RIP, Patrick Swayze. :(

He lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at age 57. Dirty Dancing was one of my favorite movies as a teenager. Later, I enjoyed his performance in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar as the drag queen "Vida Boheme".

http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0990014/

Crap. Another icon from my youth is gone. 2009 has been a bad year for celebrities.

Harry and the Half Blood Prince and Julie and Julia...

Yeah, I did get to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I enjoyed it for the most part, despite some questionable changes from the book- the attack on the Weasely home had me thinking, WTF was that? And what the writers did to Neville Longbottom was lame- Order of the Phoenix, he's one of the heroes, now he's reduced to being background. Poor Matthew Lewis. :( I worry about how Neville's big moment in Deathly Hallows will be treated now! On the other hand, the main trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint continue to grow as actors, and Grint especially got to shine. I liked having Quidditch back, and the romantic triangle of Hermione/Ron/Lavender (hilarious girl!) was a wonderful break from the more serious themes. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a lot about Voldemort's background, and the Snape/Prince reveal was too low-key. And Dumbledore's funeral isn't shown. But altogether, the movie was fun and visually exciting (if a bit slower than the others).

I was really looking forward to Julie and Julia- the always great Meryl Streep playing Julia Child? I am so there. And I was very happy with the movie. It's based on two books- the blog adventure of Julie Powell (played by the always adorable Amy Adams), who challenged herself to cook every single recipe in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year; and Child's autobiography. The movie goes back and forth between Child's life in France and her start in cooking, and Powell's often funny attempts to cook every recipe. "Lobster killer! Lobster killer!" One warning: Dan Ackroyd's Saturday Night Live skit about Child (which she supposedly loved) is even more disgusting on the big screen. "I've cut the Dickens out of my finger! Save the liver!" Ewwwwww (but LOL!).

I've only seen six movies this summer. Wow.

This teen of the 80s is very sad right now.

Writer/director John Hughes, who gave my generation movies like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Pretty in Pink, died suddenly yesterday at age 59. Though he had mostly retired from the Hollywood scene, his influence can still be seen in younger filmakers today. I don't think we would have had Juno or Rushmore without the smart humor of Hughes' films. He got teenagers in a way most writers couldn't grasp.

Ferris Bueller is still one of my all time favorite movies. "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." RIP, Mr. Hughes, and thank you.

Two more summer movies down...

Up and Land of the Lost. Up is definitely one of Disney/Pixar's best. It's a fun fantasy about an old man who uses balloons to fly his house to South America. Great story, and terrific animation. Land of the Lost is both spoof of and homage to the Sid and Marty Croft televison show. It's not one of Will Ferrell's best, but there's a lot of laughs in it. Danny McBride steals the film just as he did Pineapple Express last year. And Matt Lauer of the Today Show has a hilarious cameo.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens next week, finally! I can't wait. The previews look so good.

And another great is gone...

Karl Malden has passed away at 97. Wow. He lived a long time and made some great movies! The Oscar winner (Supporting Actor for Streetcar Named Desire) had retired years ago, but at any given time one of his movies will show up on television.

Of course, he's also known as the long time spokesman for American Express..."Don't leave home without it!"

Ten nominees? TEN???

The Academy Awards next year will have TEN nominees for Best Picture. I think that's a little much! They should at least split it into Drama/Comedy like they do for the Golden Globes.

On the plus side, there's less chance of one obvious winner...


http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0849330/

Go, Nia!

Nia Vardalos (of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) is blasting critics who make fun of her for getting the hunk in her latest movie, My Life in Ruins. Apparently, women who are somewhat chunky aren't allowed to get with hot guys. She points out the hypocrisy here: in other movies, chunky slobs like Seth Rogen (in his past films, not currently!) get the gorgeous women and that's somehow okay. Lame! It's nice that someone is sticking up for us "Plus Size" gals.

Link to story:

http://us.imdb.com/news/ni0833084/