Documentary Filmmaker Albert Maysles Has Died at Age 88

Albert Maysles, the documentary filmmaker who made films such as Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens, has passed away at the age of 88. Maysles was a master; a true auteur in the documentary form. As a brilliant observer and cinematographer, Maysles not only differentiated his films from the work of other documentarians, he set the standard for what all documentaries could be. He pioneered a movement.

Maysles regularly worked with his brother, David, who died in 1987, and with partners such as Charlotte Zwerin and Ellen Hovde & Muffie Meyer (on Grey Gardens). Together the Maysles brothers were revered for their work, gaining the praise of such legends as Jean Luc-Goddard, and making films about The Beatles, Marlon Brando, Truman Capote and more.Salesman, in 1968, truly put them on the map; they continued to document singular personalities and events. The quirkiness of the women in Grey Gardens, the fear of the Rolling Stones concert in Altamont. These were landmark people and events captured by a unique filmmaker.

On his official website, Maysels has this statement:

As a documentarian I happily place my fate and faith in reality. It is my caretaker, the provider of subjects, themes, experiences – all endowed with the power of truth and the romance of discovery. And the closer I adhere to reality the more honest and authentic my tales. After all, the knowledge of the real world is exactly what we need to better understand and therefore possibly to love one another. It’s my way of making the world a better place.

There’s no doubt that with his films, Maysles succeeded in that. He made this world a better place by showing us the world we live in. While he may be gone, his films will never go away.

For more on Maysles, visit his personal website. It’s a fascinating look into his groundbreaking filmmaking techniques and career.

[slashfilm]

Harrison Ford injured in plane crash

From starwars7news, Last year, Harrison Ford infamously broke an ankle during the production of The Force Awakens – and while the injury itself was fairly moderate in the grand scheme of things, many hoped that this would be the last of the many injuries he’s sustained. Unfortunately, news has just broken out that the 72-year-old actor has just crash-landed unexpectedly, and is in a serious (though not critical) condition.

From Screen Crush:

This is absolutely harrowing news: iconic actor and living legend Harrison Ford has been critically injured in a plane crash. The plane crash-landed in Venice, California today and Ford was subsequently rushed to the hospital where his condition is currently critical. Ford, who’s been reprising his role in the new series of Star Wars films and recently signed on for the long-gestating Blade Runner sequel, is 72 years old—making his enduring dedication to these franchises even more remarkable.



Ford had been flying a plane by himself when it malfunctioned, leading him to crash on a golf course. After the crash, Ford walked away from the wreckage with several head injuries. Though this comes at a shock, as Ford is an experienced pilot and has survived a few crashes before, there is a silver lining to it in that the actual injury itself wasn’t as severe as initially reported.

UPDATE: NBC News is reporting that Ford’s condition has been downgraded to “fair to moderate.” According to NBC Los Angeles, “Ford’s injuries were originally described as ‘critical,’ but sources emphasized that they are better characterized as serious, including lacerations to the head and possible fractures.”

It currently sounds as though Harrison Ford will survive his injuries, but he is still in an unstable state at this point in time. After the recent death of Leonard Nimoy, it would be a tragedy to potentially lose another great actor to unforeseen dangers. From the team at Star Wars 7 News, our hearts and prayers go toward Harrison Ford and his family.

UPDATE!

According to Ford’s son, Ben, Harrison is most likely going to be all right. Let’s hope that he has a quick recovery.

WTF: Aren’t You Glad This Homophobic ‘Back to the Future’ Scene Got Cut?

From slashfilm, For a story that centers around a woman’s unwitting love for her future son, Back to the Futuremanages to be admirably non-creepy. Sure, there’s a WTF factor that kicks in the second we realize Lorraine has the hots for Marty, but Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale manage to keep things on the right side of the funny / awful divide.

But getting that balance right apparently took some trial and error. A cut scene reveals one hilarious instance in which they found themselves on the wrong side of that calculation. Watch the bizarre Back to the Future deleted scene after the jump.



This Back to the Future deleted scene has been floating around the Internet for a few years already, but has been making the rounds again as of late (h/t Pajiba).

'Avengers: Age of Ultron' trailer #3 looks fantastic!

