Birthday's to share this week : 29th January - 4th February 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Isla Fisher does on 3rd February - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 41, 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 29th January

• Katherine Ross - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actress
• Oprah Winfrey - Born 1954, turns 63 - Television Personality | Actress | Producer
• Heather Graham - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Director | Singer
• Isabel Lucas - Born 1985, turns 32 - Actress
• Tom Selleck - Born 1945, turns 72 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Edward Burns - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Monday 30th January

• Gene Hackman - Born 1930, turns 87 - Actor
• Christian Bale - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor
• Vanessa Redgrave - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Tuesday 31st January

• Minnie Driver - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress | Producer | Singer  
• Portia de Rossi - Born 1973, turns 44 - Actress
• Philip Glass - Born 1937, turns 80 - Composer | Musician | Songwriter
• Anthony LaPaglia - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actor | Producer
• Dexter Fletcher - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Justin Timberlake - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer

Wednesday 1st February

• Terry Jones - Born 1942, turns 75 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Linus Roache - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor
• Michael C. Hall - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Singer  

Thursday 2nd February

• David Jason - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Gemma Arterton - Born 1986, turns 31 - Actress | Singer  

Friday 3rd February

• Morgan Fairchild - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress | Singer
• Isla Fisher - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress
• Nathan Lane - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Singer  

Saturday 4th February

• George A. Romero - Born 1940, turns 77 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor
• Patrick Bergin - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actor | Singer | Songwriter
• Gabrielle Anwar - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actress
• Natalie Imbruglia - Bron 1975, turns 42 - Actress | Singer | Songwriter

Isla Lang Fisher was born in Muscat, Oman to Scottish parents - mother Elspeth Reid, a romance novelist and father Brian Fisher, a banker who worked in Oman for the United Nations at the time of her birth. The family moved back to their hometown of Bathgate, in Scotland when Isla was young and then to Perth in Western Australia at age six. There she attended Swanbourne Primary School and then the independent Methodist Ladies College. Whilst at school she appeared in several school productions including 'Little Shop of Horrors'. Her acting career kicked off at just nine years of age appearing in kids television shows 'Bay City' and 'Paradise Beach' as Robyn Devereaux which ran for two series over 260 episodes from 1993 through 1994, and was syndicated across eleven countries including the USA, UK and France. This in turn led to her being cast in the role of Shannon Reed in the hugely popular long running Australian soap opera 'Home and Away' in which she starred in 376 episodes from 1994 through to 1997. In the meantime, she published two best selling novels at age eighteen aimed at the teenage market - 'Bewitched' and 'Seduced by Fame' with the help of her mother. Had her acting career not taken off, she would happily have become a writer.

After exiting the cast of 'Home and Away', she enrolled at L'Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq - a school in Paris where the physical art of theatre is studied emphasising the body, movement and space as the entry point in theatrical performance. Armed with these skills she appeared in a number of UK pantomimes and in a number of stage plays travelling the country. She went on to roles in the ITV mini-series 'Oliver Twist' in 1999, then an episode on the BBC series 'Sunburn' and then in 2001 in the mini-series 'Attila' with Gerard Butler, Powers Booth, Steven Berkoff, Liam Cunningham and Tim Curry. In 2001 she gained her first major role in the German slasher horror film 'Swimming Pool' (aka 'The Pool') alongside James McAvoy. She followed this with her role as Shaggy's love interest as Mary Jane in 2002's live action adaptation of 'Scooby Doo'. The film received generally lacklustre Reviews but it grossed US$276M from its US$84M budget outlay.

The Australian comedy 'The Wannabes' followed in 2003 with a bit part in Scott Caan's Directing debut 'Dallas 362' alongside Scott Caan, Jeff Goldblum and Selma Blair. 'I Heart Huckabees' came next with an all star cast as Directed by David O. Russell, and then 'Wedding Crashers' with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson winning the Actress a Breakthrough Performance Award. 'London' followed with Chris Evans, Jason Statham and Jessica Biel, and then RomCom 'Wedding Daze' with Jason Biggs in 2006. Crime film 'Lookout' came next with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels, then comedy offering 'Hot Rod' and then the romantic dramedy 'Definitely, Maybe' with Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Kline, Rachel Weisz, and Abigail Breslin. 'Confessions of a Shopaholic', another RomCom, closed out the decade with Fisher in the starring role alongside John Lithgow, John Goodman, Hugh Dancy, Kristin Scott Thomas and Lynn Redgrave.

2010 brought 'Burke and Hare' - the black comedy Directed by John Landis and starring Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis in the title roles respectively. This was followed up by the RomCom 'Bachelorette' with Kirsten Dunst, Rebel Wilson and Lizzy Caplan, before Baz Luhrmann's epic retelling of 'The Great Gatsby' with Fisher starring as Myrtle Wilson beside Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, Carey Mulligan and Jason Clarke. The film made US$351M at the Box Office from its US$105M investment and won 46 awards (including two Oscar's and two BAFTA's) and another 74 nominations. That same year, Fisher starred in 'Now You See Me' as Henley Reeves with Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. The film was a critical and commercial success, although Fisher was unable to reprise her role in the 2016 follow-up and was replaced by Lizzie Caplan.

The crime comedy 'Life of Crime' with Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins and Will Forte came along in 2013, and was followed up in 2015 by supernatural horror straight to video offering 'Visions'. A cameo role as herself in 'Klown Forever' in 2015 led to action comedy 'Grimsby' with Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Rebel Wilson and Penelope Cruz. Tom Ford's acclaimed 'Nocturnal Animals' in late 2016 with Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson and the critical and commercial failure 'Keeping Up with the Joneses' saw out 2016 and brings us up to date.

