R.I.P. Dick Van Patten (1928 – 2015) *Farewell to One of TV’s Best Fathers*

FROM ABC NEWS

Actor Dick Van Patten died this morning due to complications from diabetes, his publicist confirmed to ABC News. He was 86 years old.

“He was the kindest man you could ever meet in life,” his rep, Jeff Ballard, said. “They don’t make them like him anymore.”

Best known for playing patriarch Tom Bradford in the series “Eight Is Enough,” Van Patten most recently appeared in a 2011 episode of “Hot In Cleveland.” In the past decade, he also appeared in “Arrested Development, “That ’70s Show” and other programs.

“I like to do TV series. I think they’re so comfortable. You’re doing the same part every week,” he once told Emmy TV Legends. “You’re working with the same people and there’s a lot of recognition. I like to do series best. I really do.”

Born Richard Van Patten in New York City, the actor began working as a child and reportedly made his Broadway debut at seven.

Eventually, he moved to Hollywood, where he found success in TV and film, including several movies directed by Mel Brooks, such as “High Anxiety,” Spaceballs” and “Robin Hood: Men In Tights.”

The actor is survived by his wife, Pat, and their three sons, according to reports.

The MCU’s Spider-Man Has Been Cast

 

After a month of going back and forth between Asa Butterfield (Ender’s Game) and Tom Holland (The Impossible); your new Spider-Man has been announced and it’s Tom Holland.  The Impossible was a fantastic film and Holland did a great job in it, but nothing in that film screamed Spider-Man to me…..though to be fair it is about surviving a tsunami.

Holland will make his entry into the MCU in next year’s Captain America: Civil War and will follow that with a solo film in 2017 (rumored to be called Spider-Man: The New Avenger) that will be directed by Jon Watts.  The only films Watts has done are two very small indie films that I’ve never seen, so this is a “I trust Marvel” moment.  You can bet that Holland is sewn up to be Peter Parker for a loooong time, given issues that Marvel has had with breakout stars and short-term contracts in the past (cough Robert Downey Jr. cough).  What do you think of the choice for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man?

My Favorite Scene: Terminator 2 Judgment Day (1991) “Galleria/Motorcycle Chase”

It’s not an overstatement to say that Terminator 2: Judgment Day is one of the most important movies of all-time.  That title is earned, not only because the movie still stands as one of the greatest action films ever made, but because it changed the way movies are made forever.  Before T2, you would have to look back to the Star Wars original trilogy and Godfather Part II to find sequels that critics and audiences both hailed as surpassing their original.  “Sequel” was a radioactive word in Hollywood, and T2 is one of the main films that helped to change than and (for better and worse) brought the modern trend of franchising to the fore.

R.I.P. James Horner (1953 – 2015) *Music and Movies Mourn*

Multiple media sources are now confirming the movie composer James Horner, missing since his small plane went down Monday morning in California, has died at the age of 61.  The small plane that Horner was a passenger in crashed near Santa Barbara, but the composer’s fate was unknown for most of a day.  It looks like our worst fears have been confirmed.  For the initial report on the crash click here.

Horner’s career spanned over 150 films, and his music underscored many of the best films of the last 35 years.  I remember first hearing Horner’s scores as a child in The Land Before Time and An American Tail (still, two of his best).  He and John Williams were the composers that introduced me to the music behind the movies.  He won two Academy Awards for Titanic in 1998, and those are-unfortunately-the only of his prolific career.  He leaves behind an indelible legacy of beautiful music.  Coming Soon’s obituary is pasted below with a more in-depth account of Horner’s career.  He will be deeply missed by everyone who was touched by his work.