Birthday's to share this week : 25th-31st December 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Kit Harrington does on 26th December - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 30, 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 25th December

• Sissy Spacek - Born 1949, turns 67 - Actress
• Nicholas Hope - Born 1958, turns 58 - Actor  

Monday 26th December

• Fred Schepisi - Born 1939, turns 77 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Steve Bisley - Born 1951, turns 65 - Actor
• Temuera Morrison - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actor 
• Steve Le Marquand - Born 1967, turns 49 - Actor | 
• Jared Leto - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Director | Songwriter 
• Shane Meadows - Born 1972, turns 44 - Director | Writer | Producer | Actor
• Kit Harrington - Born 1986, turns 30 - Actor  

Tuesday 27th December

• Gerard Depardieu - Born 1948, turns 68 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer  

Wednesday 28th December

• Stan Lee - Born 1922, turns 94 - Writer | Producer | Actor
• Denzel Washington - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Director   
• Maggie Smith - Born 1934, turns 82 - Actress
• Noomi Rapace - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actress
• Sienna Miller - Born 1981, turns 35 - Actress

Thursday 29th December

• Patricia Clarkson - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actress | Producer
• Lilly Wachowski - Born 1967, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Charlotte Riley - Born 1981, turns 35 - Actress
• Alison Brie - Born 1982, turns 34 - Actress | Producer
• John Voight - Born 1938, turns 78 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Ted Danson - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Oliver Hirschbiegel - Born 1957, turns 59 - Director | Writer
• Jude Law - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actor | Producer
• Danny McBride - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Diego Luna - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Friday 30th December

• Bennett Miller - Born 1966, turns 50 - Director | Producer
• Tyrese Gibson - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Tracey Ullman - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Singer | Television Personality

Saturday 31st December

• Barbara Carrera - Born 1945, turns 71 - Actress
• Anthony Hopkins - Born 1937, turns 79 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Ben Kingsley - Born 1943, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Taylor Hackford - Born 1944, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer
• James Remar - Born 1953, turns 63 - Actor 
• Val Kilmer - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Singer

Christopher Catesby Harrington was born in Acton, London, England, to mother Deborah Catesby, a former playwright, and father Sir David Richard Harrington, 15th Baronet and business man. The Harrington Baronetcy, of Ridlington in the landlocked East Midlands county of Rutland was first created in 1611 for James Harrington who lived from 1542 until 1614. Through his paternal grandmother, Harrington's eight-time great-grandfather was King Charles II of England. History lesson over, Harrington attended Southfield Primary School, and at age eleven the family moved to Worcestershire where he studied at the Chantry High School in Martley. His interest in acting was sparked at school where he preformed in several school productions. He went on to attend Worcester Sixth Form College where he studied Drama and Theatre, and following this at age eighteen he attended the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, from where he graduated in 2008.

Originally, the young Harrington had designs on becoming a journalist, war correspondent or cameraman. However, while at Drama School he landed a role in the National Theatre's adaptation of 'War Horse', and Harrington's performance was highly praised. This led quickly to another theatre production in 'Posh' in 2010 at the Royal Court Theatre. His first screen role came in 'Game of Thrones' as John Snow, with the show debuting in 2011 and quickly gaining a huge following, that sees Season 7 currently in production for a 2017 airing. The show has since become a worldwide phenomenon with Harrington's character so far surviving the first six complete seasons.

His first big screen role came in the supernatural psychological horror film sequel of the survival horror video game of the same name 'Silent Hill' from 2006. 'Silent Hill : Revelation' was released in 2012 and also started Sean Bean, Malcolm McDowell and Carrie-Anne Moss. Despite its moderate Box Office success bringing in US$53M off a US$20M budget, the film was panned critically. His first major role came in 2014 in the US$80M Paul W.S.Anderson production of 'Pompeii' which also starred Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss again, Kiefer Sutherland and Jared Harris amongst others. 

In 2014 Harrington voiced the character of Eret in 'How to Train Your Dragon 2'. Featuring an ensemble cast of fellow actors providing their voice talents to this successful DreamWorks animated fantasy action offering the film returned US$622M from its US$145M outlay, spawning a recently announced third instalment in this franchise due for release in early 2019. That same year came another fantasy action epic offering 'Seventh Son' with Jeff Bridges, Alicia Vikander, Julianne Moore and Djimon Hounsou. The film made just US$115M from its budget of US$95M and was generally poorly received. Also that year was 'Testament of Youth' - the First World War drama based on the life of Vera Brittain who wrote the memoir of the same name. The film starred Alicia Vikander again, Emily Watson, Hayley Atwell, Taron Egerton and Dominic West. The film was well received but failed to recoup its US$10M budget.