In the meantime, Fisher lent her voice talents to the animated features 'Horton Hears a Who!' in 2008, to 'Rango' in 2011, and to 'Rise of the Guardians' in 2012. She also has had appearances in several television series including 'Pilot Season', the animated 'Neighbors from Hell', 'Bored to Death', 'Arrested Development' and animated series 'Sofia the First' most recently.

All up, Fisher has 44 acting credits to her name, and she has thus far accumulated four award wins and ten nominations. She married to English Actor, Producer, Comedian and Screenwriter Sacha Baron Cohen having met at a party in Sydney, Australia in 2002. They were married in a Jewish ceremony in 2010 after Fisher converted to Judaism after three years of study in 2007. They have three children together - daughters Olive (born in 2008) and Elula (born in 2011) and son Montgomery (born in 2015). Fisher published her first solo written children's book 'Marge in Charge' in 2016.

Isla Fisher - voted on numerous 'Top' lists, often mistaken for friend Amy Adams; wanted to marry Elvis Presley when she was young even though he died in 1977 and she was born in 1976; often plays in RomCom's and comedies, but is also playing it straight in horrors, in crime dramas, in animated productions leaving only Sci-Fi on her list to tick off. Committed to her husband and her children, committed to her new religious beliefs, loves acting saying it is the greatest fun in the world and considers herself 'very Australian'. A child actress who has blossomed into a children's author, a leading lady, and an in demand supporting Actress, Happy Birthday to you Isla, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 22nd - 28th January 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Rosamund Pike does on 27th January - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 38, 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 January

• Piper Laurie - Born 1932, turns 85 - Actress
• Linda Blair - Born 1959, turns 58 - Actress
• Diane Lane - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actress
• John Hurt - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor
• Jim Jarmusch - Born 1953, turns 64 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor | Composer  

Monday 23rd January

• Shin'ichi (Sonny) Chiba - Born 1939, turns 78 - Actor | Producer | Director | Stuntman
• Rutger Hauer - Born 1944, turns 73 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Richard Dean Anderson - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actor | Producer
• Richard Roxburgh - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Ewen Bremner - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actor | Producer  

Tuesday 24th January

• Adrian Edmondson - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Ed Helms - Born 1974, turns 43 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer
• Nastassja Kinski - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actress | Producer  

Wednesday 25th January

• Tobe Hooper - Born 1943, turns 74 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Composer
• Whit Stillman - Born 1952, turns 65 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Thursday 26th January

• Scott Glenn - Born 1941, turns 76 - Actor
• David Strathairn - Born 1949, turns 68 - Actor
• Ellen DeGeneres - Born 1958, turns 59 - Television Personality | Actress | Writer | Producer  

Friday 27th January

• Mimi Rogers - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actress | Producer
• Bridget Fonda - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actress
• Rosamund Pike - Born 1979, turns 38 - Actress
• James Cromwell - Born 1940, turns 77 - Actor | Producer
• Frank Miller - Born 1957, turns 60 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor
• Alan Cumming - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer  

Saturday 28th January

• Alan Alda - Born 1936, turns 81 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Frank Darabont - Born 1959, turns 58 - Writer | Producer | Director | Actor
• Elijah Wood - Born 1981, turns 36 - Actor | Producer | Singer
• Will Poulter - Born 1993, turns 24 - Actor | Writer  

Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike was born in London, England, to mother Caroline and father Julian Pike - both opera singers. Her father currently works at the Birmingham Conservatoire as Professor of Music and Head of Operatic Studies. Her parents work commitments saw the family travel extensively across Europe in Rosamund's earlier years up until when she was seven or so years of age. She won a scholarship to the  acclaimed independent Badminton Girls School, near Bristol, and while appearing in a production of 'Romeo and Juliet' as Juliet at the National Youth Theatre was noticed by a talent agent, who aided her in her early professional acting career aspirations. She eventually secured a place to study English Literature at Wadham College, at Oxford University from where she graduated. She took a year off to pursue her acting, gaining stage appearances in 'Skylight', 'All My Sons' and several Shakespeare plays. She graduated with a degree in 2001.

While still studying at Oxford she acted and Directed various stage plays, and from 1998 gained work on television. These included appearances on the Sci-Fi pilot for 'Seven Days' as a CIA Agent, the made for TV movie 'A Rather English Marriage', on three episodes of the BBC four part mini-series 'Wives and Daughters', on one episode of the Police procedural drama series 'Trial and Retribution' and then the two part 'Love in a Cold Climate'. In 2002 however, Pike gained her big screen debut playing Bond girl Miranda Frost, an undercover MI6 Agent and double agent to Pierce Brosnan's James Bond in Lee Tamahori's 'Die Another Day' - the twentieth film in the forty year running franchise. Whilst the film gained mixed critical reviews it did bring in US$432M and was the highest grossing Bond film of all-time, up to that point.

From here Pike has rarely been very far away from our big screens. In 2004 she starred in the Israeli film 'Promised Land', and then 'The Libertine' with Johnny Depp and John Malkovich. 2005 followed with Joe Wrights adaptation of 'Pride & Prejudice' with Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Donald Sutherland and Judi Dench and then a complete change of pace and genre with the Sci-Fi action horror offering 'Doom' with Karl Urban and Dwayne Johnson. 'Fracture' came next in 2007 with Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling and David Strathairn, then 'Fugitive Pieces', 'An Education' with Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper and Emma Thompson and then a return to Sci-Fi action mystery with Jonathan Mostow's 'Surrogates' with Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, and James Cromwell seeing out the decade. In the meantime, there had been further small screen appearances too on 'Foyle's War', 'The Tower' and made for television film 'Freewill'.

