Birthday's to share this week : 22nd-28th May 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Alex Garland does on 26th May - 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 22nd May

•  Maggie Q - Born 1979, turns 37 - Actress | Producer 
•  Ann Cusack - Born 1961, turns 55 - Actress 

Monday 23rd May 

• Melissa McBride - Born 1965, turns 51 - Actress   
• Joan Collins - Born 1933, turns 83 - Actress | Producer
• Drew Carey - Born 1958, turns 58 - Television Personality | Actor | Writer | Producer  
• John Ortiz - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
• Ryan Coogler - Born 1986, turns 30 - Writer | Director
• Tom Tykwer - Born 1965, turns 51 - Writer | Producer | Director | Composer | Singer | Songwriter

Tuesday 24th May

• John C. Reilly - Born 1965, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter  
• Jim Broadbent - Born 1949, turns 67 - Actor | Writer
• Alfred Molina - Born 1953, turns 63 - Actor | Producer
• Gary Burghoff - Born 1943, turns 73 - Actor | Director
• Roger Deakins - Born 1949, turns 67 - Cinematographer | Cameraman
• Kristen Scott Thomas - Born 1960, turns 56 - Actress  

Wednesday 25th May

• Octavia Spencer - Born 1970, turns 46 - Actress | Producer  
• Jacki Weaver - Born 1947, turns 69 - Actress
• Frank Oz - Born 1944, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer
• Mike Myers - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Ian McKellen - Born 1939, turns 77 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Cillian Murphy - Born 1976, turns 40 - Actor  

Thursday 26th May

• Alex Garland - Born 1970, turns 46 - Writer | Producer | Director 
• Pam Grier - Born 1949, turns 67 - Actress
• Helena Bonham Carter - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actress | Singer  

Friday 27th May

• Paul Bettany - Born 1971, turns 45 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Joseph Fiennes - Born 1970, turns 46 - Actor
• Louis Gossett Jnr. - Born 1936, turns 80 - Actor | Producer | Director  

Saturday 28th May

• Irwin Winkler - Born 1931, turns 85 - Producer | Director | Writer  
• Kylie Minogue - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Singer
• Sondra Locke - Born 1944, turns 72 - Actress | Director
• Carey Mulligan - Born 1985, turns 31 - Actress 

Alexander Medawar Garland was born in London, England to mother Caroline Medawar, a psychoanalyst and father Nicholas Garland - a political cartoonist who drew for the likes of The Daily Telegraph and The Independent newspapers. Early on he had designs on becoming a journalist having grown up around the industry given his fathers career interests. He attended the University of Manchester and graduated in 1992 with a BA degree in History of Art.

In the early 90's whilst working dead-end jobs and claiming unemployment benefit the young Garland penned his first novel - 'The Beach' - published in 1996. It went on to become a best seller - based on a young backpackers journey through Thailand in search of an idyllic, unspoilt and legendary beach occupied only by a small community of loving, sharing, caring international backpackers. In 2000 the successful book was made into a successful film Directed by Danny Boyle and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton and Robert Carlyle. The film made US$144M off its US$50M budget.

In 1999, his follow up novel 'The Tesseract' told the story of interwoven lives of gangsters, mothers and street kids set in Manilla. Not as successful as his former novel, it was nonetheless made into a film in 2003 with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Saskia Reeves.

In 2002 he wrote the screenplay for '28 Days Later' - a post apocalyptic horror thriller that is largely credited for reinvigorating the zombie genre. Directed by Danny Boyle for just US$8M it returned US$83M and was hailed a critical and commercial success. The film starred Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Christopher Ecclestone and Naomi Harris. Garland served as Executive Producer on the 2007 follow-up '28 Weeks Later' with Robert Carlyle, Jeremy Renner, Idris Elba, Imogen Poots and Rose Byrne.

Next up, Garland wrote the screenplay for 'Sunshine' - his third collaboration with Director Danny Boyle in this Sci-Fi thriller starring Cillian Murphy again, and Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Mark Strong and Michelle Yeoh. The film receive mixed reviews and failed to make back its US$40M budget costs.

