Patrick Swayze Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer

What rotten luck - I just read that Patrick Swayze, star of DIRTY DANCING, GHOST, and POINT BREAK, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. That's one of those nasty ones that hides and doesn't seem to cause problems until it's almost too late to do anything about it. (Jack Benny died from it - about a month after they figured out what he had!)

"Patrick is currently undergoing treatment," a rep for the actor said in a statement released on Wednesday. "He is continuing his normal schedule during this time, which includes working on upcoming projects. The outpouring of support and concern he has already received from the public is deeply appreciated by Patrick and his family."

Based on info from the American Cancer Society, the one-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is 20 percent, while the five-year rate is only 4 percent. Those aren't very good odds!

Here's hoping they caught it early enough that with some of the new treatments available they'll be able to do something for him. I'd hate to lose another favorite actor so soon after Heath Ledger and Roy Scheider.

For more info on pancreatic cancer, see the American Cancer Society

HD DVD Movies Blowout

Ever since Toshiba announced they've finally let Sony win the format wars by saying Toshiba will no longer make HD DVD players/recorders, vendors have been drastically reducing prices on their HD DVD movies and games inventory to make room for Blu-ray format product. (The winner and now Champeeeennnn!)

So if you want to make sure you keep your HD DVD unit fed, now's the time to pick up those HD DVD movies and games you've been thinking about before they're no longer available. Vendors like Wal-Mart, Amazon, Best Buy and studios like Universal and Paramount have all announced they will be changing over to Blu-ray only soon, so now's your chance to get some great deals.

Amazon’s got HD-DVD stuff on sale for 50% or more off right now!

BTW, for die-hard HD DVD fans who have Xbox's, GameStop has new Xbox 360 HD-DVD Players with 5 FREE HD-DVDs for only $129 ($50 off their regular price!)

Heaven's Gonna Need A Bigger Boat...

Roy Scheider, probably best remembered for his role as the boat-hating police chief in JAWS, the first ever 'blockbuster film' (passing the $100,000,000 mark), passed away Sunday at the age of 75.

His line, "You're gonna need a bigger boat" was voted No. 35 on the American Film Institute's list of best quotes from U.S. movies.

For the scene where Roy Scheider is trapped in the sinking Orca, it took 75 takes to get the shot right. According to some sources, Scheider did not trust the special effects team to rescue him in case of an emergency so he hid axes and hatchets around the cabin just in case. (Smart man: After the shark was built, it was never tested in the water, and when it was put in the water at Martha's Vineyard, it sank straight to the ocean floor. It took a team of divers to retrieve it... I 'met' that shark at Universal Studios and I believe it.)

Scheider died at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, hospital spokesman David Robinson said. No cause of death was released.

However, hospital spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said Scheider had been treated for multiple myeloma at the hospital's Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy for the past two years.

Another film great is gone and will be missed.

And The Nominations Go To...

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have announced the 2008 nominations for the upcoming, count it, 80th, Oscar awards ceremony to be broadcast Feb 24th:

Best motion picture of the year:

• “Atonement” (Focus Features)
  A Working Title Production
  Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers

• “Juno” (Fox Searchlight)
  A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production
  Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers

• “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
  A Clayton Productions, LLC Production
  Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers

• “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
  A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production
  Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

• “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
  A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production
  JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers
  

Performance by an actress in a leading role:

• Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal)
• Julie Christie in “Away from Her” (Lionsgate)
• Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse)
• Laura Linney in “The Savages” (Fox Searchlight)
• Ellen Page in “Juno” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a leading role:

• George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
• Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
• Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
• (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
• Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah” (Warner Independent)
• Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises” (Focus Features)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role:

• Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” (The Weinstein Company)
• Ruby Dee in “American Gangster” (Universal)
• Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement” (Focus Features)
• Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone” (Miramax)
• Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role:

• Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.)
• Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War” (Universal)
• Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
• Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Achievement in directing:

• “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Julian Schnabel
• “Juno” (Fox Searchlight) Jason Reitman
• “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) Tony Gilroy
• “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
• “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Paul Thomas Anderson

I always find it fascinating when a picture wins a nomination but its director doesn't. (Everyone else in the production was sooo good that the director was unnecessary? Hmmmm...) ATONEMENT is nominated, but its director gets snubbed.

What's also funny is the director for THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY is nominated, but neither the film nor a single actor or actress in the film is considered good enough. So somehow the director was the only good thing? Makes you wonder what the voters are on when they cast their ballots. LOL

It should be interesting to see if Cate Blanchett can pull off getting both a leading and a supporting actress Oscar in the same year. It's the 11th time someone's been nominated in both categories, but no one has managed the 'double win' yet. Given the stiff competition in both categories, this would definitely be a coup...

 

Rest In Peace - Heath Ledger

Another light in the Hollywood Heavens has dimmed and gone out. May he and his family find peace regardless of the why's and how's of what happened and may others learn some sort of lesson from whatever the outcome so it will have had some sort of meaning.

Goodbye too soon to another young actor.

Movie Trailer Music - More Interesting Than the Movie?

Have you ever been hooked by some movie trailer music and wanted to see the movie just based on that?

I hate working in total silence, so usually have a music channel or some sort of TV show/movie playing in the background. Recently I had on PRINCESS DIARIES 2 - ROYAL ENGAGEMENT on The Disney Channel while I was working on my computer. I've seen it so many times, I don't need to actually watch every minute any more - I just glance up every now and then as certain favorite scenes pop up. (Supposedly that way I actually get something accomplished - yeah, right.)

However, I suddenly stopped what I was doing when they started playing the movie trailer/promo for MINUTEMEN featuring the new music video "Run It Back Again" by Corbin Blue (GALAXY QUEST, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL). I'd never heard it before, and it really was catchy, with a great dance beat and interesting lyrics, something I don't find in most kid pop songs. I found myself surfing the web, looking for a way to hear it again and then looking for more info on the movie.

Since I 'm a big sci fi fan, and the movie's a comedy about time travel, I'll probably check it out. However, since it is a Disney TV movie, the odds are that I'll probably find the movie trailer music more interesting than the movie. (Of course, that's not always true - I have to admit that I watch HOCUS POCUS over and over, both for the movie AND the music... BWAHAHAHA.)

So if you want to hear the Corbin Bleu "Run It Back Again" video music promo, check it out below:

What movies have you seen because you liked the movie trailer music?

Did you buy the movie or just the soundtrack or just the single that got you hooked in the first place?

 

No Budget FilmMaking

Have you ever watched a film and thought, I could have done a much better job of that! (That is if only I had a few million dollars, a production deal, and some major studio backing me??) I know I have, quite a few times, but have never figured I had the time and money to go to film school, build up a resume and break into the business.

Well, these guys think that you don't need to waste years of your life learning how to make movies...everything you need to know can be learned from just a few books. They have compiled that info, along with the essential forms, contracts, and software that you need...and it is all in the No Budget Filmmaking Ultra-Pack!!!


















For about the price of going to 2 movies with a friend nowadays, you can get the whole kit and start thinking about making your own, maybe becoming the next Robert Rodriguez (who made EL MARIACHI on a budget of only $7,000 and then was given $7 Million by the studios to make DESPERADO and has gone on to even bigger movies with SPY KIDS.)

If this is something you've always dreamed of doing, then check out their No Budget FilmMaking site!