As the decade turned over there was the satirical thriller 'Burning Palms', comedy drama 'Barney's Version' with Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman and Minnie Driver, the British film 'Made in Dagenham' with Bob Hoskins and then the Bond spoof 'Johnny English Reborn' with Rowan Atkinson which was a commercial success raking in US$160M from its US$45M budget outlay, but less of a critical one. 'The Big Year' with Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson came along in 2011 and bombed at the Box Office, unlike Pike's follow up film as Queen Andromeda in the epic adventure action fantasy 'Wrath of the Titans' with an all star cast featuring Sam Worthington, Bill Nighy, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Edgar Ramirez, Danny Huston and Toby Kebbel. That film made US$306M at the global Box Office from its US$150M budget but fared well less well critically too.

The first instalment in big screen adaptation of Lee Child's character 'Jack Reacher' was released in 2012 with Pike starring as defence lawyer Helen Rodin opposite Tom Cruise as former US Military Police Officer turned drifter and righter or wrongs Jack Reacher.  The film recovered US$219M from its US$60M outlay, and has so far spawned one sequel - last years 'Jack Reacher : Never Go Back'. 'The Devil You Know' and then Edgar Wright's end of the world Sci-Fi comedy 'The World's End' with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Pierce Brosnan, Eddie Marsan and Paddy Considine was released in 2013 to widespread critical acclaim. Pike teamed up with Brosnan for the third time in Nick Hornby's black comedy adaptation of 'A Long Way Down'. She also paired up with Simon Pegg again in 'Hector and the Search for Happiness' which also starred Toni Collette - her Co-Star from 'A Long Way Down'.

'What We Did On Our Holiday' was her third film offering of 2014, and closing out that year was David Fincher's acclaimed psychological thriller 'Gone Girl' in which Pike starred as Amy Dunne the missing and deranged wife opposite Ben Affleck's Nick Dunne. The film grossed US$370M from its US$61M budget, and garnered Pike her first Best Actress Academy Award nomination, as well as Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG, and AACTA nods. All up the film received 64 award wins and a further 171 nominations.



2015 saw 'Return to Sender' with 'A United Kingdom' released just before Christmas and in the US not until early February. Here Pike stars opposite David Oyelowo in this biographical romantic drama film set in the late '40's when Seretse Khama, the Prince of Bechuanaland meets and falls in love with Ruth Williams, a London office clerk, and the couple have to deal with the fall out from their frowned upon inter-racial, mixed colour union.




Since 2015 Pike has voiced the characters of Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and Captain Ridley O'Bannon in the remake of the cult '60's Gerry and Sylvia Anderson television series 'Thunderbirds' with this updated telling 'Thunderbirds Are Go' across two seasons so far and 39 episodes. Next up and due for release in 2017 are 'Hostiles', a Western with Christian Bale, Jesse Plemons, Stephen Lang and Ben Foster; 'High Wire Act', an action thriller with Jon Hamm; 'Entebbe' based on the 1976 terrorist hijacking of a passenger plane forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda, also starring Daniel Bruhl; and 'The Man with the Iron Heart' (formerly known as 'HHhH') with Mia Wasikowska, Jason Clarke and Jack O'Connell. Then due in 2018 and currently in pre-production is 'The Bends' another action thriller.

All up Pike has 42 Acting credits under her belt, excluding a number of stage acting roles, has one Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe, SAG and AACTA nomination for her role in 'Gone Girl' and all told has so far accumulated 29 award wins and a total 51 other nominations. She was previously engaged to Director and Producer Joe Wright, and has since been in a steady relationship with mathematical researcher Robie Uniacke since 2009 and they have two sons together - Solo (born in 2012) and Atom (born in 2014).

Rosamund Pike - an English rose, never typecast and plays to her strengths, has been awarded as a Bond Girl and for 'Gone Girl', plays the cello and the piano, speaks both French and German, has the looks and increasingly the star power, and is very clearly in demand on stage, television and the big screen. Happy Birthday to you Rosamund, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 15th - 21st January 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Damien Chazelle does on 19th January - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 32, 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 15th January

• Mario Van Peebles - Born 1957, turns 60 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter
• James Nesbitt - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor
• Ryan Corr - Born 1989, turns 28 - Actor  

Monday 16th January

• John Carpenter - Born 1948, turns 69 - Director | Writer | Producer | Actor | Composer | Songwriter | Musician
• Debbie Allen - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress | Producer | Director | Choreographer | Singer | Songwriter  

Tuesday 17th January

• Zooey Deschanel - Born 1980, turns 37 - Actress | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• James Earl Jones - Born 1931, turns 86 - Actor
• Kevin Reynolds - Born 1952, turns 65 - Director | Writer
• Brian Helgeland - Born 1961, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Jim Carrey - Born 1962, turns 55 - Actor | Writer | Producer | Singer
• Naveen Andrews - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor
• Leigh Whannell - Born 1977, turns 40 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor  

Wednesday 18th January

• John Boorman - Born 1933, turns 84 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Kevin Costner - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Mark Rylance - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor
• David Ayer - Born 1968, turns 49 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Dave Bautista - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
• Jason Segel - Born 1980, turns 37 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Singer | Songwriter  

Thursday 19th January

• Antoine Fuqua - Born 1966, turns 51 - Director | Producer
• Nash Edgerton - Born 1973, turns 44 - Stuntman | Actor | Writer | Producer | Director
• Damien Chazelle - Born 1985, turns 32 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Friday 20th January