He followed this up with his next screenplay for 'Never Let Me Go' based on the Kazuo Ishiguro novel as Directed by Mark Romanek with Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Charlotte Rampling and Andrew Garfield.  This dystopian alternate time romantic drama was critically well received but less so commercially, also failing to recover its US$15M outlay. Garland acted as Executive Producer on this film too.

'Dredd' was next in 2012 which Garland wrote the Screenplay for and Produced based on the popular Sci-Fi Action comic strip 'Judge Dredd'. Directed by Pete Travis it starred Karl Urban in the title role and just about recovered its budget costs. Garland also Executive Produced 'Big Game' in 2014 with Samuel L. Jackson, Victor Garber and Jim Broadbent in this action throwback to the films of the same ilk from the 80's and 90's. It made just US$7.5M but received generally positive reviews off its limited cinema release.

In 2015 Garland made his Directing debut with 'Ex Machina' which he also wrote. This artificial intelligence thriller starred Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac, won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and gained Garland an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and all up another 59 award wins and 131 nominations. This film made a modest US$37M off its US$15M budget.

Next up Garland is Directing 'Annihilation' for which he has also written the Screenplay based on the award winning book of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer. Filming was due to start this month on this Science Fiction story which is the first in the 'Southern Reach' trilogy, for a 2017 release and stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Oscar Isaac and David Gyasi. 'Halo' has also been announced based on the hugely popular Military Science Fiction video game for which he wrote a screenplay back in 2005 and was paid US$1M to do so, but was subsequently shelved, but seems to be firmly back on the Production table.

Garland has eleven writing credits to his name, four Producer credits and two Director credits. He has seventeen awards wins under his belt and another 47 nominations. He is married to British Actress Paloma Baeza with whom he has two children - Eva and Milo.

Alex Garland - heavily influenced by science and science-fiction; a writer of compelling stories and now a Director of them too; has proven so much with relatively little; and gives us great reasons to go to the movies - Happy Birthday to you Alex, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 1st - 7th November 2015

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Tilda Swinton does on 5th November - check out the tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 55 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 1st November

• Toni Collette - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actress | Producer
• Lyle Lovett - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter
• Robert Luketic - Born 1973, turns 42 - Director

Monday 2nd November

• David Schwimmer - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Director  
• Stephanie Powers - Born 1942, turns 73 - Actress | Producer 

Tuesday 3rd November

• Kate Capshaw -  Born 1953, turns 62 - Actress | Producer 
• Roseanne Barr - Born 1952, turns 63 - Actress | Producer | Writer  
• Gary Ross - Born 1956, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Dolph Lundgren - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Dylan Moran - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actor | Writer

Wednesday 4th November

• Matthew McConaughey - Born 1969, turns 46 - Actor 
• Sean 'Puff Diddy' Combs - Born 1969, turns 46 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor 
• Ralph Macchio  - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Loretta Swit - Born 1937, turns 78 - Actress

Thursday 5th November

• Tilda Swinton - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actress | Producer | Writer  
• Famke Janssen - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director
• Tatum O'Neal - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actress
• Robert Patrick - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Sam Rockwell - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actor | Producer
• Sam Shepard - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor | Writer 

Friday 6th November

• Ethan Hawke - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Vince Colosimo  - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actor
• Adam Devine - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Lori Singer - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actress
• Thandie Newton - Born 1972, turns 43 - Actress
• Sally Field - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Emma Stone - Born 1988, turns 27 - Actress

Saturday 7th November 

• Morgan Spurlock - Born 1970, turns 45 - Writer | Producer | Director 

Katherine Matilda 'Tilda' Swinton was born in London, England to mother Judith Balfour, an Australian, and father Major General John Swinton, and Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire. Her family history can be traced back to The Middle Ages, and hers is one of only three families able to track their unbroken land rights and ancestry dating back to the time before The Norman Conquests. Swinton was privately educated at the independent schools of Queen's Gate School in London, West Heath School in Sevenoaks (where she was classmates with Lady Diana Spencer [aka Princess Diana]) and at Fettes College in Edinburgh. In 1983 she graduated from New Hall College at Cambridge University with a degree in Political and Social Sciences. Whilst at College she joined the Communist Party and then the Scottish Socialist Party, and she began stage acting too in college productions.