'Spooks : The Greater Good' (aka 'MI-5') was a big screen adaptation in 2015 of the popular BBC Television series which aired from 2002 through until 2011. That year he also starred in a HBO Comedy film '7 Days In Hell' about a seven day tennis match opposite Andy Samberg and featuring a strong support cast of named actors and tennis players. He also appeared in the stage play 'The Vote' at London's Donmar Warehouse alongside Jude Law, Judi Dench and Timothy West in 2015, and this year appeared as Faustus in 'Doctor Faustus' at the West End's Duke of York Theatre.

Next up is Western thriller Directed by Martin Koolhoven 'Brimstone' with Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning and Carice van Houten. The film had its Premier at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival in early September this year, but is yet to get a wider release. Currently filming for a 2018 release is 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan' for Writer/Director Xavier Dolan and also starring Natalie Portman, Thandie Newton, Jessica Chastain, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates and Michael Gambon with Harrington playing John F. Donovan.  

All up Harrington has twelve acting credits to his name including 50+ episodes on 'Game of Thrones' so far, with Season Seven currently in production. This year he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award as Outstanding Supporting Actor on 'Game of Thrones' and he has twelve other nominations and two award wins both for his work on 'Game of Thrones'. 

He has been romantically connected with fellow 'Game of Thrones' Actress Rose Leslie (Ygritte) since 2012. Earlier this year he took active part in a United Nations video for the Refugee Agency, UNHCR (United National High Commissioner for Refugees) to help raise awareness of the global refugee crisis. He took part with the likes of Cate Blanchett, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jesse Eisenberg and Stanley Tucci. 

Kit Harrington - he has royal blood and the aristocracy coursing through his veins - in real life and on television; has become one of the most recognised faces on television; is a self confessed fan of the horror movie genre; is fearful of flying, needles and spiders; loves to party; and is clearly on the up, in demand and recognised for his talents on television, on film and in the theatre. Happy 30th Birthday to you Kit, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 27th September - 3rd October 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Alicia Vikander does on 3rd October - check out the tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 27 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 27th September

• Gwyneth Paltrow - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actress
• Meat Loaf - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter
• Denis Lawson - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor

Monday 28th September

• Naomi Watts - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress | Producer
• Hilary Duff - Born 1987, turns 28 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Mira Sorvino - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actress | Producer
• Brigitte Bardot - Born 1934, turns 81 - Actress | Singer

Tuesday 29th September

• Luke Goss - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer
• Ian McShane - Born 1947, turns 73 - Actor | Producer
• Nicolas Winding Refn - Born 1970, turns 45 - Director | Producer | Writer

Wednesday 30th September

• Eric Stoltz - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Angie Dickinson - Born 1931, turns 84 - Actress
• Marion Cotillard - Born 1975, turns 40 - Actress | Singer
• Monica Bullucci - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress

Thursday 1st October

• Julie Andrews - Born 1935, turns 80 - Actress | Singer
• Randy Quaid - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actor | Producer
• Zach Galifianakis - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Writer

Friday 2nd October

• Sting - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter

Saturday 3rd October

• Clive Owen - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor | Producer
• Denis Villeneuve - Born 1967, turns 48 - Director | Writer
• Neve Campbell - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress | Producer
• Alicia Vikander - Born 1988, turns 27 - Actress

Alicia Amanda Vikander was born in Gothenburg, Sweden to mother Maria Fahl, an actress, and father Svante Vikander, a psychiatrist. At five months old her parents separated and for the most part thereafter was raised by her mother, although she had access to her father every other weekend with whom she would grow up enjoying the company of his other five children. She studied ballet at the Royal Swedish Ballet School in Gothenburg from the age of nine and at fifteen moved to Stockholm where she trained to become a principal dancer. At the Gothenburg Opera she appeared in several musicals including 'Les Miserables' and 'The Sound of Music'. By the age of sixteen she was travelling the world to fine tune her acting craft. Due to injuries over the subsequent years her career in dancing became sidelined as her career in acting began to take hold, although for a short time she was considering a move into the legal profession gaining a place at law school, which she also sidelined in favour of acting - a wise choice in the long term it would appear!

