Hollywood Today!

I saw the Taken trailer for the first time tonight and can’t wait to see the movie. It stars Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace (ex-Shannon, LOST), and Famke Jannsen. Neeson plays an ex-spy who’s skills are called upon to save his daughter (Grace) who has been kidnapped and forced into slave trade.

The movie comes out January 23, 2009.

Catwoman Double-sided poster
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We might as well admit it - even raise a mug of coffee and toast to it - 40 IS the new 30. Recently, Johnny Depp (and other 40ish actors) dominated a “Sexiest man alive” poll in Cosmo magazine. Now, gorgeous Halle Berry has added another accomplishment for the fab 40’s.

Halle Berry was named “Sexiest Woman Alive” by Esquire magazine - a choice that’s completely impossible to find fault with. So, in her honor, today is Halle Berry Day on Hollywood Yesterday. You can’t be that fine and talented and not get recognized for it.

Did You Know?
Halle Berry was born on August 14 (my birthday as well!) in 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Halle has an older sister named Heidi but, unfortunately, the sisters are estranged.

Representing her home state of Ohio, Halle Berry won the Miss Teen All-American Pageant in 1985.

In 1986, she was the runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant.

Her first TV series was Living Dolls. On set, she earned a reputation for her tireless commitment to her craft. She became known as an actress who didn’t just “play” a role, she became the role - even after the cameras stopped rolling.

Halle Berry is a type 1 diabetic.

In high school, Halle was in the honor society, was editor of the school paper, and class president. Naturally, she also crowned prom queen.

Halle Berry was the first African American actress to win the Oscar for Best Actress.

Her amazing dress for the 2002 Oscars ceremony was voted the most popular from the first 75 years.

On Febuary 26, 2005, she showed up in person to accept the Razzie award for Worst Actress for her role as Catwoman. She was the first actress to ever do so! Accepting the award, Halle Berry smiled her beautiful smile and said “Thank you and I hope to God I never see you guys again.”

She was one of only three actresses (Faye Dunaway and Liza Minnelli) to win both the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Razzie Award for Worst Actress (And Faye Dunaway even shared her award - with Bo Derek).

Her favorite actresses are Dorothy Dandridge, Jodie Foster and Whoopi Goldberg.

The dedicated Halle refused to bathe for two weeks in preparation for a role as a crack addict in Jungle Fever (1991).

She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 3, 2007.

Halle was saved from choking (on a fig) by the best Bond ever, Pierce Brosnan, while shooting Die Another Day.

Halle and her longtime boyfriend, Gabriel Aubry, became the parents of a daughter named Nahla Ariela Aubry on 16 March 2008.

Halle Berry Quotes:

“This moment is so much bigger than me, This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll… It’s for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett Smith, Angela Bassett, Vivica A. Fox… and it’s for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance, because the door tonight has been opened.” - During her Oscar acceptance speech.

“There’s art and there’s commerce. You have to find a way to mesh the two. It’s important to do the little movies just for the love of the art. But it’s those big movies that take you around the world and make you globally famous.”

“I want to be the next Spike Lee. I want to help other black folks to get into Hollywood and be successful in Hollywood.”

“What is my real purpose here? I’ve looked at what I do. I make believe and make movies. I entertain people and get paid for it. Sometimes it seems like such a shallow existence. How insignificant in the scheme of life.”

“I never wanted to be a model. My modeling career was nothing but a stepping stone to my acting career and that’s all I ever saw it as. A pointless rock in the river that has to be stepped on in order to get to the meaningful oasis of acting.”

(While pregnant) “I am three times the girl I used to be. This is the second red carpet where I didn’t have to think about sucking in my stomach - because I can’t!”

According to a new survey in Britain’s Cosmopolitan Magazine, Johnny Depp is the sexiest man in the world.

The pride of Owensboro, Kentucky finished above some pretty impressive competition, and prooved something we already knew: Men under the age of 40 have nothing on men over 40.

George Clooney came in second place, closely followed by Jake Gyllenhaal at third.

Daniel Craig was fourth and Brad Pitt rounded came in at number 5.

Vin Diesel - Action Framed Art PrintBuy at AllPosters.com

I’m sure you’ve seen the hilarious “Random Facts About Chuck Norris” lists. There are lots of Vin Diesel lists springing up now and they’re every bit as funny. If you’ve never seen these lists before, you’ll get the gist right away.

