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-

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS : Tuesday 22nd November 2016.

'NOCTURNAL ANIMALS' which I saw in the week was written for the Screen, Co-Produced and Directed by fashion designer Tom Ford whose previous fashion credits include time as the creative brains behind Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and then his own label Tom Ford. This is only the second Directorial outing for the man who is already making a name for himself in the world of cinema. Ford set up his own Production Company, Fade to Black, in 2005 and his debut as Director came in 2009 with 'A Single Man' with Colin Firth in the lead role. That film picked up 34 award wins and another 52 nominations including an Oscar nod for Firth in the Best Lead Actor category and it made US$25M from its US$7M budget outlay. Now Ford is back with his second film that has already been widely acclaimed having won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival in early September this year. The film was made for US$22M and so far grossed US$6M and is based on the 1993 novel 'Tony & Susan' by Austin Wright.

'Nocturnal Animals' tells the story of successful Los Angeles art gallery owner Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) who at the beginning of the film is seen hosting the launch of a new display in her gallery attended by all of LA's beautiful people, movers & shakers and people that matter. The opening sequence over which the credits roll is particularly 'revealing' and for some possibly confronting, but it's all in the name of 'art'. After the end of the evening we see Susan drive up to the gates of her private estate - all glass, concrete and stainless steel - very austere, very wealthy and quite lifeless. Susan lives there with her husband Hutton (Armie Hammer), and an entourage of maids, a butler, a driver and all the trappings of success. But underneath this facade lies a struggling businessman whose financial fortunes are dwindling and he needs to secure a deal in New York to keep their heads above water. He's booked on a flight out to New York the next day, a Saturday - putting paid to plans for Susan to have a quite weekend away at their beach house. Already there is a sense that all is not well between them.

That morning, a package is delivered to the Morrow household marked for Susan's attention. Opening the brown paper wrapping Susan gains a paper cut, and has the Butler finish off the unwrapping, then orders the household staff to take the weekend off - all of them. The contents of the package are seen to be a manuscript from her long estranged ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) - a man whom she left nineteen years earlier after just a couple of years of marriage. Edward has typed a note asking her to read the yet unpublished novel which he has titled 'Nocturnal Animals' and dedicated it to her. He always used to call Susan a nocturnal animal on account of the fact that she hardly ever sleeps - a habit she has to this day, and he calls for her opinion when she has finished reading. He states that he will be in Los Angeles later the following week and would welcome the chance to meet up over dinner to renew acquaintances and gain her opinion of his manuscript.

With Hutton flying off to New York, Susan settles down and cautiously opens the manuscript and starts reading. The story centres around Tony Hastings (Jake Gyllenhaal) - an easy going unassuming mild mannered everyman who is heading off to West Texas in the car with his wife Laura (Isla Fisher) and teenage daughter India (Ellie Bamber) for a few days R&R, and they have chosen to drive through the night. On a deserted stretch of highway late into the night, Tony is forced off the road by three young local hoons out to cause some trouble, resulting in two badly dented cars and a blown front tyre to Tony's Merc. The hoons - Ray (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Lou (Karl Glusman) and Turk (Robert Aramayo) come on strong saying that it was Tony's fault, and demand that they exit the car so that they can replace the blown tyre with the spare, trying to lull the family into a false sense of security. At first Ray plays the tough guy, then he winds down showing sympathy for their predicament, then ramps up his anger again, and so it continues as Laura and India get roughed up, and Tony is punched and kicked. Tony is defenceless against the might of three hoons and powerless to do anything when Ray and Turk drive off in Tony's car with a screaming Laura and India bundled against their wills into the back seat. Tony is ordered into Ray's car with Lou and told to drive down an old dirt track and out into the desert where he is abandoned.

A few hours later as dawn breaks Ray and Turk return to where Lou dumped Tony hoping to locate him under the pretence that his wife is asking after him. Tony cowers behind a rocky outcrop hidden form view and silent until the pair drive off, fearing for his own life. He sets off on foot across the desert scrubland, making it to a road which he follows until he reaches a house, and calls the Police. Sometime later Detective Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon) arrives on the scene having been assigned the case. He has Tony retrace his steps in the Police car down the highway back in the direction from where he came from, in an attempt to find his wife and daughter, and to confirm Tony's story, having already found his car in a creek. They come to an abandoned shack down a dirt track and discover the naked bodies of Laura and India - murdered and raped. Tony is overcome with emotion and guilt having not been strong enough to stand up to the thugs who did this.

