Natalie Wood and James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, wikimedia commons, photo is in public domain

Thirty years after her death, the actress Natalie Wood is once again in the spotlight.  Her name might not be as familiar to the younger generation as to those who grew up with TV shows and movies starring Natalie Wood, but recent speculation (and a re-investigation of her death) has led to renewed interest in Natalie Woods.  So who was Natalie Woods – and how did she die?

Natalie Woods starred in a multitude of TV shows and movies and received 3 Oscar nominations; films that Natalie Woods starred in included:

• Happy Land (1943)
• Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
• Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
• Splendor in the Grass (1961)
• West Side Story (1961)
• Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969).

She also starred in several TV shows, although her career declined after the early ’70′s.  Natalie Wood’s personal life was pretty wild and she enjoyed several dates, affairs and (rocky) marriages to stars such as Elvis Presley, British producer Richard Gregson (marriage)  and Robert Wagner (married twice).

Her untimely death on November 29, 1981, at just 43 years of age, was surrounded with theories of foul play; what was certain was that she drowned and had been drinking heavily the night before.  Whether anyone else played a part in her death is open to speculation, particularly as the case has now been re-opened by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.  Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, interest in Natalie Woods has increased – and opened up her world to a new generation of movie goers.

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Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson: Twilight Breaking Dawn opens Nov 18, 2011 (AP Photo)

The much anticipated Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (part 1) is finally released in US theaters on Friday November 18, 2011.  Fans of the Twilight series have been waiting impatiently since June 30, 2010 when Twilight Eclipse hit US movie theaters; Twilight Eclipse was released on DVD in December 2010.

However, if you can’t wait that long here’s a sneak peek at one of the trailers for Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.…

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Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, Amazon.com

Set for release on November 15, 2011, is a book that covers the remarkable story of a woman that shouldn’t have survived a tragic shooting which left six other people dead in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, 2011.  U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot at point blank range in the head and, against all odds, began the long road to recovery.  Her story is told in the book Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope.

2011 Tucson Shooting

Nineteen people were shot on the same day as Gabrielle Giffords was targeted by a gunman in the parking lot of Casas Adobes Safeway supermarket; six of them, including nine year old Christina-Taylor Green who was a Face of Hope as a baby born on 9/11/01, died.

Gabrielle Giffords spent the following ten months learning to walk and talk again, with the support of her husband Mark Kelly, who wrote the majority of the book, along with Wall Street journalist Jeffrey Zaslow.  However, Gabrielle Giffords wrote the final chapter of the book – in which she states it is her goal to get back to Congress.  A remarkable story, considering that her condition was reported as “critical” in the days following the shooting.

Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope is available on November 15, 2011.

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Angelina Jolie's directorial debut premieres in December 2011 (AP photo)

After much controversy, actress Angelina Jolie‘s directorial debut, In The Land of Blood and Honey (2011) is to be released in U.S. theaters on December 23, 2011.  Not that this movie is traditional seasonal fare.  It covers the hard hitting subjects of war and the subsequent fall out from such events. It is, however, marketed as a love story between opposing sides of the war and stars unknown local actors.  Because of who its director and writer is, it has already received much attention from the media.

Angelina Jolie came up with the storyline of In The Land of Blood and Honey (2011) that tells the tale of a Bosnian war victim who has a love affair with a Serbian war criminal.  The reason that initial filming of In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011) received criticism last year was because many, many Bosnian women suffered unimaginably during the Bosnian War at the hands of Serbian men.  Many feel that Jolie should not have made the movie.

However, after the first trailers of the movie hit the internet last week, media writers are predicting that Jolie could be in line for an Academy Award for In The Land of Blood and Honey (2011).  How the movie is received by the general public will only be told when it is released in December.

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“Avatar” Themed Attractions and Rides Coming to Disney Parks

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James Cameron and Robert Iger, president and CEO of Walt Disney Company, discuss plans for an Avatar-themed attraction at Disney, AP Photo

If you are a fan of James Cameron’s epic blockbuster Avatar, you will no doubt be waiting with anticipation for the release of Avatar 2, expected to be released in 2014.  Well, now it seems like Disney are preparing to jump on the Avatar bandwagon after this week it was revealed that James Cameron and 20th Century Fox have formed an alliance with Disney to develop Avatar-themed attractions in the Disney parks.

Work on the Avatar-themed attractions and rides at Disney is anticipated to start in 2013, with an expected completion date that will coincide with the release of Avatar 2 in 2014 and another Avatar sequel in 2015.

If you want to imagine what it would be like to visit Pandora (the fictional setting of the movie), you will have a chance to experience rides and attractions, along with Pandora-themed food and merchandise, in a Pandora-like world.  The first Avatar-themed attractions are scheduled for Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Until then, fans will have to be content with a re-run of the original Avatar movie – which became the highest grossing film of all time in the United States and Canada on its initial release.

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AndyWhitfield died from cancer on September 11, 2011, photo credit: Gage Skidmore, wikipedia commons

British actor Andy Whitfield, who rose to fame as Spartacus in the Starz television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, died on Sunday September 11, 2011 in Sydney, Australia.  The actor had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma 18 months ago and was, at first, expected to recover.  However, according to AP press release, Whitfield’s wife, Vashti, released the following statement:

“On a beautiful sunny Sydney spring morning, surrounded by his family, in the arms of his loving wife, our beautiful warrior Andy Whitfield lost his 18 month battle with lymphoma cancer.”