• Tom Baker - Born 1934, turns 83 - Actor
• David Lynch - Born 1946, turns 71 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor | Editor | Composer | Singer | Songwriter
• Skeet Ulrich - Born 1970, turns 47 - Actor
• Omar Sy - Born 1978, turns 39 - Actor | Producer | Writer  

Saturday 21st January

• Luke Grimes - Born 1984, turns 33 - Actor
• Geena Davis - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actress | Producer

Damien Sayre Chazelle was born in Providence, Rhode Island to mother Celia Martin, a writer and Professor of History at The College of New Jersey, and father Bernard Chazelle, a Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. He has a sister Anna, who is an actress and circus performer. He attended the comprehensive public Princeton High School in New Jersey where film making was a keen interest for him, but he got sidetracked by the possibility of a music career as a jazz drummer which was to become the inspiration for his breakout film 'Whiplash' courtesy of an intense music teacher. He knew though that he never had the talent to make it big musically, so instead he reverted back to his first love and studied film making in the Visual and Environmental Studies Department at Harvard University from where he graduated in 2007.

Chazelle's big screen debut came in 2009 with the jazz musical film 'Guy and Medeline on a Park Bench' which he Directed, Co-Produced, Wrote, Co-Edited and acted as Cinematographer on. The film performed very well critically, and was widely shown around the worldwide festival circuit where it picked up a handful of awards and nominations. The film features a cast of non-professional actors, but accomplished musicians nonetheless. Chazelle also provide the lyrics for the films original music score.

In 2013 Chazelle wrote and Directed an eighteen minute short film called 'Whiplash' which was to be the pre-cursor for his highly acclaimed feature film of the same name released in 2014. Telling the story of the relationship between an ambitious jazz student, played by Miles Teller and his abusive domineering music teacher played by J.K.Simmons, the film went on to win three Academy Awards, one Golden Globe, three BAFTA's and a SAG award amongst its haul of 91 wins in total and a further 135 nominations. The film cost just US$3.5M to make and raked in US$49M at the Box Office.

Also in 2013 Chazelle took Writer credits on the supernatural horror drama film 'The Last Exorcism Part II', and 'Grand Piano' an English language Spanish film telling the story of a pianist making a comeback performance under threat from a sniper who has targeted him for death if he dare play one wrong note. The film starred Elijah Wood and John Cusack, and received largely favourable Reviews. In 2016 Chazelle also Co-Wrote the Sci-Fi psychological thriller '10, Cloverfield Lane' which took US$109M at the Box Office from its US$15M production budget and again garnered generally positive Reviews.

This gave way to the recently released 'La La Land' which has received universal critical acclaim. This romantic musical comedy drama film was Written and Directed by Chazelle, made for US$30M and has so far grossed US$91M, and has picked up 112 award wins including a history making seven Golden Globe wins, and 180 nominations including eleven BAFTA nods yet to be announced and excluding the yet be announced Academy Award nominations also. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in the two lead roles, with John Legend, J.K.Simmons and Rosemary DeWitt amongst others supporting. 

Next up for Chazelle is 'First Man' which will be Directed by Chazelle, teaming up with Ryan Gosling again in the lead role as Neil Armstrong in this biopic of the first man on the Moon based on the best selling book by James Hansen. All up Chazelle has seven Writer credits to his name, five as Director, three as Producer and two for Soundtrack lyrics. He has amassed 46 award wins and a further 104 nominations excluding this years Academy Award nominations for 'La La Land' which are still to be announced at the time of writing. Chazelle was married for four years to Writer, Producer and Director Jasmine McGlade from 2010 to 2014.

Damien Chazelle - the current toast of Hollywood and the Darling of Tinsel Town, riding the crest of a wave of success that started in no small way with a debut feature and is still gaining momentum. At just seven years in the movie business you've come a long way in a short period of time - congratulations on your achievements and recent awards success, and Happy Birthday to you Damien from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 8th - 14th January 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Fran Walsh does on 10th January - check out my tribute to this Birthday Girl turning 58, 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 8th January

• John McTiernan - Born 1951, turns 66 - Director | Producer | Writer

Monday 9th January

• J.K.Simmons - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor
• Imelda Staunton - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actress
• Joely Richardson - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actress  

Tuesday 10th January

• Fran Walsh - Born 1959, turns 58 - Producer | Writer | Songwriter
• Walter Hill - Born 1942, turns 75 - Director | Producer | Writer  

Wednesday 11th January

• Jason Connery - Born 1963, turns 54 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Amanda Peet - Born 1972, turns 45 - Actress  

Thursday 12th January

• Kirstie Alley - Born 1951, turns 66 - Actress | Producer | Writer
• Anthony Andrews - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actor | Producer
• John Lasseter - Born 1957, turns 60 - Producer | Director | Writer | Animator | Voice Actor
• Oliver Platt - Born 1960, turns 57 - Actor
• Rob Zombie (aka Robert Bartleh Cummings) - Born 1965, turns 52 - Producer | Director | Writer | Actor | Singer | Songwriter | Composer  

Friday 13th January

• William B. Davis - Born 1938, turns 79 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer | Editor
• Bill Bailey - Born 1965, turns 52 - Writer | Actor | Television Personality | Singer | Composer
• Patrick Dempsey - Born 1966, turns 51 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Michael Pena - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actor | Producer
• Orlando Bloom - Born 1977, turns 40 - Actor | Producer
• Liam Hemsworth - Born 1990, turns 27 - Actor
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Born 1961, turns 56 - Actress | Producer | Singer  

Saturday 14th January

• Faye Dunaway - Born 1941, turns 76 - Actress
• Emily Watson - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actress
• Carl Weathers - Born 1948, turns 69 - Actor | Director
• Steven Soderbergh - Born 1963, turns 54 - Producer | Director | Writer | Cinematographer | Editor
• L.L.Cool J (aka James Todd Smith) - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter
• Jason Bateman - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Director

Frances Rosemary Walsh was born in Wellington, on New Zealand's North Island, and she attended Wellington Girl's College where she had intentions on becoming a fashion designer, eventually gaining a more active interest in music. She performed from time to time in a Punk Band, named 'The Wallsockets' and attending the Victoria University of Wellington majoring in English Literature and graduating in 1981. 