At home in Sweden she gained early work on a number of television shows and made for TV movies - 'Min balsamerade mor' in 2002, 'En decemberdrom' for three episodes in 2005, the mini-series 'Levande foda' in 2007 and then on the longer running 'Andra Avenyn' for 39 episodes from 2007-2008.

From 2007 there were a number of short films in her native country launching with 'Darkness of Truth' and 'The Rain', 'My Name is Love' in 2008, and 'Susans Iangtan' in 2009. Her feature film debut came in 2010 in the acclaimed 'Pure' for which she won the Best Actress Award at the Swedish Guldbagge Awards - the equivalent there of the Academy Awards or the BAFTA's.

After this was her lead role in 'The Crown Jewels' in 2011, however, international recognition came in 2012 playing the role of Kitty in the Joe Wright Directed British adaptation of 'Anna Karenina' alongside Keira Knightly, Jude Law, Domhnall Gleeson and Emily Watson. The film picked up numerous awards including a Breakthrough Performer Award for Vikander at the Hamptons International Film Festival. She followed this up that same year with the Danish period piece 'A Royal Affair' with Mads Mikkelsen which gained a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at the 2013 Academy Awards. That year, she was also nominated at the BAFTA's for a Rising Star Award but missed out to Juno Temple.

2013 saw her star in Bill Condon's 'The Fifth Estate' about the rise of WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange as portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch. The film also starred Stanley Tucci, Anthony Mackie and David Thewlis. Next up was the Swedish film 'Hotell' for which she won the Best Actress Award at the Marrakech International Film Festival.

'Testament of Youth' came next with Vikander in the lead role as Vera Brittain recounting her WWI memories as a war time nurse. This was followed up that same year with Aussie crime drama 'Son of a Gun' with Ewan McGregor and Brenton Thwaites, and then 'Seventh Son' with Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, and Djimon Hounsou. 'Ex Machina' came earlier this year in the Alex Garland Directed film in which she stars as humanoid robot Ava, alongside Domhnall Gleeson again, and Oscar Isaac. Most recently there has been 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' Directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer as the reprised 60's Agents Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin respectively.

Coming soon is 'Burnt' with Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Uma Thurman and Emma Thompson due before the end of the year, as is 'The Danish Girl' with Eddie Redmayne and Ben Whishaw. 'Tulip Fever' is currently in post-production for 2016 and stars Dane DeHaan, Christoph Waltz and Judy Dench, 'The Light Between the Oceans' due next year too and starring Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz, and currently filming is the fifth instalment in the Bourne franchise as Directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne with Tommy Lee Jones and Vincent Cassel and due in mid-16.

Vikander has 26 acting credits to her name and has won seven awards and another seven nominations to date - she expects big things from next years Academy Awards too where she may have multiple films in contention. Recently split from Michael Fassbender, Vikander seems more intent on keeping busy, chasing the Oscar dream and polishing her celebrity status as her star continues to rise.

Alicia Vikander - young, beautiful, talented, determined, committed, hard working, in demand, already much praised and with the Hollywood world at your feet - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 23rd April 2015.

Life is full of opposites! As I sit here in Adelaide it is a cool near Winter evening trademarked by clear night skies, a chill in the air and a slight breeze to drop the temperatures a little more; but my friends and family back home in Sydney are gripped by storms, floods, winds, rain and all manner of apocalyptic tempest to mark the end of the world as they know it . . . well almost! And so it is with this weeks new release films - opposites!

Kick starting your week is the eagerly awaited, highly anticipated and much hyped follow up to the third highest grossing movie of all time, and with it comes huge expectations on the studio behind it, the Director, the stellar cast and all the minions behind the camera that give us movie magic . . . no pressure then, you collective lot! Then we have a story of a music teacher pushing a young lad to discover his talent against all the odds (sound rather like another movie of a very similar ilk that did well on last years awards circuit!), and to wrap things up a WWI period piece recounting the coming of age of a young girl during those troubled years in Britain and what this ultimately inspires her to do post-war.

