Saturday, November 21, 2009

MOVIE NEWS ... MARTIN SCORSESE

MOVIE NEWS ... MARTIN SCORSESE
Martin Scorsese may have taken a while to start winning awards - he didn't actually land an Oscar till 2007 or a Golden Globe for Directing until 2003 - but he's making up for it now. At next year's Globes ceremony, he'll receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award for "outstanding contribution to the entertainment field". He joins previous winners that include Steven Spielberg (2009), Warren Beatty (2007 - they skipped 2008 because of the Writers' Strike), Anthony Hopkins (2006) and Robin Williams (2005). While most winners have been actors, previous directors to win include Alfred Hitchcock (1972) and Walt Disney (1953). The Award will be handed out at the Globes on January 17 2010 hosted this year by Ricky Gervais

TRIVIA BITS ... THE ATLAS

TRIVIA BITS ... THE ATLAS
A book of maps is called an atlas as the innovative sixteenth-century Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator’s book of maps detailing various portions of Europe sported on its cover a picture of the Greek Titan Atlas holding the world on his shoulders – and the book became known as The Atlas.
Atlas with the World on his shoulders Gerardus Mercator One of Mercator's maps

REMINISCING ... LESLIE CARON

REMINISCING ... LESLIE CARON
Leslie Caron - a French film actress and dancer, who appeared in 45 films between 1951 and 2003. She was one of the most famous Hollywood musical stars in the 1950s. Caron is best known for the musical films Gigi, Lili, An American in Paris, and Daddy Long Legs, and for the non-musical films The L-Shaped Room, Father Goose, and Fanny. Leslie received two Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. She speaks French and English. She is one of the few dancers or actresses who can say they have danced with Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev.