She gained her first screen writing debut on the 1983 made for television film 'A Woman of Good Character' which she followed up with scripts for the TV show 'Worzel Gummidge Down Under'. Walsh met up with a young Peter Jackson during the mid-'80's whilst he was putting the final touches to his debut feature - the 1987 splatter Sci-Fi horror comedy film 'Bad Taste'. Jackson's next film was the musical black comedy 'Meet the Feebles' released in 1989 which was the first film for Jackson that Walsh collaborated on taking a Co-Writer credit. In the meantime, Walsh had married Jackson in 1987 and the two have been partners ever since, at home and at work. Following this the two joined forces on the slapstick splatter zombie horror film 'Braindead' (released as 'Dead Alive' in the US) which Walsh also gained a screen writing credit for. Although the film was a critical and commercial dud upon release in 1992, it has since risen to the ranks of cult status.

In 1994 Walsh and Jackson explored new territory with the dramatic true story of the notorious 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case with 'Heavenly Creatures' which Walsh and Jackson Co-Wrote. The film features Kate Winslet's screen debut as Juliet Hulme in which her obsessive relationship with close teenage friend Pauline Parker result in them killing Parker's mother in 1954. The film was critically acclaimed picking up seventeen award wins and a further fourteen nominations including an Oscar nod for Best Original Screenplay.

Next up was more familiar territory with the horror comedy 'The Frighteners' in 1996 starring Michael J. Fox in his last lead role in a live action feature film after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1991 aged just 29, and going public with it in 1998. Walsh and Jackson again Co-Wrote the Screenplay which Jackson Directed and Co-Produced, and it represented their first film with the backing of a major American studio. With so many ghosts appearing in the film, 'The Frighteners' was one of the most digital effects laden films up until that time, and proved to be a testing ground for Jackson's Weta Digital that had been in business just there years then. Walsh took an Associate Producer credit on the film too.

With Jackson looking at the fantasy genre for his next offering, in 1998 New Line Cinema agreed to back financially a trilogy adapted from Tolkien's classic books - 'The Lord of the Rings'. For the trilogy Walsh took Screenwriting credits, Producer credits and composer credits for certain songs appearing on the soundtrack for each film. The three films  - 'The Fellowship of the Ring', 'The Two Towers' and 'The Return of the King' were made for a combined US$281M and took an overall Box Office haul of US$2.91B. Additionally, the films received a collective 415 award wins and another 362 nominations including seventeen Academy Award wins in total. 

Following their success with 'The Rings Trilogy' Walsh and Jackson turned their attention back to a project they first muted in 1998 with Universal Studios - that of a remake of 'King Kong'. In 2005 Universal greenlit a remake of 'King Kong' with no hesitation, and so Walsh and Jackson took co-Writer and Co-Producer credits while Jackson Directed. The film cost US$207M to make and grossed US$551M at the global Box Office and starred Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow and Andy Serkis as Kong in motion capture. It picked up three Academy Award wins plus 39 other wins and 92 nominations.

'The Lovely Bones' followed in 2009 - a supernatural drama film based on the best selling novel of the same name from 2002 by Alice Sebold. Again Jackson Directed with Walsh and he carrying Co-Producer and Co-Screenwriting credits too. The film received mixed critical reviews but still picked up an Oscar nod, a Golden Globe nod and two BAFTA nods from its haul of ten award wins and forty other nominations, and it made back US$94M from its US$65M budget outlay.

Based on their prior success with 'The Rings Trilogy' it was almost inevitable that eventually Walsh and Jackson would turn attention to Tolkien's other notable works - 'The Hobbit'. Originally slated to be Directed by Guillermo del Toro over two instalments, Jackson stepped up to the Director's chair when del Toro exited stage left due to creative differences, and decided that three films was the go, however, del Toro still received a Screenwriters credit on all there films for his efforts. Once more Walsh and Jackson Co-Produced, Co-Scripted the works on 'The Hobbit' series, with Jackson Directing also. The three films were made for a combined US$690M and collectively took US$2.94B at the global Box Office, together with 31 award wins and  another 202 nominations.

Next up for Fran Walsh is the big screen adaptation of the Philip Reeve Sci-Fi steampunk novel of 2001 'Mortal Engines', the first in a series of four books. Co-Produced and Co-Written once again by Walsh and Jackson, this time Directed by Christian Rivers, the film is slated to hit our screens in December 2018 and is currently in pre-production.

All up Walsh has seventeen Screenwriting credits to her name, twelve as Producer, and seven Soundtrack credits as writer/lyricist on 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' films. She has so far amassed forty-four award wins, including three Academy Awards wins, one Golden Globe win, and two BAFTA wins, plus a further 57 nominations, including four Academy Award nods, and five BAFTA nods. It should be noted too that Walsh and Jackson have collaborated with Philippa Boyens on all their films since the 'The Rings Trilogy' and obviously shared in their collective success as Co-Writers and Co-Producers on all film projects including the upcoming 'Mortal Engines'. With Jackson she has two children, Katie (born in 1996) and Billie (born in 1995).