Andy Whitfield’s Brief Career as an Actor

Andy Whitfield moved to Australia to study acting in 1999; although he had appeared in several Australian TV series’ and a movie, it was his role as Spartacus that brought him to the attention of American TV viewers.  Whitfield only filmed one series of Spartacus: Blood and Sand before he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  As he was expected to recover at that point, a prequel, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, was filmed in anticipation of series two being filmed on Whitfield’s recovery.

However, after an initial “cancer-free” period, the disease returned late last year and Whitfield was replaced by actor Liam McIntyre in the role of Spartacus; series two, entitled Spartacus: Vengeance, is expected to air early next year.

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Its been a while – seven years in fact – since we saw Bridget Jones catching the wedding bouquet and claiming her man.  But what happens next?  Does Bridget live happily ever after in wedded bliss with the handsome Mark Darcy?  Fans of Bridget Jones will have to wait just a little bit longer to find out but author Helen Fielding (who wrote the original Bridget Jones Diary) is said to be in the process of writing both a new book and a movie for the third installment in the Bridget Jones saga.

Interest in Bridget Jones 3 peaked this last week when it seemed that Rene Zellweger would reprise the role of Bridget Jones in the third installment.  Rene Zellweger, who is now 42 years old in real life, apparently wavered over whether to take on the role of Bridget Jones again because of the yo-yo diet she has to undergo to play Bridget; Rene is a lot slimmer than the fictional Bridget and had to pile on the pounds for the last two movies, Bridget Jones Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. Will she do the same for Bridget Jones 3 - or will she resort to a rumored fat suit?

And what is in store for Bridget in Bridget Jones 3?  No firm word yet on the exact storyline but you can be sure that both Mark Darcy (played by Colin Firth) and Daniel Cleaver (played by Hugh Grant) are prominent interests in Bridget’s turbulent love life – including a rumored pregnancy! We can only hope that these two main male movie stars will also re-claim their roles respectively – otherwise Bridget Jones wouldn’t be, well, Bridget Jones

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If you grew up in the ’8os, as I did, you will not be unfamiliar with the classic movie Dirty Dancing (1987); however, Johnny maybe getting hot under the collar about recent talk for a remake of the movie – without its two main stars Patrick Swayze (who played dance instructor Johnny) and Jennifer Grey (who fell under Johnny‘s spell as teenage Baby).

Kenny Ortega to Direct Dirty Dancing Remake

Lionsgate announced yesterday, August 9, 2011,  that it had plans to remake the classic Dirty Dancing with director Kenny Ortega; Californian-born Ortega has directed such events as Michael Jackson’s This is It tour and choreographed the video for Madonna’s Material Girl, in addition to originally choreographing Dirty Dancing’s dance numbers.  The news has met with mixed reactions from fans of the original movie; many have remarked that no one can replace Patrick Swayze (who died in 2009) as Johnny.  However, Jennifer Grey gave her support for the remake by tweeting:

“I love @Kennyortega and trust that he will do something special  #DirtyDancingRemake.”

The Cast for Dirty Dancing Remake

So, who will play the movie’s main stars in the remake?  Casting has not yet been finalized but names such as Justin Timberlake, Lea Michele (Glee), Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Derek Hough have been cast around the internet as a potential Johnny and Baby. For those of us who grew up with the original Dirty Dancing, it will be hard to imagine anyone else other than Patrick Swayze or Jennifer Grey as Johnny and Baby respectively…

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Will print books become a thing of the past? istockphoto, used with permission

It was with sadness that I read today, Monday July 18, 2011, that Borders bookstores will be permanently closing the doors of its remaining stores from Friday July 22, 2011, after no one jumped into to save the company that filed for for bankruptcy in February 2011. I don’t know about you, but even with the age of the internet and our ability to download information and books at the touch of button, I still love to visit a bookstore.

Bookstores are the places which I could easily get lost in for hours, even if I don’t always wind up buying a book! There is something about the written word in print that no amount of internet downloads or kindle apps can replace. Many of my books are tattered and torn from constant re-reading and – although I do cater to the e-learning community – I still like to sit down with a print book of my own once in a while!

With the close of Borders bookstores, one has to wonder what the future holds for traditional print books. With online competitors offering up “books” at half the cost and at lightening speed, will the traditional bookstore become a thing of the past? Despite an unrosy outlook, I personally believe that bookstores will be around for some time to come yet – even if it is in a reduced capacity…

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Ted Danson is to join CSI, wikimedia commons

It seems like no one has successfully filled the void left by William Peterson when he left the TV drama CSI two years ago; although Laurence Fishburne was brought in to play Dr Raymond Langston, Langston didn’t pull in as many viewers as his predecessor Gil Grissom.  In fact, since the original CSI series began in 2000, there are only two original cast members of the CSI team (excluding Paul Guilfoyle who plays Captain Jim Brass).  So will the latest addition to the cast improves the show’s ratings?

Ted Danson Joins CSI: Las Vegas

George Eads, who plays CSI Nick Stokes, and Marg Helgenberger who plays CSI Catherine Willows are the only two remaining actors/actresses who starred in the original episodes of CSI back in 2000; other cast members have come and gone (in various ways) and some have returned after a period of absence (including actress Jorja Fox who plays Sara Sidle).

The newest recruit to CSI is actor Ted Danson, 63, most famous for his role as Sam Malone in the TV sitcom Cheers back in the ’80′s.  The role as Sam is a world away from the more gritty role as a CSI in Las Vegas; so will Ted Danson make the transistion and bring in viewers?  Only time will tell.  Personally, I wouldn’t mind at all if Gil Grissom was to return full time to the team

Season 12 of CSI begins on September 21, 2011 on CBS.

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