With such diverse and different films gracing our big screens in the coming weeks, together with those still on general release and as Previewed and Reviewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, there is no excuse not to get out in the bleak mid-Autumnal months and experience some great filmic entertainment to warm the soul and stir the emotions. When you have done so, leave a Comment below this or any other Blog Post and share your cinematic thoughts with our ever growing readership. In the meantime, enjoy your film.

THE AVENGERS : AGE OF ULTRON (Rated M) - Director Joss Whedon helmed the first 'The Avengers' film back in 2012 and in fact came up with the storyline and wrote the Screenplay too, and managed to lash out US$220M to make the film that went on to gross an incredible US$1.52B making it the third highest grossing film of all time - not bad for a bunch of comic strip characters! Since that first instalment, the inhabitants of The Marvelverse have been waiting eagerly for the release of the second film to see if Joss Whedon can weave his magic once more, using and even greater stash of cash that this time is estimated at US$250M+

Our favourite Marvel characters are back with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jnr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Heimdall (Idris Elba) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) all joined by some new super-characters and the grand-daddy of them all 'Ultron' (James Spader). The latter was created by Tony Stark as a peacekeeping programme and is a self aware, self teaching A.I. who having laid dormant for some time is reactivated by Stark so that our merry band of superheroes can stop saving the world by eradicating violence, crime and megalomaniacs once and for all. But when Ultron is reactivated things don't go quite according to plan and our man/machine Ultron decides it would be a good idea to wipe out humanity and destroy the world as we know it. And so our superhero friends need to team up, tool up, and boot up to save the world again and thwart Ultron in the process, whilst crossing paths with various new action heroes along the way . . . some good and some, not so good! Be prepared for action on a grand scale, and for things to go bad, very bad, before they get better!

BOYCHOIR (Rated PG) - here we have another American musical drama film involving a talented young musician, and older experienced teacher and a rise to the top whilst overcoming adversity, personal challenges and a troubled life. If this sounds like 'Whiplash' think again because here we have a drum kit traded for a young boys choir and a lad whose vocal talents open doors of opportunity that lead to acknowledgement, appreciation and acceptance - three things he has never experienced before. Directed by Francois Girard this is a film about eleven year old Stet (Garrett Wareing) whose single mother is killed in a car accident on the same day that his school Principal Ms. Steel (Debra Winger) persuades Headmaster Carvelle (Dustin Hoffman) of the fictitious American Boychoir School, to audition for their elite chorister programme. Stet's Dad, Gerard (Josh Lucas) is in a relationship with another woman but he has neglected to tell her about Stet's very existence. When Carvelle recognises a raw talent in Stet that he has never seen before, he is offered a place which Gerard promptly accepts and writes big cheques for, in order to send his estranged son away and maintain the peace at home. At the ABS Stet is out of his depth as he is not from a privileged background like many of the other boys, nor is he particularly disciplined enough for the school staff. But he works hard and is committed and quickly rises through the ranks as he shows increasing promise as one of the best choristers. Touted as an emotional, feel good family drama with strong performances that will tug at your heart strings, and maybe your vocal chords, this could well be up there with that aforementioned drum beating music school drama of earlier this year. Also starring Eddie Izzard and Kathy Bates.

TESTAMENT OF YOUTH (Rated M) - Directed by James Kent, this is a true story based on the book by Vera Brittain, about her own recollection of growing up in the lead up to, during and after The Great War. After a fairly privileged upbringing in the English countryside Vera (Alicia Vikander) who shares a close bond with family and especially brother Edward (Taron Egerton) are torn asunder when her fiancé Roland Leighton (Kit Harington), and close friends Victor (Colin Moragn) and Geoffrey (Jonathan Bailey) and Edwards are sent off to fight on the front line. Having sacrificed so much her male friends and loved ones now do battle for King and Country in far away war torn lands that she decides to follow suit and so leaves her Oxford college education and joins the Voluntary Aid Detachment and travels as a nurse from London to Malta to France witnessing first hand and at close quarters the horrors of war and the implications on those closest to her. Following the war Brittain becomes a writer, a pacifist and a feminist - she died in 1970. The film also stars Dominc West and Emily Watson as Mr. & Mrs. Brittain respectively, Miranda Richardson and Hayley Attwell.

Three films to get you out and amongst it at your local independent theatre or multiplex in the coming week, and when you have done so and sat through your cinematic experience share your views and be a co-contributor to Odeon Online - we'd love to hear from you!

Movies - see as many as you can!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-