Fran Walsh - very private outside of the film making public eye, but one half of a truly great film production and scriptwriting family that has a proven track record dating back thirty years backed up by immense critical acclaim and huge commercial success with the accolades between them to prove it, and cement their places in cinema history. For your work behind the scenes that is so important to what we see on screen, Happy Birthday to you Fran, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

Birthday's to share this week : 1st - 7th January 2017.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jeremy Renner does on 7th January - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad 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 1st January

• Frank Langella - Born 1938, turns 79 - Actor
• Verne Troyer - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor  

Monday 2nd January

• Todd Haynes - Born 1961, turns 56 - Director | Producer | Writer
• Cuba Gooding Jnr. - Born 1968, turns 49 - Actor | Producer
• Tia Carrere - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actress | Producer 
• Paz Vega - Born 1976, turns 41 - Actress  
• Kate Bosworth - Born 1983, turns 34 - Actress 

Tuesday 3rd January

• Victoria Principal - Born 1950, turns 67 - Actress | Producer
• Mel Gibson - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Director | Producer | Writer  

Wednesday 4th January

• Julian Sands - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actor 
• Dyan Cannon - Born 1937, turns 80 - Actress | Writer | Director
• Julia Ormond - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actress    

Thursday 5th January

• Diane Keaton - Born 1946, turns 71 - Actress | Producer | Director
• Robert Duvall - Born 1931, turns 85 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer
• Hayao Miyazaki - Born 1941, turns 75 - Animator | Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Roger Spottiswoode - Born 1945, turns 72 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Clancy Brown - Born 1959, turns 57 - Actor | Producer
• Vinnie Jones - Born 1965, turns 52 - Actor
• Bradley Cooper - Born  1975, turns 42 - Actor | Producer | Director

Friday 6th January

• Rowan Atkinson - Born 1955, turns 62 - Actor | Writer 
• Norman Reedus - Born 1969, turns 48 - Actor | Writer | Director
• Eddie Redmayne - Born 1982, turns 35 - Actor  
• Sylvia Syms - Born 1934, turns 82 - Actress
• Kate McKinnon - Born 1984, turns 33 - Actress | Writer

Saturday 7th January

• Linda Kozlowski - Born 1958, turns 59 - Actress  
• David Caruso - Born 1956, turns 61 - Actor | Producer
• Nicolas Cage - Born 1964, turns 53 - Actor | Producer
• Irrfan Khan - Born 1967, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Jeremy Renner - Born 1971, turns 46 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter

Jeremy Lee Renner was born in Modesto, California, USA to mother Valerie Tague and father Lee Renner who managed the the local bowling alley in Modesto during the 1980's. His parents were married as teenagers and divorced when the young Jeremy was just ten years of age. He attended the Fred C. Beyer High School in Modesto and then Modesto Junior College where he studies criminology, computer science and psychology before being drawn to acting through an elective. Bitten by the acting bug, he decided to relocate himself to San Francisco to study at the American Conservatory Theatre, then moving to Hawaii and then onto Los Angeles in 1993. 

Upon his arrival in L.A. Renner dedicated much of his time to theatre productions with the highlight coming in 'Search and Destroy' which he starred in and Co-Directed to critical acclaim. In 1995 he secured his first big screen break in 'National Lampoon's Senior Trip'. From here he secured single episode appearances on televisions series 'Deadly Games', 'Strange Luck', 'To Have & to Hold', 'The Net', 'Time of Your Life' and 'Angel'. In the meantime there were a number of made for television films and features that included 'Paper Dragons' and 'A Friend's Betrayal' all seeing out the '90's.

In 2002 he secured his first starring role in 'Dahmer' playing serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer - a complex role for which he was highly acclaimed. This in turn led to 'S.W.A.T.' with Colin Farrell and Samuel L. Jackson - his first commercially successful action film. This led to 'The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things', then 'A Little Trip to Heaven' with Forest Whitaker, 'North Country' with Charlize Theron, '12 and Holding', 'Neo Ned', an uncredited turn in 'Lords of Dogtown' and 'Love Comes to the Executioner'.

2007 saw 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' with Brad Pitt, then the British zombie horror sequel offering'28 Weeks Later' with Robert Carlyle, then 'Take' with Minnie Driver before Kathryn Bigelow's highly acclaimed and six times Academy Award winning 'The Hurt Locker' in which Renner was nominated for Best Actor in a Lead Role for his performance as maverick bomb disposal expert Staff Sergeant William James. The film picked up 120 award wins and another 121 nominations around the circuit including the Oscar for Best Film and Best Director. 

'Ingenious' came next with another critically acclaimed turn in the Ben Affleck Directed, Co-Written and starring crime drama 'The Town'. Renner was again nominated for an Academy Award for his role as James Coughlin in the Best Supporting Actor category. The film picked up nine award wins and a further 45 nominations in all.

The following years saw Renner embark on a series of hugely successful franchise offerings that started off with his uncredited role and first appearance as Clint Barton/Hawkeye in 2011's Avengers offering of 'Thor'. He would reprise his role in 2012's 'The Avengers', 2015's 'Avengers : Age of Ultron', 2016's 'Captain America : Civil War', the currently filming and due in 2018 'Avengers : Infinity War' and the recently announced 'Ant Man and the Wasp' also due in 2018.

