New York Times

John Hughes, Director of ‘The Breakfast Club’ and ‘Sixteen Candles,’ Dies at 59

By Mekado Murphy

John Hughes, the director and screenwriter who helped define a young generation with his ’80s films “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Pretty in Pink,” has died, according to the Associated Press.

Michelle Bega, a spokeswoman for the filmmaker, said that Mr. Hughes died of a heart attack in Manhattan during a morning walk.

More to come.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past


X-Men Origins: Wolverine


Star Trek


Angels & Demons


Management


Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian


Terminator Salvation


Drag Me to Hell


Up

Actress Natasha Richardson has died
Husband Liam Neeson, sons ?shocked and devastated? by loss

Associated Press


MONTREAL - Natasha Richardson, a gifted and precocious heiress to acting royalty whose career highlights included the film ?Patty Hearst? and a Tony-winning performance in a stage revival of ?Cabaret,? died Wednesday at age 45 after suffering a head injury from a skiing accident.

Alan Nierob, the Los Angeles-based publicist for Richardson?s husband Liam Neeson, confirmed her death in a written statement.

?Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha,? the statement said. ?They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.?

The statement did not give details on the cause of death for Richardson, who suffered a head injury when she fell on a beginner?s trail during a private ski lesson at the luxury Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec. She was hospitalized Tuesday in Montreal and later flown to a hospital in New York City.

Family members had been seen coming and going from the New York hospital where Richardson was reportedly taken.

Vanessa Redgrave, Richardson?s mother, arrived in a car with darkened windows and was taken through a garage when she arrived at the Lenox Hill Hospital on Manhattan?s Upper East Side at around 5 p.m. Wednesday. An hour earlier, Richardson?s sister, Joely, arrived alone and was swarmed by the media as she entered through the back of the hospital.

As reporters and photographers waited outside the hospital for word on Richardson?s condition, some passers-by stopped and expressed their sorrow over the turn of events.

One passer-by, Adrienne Cleere, said she was going to light a candle for the actress at a Roman Catholic church near the hospital.

?Everyone should pray for their two sons,? she said.

A reporter from the Toronto Star reported seeing a distraught Neeson crouched inside the back of an ambulance Tuesday at Montreal?s Sacre-Coeur hospital as Richardson, wrapped in blankets
and with tubes covering her face, was loaded inside. Neeson had immediately left the Toronto set of his upcoming movie, ?Chloe,? to be by her side in Montreal, a publicist for the film said.

Later that evening, a somber looking Vanessa Redgrave was seen in photographs walking into Lenox Hill. Two boys, identified in photos as Richardson's sons, Micheal Richard Antonio Neeson and Daniel Jack Neeson, and a young woman identified as niece Daisy Bevan were seen leaving the hospital early Wednesday.

Richardson is the elder daughter of Oscar-winning Redgrave and the late director Tony Richardson. She fell during a private lesson Monday at the famed Mont Tremblant ski resort.

Actress seemed fine after fall
A statement from the Mont Tremblant resort said Richardson fell on a beginners trail and later reported not feeling well.

?She did not show any visible sign of injury but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor,? said the statement from the resort, about 80 miles northwest of Montreal.

The ski resort said the instructor and a member of the ski patrol accompanied Richardson to her hotel, where they again recommended she be seen by a doctor. Mont Tremblant spokeswoman Catherine Lacasse said Richardson said she seemed fine at first.

?An hour later she said she didn?t feel well. She had a headache, so we sent her to the hospital,? Lacasse said. ?There were no signs of impact and no blood, nothing.?

Richardson?s films include ?Gothic,? ?A Month in the Country,? ?Nell? (in which she appeared with her future husband), ?The Parent Trap? and ?Maid in Manhattan.?

Trained at London?s Central School of Speech and Drama, Richardson has had extensive stage experience in the West End and Broadway. She won a Tony in 1998 for playing Sally Bowles in a revival of ?Cabaret.?

Her maternal grandparents were the actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, and her uncle Corin and aunt Lynn Redgrave are both actors. Joely Richardson is also an actress, best known for starring in the TV series ?Nip/Tuck.?

In January, Richardson and her mother played the roles of mother and daughter in a one-night benefit concert version of ?A Little Night Music,? the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical, at Studio 54 in New York.

She married Neeson in 1994; their sons are 13 and 12.