At this point Susan stops reading shocked by the savage nature of the book and the raw emotion flowing through the pages. She remembers her meeting with Edward all those years ago and announcing to her mother their intentions to marry. Susan's opinionated, strong willed and forthright mother, Anne Sutton (Laura Linney) suggests that Edward is not her equal in so many respects and that it would be foolish for them to marry knowing that it will be short-lived. She does it anyway, rebelling against her parents wishes and for her love of Edward who has so many other qualities anyway. Susan speaks with Hutton upon his arrival at the hotel in New York at 4:00am in the morning. He is in a lift going up to his room on the 31st floor, when she overhears the lift attendant announce the floor number to a woman in the lift, and she surmises that Hutton is having an affair - a fact that she was already suspicious off. She continues reading.

Fast forward a year and Andes contacts Tony asking him to identify Lou who has been charged as an accomplice to the rape and murder of Laura and India. Tony makes a positive ID, and Lou is arrested. Turk was shot dead in a robbery gone awry leaving only Ray still to be brought in for questioning. Andes arrests Ray taking Tony along for the ride and to positively ID Ray.

They question the suspect in a car identical to Tony's Merc and drive along the same dirt track and pass by the shack to jog Ray's memory, but he pleads his innocence and claims to know nothing of Tony or any murder or rape. Later Andes calls Tony with the news that Ray has been released because the evidence against him is only circumstantial. During that same conversation, Andes asks Tony how far he is prepared to go to see that justice is served. As a result Tony drives over immediately to meet Andes in a roadside Cafe where Andes announces that he has a year to live having been diagnosed with acute lung cancer, and his early retirement is being forced upon him now. Andes wants to see this case closed and is prepared to take the law into his own hands no matter what the consequences are, but wants to know that Tony is in. Tony agrees, and the two perpetrators are bought to an isolated house handcuffed. Andes releases their handcuffs while Tony reluctantly holds them at gunpoint and in a moment of distraction the two run off. Lou is shot in the back by Andes making his escape, but Ray has fled. The two head off in opposite directions with the aim of closing in on Ray ultimately, believing that he would have gone back to his shack.

Susan puts down the book and recalls her troubled marriage to Edward and how she is desperately unhappy and wants out. Edward pleads with her not to give their love away, but it seems that everything her mother warned Susan about years before is now coming home to roost. Despite Edwards best intentions, Susan is already carrying on with Hutton, and in a final act of treachery against Edward she aborts her pregnancy of his child - a fact she tried to conceal from Edward, but which he all too soon afterwards discovered, and with which she has had to live all these years.

Susan continues reading the closing chapters where Tony tracks down Ray asleep in his shack. Tony again holds Ray at gunpoint, with Ray goading him that he doesn't have the strength to pull the trigger. Ray admits to killing his wife and raping his daughter. The two have a violent confrontation that sees Ray with two bullet wounds in his chest, and Tony getting thumped over the head with an iron bar. Tony comes around hours later with the sun glaring through the open door. His head is badly injured and he can barely see. He stumbles through the door tripping over Rays lifeless body. Outside Tony stumbles through the desert scrub and falls to his knees discharging a bullet into his own stomach from the gun he is still carrying.

Susan finishes reading the manuscript and sends an email to Edward congratulating him on his writing efforts and suggests that they should meet to discuss further, and meet for old time's sake. Throughout the film we are told of Edwards writing aspirations, and his desire to become an author but never quite having the right ingredients to make it - this was one of the reasons for their split years earlier. He responds later that night with a when and where. Susan arranges a meeting place at an up market restaurant and readies herself, seeing their meeting as a reconciliation perhaps and of better times ahead for them both. Susan arrives first and is seated at the table and orders a drink patiently waiting for Edward to arrive. And she waits, and she waits, and she waits, ordering more drinks until the last guests depart and the restaurant is empty. Fade to black!

This gripping, beautifully rendered story within a story offers the viewer two carefully interwoven genres - that of a shiny privileged people melodrama and a gritty modern day Western as the two distinct tales go back and forth with an interconnectedness that speaks of revenge, betrayal, love, loss,  loneliness and sadness. Amy Adams is excellent as the detached soulful Susan, Gyllenhaal equally so in his dual roles as the try hard Edward and the intense Tony, and Shannon too as the cancer riddled laconic seen it all rural Cop coughing up a lung whilst determined to see justice served in his last case. Tom Ford despite his only two cinematic offerings to date has proven himself as a master of the craft with a stylish, haunting and distinctive film that will leave you pondering over the ending long after the credits have rolled. It's as though his experience in the world of fashion has morphed to the world of cinema in two easy straightforward seamless strides with beautiful people giving a faultless performance clothed up in a visually stunning story.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 10th November 2016.