The next franchise saw Renner star as intelligence analyst William Brandt opposite Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in the fourth instalment in the ever popular and successful 'Mission : Impossible' series of films with 2011's 'Ghost Protocol'. Again, he reprised his role in 2015's 'Rogue Nation' and is set to do so in 'M:I 6 - Mission Impossible' currently in pre-production for a 2018 release. Finally, Renner starred in a spin off of the acclaimed fast paced action Jason Bourne franchise but without Matt Damon. Renner played Alex Cross in 'The Bourne Legacy' for Director and Writer Tony Gilroy - a role he is set to reprise again in a recently announced Bourne sequel that may or may not see him playing alongside Matt Damon.

In between 'The Avengers', 'Mission:Impossible' and 'Bourne' franchise films he starred in a modern take on the German folklore fairy tale of Hansel & Gretel, in the fantasy action comedy outing of 'Hansel & Gretel : Witch Hunters' in which Renner starred as Hansel alongside Gemma Arterton's Gretel - siblings who now grown up work as a pair of witch exterminators for hire. The film made US$226M off its US$50M budget outlay. This was followed up by the James Gray Directed period piece 'The Immigrant' with Marion Cotillard and Joaquin Phoenix which was nominated for the Palme D'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Next up was the David O. Russell Directed criminal comedy drama film 'American Hustle' in 2013 which was nominated for ten Academy Awards, won  a total of 66 awards and was nominated a further 202 times. With an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams and Michael Pena the film was a commercial success too bringing home US$252M at the Global Box Office from its US$40M budget.




2014 brought the true story of investigative journalist Gary Webb in 'Kill the Messenger' which saw Renner starring as Gary Webb and also taking his first Producer credit. With an all star cast that included Ray Liota, Oliver Platt, Michael Sheen, Andy Garcia, Barry Pepper, Robert Patrick, Rosemarie DeWitt and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, the film was well received critically, albeit it failed to make back its budget outlay.

'Avengers : Age of Ultron', 'Mission:Impossible - Rogue Nation' and 'Captain America : Civil War' as mentioned previously bring us up to his most recent release at the end of 2016, 'Arrival' for Director Denis Villeneuve and starring Amy Adams, and Forest Whitaker. The film has so far made US$145M off its US$47M budget cost and has already picked up eighteen award wins and 111 nominations.





Next up for Renner is 'Avengers : Infinity War' due in 2018 and currently filming, the animated 'Arctic Justice : Thunder Squad' also due in 2018 to which Renner is lending his voice talents together with James Franco, Alec Baldwin, John Cleese, Michael Madsen, Omar Sy, Anjelica Huston and Heidi Klum. 'M:I 6 - Mission Impossible' is in pre-production for later in 2018, recently announced are a Bourne sequel and Marvel's 'Ant Man and the Wasp', with 'Wind River' in post-production for an early 2017 release and starring also Martin Sensmeier, Jon Bernthal, and Elizabeth Olson.

All up Renner has 54 Acting credits to his name so far, and four as Producer. He has two Academy Award nominations for his performances in 'The Town' and 'The Hurt Locker', one Golden Globe nomination for 'The Town' and one BAFTA nomination for 'The Hurt Locker'. So far he has garnered thirty award wins and a further 51 nominations along the way. As well as an active career as an Actor in demand, he is a singer/songwriter, guitarist, drummer and keyboard player, and has written and preformed songs for a number of films he has appeared in. Renner married Canadian model Sonni Pacheco in January 2014 and within a year she had filed for divorce. They have a daughter together, Ava Berlin, born in 2013.

Jeremy Renner - runs a house renovating business in his spare time restoring rundown iconic Hollywood homes; is a UN Goodwill Peace Ambassador helping raise awareness of mine-clearing efforts in Afghanistan; has studied both Filipino and Thai martial arts; often plays intense, emotional character driven roles, frequently tinged with violence or unstable traits; is a bona fide action star having played such recurring roles in three major film franchises to date; put also plays flawed, often complicated grounded roles that bring him acclaim critically to match his commercial success from the blockbusters he is perhaps better known for. Very watchable and keeping it real in front of the camera and away from it - Happy Birthday to you Jeremy, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

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 : 18th-24th December 2016.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week?

Jonah Hill does on 20th December - check out my tribute to this Birthday Lad turning 33, 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 18th December

• Katie Holmes - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actress | Producer | Singer | Director
• Rachel Griffiths - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actress | Writer | Director | Producer
• Keith Richards - Born 1943, turns 73 - Singer | Songwriter | Producer | Actor
• Steven Spielberg - Born 1946, turns 70 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor
• Ray Liotta - Born 1954, turns 62 - Actor | Producer
• Brad Pitt - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actor | Producer
• Steve Austin - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Producer
• Robson Green - Born 1964, turns 52 - Actor | Producer | Television Personality
• Casper Van Dien - Born 1968, turns 48 - Actor | Producer | Director | Writer

Monday 19th December

• Jake Gyllenhaal - Born 1980, turns 36 - Actor | Producer
• Jennifer Beals - Born 1963, turns 53 - Actress | Producer 

Tuesday 20th December

• Jenny Agutter - Born 1952, turns 64 - Actress
• Jonah Hill - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Todd Phillips - Born 1970, turns 46 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Eduardo Sanchez - Born 1968, turns 48 - Director | Producer | Writer | Editor  

Wednesday 21st December

• Samuel L. Jackson - Born 1948, turns 68 - Actor | Producer
• Jeffrey Katzenberg - Born 1950, turns 66 - Producer | Writer
• Ray Romano - Born 1957, turns 59 - Actor | Producer | Writer
• Keifer Sutherland - Born 1966, turns 50 - Actor | Producer | Director
• Steven Yuen - Born 1983, turns 33 - Actor  
• Jane Fonda - Born 1937, turns 79 - Actress | Producer
• Julie Delpy - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actress | Writer | Director | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Editor 

