Birthday's to share this week : 3rd - 9th May 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Rosario Dawson does on 9th May - check out the tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 36, 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 3rd May

• Amy Ryan - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress
• Rob Brydon - Born 1965, turns 50 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Television Personality
• Joseph Kosinski - Born 1974, turns 41 - Director | Producer | Writer

Monday 4th May

• Will Arnett - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actor | Writer | Producer
• Rolf de Heer - Born 1951, turns 64 - Director | Writer | Producer

Tuesday 5th May

• Henry Cavill - Born 1983, turns 32 - Actor | Producer
• John Rhys-Davies - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor
• Lance Henrikson - Born 1940, turns 75 - Actor
• Richard E. Grant - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor | Director
• Michael Palin - Born 1943, turns 72 - Actor | Writer

Wednesday 6th May

• George Clooney - Born 1961, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Alan Dale - Born 1947, turns 68 - Actor

Thursday 7th May

• Richard O'Sullivan - Born 1944, turns 71 - Actor
• Alexander Ludwig - Born 1992, turns 23 - Actor
• Traci Lords - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress

Friday 8th May

• David Attenborough - Born 1926, turns 89 - Naturalist | Television Personality | Producer
• Michel Gondry - Born 1963, turns 52 - Director | Producer | Writer

Saturday 9th May

• Albert Finney - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actor
• James L. Brooks - Born 1940, turns 75 - Writer | Producer | Director
• Alan Bennet - Born 1934, turns 81 - Writer | Actor
• Rosario Dawson - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actress | Producer
• Candice Bergen - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress | Producer
• Glenda Jackson - Born 1936, turns 79 - Actress

Rosario Isabel Dawson was born in New York City to mother Isabel Celeste, a writer/singer of Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban origins. Isabel was just 16 when Rosario was born, and her biological father Patrick Harris moved on and the two never married. The young mother to Rosario married construction worker Greg Dawson a year later, and he brought Rosario up as though she were his own, and it is her whom Rosario has always referred to as Dad. Isabel and Greg had a son together - Rosario's half-brother Clay - the couple divorced in 2001.

In the mid-80's Isabel and Greg moved the growing family into an abandoned building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan where the two fixed up the plumbing and the electrics and created for themselves somewhere affordable for the young family to live and grow. During this time other family members came and went and took an active part in caring for the young Rosario and Clay - most of whom were also on the poverty line.

Dawson's first screen appearance came briefly on 'Sesame Street', and was discovered subsequently at age 15 by photographer Larry Clark and the young writer at the time Harmony Korine for a film script he was penning - 'Kids' about a 24 hour snapshot into the sex and drug fuelled lives of the New York teenage skater community. Rosario got the part in the 1995 controversial film, and from there scored a few roles in the latter half of the 90's including Spike Lee's 'He Got Game' with Denzel Washington and 'Light It Up' with Forest Whitaker.

With an active interest too in singing, Dawson teamed up with Prince for the re-release of his 80's smash '1999' in 1999, and subsequently with The Chemical Brothers on 'Out of Control' and then OutKast on 'Speakerboxxx/The Love Below' double album.

As the new decade clicked over smaller supporting roles came along, with the likes of 'Down to You', 'Josie and the Pussycats', 'Sidewalks of New York', 'Chelsea Walls' Directed by Ethan Hawke, and then 'Men In Black II' and a reteaming with Spike Lee on '25th Hour' with Edward Norton and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

By the middle of the decade more substantial fare was coming with the likes of 'Alexander' for Oliver Stone, 'Sin City' for Robert Rodriguez, 'Rent' for Chris Columbus for which she could add her singing talents, 'Death Proof' for Quentin Tarantino, 'Killshot' for John Madden, and several others starring such names as Will Smith, Mickey Rourke, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shia LeBeouf, Bruce Willis, Robert Downey Jnr., and Channing Tatum.

From here too there have been several television shows over the years including 'Robot Chicken', Gemini Division', and most recently 'Daredevil', and a song too on the Kasabian album on 'West Ryder Silver Bullet'.