In 1984 she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared in 'Measure for Measure'. Her small screen break came in the mini-series 'Zastrozzi : A Romance'. That same year she worked on her first film with gay experimental Director and Cinematographer, Derek Jarman in what would become a nine year personal and professional relationship starting with 'Caravaggio' in 1986 and taking in 'The Last of England', 'War Requiem', 'The Garden', 'Edward II', 'Blue' and 'Wittgenstein' up to the point of his death in 1994 from AIDS complications.

His premature death left a massive void in Swinton's life from which it took her a long time to fully recover. During that time however, she made 'Orlando' in 1992 for Writer and Director Sally Potter, for which both the Actress and the Director won numerous Awards on the international film circuit. 'Orlando' allowed Swinton to explore her interest in gender presentation and androgyny and from that point onward and throughout her career to the present day, she has dipped in and out of small independent film fare and those more main stream, worked on foreign language offerings, with new emerging Directors, and across multiple genres as old, young, male, female, immortal and otherworldly characters.

1996 saw 'Female Perversions' with 'Conceiving Ada' in 1997, Tim Roth's Directed 'The War Zone' in 1999 with Ray Winstone and Colin Farrell, and 'The Protagonists' that same year, which saw out the decade.

As the new decade turned over there was Danny Boyle's 'The Beach' in 2000 with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Cameron Crowe's 2001 'Vanilla Sky' with an all star cast lead by Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz. Spike Jonze Directed Swinton thereafter in the 2002 'Adaptation' with Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper. The following year brought Norman Jewison's 'The Statement' with Michael Caine, Alan Bates, and Jeremy Northam. 2005 saw the supernatural horror fantasy comic book telling of 'Constantine' with Keanu Reeves, Shia LaBeouf and Djimon Hounsou.

2005 also saw Swinton's first outing as 'The White Witch' in 'The Chronicles of Narnia' series with 'The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe'. She reprised her role in 2008's 'Prince Caspian' and again in 2010 for 'The Voyage of the Dawn Trader'.

In between there was her Oscar winning role alongside George Clooney in Tony Gilroy's 'Michael Clayton' in 2007. 2008 was a busy year with 'Narnia' as well as 'Burn After Reading' with George Clooney again, and Brad Pitt for the Coen Brothers Directing, and 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' with Brad Pitt again too, and Cate Blanchett and Directed by David Fincher. 'Limits of Control' and 'I am Love' saw out the decade with the last (so far) 'Narnia' instalment in 2010.

The last five years have been equally busy in which we have seen 'We Need To Talk About Kevin', 'Moonrise Kingdom' for Wes Anderson with whom he would work again on 2014's 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'. Then there was 'Only Lovers Left Alive' with Tom Hiddleston and Mia Wasikowska and for Director Jim Jarmusch, and then the excellent 'Snowpiercer' and 'The Zero Theorem' in the meantime before this years 'Trainwreck' and 'A Bigger Splash'.



Next up is 'Hail, Caesar' for the Coen Brothers once again and also starring George Clooney, Ralph Fiennes and Josh Brolin and a whole heap of big name talent, and currently in post-production for a 2016 release. In pre-production for 2016 too is 'Okja' for Korean Director Joon-ho Boon for whom she worked on 'Snowpiercer' and the further expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 'Doctor Strange' also for 2016 and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Swinton has 71 Acting credits to her name, six Producer credits, three Writing credits and one for Directing for the documentary 'The New Ten Commandments' in 2008. She has an Academy Award and a BAFTA win for Best Supporting Actress for 'Michael Clayton' and a further 56 award wins and another 121 nominations including three Golden Globes and two other BAFTA's.

Swinton has worked with performance art in a live installation in London; with fashion designers and houses and has been often lauded as one of top world's best dressed women; and she has sat on the Jury of the Berlin, Venice, Moscow, Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. She also founded her own, in and around Scotland; has appeared in music video clips for Orbital and David Bowie and now lives in Scotland with her partner of eleven years Sandro Kopp with her twins Honor and Xavier born in October 1997 to her former partner, Scottish playwright John Byrne.

