In Norah Lofts novel about Sir Walter Raleigh, it’s not easy being friends with Queen Elizabeth I **** Four stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
Here Was a Man by Norah Lofts
Being a favorite of the queen has its pitfalls. She likes to keep you close. You need her permission to go anywhere and especially to marry. Raleigh falls in love with one of Elizabeth’s ladies in waiting who he secretly marries. That’s going to be trouble.
Here was a Man is one of Norah Lofts’ early novels. Lofts story is romantic, yet you can feel Raleigh’s frustration with Elizabeth I. Raleigh is a member of Elizabeth’s court who dreams of exploring the New World. Raleigh is called back in the middle of his mission and doesn’t know why. Has something happened to his wife Bess?
Sir Walter Raleigh lived from 1552 to 1618. Not just an explorer and soldier, he was a politician and considered a top Elizabethan poet. He was a contemporary of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Sydney, who are part of Raleigh’s story as told by Lofts. Rising rapidly in Queen Elizabeth’s favor, Raleigh was knighted in 1585. His 1584 plan to colonize Roanoke Island would end in disaster, as Elizabeth held all English ships to fight the Spanish Armada, preventing the colony’s relief. When a ship finally came four years later, there was Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
Kevin Jonas, the oldest member of Disney pop trio The Jonas Brothers, announced his engagement to longtime girlfriend Danielle Deleasa on Wednesday
21-year-old Kevin Jonas announces engagement
By Matthew B. Zeidman
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 7/2/09 – One of the Jonas Brothers will soon be trading in his purity ring for family life. Kevin Jonas told People magazine on Wednesday that he had proposed to longtime girlfriend Danielle Deleasa earlier in the day and that she eagerly accepted.
“She said yes, yes, yes like 500 times super fast in a row,” Jonas, 21, told People of his 22-year-old fiancé. The bride-to-be told the publication the pair met while on family vacations in the Bahamas in 2007 and that Jonas pursued her tirelessly.
Jonas and his brothers, Joe (19) and Nick (16), rose to fame as a pop trio after signing with Columbia Records in 2005 and later Hollywood Records in 2007. They currently star on “JONAS,” a sitcom on the Disney Channel that premiered in May, and are in the midst of an international tour.
Keith is Hollywood Today’s box office guru and one of several on the staff whose lives were touched by Michael Jackson
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/30/09 — It was about twenty-six years ago, just before Thriller was released. I’d arrived in California five months earlier in search of, y’know, fame and fortune. I was a Video Conceptualist. I’d think up ideas for music video directors when they got stuck on a song, or were too lazy to do it themselves. I’d done it in London since ‘79, working mainly with one director. An Australian. Russell Mulcahy. Best known for Highlander and his Duran Duran video clips.
When he left London for Sydney to direct his first feature film, Razorback, about a killer pig, I set off for Hollywood. Five months later, after discovering American producers and directors had no idea who I was or what I did, I ran into one particular producer, Jeff Abelson, a visionary obsessed with making rock videos in 3D, something he never achieved but did lead on to us working together with Tobe Hooper on the Dancin’ With Myself video for Billy Idol.
So it was in early ‘83 that I found myself in the company of the 3D producer and his associate, Patricia Friedman, being chauffeured out to Michael Jackson’s house in Encino to pitch him video concepts for Billie Jean and Beat It. I wasn’t even really sure who he was. I’d never seriously been interested in Motown music, so all I knew was what friends had told me - he’s the “princess” of the Jackson 5 - and a dim memory of him in that Diana Ross movie The Wiz playing a naff scarecrow.
ENCINO, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/30/09 — So, what the heck is this new Blu-ray company that Michael Jackson’s father Joe Jackson was mentioning on the red carpet of the BET Awards Sunday that caused such backlash by those who felt it was bad form in light of his son’s death only a couple days earlier?
Joe sat down to provide details exclusively to Hollywood Today Monday evening at a hotel not far from the family home in Encino with Jackson’s two partners in the new venture, Erick Hansen and Marshall Thompson.
The bottom line, plans are in the works for some music of Jackson’s children to be released on Blu-ray (the elder Jackson does not have any claim to recent rehearsal footage, according to legal representatives for the family who asked not to be quoted), but no discussion of anything to do with Michael was permitted as you’ll see in the accompanying 3 ½-minute video condensation of the half-hour interview.