After 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief' in 2010, there was 'Unstoppable' for Tony Scott and starring Denzel Washington, 'Zookeeper', 'Fire with Fire', '10 Years', 'Trance' for Danny Boyle and 'Sin City : A Dame to Kill For' for Robert Rodriguez once more and reprising her role as Gail. Most recently there has been Chris Rock's 'Top Five', with 'Puerto Rican's in Paris' currently in post-production for later this year and 'Clerks III' due for a 2016 release. Dawson has lent her voice talents to several video games including 'Syndicate', 'Wonder Woman', 'Tinkerbell and the Legend of the NeverBeast' and 'Justice League : Throne of Atlantis'.

She has 66 acting credits to her name, three Producer credits and has performed songs on 'Pluto Nash', 'Rent' and 'Trance'. Dawson is the winner of nine awards for her film roles and a further 31 nominations. She also co-created the comic book 'Occult Crimes Taskforce' in 2006, and has her own Production Company called 'Trybe'.

Dawson remains single but has been romantically linked to Actor Jason Lewis until late 2006, and more recently to Danny Boyle her Director on 'Trance'. She is actively involved in numerous charities and care organisations including Global Cool, the ONE Campaign, Oxfam, Amnesty International, and PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians And Gays). She is also a spokesperson for Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, National Geographic Society and The Nature Conservancy.

Rosario Dawson - beautiful, multi-talented, dramatic, comedic, philanthropic and not afraid to push the boundaries. So much more still to come - Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week - Thursday 12th March 2015.

Having moved to South Australia recently and taking up residency in Adelaide, and full time work, I have suddenly become more appreciative of the time that I hitherto had available to dedicate to your favourite movie Blog . . . Odeon Online. Now I find myself gainfully employed in this great city and scratching around finding time to write my Blog Posts and provide you with the filmic feedback you have become accustomed to. Undeterred by this minor set back, I carry on regardless in the hope that I can do justice to your insatiable appetite for all things from moviedom!

And so to this weeks new release movies coming to a theatre near you from this Thursday. First up an already much touted, much lauded 70's American stoner pot-infused beach side whodunit with an all star cast and an acclaimed maverick Director at the helm; then another future offering from an increasingly rising star Director creating unique dystopian experiences that have surprised and delighted audiences for their creativity and unique story lines; onto a real life mid-80's kidnapping involving a Beer Baron and a bunch of hapless miscreants who win the biggest ransom monies ever paid; and then we close out with two comedies made on either side of the pond that are likely to find an audience and divide them at the same time!

With this synopsis done, and your film choice(s) made for the week ahead, when you have seen your chosen movie, drop us a line or two at Odeon Online in the Comments section following this or any Post and share your thoughts and opinions with our ever expanding readership. Enjoy your film!

INHERENT VICE (Rated MA15+) - based on the book of the same name by Thomas Pynchon, this is the latest offering from Director, Producer and Screenwriter Paul Thomas Anderson lining up a strong cast to deliver this 70's stoner story of pot-addled Private Detective Larry 'Doc' Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) who in his drug infused stupor takes on three cases at once that all intertwine but seemingly go nowhere. Destined to collide, confuse and cajole you into thinking that this should all makes sense when it probably doesn't, Larry is on the case of his ex-girlfriends real estate developer boyfriend Mickey Wolfmann (Eric Roberts) whose wife is manufacturing a plot to have him committed to a mental institution.

Subsequently, Doc meets up with a member of the 'Black Guerrilla Family' who hires him to find a guy he met in jail, and who owes him money and just happens to be the bodyguard of Mickey Wolfmann! Next up Doc is hired by the wife of Coy Harlingen (Owen Wilson) who is missing and whom she believes is dead, but this is really not the case as we later discover. A drug smuggling boat appears on the scene that has links back to the mental institution that Wolfmann gets admitted to by his estranged wife, and the last time that boat sailed Doc's ex-girlfriend was aboard! If all this sounds confusing there are further plot twists and turns to throw you off the scent involving Detective Christian F. 'Bigfoot' Bjornsen (Josh Brolin) who works for the LAPD and Doc's Attorney Sauncho Smilax (Benicio del Toro), a stash of heroin, police paid killings for cash, baseball bat collections and more smoke & mirrors than you could shine a torch at! Sounds like it could be mind-bending fun . . . if you can get your head around it!