Tilda Swinton - diverse acting range, unpredictable, experimental, quirky, daringly different, ageing beautifully and gracefully and very much in demand - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

EX MACHINA - Wednesday 13th May 2015.

Alex Garland is perhaps best known for his 1996 novel 'The Beach' subsequently made into a Leonardo DiCaprio starring movie and Directed by Danny Boyle in 2000. He has also authored 'The Tesseract' and 'The Coma' and has written a number of Screenplays including '28 Days Later', 'Sunshine', 'Dredd', 'Never Let Me Go', and more recently 'EX MACHINA' which is his Directorial debut, and which I saw this week. Made for a very lean US$13M this film has already grossed twice that sum, and has proven what a deft touch Garland has as Director in putting out his first film in such a nuanced, creative and engaging way.

The story is light on characters (with just four playing out almost the entire film), but it is rich in dialogue, intrigue, atmosphere, emotion and big thought provoking ideas. As we open up we see 26 year old computer coder Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) tapping away at his office desktop computer, alerted to a signal on his screen that he is the winner. We learn subsequently that he is the winner in the office lottery, and his prize is a week in the company of the C.E.O. Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac) at his own private residence. The company in question is 'Bluebook' - the worlds number one Internet Search Engine accounting for 94% of all global Internet searches. Nathan is a genius, likened to a young Mozart, because he developed his Search Engine programme that turned him into a gazillionaire, at age 13. Now he lives a reclusive life tucked away in some remote mountain forest hideaway accessible only by helicopter - which Caleb is using to get to his destination.

When Caleb arrives there is no fanfare, no one to meet & greet, no reception committee and no welcome party. He arrives at the residence and is ordered to the front door by a robotic voice giving him instruction. He enters into a beautiful luxury home built into the side of a forested hill and largely undercover. Eventually, he meets his Host for the week - reclusive C.E.O. Nathan and after exchanging social niceties they get to know each other over a beer or two. Nathan outlines his plan for Caleb that he wants him to conduct daily test sessions with an A.I. android that he has secretly developed, and of which not another living soul is aware of. Nathan's residence is in fact a research facility - technology to the hilt, heavy security measures, monitored everywhere, and before Caleb can do anything he is made to sign a non disclosure agreement.

The test in question is 'The Turing Test' (remember 'The Imitation Game') whereby the tester interrogates the computer and if it is shown that its responses could come from an artificial intelligence or a human, and if its replies cannot be distinguished from a real human, then the test is passed, and the computer must be considered intelligent.

Initially Caleb is overwhelmed by the android's scale of intelligence, emotion, thought processes and responses. While these daily 'sessions' are ongoing Nathan observes from the CCTV, takes notes, drinks and exercises. Each day the pair meet up for dinner to discuss the days learning's, Caleb's opinions and what he has learned and what he has observed of Ava the android (Alicia Vikander). As the days progress and the sessions develop into more complex conversations so Caleb and Ava seem to connect more & more and a bond begins to form. Ava though is able to exert some power over the technological fortress in which she lives and which she knows no different by creating a power surge and so knocking out the electricity supply temporarily, so that Nathan loses all audio/visual contact. During these periods she alerts Caleb that Nathan is not all he seems, that he cannot be trusted, and that there is more to the facility than first appears.

As the days move on we are introduced to Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno) who is a resident Chief Cook & Bottlewasher Assistant to Nathan, and at his every whim it appears. Through his own observations, clandestine discoveries and the bond he forges with Ava, Caleb comes to learn that Nathan is guarding more secrets within his research facility despite his seemingly open and affable approach - for the most part, and when he's not blind drunk. Going through his lab one afternoon Nathan shows off his creation to Caleb and how he created the artificial chemical brain for Ava and downloaded its intelligence from the billions of users at Bluebook. He then talks about future versions of his android and killing off Ava to recycle her for the next more advanced upgrade.

As the week draws to a close Caleb and Ava hatch a plan to derail Nathans plans, and escape from the  facility, but both are seemingly unaware that he has been watching them while they have been watching him! In the end as the big reveals come and the tension mounts it doesn't end well for anyone, but there is no doubting that the most intelligent one rules the day . . . and so it is here!

