David Bowie dies of cancer aged 69

From ew [excerpt], David Bowie, the legendary British rocker who spent the entirety of his career mixing genres and experimenting with theatricality, has died after a battle with cancer. He was 69 years old.

“David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer,” read a post on the artist’s Facebook page on Sunday night. “While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.”


Bowie celebrated his 69th birthday on Friday by releasingBlackstar, his beautifully dark and twisted 26th studio album, which EW called in its review “an all-senses headphone surrender to the sound of an artist who is older and almost definitely wiser but still fantastically, singularly himself.

Born David Robert Jones, he released his self-titled debut album in 1967 but didn’t make his first big impact on the music world until 1969, when his single “Space Oddity” (from the album of the same name) became a worldwide hit. Bowie took his roots in folk rock and blew them open for “Space Oddity,” dressing up his simple strumming in ambient effects and a compelling sci-fi narrative that echoed the then-current fascination with space travel (it’s no coincidence that “Space Oddity” became a smash hit the same month that Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong became the first men to walk on the moon).

Phantasm star Angus Scrimm dies at 89

From ew, Angus Scrimm, the veteran character actor best known for playing the terrifying “Tall Man” in the Phantasm horror franchise, has died at the age of 89. His other credits included the 2008 film I Sell the Dead, the TV show Alias — on which he had a recurring role — and the spooky audio play series Tales From Beyond the Pale.

EW was informed of Scrimm’s death by his friend and longtime collaborator Don Coscarelli, who directed Scrimm in 1979’s Phantasmand its three subsequent sequels, among other projects.

Scrimm was born Lawrence Rory Guy in Kansas City, Kansas, and studied theater at USC in Los Angeles. However, he found it difficult to make a living as an actor and instead spent years working at Capitol Records where he wrote the liner notes for an array of musical acts, including Frank Sinatra and the Beatles.

Scrimm first worked with Coscarelli on the 1976 film Jim, the World’s Greatest but it was his menacing character in the Phantasm series which elevated the actor to the status of a genuine, and much beloved, genre icon. Scrimm recently reprised the role of the Tall Man again in a fifth film, Phantasm: Ravager, which is set for release later this year. Fans will also soon be able to see the actor in a restored version of the franchise’s first film overseen by Star Wars director, and diehard Phantasm aficionado, J.J. Abrams.

“Angus Scrimm passed away peacefully tonight surrounded by his friends and loved one,” Coscarelli wrote, via email. “[His] performance as the Tall Man is a towering achievement in horror film history. He was the last in a long line of classic horror movie stars. He was a terrific actor and an even better friend. He will be missed.”

The Force Awakens Spoiler Discussion

If you haven’t seen The Force Awakens by now then clearly you’re a poseur and deserve to have it spoiled for you. Nevertheless, I will leave my thoughts in the comments section and would like to hear all y’all’s thoughts/reactions.

Star Wars Scene Stealer TR-8R Has An Official Name, A Nickname, And...Red Hair?

From cinemablend, Of all the new breakout characters featured in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the strangest, least expected star was the stormtrooper who has become known as TR-8R. That’s the moniker the Internet gave the First Order foot soldier that calls John Boyega’s Finn, "Traitor," and then throws down with him. As it turns, however, he has a real name, a nickname, and…red hair?

Potential Star Wars: The Force Awakens spoilers lurk beyond this point. Tread lightly.

We recently learned a little bit about TR-8R’s backstory, which is something we haven’t had about most stormtroopers in the past, but now we know even more. According to the official Star Wars website, the soldier who inspired a thousand viral memes is actually named FN-2199. His friends, among which number Finn used to be counted, call him Nines for short. He is even pictured in the background of a piece of concept art without his helmet, which shows that he has a shock of bright red head.

Nines shows up during the scene where the First Order arrives at Maz Kanata’s cantina on Takodana, and when he sees Finn, he bellows at him, whips out his Z6 riot control baton, and the two come to blows. It’s easy enough to pass this off as one dedicated soldier being pissed off that another deserted and went AWOL, but there’s much more to the story.

In the book Before the Awakening, it is revealed that Finn, previously designated FN-2187, and Nines served together as part of a four-man squad. Working together in such a manner, it sounds like they must have become fairly close, which would certainly explain why he recognizes Finn so quickly, as well as why he’s so butt hurt about it. It isn’t just that a soldier deserted, but he lost a friend, too.

It was actually another member of their crew that played a part in Finn’s decision to leave. The stormtrooper who dies on Jakku in the early going, the one that smears his own blood across Finn’s mask, was named Slip, and was part of their team. Watching his friend die in combat is what compelled Finn to abandon ship.

Not only does this illustrate just how detailed the stories in the Star Wars universe truly are, it helps add a whole other dimension to the stormtroopers. For the most part, they’ve been little more than faceless canon fodder in the saga, but Star Wars: The Force Awakens has gone to great lengths in order to humanize them, to give them feelings and emotions and their own individual personalities and stories like never before.

It’ll be interesting to see if this develops as we move towards Star Wars: Episode VIII, and many have already expressed the hope that FN-2199, Nines, TR-8R, or whatever you want to call him, survived getting shot and will show up in the future. It could provide an interesting wrinkle for Finn’s narrative moving forward.

The Conjuring 2 - Official Teaser Trailer

Pat Harrington, Schneider on 'One Day at a Time,' dead at 86

From nbcnews [excerpt], Pat Harrington Jr., who won an Emmy Award for playing handyman Schneider on the popular sitcom "One Day at a Time," has died at age 86, his daughter announced Thursday morning.

Tresa Harrington posted on Facebook that her father died Wednesday night, two months after she wrote that he had Alzheimer's disease and his health was deteriorating.