CHAPPIE (Rated MA15+) - Neill Blomkamp is back Directing his own story that he made into a short film back in 2004 - 'Tetra Vaal' and hot on the heels of 'District 9' in 2009 and then 'Elysium' in 2013, both starring his acting stablemate Sharlto Copley who takes the lead role here as 'Chappie'. Set in the not too distant future and again in Johannesburg, crime is managed on the streets by a mechanical police force (you can be forgiven for thinking 'Robocop' here!). As the people begin to rebel against robotic law enforcement, one such droid (Chappie) is stolen and reprogrammed with the ability to think for itself, and have feelings and emotions. This is done by Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) who has to go against the company producing the robots in the first place and a rival inventor Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) who has developed an inferior product dependant on human operation, unlike Chappie. As Chappie learns and adopts more and more human traits so the opposition against it/him grows to the point where despite his law enforcement success there are those who see him/it as a threat to humanity and are determined to ensure that Chappie is both the first, and last, of its kind. Containing many of the Blomkamp trademarks we have come to expect, this latest offering looks like it could be a lot of fun, combining action, a future vision and heart.

KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN (Rated M) - back in November 1983, Dutch Beer Baron, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the global beer brewing giant Heineken International, Alfred 'Freddy' Heineken (Anthony Hopkins) was kidnapped and held for ransom. In a plot that was in the making for over two years the perpetrators of this crime Cor Van Hout (Jim Sturgees), Willem Holleeder (Sam Worthington), Jan Bollard (Ryan Kwanten), Martin Erkamps (Thomas Cocquerel)  and Frans Meijer (Mark van Eeuwen) successfully pulled off the kidnapping crime of the century that resulted in the payment of the biggest ransom ever paid (16 million Euros). For a number of years the childhood mates got away with their crime spreading themselves far and wide, but were eventually captured and punished for their crimes with prison sentences. This films tells that story starring some big names and Directed by Daniel Alfredson, but if it is enough to maintain your attention and give you enough of a thrill given the subject matter only you can decide.

MANNY LEWIS (Rated M) - Aussie comic Carl Barron stars here as famous fictional stand-up comedian Manny Lewis who has confidence, respect and success at the hands of millions of loyal fans for whom he can perform every night as part of his comedic routine. But can he connect on a personal and emotional level with one single woman? Meeting Maria (Leeanna Walsman) with whom he is first introduced to over an adult chat line and then coincidentally face to face in a cafe over a latte, neither of them are aware of their previous telephone 'introduction', as in time their relationship begins to blossom. When Manny discovers Maria's 'other life', he is at the same time invited to break into the potentially lucrative American market, and so must decide which path to take that will allow him to move on and be truly happy!

TOP 5 (Rated MA15+) - Chris Rock here Writes, Directs and Stars at Andre Allen - a hugely successful stand up comedian with a successful trilogy of comedy films behind him in which he stars as an action talking bear hero. His reality TV Star fiancee tries to persuade him that they should broadcast their upcoming wedding on  her TV show, and at the same time he has to be spend a day with reporter Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson) who is interested in Allen's move into serious film making despite the opposition from his legions of fans that he should return to stand-up and his action bear comedy film franchise. From what I have seen this is a series of comedy sketches loosely knitted together to form some sort of story that passes off for a film of rediscovery, awakening and realisation   with as much cursing, abuse, disrespect and non-PC one liners that you are likely to expect from Chris Rock! I'm sure it will find an audience!

That's it for this week then - five films to tease you out on an early Autumn evening in Adelaide, Sydney or wherever you may happen to reside in close proximity to a movie theatre. Enjoy the experience, share your views and keep watching!

Movies - see one this week . . . at least!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-