TODAY IS ... 21 NOVEMBER

TODAY IS ... 21 NOVEMBER
BIRTHDAYS: 1984 - Jena Malone - an American actress and musician. Her film work has been mainly in independent films, and she has acted in theatre. She made her cinema debut with the movie Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), and has appeared in films including Contact (1997), Stepmom (1998), Donnie Darko (2001), Saved! (2004), and Into the Wild (2007).
Jena Malone
1970 - Justin Lee Langer - is a former Australian cricketer who represented Australia in 105 Test matches. A left-handed batsman, his opening partnership with Matthew Hayden was one of the most successful of all time. On 23 July 2009, in a match against Worcestershire, Langer became the highest scoring Australian in first-class cricket.
Justin Lee Langer
1965 - Bjork - an Icelandic singer-songwriter, composer, actress and music producer, whose work includes seven solo albums and two film soundtracks. She is best known for her expressive vocals, broad soprano vocal range, and a diverse and eclectic musical style, which incorporates influences from many different genres, including pop, alternative rock, jazz, ambient, electronic, classical, folk and trip hop, as well as her eccentric costumes and music videos. Her singles "It's Oh So Quiet", "Army of Me" and "Hyperballad" all charted in the UK Top 10. For her performance in Dancer in the Dark, Björk won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival
Bjork
1952 - Lorna Luft - an American television, stage, and film actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and Sid Luft, and the half-sister of singer and actress Liza Minnelli.
Lorna Luft
1950 - Born on this day, Livingston Taylor, singer, songwriter, (brother of James Taylor), 1978 US No. 30 single 'I Will Be In Love With You').
Livingston Taylor
1945 - Goldie Hawn - an American actress, film director and producer, whose career has spanned nearly four decades. Hawn is perhaps best known for her roles in Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Wildcats, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and The Banger Sisters. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1969 film Cactus Flower. She is also the mother of actor Oliver Hudson, and actress Kate Hudson.
Goldie Hawn
1944 - Harold Ramis - an American actor, director, and writer, specializing in comedy. Best-known film acting roles are as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters (1984) and Russell Ziskey in Stripes (1981); Ramis also co-wrote both films. As a writer/director, his films include the Caddyshack (1980), Groundhog Day (1993), and Analyze This (1999).
Harold Ramis
OTHER EVENTS: 2006 – The Black Eyed Peas take home three awards at the 2006 American Music Awards, held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium and broadcast live on ABC. The Peas, which accept the awards via satellite from Costa Rica, are named favorite group in the soul/R&B and rap/hip-hop categories, and pick up honors for favorite album (”Monkey Business”) in the rap/hip-hop genre.
2006 - John Tartaglia and Jonathan Freeman join the Broadway company of Beauty and the Beast. Tartaglia assumes the role of Lumiere and Freeman the role of Cogsworth.
2002 – Changing Lanes starts screening in Australia starring Ben Affleck, Samuel L Jackson and Toni Collette. The story of what happens one day in New York when a young lawyer and a businessman share a small automobile accident on F.D.R. Drive and their mutual road rage escalates into a feud
2000 – The Backstreet Boys’ “Black & Blue” debuts with one of the biggest initial retail shipments ever, with about 6 million units. 1999 - Celine Dion went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'All The Way...A Decade Of Songs', her fourth UK No.1 album.
1998 – Danish pop act Aqua and Delhi-based quartet Silk Route top the third annual Channel V Awards in Delhi, India. Aqua wins best international song and video for Barbie Girl and album for “Aquarium.” Silk Route wins best Indian newcomer, Indian group and Indian song for “Dooba Dooba.” 1992 - Michael Bolton went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Timeless, (The Classics). 1992 - Charles and Eddie were at No.1 in the UK singles chart with 'Would I Lie To You' the debut single by the pop-soul duo and their only chart topper. 1990 - Madonna was sued by her next door neighbour for having a hedge, which blocked his view. 1985 – Roger Moore, Christopher Walken and Tanya Roberts head the cast of A View to Kill which commenced screening in Australia. An investigation of a horse-racing scam leads 007 to a mad industrialist who plans to create a worldwide microchip monopoly by destroying California's Silicon Valley.
1983 - Michael Jackson's 14-minute video for 'Thriller', was premiered in Los Angeles. 1981 - Olivia Newton John started a ten week run at No.1 in the US singles chart with 'Physical', the singers fourth US No.1 went on to sell over 2 million copies, a No.7 hit in the UK. 1980 - An estimated 83 million viewers tuned in to find out "who shot J.R." on the CBS prime-time soap opera Dallas. Kristin was the character that fired the gun. 1978 - Prince's second single "Just As Long As We're Together" was released. 1975 - At the start of Elton John week in Los Angeles, the singer received a Star on Hollywood's Walk Of Fame.
1973 - President Richard Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate. 1970 - The Partridge Family started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Think I Love You'. The song was featured in the first episode of the Partridge Family TV series, made by the same company that made The Monkees. 1964 - New York's Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened.
Verrazano Narrows Bridge
1963 - Dusty Springfield debuts on UK chart with 'I Only Want to Be with You' 1961 - Mississippi's segregation laws for buses and public transportation are ruled unconstitutional by a federal court. 1959 - Jack Benny (violin) & Richard Nixon (piano) play their famed duet 1954 - American singer and actress Rosemary Clooney was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'This Ole House.' This song was also a No.1 for Shakin' Stevens in 1981. 1953 - The discovery of the Piltdown Man skull by Charles Dawson in Sussex in 1912 was revealed as a hoax 1953 - "Rags to Riches" by Tony Bennett topped the charts and stayed there for 8 weeks. 1934 - Cole Porter’s "Anything Goes" opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York City. The show ran for 420 performances.
1931 - Frankenstein The famous film, starring Boris Karloff as the monster, opens.
1877 - Thomas Edison announces his invention of a 'talking machine', which preceded the phonograph.
Thomas Edison with the Phonograph
1783 - First manned balloon free flight: Jean Pilatre de Rozier and Francois Laurent d'Arlandes in a 25-minute flight over Paris. They covered six miles and reached an altitude of about 300 feet.
First Manned Air Balloon 1783

Friday, November 20, 2009

MOVIE NEWS ... HOPKINS AND HEMINGWAY

MOVIE NEWS ... HOPKINS AND HEMINGWAY
Hemingway and Fuentes: is a drama about the two decades in Cuba that culminated in Ernest Hemingway's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1952 novel The Old Man and The Sea, the last of his works to be published during his lifetime. A movie is being prepared by Andy Garcia. Hemingway’s grand-daughter, Hilary, is assisting in writing the script. Assuming he can get funding, the project looks like going ahead. "Francis Coppola said to me, 'the way you make a movie is, you begin'. We've begun." Andy Garcia will also star as the titular Gregoria Fuentes: Hemingway's closest friend. The project has been gestating since the 70s, when keen offshore fisherman Garcia began coming into regular contact with anglers who had chased the giant marlin with Hemingway in the 40s and 50s. Anthony Hopkins has agreed to star as Hemingway; a role he's coveted for a while, and one to add to his list of true-lives alongside Richard Nixon and Pablo Picasso. Annette Benning has also committed to co-star as Hemingway's third wife, Mary Welsh Hemingway. With a heavyweight cast, a script in place, and the support of the Hemingway estate, there's no reason to think that Garcia will have any difficulty getting this up and running. All being well, it'll be Hopkins' immediate next role, following Odin in the mighty Thor.