"My heart is broken to pieces and I will cry and cry until I just won't," Harringtonsaid in her post.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens bests Avatar as the biggest domestic movie in history

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has dethroned Avatar as the biggest domestic movie of all time.

Disney announced on Wednesday that the latest Star Wars film has surpassed James Cameron’s blockbuster after just 20 days of release.

It’s important to note that accounting for inflation, The Force Awakens is considerably further down the list of all-time biggest domestic releases, placing 21st. Gone with the Wind still holds that record with an adjusted $1.74 billion, while the original Star Wars is in second place with $1.53 billion. Still, The Force Awakens’ success is a massive accomplishment, especially when you consider that Avatar’s $760.5 million total includes its entire theatrical run.

Internationally, The Force Awakens has pulled in $799.1 million for a global total of $1.56 billion, becoming the fastest movie in history to hit that number. It currently ranks as the fourth-biggest movie of all time, unadjusted for inflation. So far, it’s opened in all international territories except China, where it will debut on Saturday.

Over the course of its theatrical run, The Force Awakens has broken records left and right, setting a new high mark for the biggest domestic debut of all time ($247.9 million). On its first day in theaters (including Thursday previews), it hauled in a total of $119.1 million domestically, becoming the first movie in history to make $100 million in a single day. Not only that, but it also narrowly dethroned Jurassic World to earn the biggest global debut, too, raking in $529 million in its first weekend [via EW].

Watch Mark Hamill Host the TV Premiere of ‘Star Wars’ in 1984

From slashfilm, Before the advent of home video, if you loved a movie enough, you had to keep going back to the theater to see it. And despite the fact that VHS came to the United States in 1977, fans of Star Wars wouldn’t be able to see the movie on tape until 1985. And that’s what made the TV premiere of the movie so exciting in 1984. It was such a big event that Mark Hamill was rounded up in a tuxedo to host the premiere, complete with a glimpse of the fandom from decades ago.

Nowadays movies hit home video months before they end up playing on TV, and with the advent of DVR, there are few broadcast productions that truly tun out to be event television. But it’s clear that in 1984, a movie like Star Wars coming to TV was a big deal, and the fandom surrounding it was unprecedented. And that tradition has continued as The Force Awakens continues breaking box office records.

What’s even more fascinating is how many times some of the fans featured in the beginning of this video have seen Star Wars. This was back when movie tickets only cost a few dollars, but for these fans to see the movie that many times today would cost some of them hundreds, even thousands, of dollars.

Hey Guys! Happy New Year!

Hello!  Here's another in a series of posts about things I said I was gonna do -- and I'm still gonna!  After finishing my reviews, I flaked off while we all did Xmas and New Years and Star Wars and now I have a new thing looming.  The second-ever Bricks LA is in Pasadena this weekend, and I'm scrambling to build as much as I can.  Enjoy a sneak peek!

Afterwards, I'll be posting my Best Ofs and finishing off those trophies, so stay the hell tuned!

(Wish me luck.  There's prizes.  Which are more Lego.)

Independance Day: Resurgence

I had no idea this was in the works!!

Box office report: Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits $1.51 billion worldwide

From ew, Star Wars: The Force Awakens rang in the new year by breaking even more box office records this weekend, raking in an estimated $88.3 million domestically.\

That means that The Force Awakens earned the highest domestic third weekend ever, and its domestic total is now at $740.3 million. Earlier this weekend, it surpassed both Jurassic World ($652.3 million) and Titanic ($658.7 million) to become the second-highest grossing domestic movie ever (unadjusted for inflation), and within the next few days, it should dethrone Avatar ($760.5 million) to become the biggest domestic movie ever.

The Force Awakens also became the fastest (and only the second movie ever) to reach $700 million, doing it 16 days. Avatar took 72 days to hit that mark. The Force Awakens also set a new domestic record for the biggest New Year’s Day box office haul with $34.5 million.

Globally, The Force Awakens pulled in $184.6 million this weekend, bringing its worldwide total to a whopping $1.51 billion. It will soon surpass The Avengers ($1.52 billion) and Furious 7 ($1.515 billion) to become the fourth-biggest movie of all time. It’s also become IMAX’s second highest-grossing movie ever with a global total of $152 million, and in record time: The Force Awakens reached that total in only 19 days, as opposed to Avatar, which took 47 days. The Force Awakens has opened worldwide with the exception of China, where it will debut this weekend.

In other box office news from a galaxy not so far, far away, Daddy’s Home took second for the weekend, earning an estimated $29 million. The Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg-starring comedy debuted above expectations last weekend, and it held up well in its second outing, falling only 25 percent. Its domestic total is now at $93.7 million.

After an exclusive 70mm debut in only 100 theaters,The Hateful Eight went wide this week, expanding to 2,474 theaters and earning $16.2 million for third place. The Quentin Tarantino picture earned a B CinemaScore, and its domestic total is now at $29.6 million.

Holdovers Sisters and Alvins and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip rounded out the top five, and both have held up well since opening against The Force Awakens. The R-rated Sisters, which stars Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, fell only 11 percent and earned $12.6 million this weekend. Its domestic total is now at $61.7 million. Alvin and the Chipmunks fell 10 percent to earn $11.8 million for a total of $67.4 million.

At the specialty box office, Anomalisa debuted in four locations on Wednesday, earning $140,000 over three days and $215,000 over five. The Revenant also continued its successful four-theater run, earning an estimated $474,560 in its second weekend.

Here are this weekend’s top five at the box office:

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens — $88.3 million
2. Daddy’s Home — $29 million
3. The Hateful Eight — $16.2 million
4. Sisters — $12.6 million
5. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip — $11.8 million