• If you rearrange the letters in Vin Diesel it reveals his credo: “I End Lives.”
• When Vin Diesel goes to donate blood, he declines the syringe, and instead requests a hand gun and a bucket.
• When Vin Diesel was born, the nurse said, “Holy crap! That’s Vin Diesel!” Then she had had sex with him. At that point, she was the third girl he had slept with.
• There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Vin Diesel allows to live.
• Vin Diesel once walked down the street with a massive erection. There were no survivors.
• Vin Diesel can divide by zero.
• In fine print at on the last page of the Guiness Book of World Records it notes that all world records are held by Vin Diesel, and those listed in the book are simply the closest anyone has ever come to matching him.
• Vin Diesel built this city. He built this city on rock and roll.
• Vin Diesel can look directly at nymphs, and they like it. (From http://www.masterninja.com/lists/?name=vindiesel)
• Vin Diesel is the only one who may touch The Last Unicorn.
• Vin Diesel does not just order a steak - he unhinges his jaw and eats the entire cow.
• For every Vin Diesel there is an opposite Vin Diesel. Vin Diesel heard about this and promptly destroyed his opposite self. This created a paradox that unraveled the space-time continuum. Consequently, we are currently living inside Vin Diesel’s imagination.
• Vin Diesel wears a cup not to protect himself, but to protect the players on the other team.
• Crop circles are Vin’s way of telling the world that sometimes corn needs to lie the f- down.
• When Vin Diesel deletes files from his computer, he doesn’t send them to the Recycle Bin. He sends them to hell.
• Vin Diesel sleeps once every 2 weeks, for half an hour, standing up, with his eyes open, and he looks pissed off.
• The popular videogame “Doom” is based loosely around the time Satan borrowed two bucks from Vin Diesel and forgot to pay him back.
• Dairy Queen used to be Dairy King before Vin Diesel made it his bitch.
• Vin Diesel is the only one who can “try this at home.”
• The word “lesbian” derives from an old Latin phrase that roughly translates as “She who has not yet been introduced to Vin Diesel.”
• Vin Diesel doesn’t have a computer. Just a basement full of Asian kids that memorize numbers.
• In an average living room there are 1,242 objects Vin Diesel could use to kill you, including the room itself.
• Vin Diesel always asks for the same Christmas gift: A box of Smurfs and a sledgehammer.
• Vin Diesel is the reason Waldo is hiding.
• Vin Diesel can predict the shuffle of his ipod.
• When Vin Diesel gets pulled over he lets the cop off with a warning.
• Vin Diesel can watch a season of “24″ in just three hours.
• The book “Wost Case Scenario,” discusses ways to run from many different deadly animals. The page entitled “Running from Vin Diesel” simply says “Good luck.”
• If at first you don’t succeed, you must not be Vin Diesel.
• Vin Diesel doesn’t have to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Tall buildings duck under Vin Diesel.
• Vin Diesel irons his shirts while he’s still wearing them.
• Vin Diesel’s hair is too afraid of him to grow.
• Vin Diesel once talked an Amish housewife into buying a toaster.
• When the girl from “The Ring” climbed out of Vin’s TV, he stood up, cleared his throat, stretched calmly, and booted her straight back in.

Sources:
Vin Diesel Facts
Master Ninja Lists

** You can check the sources above for more facts - some I just couldn’t bring myself to include in the post. Funny? Definitely. PC? Not so much. I know, I know, Vin Diesel doesn’t give a F- about PC….

XXX Poster
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One of my husband’s favorite actors is Vin Diesel. You put in a Vin Diesel movie and he’s transfixed until the credits roll. Below are some facts about the actor that I’ve rounded up, as well as a few of his quotes.

Vin Diesel’s mother was an astrologist AND a psychologist. His adoptive dad taught theater. I’m betting they had some pretty cool dinner table conversations.

Vin Diesel was enrolled as an English major at Hunter College, but he left for Hollywood before graduating.

He once worked as a bouncer in New York City.

Vin Diesel’s birth name is Mark Sinclair Vincent.

He’s 6 ft tall.
Has an Italian Mastiff named “Roman”.

Vin has a fraternal twin brother.

On “Late Night with Conan O’Brian” (1993), he admitted that he’s a fan of Dungeons and Dragons and played for 24 years.

He is bi-racial, being half African-American and half Italian American

Vin Diesel was actually cast in Reindeer Games (2000) with Ben Affleck. However, he left shortly after filming began because of concerns with the quality of the screenplay and “creative differences” with director John Frankenheimer.

Revolution Studios wanted him for the title role in Hellboy, but director Guillermo del Toro wanted Ron Perlman, and wouldn’t direct the movie if he wasn’t cast.

Once worked as a telemarketer, selling light bulbs.

He and his girlfriend, Paloma Jimenez, welcomed their first child, a girl, on Apirl 2nd, 2008. Her beautiful name is Hania Riley.

Vin Diesel Quotes:
“Well, I’ve worked out for years. For a long time it was my only sense of gratification.”

“I was being offered three franchises at the same time - Pitch Black, XXX, and The Fast and the Furious - and I had to choose. I couldn’t do all three.” (When asked why he didn’t do the Fast and the Furious sequel.)

