Der Parson's rant

Movie Giant Charlton Heston Dies

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Charlton Heston did not do small.

Heston, the Oscar-winning actor who, as the biggest male star of Hollywood's outsize epic era of the 1950s and 1960s, parted the Red Sea, raced chariots and battled gorilla tyranny, died Saturday at his Beverly Hills home.

He was 84, his family said. He had been battling Alzheimer's disease for years.

Heston left cinematic, political mark

Better known in recent years as a fierce gun-rights advocate who headed the National Rifle Association, Heston played legendary leaders and ordinary men hurled into heroic struggles.

"In taking on epic and commanding roles, he showed himself to be one of our nation's most gifted actors, and his legacy will forever be a part of our cinema," Republican presidential candidate McCain said in a statement that also noted Heston's involvement in the civil-rights movement and his stand against gun control.

Heston's jutting jaw, regal bearing and booming voice served him well as Marc Antony in "Julius Caesar" and "Antony and Cleopatra," Michelangelo in "The Agony and the Ecstasy," John the Baptist in "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and an astronaut on a topsy-turvy world where simians rule in "Planet of the Apes."

"Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life," Heston's family said in a statement. "We knew him as an adoring husband, a kind and devoted father, and a gentle grandfather with an infectious sense of humor. He served these far greater roles with tremendous faith, courage and dignity."

The actor died at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife, Lydia, at his side, family spokesman Bill Powers said. He declined to comment on the cause of death or provide further details Sunday.

One of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s, '60s and '70s, Heston's work dwindled largely to small parts and narration and other voice roles from the 1980s on, including an uncredited cameo as an ape in Tim Burton's 2001 remake of "Planet of the Apes."

I don't exactly agree with his politics but I dont' think anyone could argue that
Mr. Heston made some of the greatest movies we have ever seen. I doubt anyone will ever forget the line "get you hands off me you damn dirty ape".

Just when you though Hollywood made some pretty bad movies.

Toshiba to quit HD DVDs, ends format war - Yahoo! News: "By Mayumi Negishi Tue Feb 19, 7:28 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp (6502.T) surrendered in the high-definition home movie war on Tuesday, giving up on its HD DVD format after losing the support of key studios and retailers to the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony Corp (6758.T).
ADVERTISEMENT

The decision by the electronics maker ends the battle with a consortium led by Sony over who would set the standard for the next generation of discs, a fight that confused shoppers and stalled a move to the new technology in the $24 billion home DVD market."

Whew, I was staying up every night tossing and turning with the stress of deciding what DVD format to buy. Last thing anyone wants is to be stuck with a 21st century equivalent of Betamax. I'm surprised it wasn't a debate question. I'm pretty sure McCain was for HD DVD before he was against it.

Led Zep for festival - Mirror.co.uk

We can exclusively reveal that the legends - who staged a triumphant "one-off" gig at the O2 this month - will be the headline act at the Bonnaroo festival in the US next year.
The festival runs from June 12 to 15 in Tennessee - and if all goes smoothly they may even hit the road and tour.

This might make a trip to Tennessee worth taking. Ticket info and for driving directions

I really hope Zepplin decides to go on a real tour. It would be so great especially if they came anyplace near Fort Wayne IN.

Speaking of good music and lyrics check out the top right corner, I added a nice little thing with the lyrics to the newer Ozzy song, "Black Rain" it's a good anti war song.

Letterman, Leno Return Wednesday Night - MSN TV News

Letterman, Leno Return Wednesday Night
Jan. 2, 2008, 3:03 PM EST
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Advantage, David Letterman. Five of television's late-night funnymen return to the air Wednesday after two months, and while Letterman has his writing staff back, Jay Leno doesn't.
NBC's Leno and Conan O'Brien and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel all said they were coming back reluctantly with the writers strike still on, and will be putting on shows unlike any they've done before.
Letterman's production company worked out a separate deal with writers for his CBS "Late Show" and Craig Ferguson's "Late Late Show.

Well I think it will be interesting to see how these shows go. I always have preferred The Tonight Show over the Late Show. I usually only watch the first 1/2 hour of Leno then turn it over to Kieth Olberman.