The film, on its modest budget, is beautifully crafted and has the look & feel of a film of three times its outlay. The story is solid, the dialogue intelligent, the performances are strong particularly that of Vikander who it seems here can't put a robotic foot wrong, and visually the film scores very highly. Garland has done a fine job for his first Directing gig with an offering that will provoke thought and discussion, stir the emotions and leave you wondering what if? You don't have to see this on the big screen, but you won't be disappointed if you do.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 9th - 15th November 2014.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? Leonardo DiCaprio does, on 11th November - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy 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 or 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 9th November

• Lou Ferrigno - Born 1951, turns 63 - Actor | Bodybuilder
• Tony Slattery - Born 1959, turns 55 - Actor | Writer | Television Personality

Monday 10th November

• Walton Goggins - Born 1971, turns 43 - Actor | Producer
• Roland Emmerich - Born 1955, turns 59 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Ennio Morricone - Born 1928, turns 86 - Composer

Tuesday 11th November

• Leonardo DiCaprio - Born 1974, turns 40 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Stanley Tucci - Born 1960, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Scoot McNairy - Born 1977, turns 37 - Actor | Producer
• Demi Moore - Born 1962, turns 52 - Actress | Producer
• Calista Flockhart - Born 1964, turns 50 - Actress

Wednesday 12th November

• Anne Hathaway - Born 1982, turns 32 - Actress | Singer
• Radha Mitchell - Born 1973, turns 41 - Actress | Producer
• Ryan Gosling - Born 1980, turns 34 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Neil Young - Born 1945, turns 69 - Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Writer | Producer | Actor

Thursday 13th November

• Gerard Butler - Born 1969, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
• Steve Zahn - Born 1967, turns 47 - Actor
• Jimmy Kimmel - Born 1967, turns 47 - Television Personality | Writer | Producer | Actor
• Whoopi Goldberg - Born 1955, turns 59 - Actress | Producer | Writer

Friday 14th November

• Olga Kurylenko - Born 1979, turns 35 - Actress
• Josh Duhamel - Born 1972, turns 42 - Actor
• Patrick Warburton - Born 1964, turns 50 - Actor

Saturday 15th November

• Jonny Lee Miller - Born 1972, turns 42 - Actor
• Edward Asner - Born 1929, turns 85 - Actor
• Yaphet Kotto - Born 1939, turns 75 - Actor
• Sam Waterston - Born 1940, turns 74 - Actor
• Shailene Woodley - Born 1991, turns 23 - Actress

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, California to mother Irmelin Indebirken and father George Paul Di Caprio with German/Russian ancestry on his mothers side and German/Italian on his fathers. Raised as an only child his parents divorced when he was just a year old - his father was a renowned underground comic/graphic novel artist who produced and distributed such material too, and his mother was a legal secretary.

Growing up he attended the Los Angeles Centre for Enriched Studies, then Seeds Elementary School and John Marshall High School which he dropped out of having completed his third year. Some of his childhood was spent in Germany with his maternal grandparents, and as a result he speaks fluent German. His parents recognised early on that that young Leonardo had some talent in performance art, and so signed him up with a talent agent. From this DiCaprio gained some exposure on television commercials and educational programmes. In 1990 he landed a spot on the TV Series spin-off of the movie of the same name 'Parenthood' which brought some critical acclaim and a couple of award nominations. He also gained exposure on other TV shows including 'The New Lassie', 'Roseanne' and on the short-lived soap opera 'Santa Barbara'.

His film debut came in 1993 in the direct-to-video comedy Sci-Fi horror offering 'Critters 3' which was followed by a regular stint on the short-lived ABC Sit-Com 'Growing Pains'. This in turn led to DiCaprio being singled out in a casting call by Robert De Niro to star alongside him in the 1992 film 'This Boys Life', which then gave rise to 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' in 1993 playing the mentally handicapped brother to Johnny Depp's lead character. This role brought critical acclaim and DiCaprio's first Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations.