Dammit, Mother Nature: Amateur Photographer Catches Weasel Riding On The Back Of Flying Woodpecker

From geekology, This is the photo of a weasel riding/attacking a flying green woodpecker taken by amateur photographer (read: regular person) Martin Le-May in his yard in Essex, England. Personally, if I was a weasel I'd prefer to ride a hawk, but that's just me and I'm at war against the squirrels.
Speaking to BBC News, Mr Le-May said he had managed to capture the moment while he was out walking with his wife Ann.


"I think we may have distracted the weasel as when the woodpecker landed it managed to escape and the weasel ran into the grass."

Wildlife expert Lucy Cooke told the BBC News Channel: "This is a truly extraordinary image.

"The green woodpecker is a ground-feeding bird, but weasels normally attack rabbits. The woodpecker is not its usual prey.



You think the weasel was actually attacking the bird, or you think it just wanted to know what it was like to fly? Because if I was a weasel sitting around watching birds fly all day I'd probably want to know what it was like too. Thankfully, I'm not a weasel, I'm a chipmunk and I'm too busy stuffing my cheeks (mouth and butt) with nuts to think about that stuff.

'Lake Placid vs. Anaconda', I'm in!

From toplessrobot, Both Lake Placid and Anaconda were fun, late-'90s movies that featured celebrities goofing around in monster movie scenarios, ushering in the era of both Betty White as foul-mouthed dirty jokester, and Jon Voight as somebody not to be taken seriously. They were Syfy movies before there even was such a term, albeit on much bigger budgets.

And somehow, on DVD, they kept going as franchises (yes, Anacondas got a theatrical release, but it was brief), although Lake Placid proclaimed its "final chapter" three years ago. And today, this press release from Syfy:

LAKE PLACID VS ANACONDA (ORIGINAL MOVIE PREMIERE)
Premieres Saturday, April 25 at 9PM - Killer crocodiles and giant anacondas clash in this thriller about corporate greed and science gone wrong, starring Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street), Yancy Butler (Kick Ass) and Corin Nemec (Stargate SG-1). A production of UFO Films.

I don't know which is harder to believe - the notion that this is actually a "thriller," or the fact that it wasn't made by The Asylum.

Perfect Leonard Nimoy tribute

Stephen King's newest short story, "A Death"

Read it here, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/09/a-death-stephen-king

Find the #1 Song on the Day You Were Born

[JPX] My song is the lamest ever! In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus) by Zager and Evans

Go here to see what your song is, http://playback.fm/birthday-song

Who's the Boss of Wall Street?

Box Office or how Will Smith learned to love to bomb

From ew, Fifty Shades of Grey’s box office status would have dropped this weekend even without any new releases, but the arrival of crime drama Focus caused it to move all the way from the first to fourth spot in the top five—and signaled that its days as a big box office earner are nearing their end.

This already became obvious in its second weekend, when sales decreased by 74 percent. This weekend’s drop—51 percent—isn’t as steep, but it’s enough to prove that interest in the erotic drama is waning. Plus, viewers had a new drama to watch this weekend: Focus starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie, a film that opened with $19.1 million.

Many claimed Smith’s reign as box office king was over when his most recent film, 2013’s After Earth, debuted with $27.5 million. But even though Focus’ $19.1 million is considerably less, it’s a more successful premiere in context: After Earth was a big-budget ($130 million, to be exact) action film that ended up making just $60.5 domestically. Focus is a more low-key film made on a smaller budget ($50 million), and it’s one that performed similarly to its genre peers: The Wolf of Wall Street, another crime drama starring an A-list actor, debuted with $18.4 million in 2013—and that was even with Martin Scorsese’s name and Oscar buzz attached.

Kingsman: The Secret Service, The SpongeBob Movie, Fifty Shades, and horror newcomer The Lazarus Effect rounded out the box office top five—but their weekend estimates are all so close that the order could easily change when the actuals come out Monday.

1. Focus — $19.1 million
2. Kingsman: The Secret Service — $11.8 million
3. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water — $11.2 million
4. Fifty Shades of Grey — $10.9 million
5. The Lazarus Effect — $10.6 million

While Fifty Shades didn’t have the greatest week here in America, it continues to succeed overseas: It was the number-one film internationally for the third week in a row. Estimates say it made $36 million in 59 territories over the weekend, bringing the international total to $338.4 million and the worldwide total to $486.2 million.