TRIVIA BITS ... MAGNA CARTA

TRIVIA BITS ... MAGNA CARTA
Most of us learned in school that the Magna Carta was signed in 1215 by King John. It was not! The monarch could not write his name. He granted the Magna Carta by placing his seal on it.

REMINISCING ... ERROL FLYNN

REMINISCING ... ERROL FLYNN
Errol Flynn was an Australian film actor, known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films and his flamboyant lifestyle. In 1933, he starred in the Australian film In the Wake of the Bounty, directed by Charles Chauvel, and in 1934 appeared in Murder at Monte Carlo, produced at the Warner Bros. Teddington Studios, UK. This latter film is now considered a lost film. During the filming of Murder at Monte Carlo, Flynn was discovered by a Warner Brothers executive, signed to a contract and immigrated to America as a contract actor. In 1942, Flynn became a naturalised citizen of the United States. Flynn was an overnight sensation in his first starring role, Captain Blood (1935). Quickly typecast as a swashbuckler, he followed it with The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Dawn Patrol (1938) with his close friend David Niven, Dodge City (1939), The Sea Hawk (1940) and Adventures of Don Juan (1948).

TODAY IS ... 20 NOVEMBER

TODAY IS ... 20 NOVEMBER
BIRTHDAYS: 1989 - Cody Linley - an American actor. Best known for his recurring role as Jake Ryan in the television series Hannah Montana and for being a contestant on the seventh season of Dancing With The Stars in which he was partnered with Julianne Hough.
Cody Linley
1988 - Rhys Wakefield - Australian actor best known for portraying Lucas Holden in the long running TV series Home and Away, a role he had played since August 2005 until February 2008, and for portraying the main character Thomas in the 2008 film The Black Balloon.
Rhys Wakefield
1959 - Sean Young – American actress - one of her most prominent roles was as the mistress of a ruthless Washington politician in 1987's No Way Out, playing opposite Kevin Costner. Other notable credits include Dune, Fatal Instinct, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend.
Sean Young
1956 - Bo Derek made a splash as Dudley Moore's lust object in the 1979 comedy 10.. As a sex symbol Derek was a huge success, but only briefly; 1984's Bolero erased the pleasant memory of 10, and Bo's career never recovered. After Bo was widowed in 1998 she returned to television in NBC's Wind on the Water. Her other films include Tommy Boy (1995, with Chris Farley) and Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981).
Bo Derek
1942 - Norman Greenbaum is a singer-songwriter.best known for his song "Spirit in the Sky", which sold two million copies across 1969 and 1970. This disc sold over one million by May 1970 alone, and received a gold disc awarded by the R.I.A.A..The song, with its combination of 'heavy' guitar, hand-clapping, and spiritual lyrics, has been used in many films, advertisements, and television shows.
Norman Greenbaum
1932 - Richard Dawson - British comedian who was picked to play Corporal Newkirk in the World War II sitcom Hogan's Heroes in 1965. Dawson next appeared in the comedy smash Laugh-In and the game show Match Game before taking what became his signature job: wisecracking, contestant-kissing host of the game show Family Feud. Dawson hosted the game from 1976 until 1985, and then again for one season in 1994. He also played an evil game show host in the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film The Running Man.
Introduction to the First Episode of Hogan’s Heroes
1929 - Dick Clark -an American television, radio personality, game show host and businessman; he served as chairman and CEO of Dick Clark Productions, which he has sold part in recent years. He is best known for hosting long-running television shows such as American Bandstand, five versions of the Pyramid game show, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
Dick Clark in 1990
OTHER EVENTS: 2007 - Scribner (a division of Simon & Schuster) releases the book Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin. A memoir of his life, the comic-turned-actor/director describes his young years selling guidebooks at the then newly-opened Disneyland.
2005 - Robbie Williams smashed a Guinness World Record by selling more than 1.6 million tickets for his 2006 World Tour in one day. The tickets, snapped up on the first day of sale, were valued at an estimated £80 million. 2005 - Disney's Broadway hit The Lion King performs show number 3,347
2005 – Madonna adds a ninth U.K. No. 1 album to her career tally, joining her 11th No. 1 single to complete her domination of the British sales charts. “Confessions on a Dance Floor” goes straight to No. 1 on the album survey, while “Hung Up” starts a second week at the singles chart peak. 2004 - After a near death experience, five boys, all devoted AC/DC fans, make a pact to bury their best friend next to the grave of Bon Scott. 12 years later, having gone their different ways, they come together to fulfill the promise. All shows in Thunderstruck starring Damon Gameau and Stephen Curry which commenced screening in Australia. 2000 - Spice Girl Mel C announced she was quitting the group during a TV interview on the ITV Frank Skinner show.