1996 brought further attention with Baz Luhrmann's modern retelling of 'Romeo+Juliet' with Claire Danes. Made for a modest US$10M it raked in almost ten times that amount, and started to polarise DiCaprio as the young heart-throb actor of the moment. This was further reinforced a year later when James Cameron cast him as the young Jack Dawson in 'Titanic' - a role he was reluctant to take on at first. Made for US$200M it grossed US$2.2B almost globally and until 2010 was the highest grossing film of all time, and turned DiCaprio into a bonafide commercial film superstar and global heart-throb phenomenon. For his role in 'Titanic' DiCaprio earned US$2.5M.

As the decade closed out starring roles followed, now that he had proved himself in the 'Titanic' blockbuster - but these were to less critical acclaim than those aforementioned, and included 'The Man in the Iron Mask' and 'The Beach'. The first half of the new century brought new and diverse roles, challenging characters, rich stories and acclaimed acting and Directing talent with which to work.  Notable outings included 'Catch Me if You Can' with Steven Spielberg in 2002, 'Gangs of New York' with Martin Scorsese that same year, 'The Aviator' in 2004 again with Scorsese, 'Blood Diamond' in 2006 with Edward Zwick and also that year 'The Departed' again with Scorsese. All of these were critically and financially successful, and garnered DiCaprio further award nominations and wins.

The years that followed brought other high profile Directors and opportunities with which to stretch his talents - 'Body of Lies' with Sir Ridley Scott, 'Revolutionary Road' with Sam Mendes, and in 2010 with Scorsese again on 'Shutter Island', and later that year with Christopher Nolan on 'Inception' - the latter turning in US$825M worldwide off a US$160M budget. Clint Eastwood also beckoned next Directing him in his Bio-Pic of J. Edgar Hoover in 'J.Edgar' in 2011, and this was followed up in 2012 with his turn as Calvin Candy in Quentin Tarrantino's 'Django Unchained', and then Baz Luhrmann once again in 2013 for 'The Great Gatsby'. These latter two were also financially successful earning US$425M and US$350M respectively. Next up was his fifth collaboration with Martin Scorsese playing Jordan Belfort in 'The Wolf of Wall Street' released early in 2014 and to date has grossed almost US$400M with further accolades bestowed. Next up is 'The Reverant' for a 2015/16 release and is filming now and Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

DiCaprio has 37 acting credits thus far to his name and 16 credits as a Producer. His other films include 'The Quick and The Dead', 'The Basketball Diaries', 'Total Eclipse', 'Marvin's Room', 'Celebrity' and 'Don's Plum'.  He has 51 worldwide awards wins and 122 other nominations, and these include : Academy Award nominations for 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape', 'The Aviator', 'Blood Diamond' and 'The Wolf of Wall Street' as well as a Best Picture nomination for 'The Wolf of Wall Street' on which he was also Producer. He won the Golden Globe Award too for 'The Wolf of Wall Street' and 'The Aviator' plus eight other nominations, and he has received to date three BAFTA nominations for 'The Wolf of Wall Street', 'The Departed' and 'The Aviator'.

He is environmentally very active advocating that global warming is 'the number one environmental challenge'. He was appointed in September this year as the United Nations Representative on Climate Change. He donated US$1M to earthquake relief in Haiti in 2010, and later that same year a further US$1M to the 'Wildlife Conservation Society'. He is also an activist for the 'Animal Legal Defence Fund' and actively supports gay rights. He is unmarried but his dating exploits with models and actresses is well documented in the media.

Starting out DiCaprio earned US$75K for 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' in 1993, compared to the US$20M price tag he received for each of 'The Beach', 'Catch Me if You Can', 'The Aviator', 'The Departed', 'Blood Diamond' and 'The Great Gatsby'. By comparison he earned all up US$59M from 'Inception'. Clearly with such a filmic pedigree, the pulling power he has to open and establish a movie, and his Production capability and earnings too he is a Hollywood force to contend with - and he turns only 40 today, on 11th November 2014.

Leonardo DiCaprio - diverse and exciting film career, huge pulling power, Scorsese collaborator, extensive emotional range, talented beyond question, and a man on an environmental mission - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-