the paparazzi were out in force.

'Hacksaw Ridge' swept the board picking up nine award wins in the following categories : Best Film, Best Direction (Mel Gibson), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography (Simon Duggan), Best Editing (John Gilbert), Best Sound, Best Production Design (Barry Robison), Best Lead Actor (Andrew Garfield) and Best Supporting Actor (Hugo Weaving). 'The Daughter' fared well too, picking up three award wins for Best Lead Actress (Odessa Young), Best Supporting Actress (Miranda Otto) and Best Adapted Screenplay. 'Tanna' picked up the award for Best Original Music Score, and 'Girl Asleep' for Best Costume Design. Best Feature Length Documentary went to 'Chasing Asylum' (Eva Orner).

This week then there is just one new release coming to a cinema near you, and it's expected to be BIG! Which would explain why no other movies wanted to go up against it in the week ahead. This is the first of three spin-off stand-alone films from a place far far away whose journey first began almost forty years ago and has grown into a worldwide phenomenon that sees no signs of letting up. From early reaction to this films Premier release last week, it seems that the force is strong with this one!

When you have sat through this weeks latest release film as Previewed below, or any others out on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed between these Blog Post pages, remember that we invite your own feedback, review, critique and observations of your moving going experience by leaving a Comment below this, or any other Post. As always, we'd love to receive your valid, wholesome, relevant thoughts. Meanwhile, enjoy your next cinema visit.

'ROGUE ONE : A STAR WARS STORY' (Rated M) - and so from a galaxy far far away comes the first Star Wars spin off in this highly anticipated, eagerly awaited, much hyped 'Rogue One' offering. Produced by LucasFilm, Distributed by Disney, Directed by Gareth Edwards and costing US$200M, this film stands alone in the Star Wars universe set just before the events that unfolded in the first film in this hugely successful and popular franchise 'A New Hope'. That initial film released in 1977 set in motion a behemoth that would become part of our popular culture, spawning so far seven feature films, this spin-off, numerous animated television series, books, toys and merchandise. The value of the franchise is estimated at somewhere north of US$31B, the films to date have garnered 27 Academy Award nominations and last years 'The Force Awakens' is the third highest grossing film of all time raking in US$2.1B at the global Box Office. Production of 'Star Wars : Episode VIII' is ongoing with Writer/Director Rian Johnson at the helm and due in cinemas in December 2017. It has been reported, but remains unconfirmed, that the title of the next instalment will be 'Star Wars : Forces of Destiny'.

The premise for the 'Rogue One' set up comes from the opening crawl of 'A New Hope' which states amongst other things that ' . . . Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the Death Star . . . ' From these brief introductory words, Screenwriters Tony Gilroy and Chris Weitz have moulded this story of the Rebel Alliance who recruit Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) to join a mission to steal the design schemes for the Galactic Empire's new superweapon, 'The Death Star' - the Empire's ultimate weapon of destruction. The band of unlikely heroes thrown together for this include Forest Whittaker as Saw Gerrera, a veteran of The Clone Wars; Diego Luna as Cassian Andor; Mads Mikkelsen as Galen Erso, father to Jyn; Riz Ahmed as Bodhi Rook; Donnie Yen as warrior Chirrut Imre; Alan Tudyk as droid K-2SO; Jiang Wen as freelance assassin Baze Malbus; and Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Imperial Military; with James Earl Jones reprising his voice work for Darth Vader. Since the film Premiered in Hollywood on 10th December, there has been overwhelming support for the film and audiences have responded very positively, setting high expectations for a very strong Box Office return. A second spin off film charting the early life of Hans Solo is slated for a mid-2018 release, with a third understood to surround Boba Fett scheduled for sometime in 2020.

That's it for this week, pending a mega-haul of new movies being released in time to capitalise upon the Christmas and New Year holiday film going season. If you catch 'Rogue One : A Star Wars Story' remember to share your thoughts with us here afterwards. In the meantime, I'll see you in the week ahead, at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

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- 

Birthday's to share this week : 14th - 20th February 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Simon Pegg does on 14th February - check out my tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 46, 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 February

• Simon Pegg - Born 1970, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer  
• Alan Parker - Born 1944, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Freddie Highmore - Born 1992, turns 24 - Actor

Monday 15th February

•  Jane Seymour - Born 1951, turns 65 - Actress | Producer 
•  Jessica De Gouw - Born 1988, turns 28 - Actress

Tuesday 16th February

• Elizabeth Olsen - Born 1989, turns 27 - Actress  
• Ice-T - Born 1958, turns 58 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Christopher Ecclestone - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor

Wednesday 17th February

• Hal Holbrook - Born 1925, turns 91 - Actor
• Lou Diamond Phillips - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Michael Bay - Born 1965, turns 51 - Director | Producer | Cameraman
• Dominic Purcell - Born 1970, turns 46 - Actor | Producer
• Jerry O'Connell - Born 1974, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Born 1981, turns 35 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director 
• Rene Russo - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actress | Producer
• Brenda Fricker - Born 1945, turns 71 - Actress

Thursday 18th February

• Cybill Shepherd - Born 1950, turns 66 - Actress | Producer
• Greta Scacchi - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actress 
• Molly Ringwald - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actress
• John Travolta - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actor | Producer
• Matt Dillon - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor
• George Kennedy - Born 1925, turns 91 - Actor
• Milos Forman - Born 1932, turns 84 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor

Friday 19th February

• Ray Winstone - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actor | Producer  
• Jeff Daniels - Born 1955, turns 61 - Actor | Director | Writer
• Benecio Del Toro - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor | Producer 

Saturday 20th February

• Miles Teller - Born 1987, turns 29 - Actor
• Sidney Poitier - Born 1927, turns 89 - Actor | Director
• Mike Leigh - Born 1943, turns 73 - Director | Writer
• Peter Strauss - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor | Producer
• Brenda Blethyn - Born 1946, turns 70 - Actress 

Simon John Beckingham was born and raised in the small Gloucestershire village of Brockworth, in England to mother Gillian Smith, a civil servant, and father John Henry Beckingham, a jazz musician. When he was seven years old his parents divorced and he adopted the surname of his stepfather after his mother remarried. He attended Castle Hill Primary School, Brockworth Comprehensive Secondary School and The Kings School, Gloucester. At 16, Pegg moved to Stratford-upon-Avon studying English Literature and Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon College. In 1991 he graduated from the University of Bristol with a BA in Theatre, Film and Television.

Thereafter he moved to London and started carving out a career in stand-up comedy. From here he secured a number of roles in television series including three episodes on 'Six pairs of Pants' in 1995, 'Faith in the Future' across 15 episodes from 1995-1998, six episodes of 'Asylum' in 1996, twelve episodes of 'We Know Where You Live' and six episodes of 'Is It Bill Bailey' in 1998.

His first film role came with 'Tube Tales' in 1999 - a series of nine chapters within the film each Directed by someone of note - including Bob Hoskins, Jude Law and Ewen McGregor amongst others. This was followed up by 'Guest House Paradiso' with Adrian Edmonton and Rik Mayall. Other film roles followed in 2001 with 'The Parole Officer' and '24 Hour Party People' in 2002, with television appearances on 'Hippies', and the Spielberg/Hanks collaboration 'Band of Brothers'.

In 1999 Pegg's breakthrough came with 'Spaced' which he created and starred in with good friend Nick Frost and Directed by Edgar Wright. He gained a British Comedy Award nomination for his role in 'Spaced' and as a result of this experience he and Edgar Wright co-wrote 'Shaun of the Dead' which was released in 2004. On the strength of this he was invited to appear in a cameo role on George A. Romero's 'Land of the Dead', before 'M:I 3' as Benji Dunn with Tom Cruise in 2006 - a role he has so far reprised twice.

After 'Big Nothing' in 2006, Pegg and Wright finished their second collaboration together with 'Hot Fuzz' starring Pegg and Frost as Police partners investigating a series of macabre deaths in a small sleepy English village. That year also came 'Run Fat Boy, Run' and a cameo once again in George A. Romero's 'Diary of the Dead', with 'How to lose friends and alienate people' in 2008.

2009 saw Pegg star as 'Scotty' for the first time in the reboot of the 'Star Trek' movie franchise at the hands of J.J.Abrams. The next few years saw 'Burke and Hare' as Directed by John Landis, and extra terrestrial offering 'Paul' with Nick Frost once again, and a Benji Dunn reprisal in Mission : Impossible - Ghost Protocol' in 2011.

'A Fantastic Fear of Everything' followed in 2012 and then his second outing as Scotty in 'Star Trek : Into Darkness' a year later with J.J. Abrams once again. Completing his 'Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy' in 2013 with 'The World's End' Directed by Edgar Wright and starring Nick Frost and a host of other British acting talent, he moved onto a cameo in Nick Frosts starring vehicle 'Cuban Fury' and then 'Hector and the Search for Happiness' with Toni Collette, Rosamund Pike and Stellen Skarsgard.

'Kill Me Three Times' was up next in 2014 with Luke Hemsworth and shot in Western Australia and Victoria, with 'Man Up' in 2015, 'Mission : Impossible - Rogue Nation', 'Absolutely Anything' and a small but eternally grateful role in 'Star Wars : The Force Awakens' for J.J. once more rounding out last year.





In the meantime, Pegg has lent his voice talents to the likes of 2009's 'Ice Age : Dawn of the Dinosaurs' as 'Buck' and will do so again in the upcoming next instalment in 2016 with 'Ice Age : Collision Course'. There was also 'The Chronicles of Narnia : The Adventures of the Dawn Trader' in 2010, 'The Adventures of Tin Tin : The Secret of the Unicorn' playing one half of the Thomson Twins to Nick Frost's other, and then 'Boxtrolls' in 2014. Next up for Pegg is 'Star Trek : Beyond' due for release in July this year and is co-written by him, and in which he'll reprise his role again of Scotty.

So far Pegg has 81 acting credits to his name, 23 Writer credits and eight Producer credits and along the way he has accumulated ten award wins and seventeen other film nominations from around the traps.

In mid-2005 Pegg married his long term girlfriend Maureen McCann with whom he has a daughter Matilda, born in 2009. Nick Frost was best man at their wedding. Pegg supports the 'HeForShe' gender equality campaign for womens rights.

Simon Pegg - self confessed 'Star Wars' and 'Star Trek' geek; grounded in horror, comedy and Sci-Fi; a lover of 'The X-Files'; long term collaborator with Nick Frost and Edgar Wright; a great export of British film and television to Hollywood mainstream, fame and fortune on the page, on TV, at the cinema and behind the camera, Happy Birthday to you Simon, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-