I now have something to look forward too next year.
(well other then seeing Gorge Bush being removed from the oval office)

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian trailers and video clips on Yahoo! Movies

I can see from the trailer they added a lot of padding. Like they did with The Lion The Witch, and The Wardrobe, but was was added was pretty good. If you read the books you will know they need to make the movies a bit more exciting. The books are good, but they are only about 200 pages. There was no flying around or falling from castle walls or big siege engines like the the trailer is showing, still I think it looks like a good movie.

This is pretty funny.



If you haven't experienced Chad Vader, go on YouTube and check out the videos. They are pretty funny. Probably funnyer if your a Star Wars fan, but even if your not the videos are good for a laugh or two.

Comcast.net Entertainment - Winona Ryder Goes Trekking

STAR TREK GEEK WARNING!

I'm sorry, but this movie is going to SUCK and suck hard. They are just beating a dead horse, if they had any respect for Gene Rodneberry they would just let Star Trek go, let the fans imaginations run wild with how things started and end. Star Trek "jumped the shark" a long time ago, sometime during Deep Space 9. Then Voyager just made things worse, Enterprise wasn't as bad as Voyager, but it wasn't that great either. At least they could do is put money into the actual story and writing for a movie, not put all the money into special effects. Give us a actual story, hire some good writers. I hear there a bunch out of work and might need some money. This is just crap, making Spock's mother a Vulcan! Anyone that ever watched any Star Trek would know Spock's mother was human. She was even in a episode of the original TV show. I could care less about Winona Ryder, I'm sure she would be good in the role playing a human or Vulcan. (If you want to see a twisted movie watch A Scanner Darkly with Winona. It really messes with your mind)

Just like the whole Star Wars episodes I,II, III. The only half decent movie was episode III, and only because it paralleled our own screwed up government. We were better off left to our imaginations on how Anikin became evil and all that.

ALL I WANT FROM HOLLYWOOD IS TO STOP SCREWING WITH MY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES!

Gina Serpe, eonline
Fri Nov 9, 9:24 AM EST
For Winona Ryder, it's a fine line between pixie-like and Vulcanesque.

The actress has become the latest boldface name attached to J.J. Abrams' highly anticipated reboot of the Star Trek franchise, signing on to star as mother to a young Spock.

It will be Ryder's biggest studio film since 2002, when the two-time Oscar nominee costarred in Mr. Deeds with Adam Sandler and S1m0ne with Al Pacino. Ryder laid low for several years following her shoplifting arrest and has only appeared in a handful of mostly independent films, most notably in Richard Linklater's 2006 rotoscope-animated feature, A Scanner Darkly.??

Variety reports the erstwhile Heathers star will play the Vulcan mother of the Starfleet logician,?? sending Trekkers into a tizzy. Abrams is messing with a key element of the Star Trek canon: In all previous installments of the franchise, Spock's mother was human, not Vulcan (the pointy ears come courtesy of his father's side of the family).

As conceived by Trek mastermind Gene Rodenberry, Spock's mother was Amanda Grayson, a teacher who met and married Sarek, the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth. The two later decamped?? to planet Vulcan. Spock's maternal unit was first introduced in a 1967 episode of the original series and portrayed by actress Jane Wyatt. Wyatt reprised the role in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

The 36-year-old Ryder will mother Heroes' Zachary Quinto, an actor just six years her junior. It's unclear whether movie makeup magic will make up the age difference or whether Ryder's character will only appear in flashback. Original Spock Leonard Nimoy is also slated to appear in a cameo role, though it's unclear in what capacity.

No official details have been released about the film's plot, other than it will revolve around the Starship Enterprise crew's first mission together.

Ryder's addition signals the end of casting. In recent weeks, Abrams beamed up Chris Pine (Kirk), Karl Urban (Dr. McCoy), Simon Pegg (Scotty), John Cho (Sulu), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Anton Yelchin (Chekov) and Eric Bana (the nefarious Nero) to the film.

Shooting is scheduled to begin on the film this month and is expected to last through March 2008. The film is slated for a Christmas 2008 release.

?? 2007 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All rights reserved., http://www.eonline.com/about/copyright/index.jsp

Sorry but I find this absolutly hilarious!!!
Alec Baldwin's phone message to his daughter,
maybe a bit stong for a 11 year old, but would be pretty solid stuff for a
ex-girlfriend.