I liked it, but I think it failed in that Bateman's gravelly Batman voice just made me want to laugh, and that despite the Joker being an incredibly psychotic killer, I still ended rooting for him over the 'good guys'.

Note to directors: making people like the bad guys, when you are not aiming at creating a 1990s style sociopathic 'hero', is generally not a good sign.

Then again, it could have been worse. At least they didn't base it on Frank Miller's latest Batman comic series.

Batman was overrated, as was Ledger's performance. He didn't stink, but it was nothing special. The only reason he's getting all the accolades is because he died.

When I first heard he got the role I expected a weak rehash of Nicholson. The Joker in this movie was freaking nuts. I thought he did a great job, dead or not.

Hardly. No doubt some of it was over the top, in the best traditions of posthumous accolades to actors, but I felt his performance was very well executed.

I still don't get the accolades. He didn't even die in a way that encourages pity. The ultimate finding of "accidental" overdose rankles. It's not like he tripped and bottles of oxycontin, xanax, valium, and several OTC sleep medications mysteriously ended up in his gullet.

I'm right there with you Wolf. He "accidentally" mixed the wrong load of drugs... self inflicted death. Either way, he's dead.

I'm not sure I follow how drug abuse impacts on his acting ability. But anyway

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/4...gument2cs5.jpg

Is that Nicholas Cage?

Anyhoo...John Updike died today. One of my favorite writers, right up there with Poe and DH Lawrence.

There's a song in here somewhere: all my writers are dead.

I was bummed out when Groucho Marx died and it got hardly any news coverage because Elvis died 3 days later.

Billy Powell RIP
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090128/..._skynyrd/print

he's a Freebird now - RIP.

Found this nice article about John Updike, and the following quote is how I feel about his writing:

One of my all time hero's John Martyn has recently died and i'm gutted been into the great man since I was at school which wasn't yesterday http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...st/7858458.stm

Here's a clip of him at his best a few years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_Ut...eature=related

I never heard of him, but thanks for the clip.

That was one of the reasons i was glad Bing Crosby died 2 months after Elvis. It knocked him off the front pages for a while.

James Whitmore has left us. IMHO, he was one of our finest actors. There was nothing he couldn't play, and his one man shows, particularly "Give 'Em Hell, Harry", were uniformly outstanding - he was the king of the one man historical personage portrayal, hands down.

The suburban KC town of Grandview, where I lived for over 30 years, is the location of the Truman family farm where Harry spent his teen and young adult years. By way of celebration of its favorite son, Grandview's Spring festival has long been known as "Harry's Hay Days", and Whitmore was brought in a couple of times to do his show many years ago. I never got to see it live, but I've seen the film version (for which Whitmore was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, the only person ever so nominated for a one-person film), and so have always had a huge admiration for Whitmore.

A little-known but amazingly well done film in which Whitmore starred along side Nancy Davis (the future Mrs. Ronald Reagan) is "The Next Voice You Hear", a tidy little moralistic piece which revolves around Jehovah speaking to the world over the radio over the course of six consecutive days. You never actually *hear* God's voice...you only see the reactions of those who have heard Him.

Another of his films that ranks amongst my favorites is "Them", the rampaging giant nuclear mutated ant film, and we cannot forget his outstanding portrayal of Shawshank's librarian in "The Shawshank Redemption".

James Whitmore was an actor of the sort they don't build anymore.

I read that earlier elspode. He was great. I loved his part in Shawshank Redemption.

Brooks was here.

Goodbye, Paul Harvey! I'll miss ya. Good day!

Oh Bri, I just saw that online.

"The rest of the story..."

When I was driving my parents' 1972 Impala to college, and back sometimes, it only had AM radio and I loved listening to Paul Harvey.

Good day, indeed.

RiP, Paul. Wonder if we'll get The Rest of The Story.

Natasha Richardson has died today following what was originally thought to be a minor skiing accident in Canada. She was only 45.

She was married to the equally handsome and talented Liam Neeson for nearly 15 years, and she leaves two sons motherless.

I first saw Natasha Richardson in the compelling film "The Handmaid's Tale", a cautionary tale of totalitarianism and religious misogyny, alongside Robert Duvall and Faye Dunaway. Ms Richardson's beauty and calm command of the screen struck me immediately, and I've been a fan ever since.

As I've often said before, it is a tragedy when anyone dies in a stupid accident, and Ms Richardson is only one mother, wife, daughter, sister who passed away today. Nevertheless, she brought some joy and interest into my world, and I will miss her. I am an equally big fan of Liam Neeson, who must be absolutely devastated tonight. Peace to him and his family.

well said and seconded. :(

Marilyn Chambers

The Bird
 

Mark Fidrych made $16,500 in 1976, while pitching 24 complete games. He is why modern players take the cash and get contracts renegotiated. Most of all The Bird was just fun to watch. In a just universe he'd get that arm back in the after-life.

I'm gonna go with Marilyn Chambers, too.


First porn I ever saw starred her.

Yeah Marilyn Chambers died on Sunday and I did not find out until today. I was bummed :( She got me through my teens LOL

This is seriously depressing to me. I can't tell you how many spank sessions of mine Marilyn Chambers starred in. :(

I NEVER watch baseball, but on Easter, I was over at my m-in-law's and they had it on. I think I heard his last 'That Ball's OUUUUTTTAAAA heeeere' live.