As for the anger over Jackson’s timing of this announcement, the public will have to make up their own minds. The attorney said Jackson may be in a kind of post-traumatic stress haze where the death of his son has yet to sink in emotionally and will likely not truly hit him until Michael’s funeral service, which has yet to be scheduled by the family.
Hansen suggested (it’s in the video) that the elder Jackson needs to have this business venture to focus on as a distraction and a relief from the intense emotional strain and that getting back in the studio recording business will do him good.
Thompson, a founding member of the 1970s soul group The Chi-Lites, was with Jackson Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
MADOFF SENTENCED TO 150 YEARS IN PRISON: DISGRACED INVESTOR GETS MAXIMUM SENTENCE FOR MASSIVE PONZI SCHEME: Bernard Madoff was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison after apologizing to victims for a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme that the judge called “extraordinarily evil.” U.S. District Judge Denny Chin handed down the maximum allowable sentence in a New York courthouse packed with his victims and the press. Defense attorneys had sought 12 years, while prosecutors wanted the maximum. The federal probation department had recommended 50 years.
JUSTICES RULE FOR WHITE FIREFIGHTERS IN BIAS CASE: The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that white firefighters in
New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that Sonia Sotomayor, a
Supreme Court nominee, endorsed as an appeals court judge.
JACKSONS MOM FILES FOR CUSTODY OF HIS 3 KIDS: Katherine Jackson also petitions for kids estate; hearing set for Aug. 3: Michael Jacksons mother is caring for the singers three children and asked the court Monday to declare her their guardian. The guardianship papers were filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday. A hearing has been set for Aug 3. Jackson left behind three children: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12; Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11; and Prince Michael II, 7. The youngest son was born to a surrogate mother. (LBN)
‘I Bring What I Love’ documentary explores the music and life of Grammy-winner Youssou N’Dour *** 3 stars
By Jennifer Huber
Youssou N
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/28/2009 - ”I could have never predicted the controversy surrounding ‘Egypt’,” says ‘I Bring What I Love’ director Chai Vasarhelyi. “Maybe best known as the man who sang with Peter Gabriel on In Your Eyes, N’Dour is a man on a mission and that mission is to bring about change and hope through music.”
Youssou N’Dour is the highest-selling African pop musician of all time and has released more than 30 albums. Time magazine named him one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2007. The film, while exploring bits of N’Dour’s history and family life, mostly centers around the release of his 2005 Grammy-winning album Egypt. Released with great resistance from his people in his homeland of Senegal due to his music’s religious content, it garnered praise and success in Europe and the United States.
Novel set in 1936 England, Rhys Bowen mystery an enjoyable romp **** 4 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
Rhys Bowen mystery, haggis and a monster in the loch
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 2009/06/28 - “I thought what fun it would be if Georgie doesn’t understand the connotation behind the words Escort Service and High Class Girls,” says Royal Flush author Rhys Bowen. “I thought it would be time she went home to the castle in Scotland complete with ghosts, haggis and a monster in the loch. I’ve always been intrigued with the mystery surrounded the Duke of Clarence.”
Royal Flush is the third book in Rhys Bowen’s Royal Spyness Mystery series. Set in 1932, Lady Georgiana is a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and 34th in line to the English throne. Georgie is sent home to Scotland in disgrace after putting an advertisement in the paper to be a female escort. Georgie meant dinner and dancing, the gentlemen have something else in mind. At Rannoch Castle, Georgie finds accidents happening to members of the royal family and her brother. Georgie searches for answers. Can she solve this before a relative gets killed?
“I was writing it last summer when I was in England with my two little granddaughters so we had lots of fun exploring old castles,” says Bowen. “Just listening to family members speak as my characters speak is a great source of amusement. They don’t realize Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/28/09 — Iran’s government will allow a demonstration at Tehran’s Ghoba mosque Sunday, CNN has confirmed. The gathering is officially meant to honor Mohammad Beheshti, a hero of the 1979 Islamic Revolution who was killed in a bombing on this date in 1981. The demonstration comes after two weeks of protests against the official results of the June 12 presidential elections, which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won. A post on a Web site associated with opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi urged people to go to the rally. (LBN)
Billy Mays, the gregarious TV spokesman for products, such as OxiClean, passed away Sunday morning at the age of 50
Autopsy scheduled to determine cause of death
By Matthew B. Zeidman
TAMPA, Fla. (Hollywood Today) 6/28/09 – In a week already rife with untimely celebrity deaths, home-product hawkman and reality TV star Billy Mays, who had been a national advertising fixture for the past decade, passed away in his Florida home Sunday morning at the age of 50.