A few weeks ago an article in the tabloid press over here caught my eye, about a subject I hold close to my heart. Written by James Wigney the article was titled 'Games up for online pirates : Movie boss' warning to downloaders' and surrounds the illegal downloading of movies and television content with Australia being 'one of the worst offending countries for online piracy, with 1.24 billion visits to illegal pirate sites last year'. With a population of approaching just twenty-five million, that's a statistic not to be taken lightly methinks! The boss in question here, Graham Burke, heads up Village Roadshow and he was addressing the Australian International Movie Convention on the Gold Coast earlier in October. The plan is to shut down with immediate effect up to one hundred illegal download sites the moment the courts hand down the decision on the movie industry's war on piracy, which will see an immediate and dramatic drop in piracy as a result. He went on to say that 'many people think this is a victimless crime' 'It's not, and if this were to continue, there will be no 'Red Dog', there will be no 'Mad Max', there will be no 'Star Wars', there will be no creativity'. The worrying trend seems to have emerged among younger people, with 31% of 12-17 year olds pirating movies . . . and thinking it is OK to do so. Well said on all of the above! I am a firm advocate of paying your $20 and seeing a film at the full retail price on the big screen as the Producers, Directors, Actors, Screenwriters, and film crew intended, and all who have to be paid out of the proceeds from that small investment in two hours of entertainment. Do the right think Australian and movie lovers of the world, and pay the price of a ticket and go see a movie at the Odeon instead of illegally downloading a film from a pirate site and committing a crime! You know it makes sense!

And so to this week where we have just two new release movies coming to your local picture house and both are very different and both have already been highly acclaimed widely by critics and movie goers. First up is a second Directorial outing for this fashion guru turned movie maker featuring an all star cast in this psychological romance and revenge story within a story thriller; and this is followed up by a Sci-Fi drama from a Director of repute of first contact and learning to communicate with otherworldly visitors whilst our world leaders squabble amongst themselves and take us to the brink of war. Both films feature the highly acclaimed and awarded Actress Amy Adams in the lead roles.

Remember, that when you have sat through your film or films of choice in the week ahead as either Previewed below, or as Reviewed and Previewed previously amidst these humble Blog pages, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions of your movie going experience with our other readers by leaving a Comment below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and enjoy your movie in the meantime.

'NOCTURNAL ANIMALS' (Rated MA15+) - written for the Screen, Co-Produced and Directed by fashion designer Tom Ford whose previous fashion credits include time as the creative brains behind Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and then his own label Tom Ford, this is only the second Directorial outing for the man who is already making a name for himself in the world of cinema. Ford set up his own Production Company, Fade to Black, in 2005 and his debut as Director came in 2009 with 'A Single Man' with Colin Firth in the lead role. That film picked up 34 award wins and another 52 nominations including an Oscar nod for Firth in the Best Lead Actor category and it made US$25M from its US$7M budget outlay. Now Ford is back with his second film that has already been widely acclaimed having won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival in early September this year. The film opened in the UK last week, in Australia this week and in the US next week, and was made for US$22M.

Based on the 1993 novel 'Tony and Susan' by Austin Wright, 'Nocturnal Animals' tells the story of successful Los Angeles art gallery owner Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) who is now married to Hutton Morrow (Armie Hammer) but all is not well in that camp. One day unexpectedly Susan receives a manuscript from her long estranged ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) - a man whom she left twenty or so years earlier. Edward asks Susan for her opinion of his story. Reading through the manuscript there are elements that resonate with her past life and that of her present too, as memories and emotions of her first marriage coming flooding back. The as yet unpublished novel is called 'Nocturnal Animals' and is based on a story of a family holiday that turns violent and deadly. With the line between fact and fiction, reality and make believe becoming more obscured Susan must face her past life, some hidden truths and the meaning behind her ex-husbands novel in which she imagines the lead character Tony Hastings (Jake Gyllenhaal) playing out the husband and father figure on that ill fated family holiday. Also starring Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Sheen, Laura Linney, Isla Fisher and Andrea Riseborough, this psychological romantic revenge thriller story within a story is a must see.

'ARRIVAL' (Rated M) - based on the 1998 short Sci-Fi story 'Story of Your Life' by Ted Chiang, this already highly rated adaptation is Directed by Denis Villeneuve, was made for US$50M and Premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in early September where it won the Future Film Festival Digital Award and was nominated for a Golden Lion. The film is released Stateside also this week. When twelve vast and mysterious alien spaceships touch down in various strategically placed locations around the world, an elite team of experts is mobilised to establish contact and determine what the extra terrestrial visitors want from our little blue planet. Linguist Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams), mathematician Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and US Army Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) join forces to find the answers and communicate with the alien beings while the rest of the world and its quarrelling leaders reside on the brink of war. But, amidst this will Banks be prepared to risk her own life and that of humanity to uncover the answers sought? Highly praised also for its stunning visuals, gripping story and great performances, especially from Amy Adams.

With two highly acclaimed films newly released this week, and both starring Amy Adams in very different roles and genres, my recommendation is to catch them both! I don't think you'll be disappointed by either outing, and when you have sat through these two films you can share your views with your like minded cinephiles here at this Blog. In the meantime, I'll see you at the Odeon, in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-