“This isn’t a poster. This is a declaration of war!” (about the XXX poster and what it means for his career.)

On the planned Chronicles of Riddick trilogy: “We gave the script to the studio, I bought three leather binders. One said C1, one said C2 and one said C3. They all had locks on them and we only gave the key to C1 to the studio”.

“In the next film, Riddick is going to go to the underverse. Riddick will act with new elementals. Not air elementals [as Judi Dench's character is] but fire and water. It’ll come full circle in C3 when he must return to Furia”.

“The concept behind switching genres was to create a film that you could continue exploring. In the ending of this movie, it’s not just something that says we’re opening it up so we can tell another story, it’s very specific. A very daring ending because it’s left open-ended.” (About The Chronicles of Riddick)

“From the very very beginning, when everyone thought it was crazy, I was thinking of The Chronicles of Riddick as a trilogy. That would start with the movie you saw, and Pitch Black would act as a prequel that introduced you to the character. So in simple terms, in Chronicles 2 we venture to the Underverse. We knew we could get away with a PG-13 on the first one, but once you go to the Underverse it’s rated R, because it’s a place where war is the norm and there is constant, constant battling. Then on Chronicles 3 we will see Riddick return to Furia, to deal with the homeland.”

“If you had asked me back in grade school what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have said my first choice was an actor, but if I couldn’t be that, I’d want to be a superhero.”

“I was a bouncer for nine years - it was all I knew how to do - and my training was not to talk loosely…That’s still my thought process: Shut your mouth, watch your back and keep working till your ass falls off.

If you don’t think the Love Guru Adult Costume
is horrifying, you haven’t seen the movie.

I think it’d make a perfect costume - just be safe and wear a bullett proof vest, okay? A few other people besides me DID see the movie, and they might want a little revenge. Or at least their money back.

The Express is a drama based on the life of college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. It stars Dennis Quaid, Rob Brown, Justin Martin, Omar Benson Miller, and Darrin Dewitt Henso.

I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time. The Express looks like a movie with a lot of guts, a lot of heart, and a lot of the type of acting and scenes that make us movie addicts glad to be alive.

How can a movie with Tim Robbins and Bill Murray sneak up on movie goers? I honestly can’t remember ever seeing a trailer for this movie before today. The young British actress in the movie is Saoirse Ronan, who was nothing short of brilliant in Atonement. Keira Knightley’s one of my three favorite actresses, but I think Saoirse stole the movie from her and the very talented James McAvoy.

City of Ember’s Plot:

For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember’s once powerful generator is failing … and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city’s existence, and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever.

City of Ember will hit most theaters in its sneak attack tomorrow night.

Ghostbusters II Masterprint
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At the screening of City Of Ember at Fantastic Fest, Bill Murray, who was a surprise guest, answered questions from the audience. The subject of the recently announced Ghostbusters 3 came up and here’s what Bill had to say:

“Well, I think the wounds from Ghostbusters 2 have healed. And supposedly they’ve got 2 guys from The Office to write a script? That could work, I think that’s a good idea to get a fresh look at it. I’ve always liked the characters, the characters were fun. And we did have a lot of fun making the movie, the first one was really a lot of fun to make. I think the first 45 minutes of Ghostbusters is about as funny as a movie gets. We didn’t have a lot of special effect in it, it was just a couple. It was just the funny characters in that world, and I liked that movie because of it. I think the first movie had something like 60 plate shots or something like that? The second one had hundreds. The special (FX) guys got their hands on the script early (for GHOSTBUSTERS 2) and it was just gone. It went away. The script went away. It was hard to wrangle because it was tied all around the FX without story coming first or the characters moving through it, so - they’re hard movies to write. And Dan really caught it with that first one. He really caught it. And it’s fun. Characters are fun to do. We did the video game this summer and it was fun to do it again. I found myself walking down 5th Avenue singing the song! People (walking by) were like ‘God, that guy’s really full of himself’”

Ghostbusters 3? Is it a little early to start getting excited?

The release date for the horror movie Quarantine is, appropriately enough, October 31. In the film, the main character is a television reporter named Angela Vidal (played by Jennifer Carpenter). She and her cameraman (played by Steve Harris) get a seemingly innocent assignment - to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles Fire Station.

A 911 call summons them to an apartment where a woman’s horrific screams has drawn the attention of police.

Unexplained things happen in the apartment, beginning with a woman’s mysterious infection. Other residents are attacked and, in the end, the entire building is quarantined. During the quarantine, phones, Internet, televisions and cell phones are all cut off. The officials don’t permit any information inside the apartment building. Those who have been quarantined inside (including Angela and her cameraman) are on their own to face the nightmare.

When the quarantine is finally lifted, the only evidence of what took place is the news crew’s videotape.

See you in line!