“Although Billy lived a public life, we don’t anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times,” Mays’ wife, Deborah, told the Associated Press.
Tampa police told the AP that Mays’ spouse found him unresponsive in bed and that first responders pronounced the Pennsylvania-born salesman dead at 7:45 a.m. Police did not suspect foul play.
It was unclear if Mays suffered from any preexisting medical conditions, but an autopsy is scheduled to be conducted within the next 24 hours to determine the cause of death.
Mays was best known for his gregarious and enthusiastic style of promoting cleaning supplies and other home-based products during TV commercials and infomercials, including “miracle” detergent OxiClean.
On April 15, the Discovery Channel reality show “Pitchmen” premiered, which featured Mays and fellow infomercial spokesperson Anthony Sullivan. The most recent episode, “Crunch Time,” aired Wednesday. The network has not yet announced its plans for the series in light of Mays’ death.
Michael Bay flick makes $112M US and over $201M overall By Jeffrey Jolson
Megan serves up
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 6/28/09 - It wasn’t Megan Fox’s clear blue eyes or Shia LeBeouff’s young but inspired acting, yet the effect, not effects of Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” as it breaks records round the globe — and the universe if they are listening to the sci-fi soon-to-be classic.
In order to understand how Hollywood zooms when economic times are bad, “Up” broke the $250M mark and “The Hangover” rocked to $183 million and should pass $200M in a week.
Why we spend our money on movies instead of food when times are troubled has been a point of economist’s debates since the Great Depression. Yet they don’t understand a good picture. It makes you laugh, thrills your ass or scares you - therefore providing food for the soul.
TR2 gave you all three (see related HT story), and gave it to you at the right time for an action pic, with $112 domestic weekend and $201 million US overall and near $300 WW..
The chick flick “The Proposal” sold another $19 million wedding cakes, while the dude movie “The Hangover,” cooked up another $17 million headaches for an $183 mil cume. So which one do you take a date to? The answer is, and always has been, the chick flick - or you end up at the Trekkie fest alone.
Speaking of which, the new “Star Trek” is up to $246 million, — the JJ Abrams version happens to be a good film –yet that may not get you a date either.
Instead try “Up,” which can’t soar much higher for Pixar, now at $250 million Read the rest of this Hollywood Today story »
King of Pop rushed to UCLA where he entered coma By Jeffrey Jolson
Jackson dead at 50 as he preps comeback
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Today) 6/25/09 — Michael Jackson has died after been rushed to a Los Angeles hospital on Thursday. Crowds were gathering outside his rented L.A. house as well as UCLA hospital. He was preparing for world tour at the time.
The legendary singer, 50, reportedly went into cardiac arrest and had to receive CPR in the ambulance. In the hospital, he went into a coma and died, according to news reports
His family was called to hospital.
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, paramedics responded to a 911 call at around 12:26 p.m. PDT. He was reportedly not breathing at the time of their arrival.
A rep for Jackson was unavailable for comment.
He has three children in his custody.
Farrah Fawcett succumbs to cancer By Jeffrey Jolson
Fawcett poster framed a decade and an unforgettable image
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Today) 6/25/09 — Actress Farrah Fawcett, the “Charlie’s Angels” television star whose big smile and feathered blond mane made her one of the sex symbols of the 1970s, died on Thursday after a long battle with cancer, her longtime companion and troubled relationship with actor Ryan O’Neal said. She was 62.
Fawcett was first diagnosed with anal cancer in late 2006. She died in a Los Angles hospital after being admitted earlier this week.
“After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away. Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world,” O’Neal said in a statement.
She also had trouble with him, her step-daughter Tatum and had a meltdown on the Letterman show.
Fawcett’s cancer spread to her liver in 2007, proving resistant to numerous medical treatments in Germany and California, according to Reuters.
Hollywood Today | Newsmagazine, with Attitude
Hollywood Today; 5042 Wilshire Blvd. #223; Los Angeles CA 90036
General Email: Hollywood.today@yahoo.com | Copyright 2006: Angel Media. All Rights Reserved
Hollywood Today is Digg proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache!