Thursday 22nd December

• Vanessa Paradis - Born 1972, turns 44 - Actress | Singer
• Ralph Fiennes - Born 1962, turns 54 - Actor | Director | Producer 
• Hector Elizondo - Born 1936, turns 80 - Actor | Producer

Friday 23rd December

• Nick Moran - Born 1969, turns 47 - Actor | Producer | Writer | Director
• Estella Warren - Born 1978, turns 38 - Actress

Saturday 24th December 

• Ryan Seacrest - Born 1974, turns 42 - Producer | Writer | Actor | Television Personality

Jonah Hill Feldstein was born in Los Angeles, California, to mother Sharon Lyn Chalkin, a costume designer and fashion stylist, and father Richard Feldstein a tour accountant for rock band, Guns N' Roses. He grew up in the affluent neighbourhood of Cheviot Hills and attended The Centre for Early Education, then the Brentwood School and thereafter the Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica. Following high school he attended Bard College - a private liberal arts college in New York, then The New School in New York City and then the University of Colorado Boulder. He has a sister Beanie Feldstein, an actress, and a brother Jordan Feldstein who manages singer/songwriter Robin Thicke and pop/rock band Maroon 5.

Whilst at College, Hill started writing his own plays and performing in them too, gaining quite a following in his New York East Village neighbourhood. He was in turn befriended by Rebecca and Jake Hoffman (the children of Dustin Hoffman) who introduced the young Hill to their Dad. Dustin Hoffman persuaded Hill to audition for a part in 'I Heart Huckabees' in which Hoffman was starring, and he secured a small role in what was to be his screen debut. That was in 2004. After this he gained brief roles in Judd Apatow's Directing debut, 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' and 'Grandma's Boy', before a more substantial role in Apatow's 'Knocked Up' with Seth Rogen. By now it was 2007 and in between time there had also been appearances in 'Click' with Adam Sandler, 'Accepted' with Justin Long, 'Evan Almighty' with Steve Carell, and '10 Items or Less' with Morgan Freeman and seven episodes on comedy television series 'Campus Ladies'. These all lead to his first lead role in the Judd Apatow Produced 'Superbad' alongside Michael Cera, Seth Rogen and Bill Hader. The film returned US$170M from its US$20M outlay and was critically praised too.

'Walk Hard : The Dewey Cox Story' followed with an uncredited role, then 'Strange Wilderness', 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', 'Just Add Water', an uncredited appearance in 'Night at the Museum : Battle of the Smithsonian' before another outing for Judd Apatow with Seth Rogen and Adam Sandler in 'Funny People', with 'The Invention of Lying' Written, Directed and Starring Ricky Gervais. In the meantime there had been television appearances on 'Wainy Days', 'Reno 911!', and 'The Simpsons' before the decade closed out.



2010 saw 'Cyrus' for Jay and Mark Duplass, 'Get Him to the Greek' with Russell Brand, and 'Moneyball' with Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman which garnered Hill Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations for his Supporting Role as Peter Brand in this tale of the Oakland A's baseball team. This was followed up with 'The Sitter'.


Next up was a big screen rendition of the successful 1987 television series '21 Jump Street', released in 2012. Co-Written by Hill and also starring him as one of the two lead roles opposite Channing Tatum, the film made US$222M off its US$42M budget outlay, making a sequel inevitable. That sequel came in the form of '22 Jump Street' again Co-Written and Starring Hill as Morton Schmidt once again opposite Channing Tatum's Greg Jenko. The second film in the series made US$332M off its US$50M budget. A third cross-over film is in the works mashing up 'Jump Street' with 'Men In Black' in what is so far known as 'MIB 23' in which Hill will seemingly reprise his role once more as Schmidt.

In between time there was 'The Watch' with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, a small role in QT's 'Django Unchained', 'This is the End' with Seth Rogen and James Franco and then his Academy Award nominated turn in the highly acclaimed and commercially successful Jordan Belfort Bio-Pioc 'The Wolf of Wall Street' opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, and for Director Martin Scorsese. 'True Story' followed in 2015 with James Franco again.

This brings us up to this year which has seen 'Hail, Caesar' for Joel and Ethan Coen with an all star cast including George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum, Tilda Swinton and Scarlett Johansson, and then the Todd Phillips Co-Written and Directed 'War Dogs' with Miles Teller and Bradley Cooper, with Hill starring as real life US Army contract arms dealer Efraim Diveroli.

Over the years too Hill has lent his voice talents to several film characters including on 'Horton Hears a Who!' in 2008, 'How to Train Your Dragon' as Snotlout in 2010 and again in 'HTTYD 2' in 2014, 'Megamind' as Tighten, in 2010, 'The Lego Movie' as Green Lantern in 2014 and in this years 'Sausage Party' as Carl. He will reprise his Snotlout voice work in 'How to Train Your Dragon 3' due in 2019 and currently in pre-production.

All up Hill has 52 Acting credits to his name, eight as Producer, and six as Writer. He has garnered two Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and one BAFTA nomination together with 53 other award nods and five wins so far. He made a concerted effort to lose weight to secure better roles and subsequently did, in more serious roles gaining acclaim along the way. He took the role in 'The Wolf of Wall Street' for nothing, just to have the opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese - his 'favourite filmmaker of all time', and he would do it again in a second!

Jonah Hill - Screenwriter, Comedian, Actor, Producer; as equally committed to piling on the weight as to getting it off for his roles; plays is funny, plays it serious; and has become more watchable as his talent has matured and his star has risen - Happy Birthday to you Jonah, from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-