Mel C
1998 - Alanis Morissette does an in store performance for the opening of a Tower records store in Buenos Aires. Proceeds from the sale of her album for the day are donated to a local children's hospital. 1997 – Air Force One commences screening in Australia. Starring Harrison Ford, Glenn Close and William Macey, Air Force One is the story when hijackers seize the plane carrying the President of the United States and his family, but he (an ex-soldier) works from hiding to defeat them 1995 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Exhale (Shoop Shoop),” Whitney Houston. 1993 - Phil Collins went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Both Sides.'
1993 - Gun Control: The Brady Bill is passed by US Congress. It imposed a five-working-day wait when purchasing a handgun. 1992 - Fire erupted at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth's official residence west of London, causing much damage. The queen and Prince Andrew pitched in to help save priceless artworks and other valuables housed in the fortress. The fire burned for 15 hours damaging or destroying nine principal rooms and over a hundred other rooms. It took a million and a half gallons of water to put out the blaze. The next five years would be spent restoring the Castle to its former glory. 1991 - The Rolling Stones announced they'd signed a £20 million deal with Virgin Records, to make three albums over six years. 1986 - UN's WHO announces first global effort to combat AIDS 1984 - The largest crowd to see the unveiling of a Hollywood Walk-of-Fame star turned out as Michael Jackson got his piece of the sidewalk right in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. ‘The Gloved One’ became star number 1,793 on the famed walk.
1982 - Drew Barrymore at age 7 hosts Saturday Night Live
Drew Barrymore
1981 - Ringo releases "Stop and Smell Roses" album 1980 – Gregory Peck, David Niven, Roger Moore and Trevor Howard star in The Sea Wolves which started screening in Australia. A true WW2 story: the British must attack a German ship but it's safe in neutral Goa. So they send civilians, ex-soldiers about 60 years old.
1979 - Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer were at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'No More Tears, Enough Is Enough', it made No.3 in the UK.
1976 - Paul Simon hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live where he performed live with George Harrison on ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and ‘Homeward Bound’. Paul McCartney and John Lennon were both in New York City watching the show on TV. 1971 - Isaac Hayes started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Theme From Shaft', it made No.4 in the UK. Hayes won a Grammy award for Best Original Film Score with 'Theme From Shaft'. 1970 - James Taylor hits UK chart with 'Sweet Baby James' LP
1967 - Strawberry Alarm Clock were at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Incense And Peppermints'. 1966 - "Cabaret" opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 1166 performances. 1965 - The Supremes had their sixth US No.1 single with 'I Hear A Symphony' it peaked at No.39 in the UK. 1963 - Disney's live-action feature film The Incredible Journey is released. The story of 3 pets, a cat and two dogs, who lose their owners when they are all on vacation. 1962 - The Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry" is released on Vee Jay Records. It goes up to Number One, as does their first (and current) hit, "Sherry." Both songs feature lead singer Frankie Valli's falsetto. 1961 - Bob Dylan started recording his debut album over two days at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City 1955 - The song that changed popular music history 'Rock Around The Clock' by Bill Haley & His Comets went to No.1 on the UK singles chart. The song was used under the opening credits of the film Blackboard Jungle. The song entered the charts a further six times until 1974. 1947 - Britain's future queen, Princess Elizabeth , married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in a ceremony broadcast worldwide from Westminster Abbey.
The Royal Families
1945 – Nuremberg Trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg.
The Defendants in the Trial
1930 - Major General Douglas MacArthur becomes Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.
Major General Douglas MacArthur
1926 - The 1926 Imperial Conference accords Australia the status of self-governing Dominion, of equal status to Great Britain. 1923 - One of the first traffic signals in the United States was patented by an African American. Garrett Morgan applied for and acquired a U.S. patent for this invention. The patent number was 1,475,024. Morgan's technology was later patented in Great Britain and Canada. General Electric bought Morgan's patent for $40,000, and his traffic management device was used throughout North America until it was replaced by the red, yellow and green traffic signals currently used around the world.
Designs for Traffic Signals