I am not too sure what's up with 2009's theatrical releases so far, but it sure has been a pretty memorable first couple of months. Anyways, March looks like it will be yet another memorable one for Hollywood. And the movies look pretty good or even great (Watchmen, Duplicity, and Monsters vs. Aliens especially) for the most part. :)


Watchmen


The Horsemen


The Last House on the Left


Miss March


Race to Witch Mountain


Duplicity


I Love You, Man


Knowing


Monsters vs. Aliens


The Haunting in Connecticut

***UPDATED on February 22, 2009***

The nominations for the 81st Academy Awards have finally arrived. As usual, there are a bunch of pleasant surprises, some total disappointments (no nominations for Clint Eastwood or Gran Torino itself, Cate Blanchett, and Leonardo DiCaprio), and the usual crop of expected nominees. Anyways, I still have some movies below that I haven't seen yet (Rachel Getting Married, The Wrestler, Slumdog Millionaire, The Visitor, Frost/Nixon, The Reader, Doubt) that I need to check out before I post up my predictions. So, keep a lookout for my predictions in the next couple of weeks even though some are gonna be guesses. :)

***In yellow is who I think will win, and in blue is who I think should win.***



Best Motion Picture of the Year
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Frost/Nixon
* Milk
* The Reader
* Slumdog Millionaire (WINNER)

Achievement in Directing
* David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
* Gus Van Sant, Milk
* Stephen Daldry, The Reader
* Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire (WINNER)

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
* Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
* Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
* Sean Penn, Milk (WINNER)
* Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
* Josh Brolin, Milk
* Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
* Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
* Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (WINNER)
* Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
* Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
* Angelina Jolie, Changeling
* Melissa Leo, Frozen River
* Kate Winslet. The Reader (WINNER)
* Meryl Streep, Doubt

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
* Amy Adams, Doubt
* Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (WINNER)
* Viola Davis, Doubt
* Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
* Bolt
* Kung Fu Panda
* Wall-E (WINNER)

Original Screenplay
* Dustin Lance Black, Milk (WINNER)
* Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
* Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
* Martin McDonagh, In Bruges
* Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon, WALL-E

Adapted Screenplay
* Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
* Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
* David Hare, The Reader
* Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire (WINNER)

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
* The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
* The Class (France)
* Departures (Japan) (WINNER)
* Revanche (Austria)
* Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

Original Score
* Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* James Newton Howard, Defiance
* Danny Elfman, Milk
* A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire (WINNER)
* Thomas Newman, WALL-E

Original Song
* "Down to Earth," Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; WALL-E
* "Jai Ho," A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; Slumdog Millionaire (WINNER)
* "O Saya," A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam; Slumdog Millionaire

Achievement in Art Direction
* Changeling
* The Curious Case of [color=Cyan]Benjamin Button [/color](WINNER)
* The Dark Knight
* The Duchess
* Revolutionary Road

Achievement in Cinematography
* Changeling
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* The Dark Knight
* The Reader
* Slumdog Millionaire (WINNER)

Achievement in Costume Design
* Australia
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* The Duchess (WINNER)
* Milk
* Revolutionary Road

Best Documentary Feature
* The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
* Encounters at the End of the World
* The Garden
* Man on Wire (WINNER)
* Trouble the Water

Best Documentary Short Subject
* The Conscience of Nhem En
* The Final Inch
* Smile Pinki (WINNER)
* The Witness?From the Balcony of Room 306

Achievement in Film Editing
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* The Dark Knight
* Frost/Nixon
* Milk
* Slumdog Millionaire (WINNER)

Achievement in Makeup
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (WINNER)
* The Dark Knight
* Frost/Nixon
* Milk
* Slumdog Millionaire

Best Animated Short Film
* La Maison en Petits Cubes (WINNER)
* Lavatory?Lovestory
* Oktapodi
* Pre[color=Cyan]s[/color]to
* This Way Up

Best Live Action Short Film
* Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
* Manon on the Asphalt
* New Boy
* The Pig
* Spielzeugland (Toyland) (WINNER)

Achievement in Sound Editing
* The Dark Knight (WINNER)
* Iron Man
* Slumdog Millionaire
* WALL-E
* Wanted

Achievement in Sound Mixing
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* The Dark Knight
* Slumdog Millionaire (WINNER)
* WALL-E
* Wanted

Achievement in Visual Effects
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (WINNER)
* The Dark Knight
* Iron Man