I really liked him for his work with NFL films, though.

...A customer ...a grown man that looked like a slightly thinner Andy Reid actually teared up on me a little today when we talked about it.

yeah....it was the 5-5 to 5-7 2 run homer i heard

I guess he was like Chicago's Harry Caray?

He was also THE voice of Inside the NFL. One of the best ever. He starts 21 seconds into this clip:

FIX YOUR SHIT

fixd

Stevie Ray Vaughan
Paul Harvey

Ed Freeman

Bea Arthur

The cantina misses ya Bea. ;)

David Carradine found dead in Thai hotel, apparent suicide.

Snatch this pebble from my hand, grasshopper. :(

Koko Taylor, Queen of the Blues, has died.

That's why I'm cryin.

"A preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the room's curtains. It cited police as saying there was no sign that he had been assaulted."

Sounds like the Ninja's finally got him...:ninja:

I know that I am surrounded by ninjas because I cannot see them.

I loved Kung Fu, but it was certainly sad to see an actor who could have had a much broader career get trapped into a role in that way.

Of course, the Carradine family always seemed to have a weird streak.

I met him about 8 years ago when i worked for a software company in CA. It was for film and TV writing and production and he was a client. We went to interview him about the product for an endorsement. He and his gf/wife? were fighting the whole time because they were in the middle of moving out of their house. And the 1st thing you noticed when getting close to the front door was the smell of pot all over.
And the interview was bizarre and pretty unusable.

WTF!!!!

:eek: :(

Possibly autoerotic asphyxiation instead of suicide, according to the radio show I'm listening to.

david carradine had guts.

And the curtain cord wrapped around his nuts.

Reports this AM said he was in a closet....naked.

link

.....needs to check for update......

....opts to pour scotch.....

Frankly, while I'm still sad he died, I'd rather believe it was AEA rather than suicide. AEA is risky, possibly foolish, embarrassing -- but it doesn't point to the kind of inner hell that exists for suicide victims and their families. 72 years old and still chasing the thrill...

did the death of Danny la Rue bum anyone?

Prolly would if I had the vaguest clue who that is.

Seems coming out of the closet is a good idea.

W.T.F!!!!!

Couldn't you just pay someone to choke you? They could quit when you start turning blue. :eek:

*sigh* D.C.

tragic

Must everyone have some dark secret. I am convinced it wasn't suicide although I haven't heard the news. I don't know why erotica like that is more believable to me.

The Kung Fu thing lived on in my psychie as some shadow of innocence past. I am bummed about this.

Am I so fragile I need to keep my heros without any human inclinations.

Rest in Peace, David Eddings. You provided my teenage years with many a gripping story. Rightly regarded as a tower amongst fantasy authors.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...re/8085289.stm

Now this saddens me beyond belief. The Belgariad and Mallorean series are my favorite books. I'm re-reading them for the 1000th time now.

Nope. I'm sure it meant much to his family and fans, but aside from a tribute in Mum's copy of The Stage and me wishing I'd had him on my Celebrity Death List, he passed un-noticed in our house.
Now that is a shock!
Talk about teenage years - when I was a homesick 15 year old at a French school, Magician's Gambit was my lifeline. I started it on the boat over there, and was still (re) reading it on the coach journey home. I had other books with me of course but there was something so reassuring about this new world. On my return I immediately got hold of the first two and was not disappointed.

In the end I found Edding's writing formulaic. But he has a special place in my heart for the pleasure I derived from the Belgariad during a time I needed comfort and absolutes.

If I believed it, I would send prayers for the respose of his soul. As it is, I simply regret his passing.

ETA - the BBC obituary is very poor.
EVERYONE I know who knows of Eddings knows of the Belgariad. It's not even mentioned!
Very poor show.

EETA - sent them a spank. Told them it was like an obituary for Eric Idle which focussed his roles in Nuns on the Run and Casper.

hah excellent Sundae. I must admit I did wonder why the belgariad wasn't mentioned.

That series of books has a special place in my heart. It's a series my dad got into first and then got me into. I remember him telling me about Pawn of Prophecy whilst he was about half way through. Oh it was so tough waiting for him to finish so I could read it *smiles*.

It wasn't particularly unusual for a series of books to do the family round, but this was one that just me and dad read all the way through. We both reread it recently. And shortly before he died he bought a new set as a Christmas present for our Mart's youngest daughter. One of the last full conversations I had with dad was about the Mallorean; which I never finished reading and which dad was urging me to give another go.

I may just do.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this here before, but my old HS girlfriend Liz, whom I went to see in Vegas 18 months ago, was David Carradine's sister in law. Liz's husband Scott's sister, Annie, was Carradine's wife.

Liz, and apparently everyone who knew Carradine, flatly state that suicide is the least likely scenario, and AEA isn't much more likely. Liz feels as though Carradine was far too vain to risk neck bruising while on a film shoot at a minimum.

Still, one never knows about the secret kinks people have, and we'll probably never know the truth.

I think the family will keep a cap on it media wise, and rightly so.

Some will know, but not many. RIP, David.