Johnny Depp and Salma Hayek look set to teamfor the Pancho Villa biopic "Seven Friends of Pancho Villa and the Woman With Six Fingers”, according to Variety.
Emir Kusturica, who co-wrote the script with Gordan Mihic ("Time of the Gypsies," "Black Cat, White Cat"), will direct the movie, the tale of the revolutionary hero who spent as much time robbing the rich and fighting, as he did making love and getting up to mischief.
The film, which will be based on biographical novel "The Friends of Pancho Villa”, will be the second time Depp and Kusturica have worked together; they previously collaborated on the 1993 flick “Arizona Dream”.
As for when Depp's going to be able to fit the film in, what with "Pirates of the Caribbean 4", "The Lone Ranger", "The Tourist", "Dali" and "In The Hands of Dante" already on his to-do list? Anyone's guess..
Christmas lighting adds a festive look to Christmas decorations. Christmas lights can include strings of small or large bulbs to decorate Christmas trees and other holiday decor that may be colored, attractive house lightings and Christmas candles.
Elaborate Christmas displays give the whole neighborhoods a magical touch and make them look paradisiacal.
Christmas trees are also decorated with abundance of Christmas light ropes that are hung as swags or other ways and even treed and branches are wrapped to give them a divine look. Sparkling icicle lights make dark winter nights look cheerful.
Albert Sadacca is believed to be the person who made Christmas tree lighting popular. In the mid-17th century, small candles were first attached to the branch tips of the Christmas trees using wax and pins.
In 1882, Edward Johnson, an associate of Thomas Edison, first decorated a rotating Christmas tree in America in which 80 red, white and blue bulbs were hand wired. In 1895, President Grover Cleveland set up a lighted Christmas tree in the White House and the tradition soon caught on with the general public.
By 1900, large illuminated Christmas trees were used to lure the public into shopping malls.
Russ Tamblyn - an American film and television actor, who is arguably best known for his performance in the 1961 movie musical West Side Story as Riff, the leader of the Jets gang.
He portrayed the young Saul in Cecil B. DeMille's 1949 version of Samson and Delilah. He played the younger version of John Dall's character in the 1950 film noir Gun Crazy. Later the same year, he had a minor role as Spencer Tracy's son and Elizabeth Taylor's younger brother in Father of the Bride, as well as in the following year's sequel, Father's Little Dividend, both directed by Vincente Minnelli.
Russ was also a young soldier in boot camp in 1953's Take The High Ground. His training as a champion gymnast in high school and abilities as an acrobat prepared him for his breakout role as Gideon, the youngest brother, in 1954's Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Performances in film musicals included the title role in 1958's tom thumb and Danny, one of the sailors in the 1955 film version of Hit the Deck.
Original Trailer for tom thumb (1958)
From Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - the barn raising brawl - watch Russ Tamblyn as one of the seven brothers in the dark blue shirt.
BIRTHDAYS:
1970 - Jennifer Connelly - an American film actress and former child model. Although starring as early as a teenager in films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Labyrinth and Career Opportunities, she gained critical acclaim following her work in the 2000 drama Requiem for a Dream, and the 2001 biopic A Beautiful Mind, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as the BAFTA and Golden Globe awards.
1959 - Sheila E. - singer and percussionist discovered by Prince, she had the 1985 US & UK Top 20 single ‘The Belle Of St Mark’. Also worked with Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, Whitney Houston & Celine Dion.
1949 - Bill Nighy - an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer, Prof Mark Carleton, whose extra-marital affairs kept him "vital."He became known around the world in 2003 as Bill Mack, the aging pop star in Love Actually—"Hiya kids. Here is an important message from your Uncle Bill. Don't buy drugs. Become a pop star, and they give you them for free!"—and in the same year played James Mortmain, the eccentric husband struggling to keep his family afloat in a decaying English castle, in I Capture the Castle.
1943 - Grover Washington Jr - an African-American saxophonist who played tenor, alto, soprano, and baritone; he also played the clarinet, electric bass, and piano; and he was a composer. (1981 UK No.34 single 'Just The Two Of Us').
1940 - Dionne Warwick - an American singer, actress, activist, United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, former United States Ambassador of Health, and humanitarian. She is best known for her partnership with songwriters and producers Burt Bacharach and Hal David. According to Billboard magazine and Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2009 book, Dionne Warwick ranks as the 30th most popular hit maker of the entire the rock era based upon the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Charts. She also ranks as one of the 10 all-time biggest Easy Listening/Adult Contemporary hit makers of all time.
1938 - Connie Francis - an American pop singer best known for several international hit songs including "Who's Sorry Now?," "Lipstick on Your Collar," "Where the Boys Are", and "Stupid Cupid." She topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on three occasions with "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" and "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You." She was the top-charting female artist of the 1950s and 1960s.
1927 - Honor Blackman actress: Conspirator, Jason and the Argonauts, Goldfinger, Twinky, To the Devil a Daughter
1915 - Frank Sinatra, US singer, actor, made his first record in 1939. First singer to encounter 'pop hysteria', 'My Way' holds the UK longevity record of 136 weeks on the charts, 1966 UK & US No.1 single 'Strangers In The Night'.
OTHER EVENTS:
2007 - A copy of John Lennon's book, A Spaniard in the Works, which contained a lock of Lennon's hair, sold at Gorringes Auction House for £24,000, ($48,000). Lennon gave the book and the hair to Betty Glasow, the Fab Four's hairdresser during their heyday. He wrote in the book, "To Betty, Lots of Love and Hair, John Lennon xx." The strands of hair and book had been expected to sell for between £2,000 and £4,000.
2006 - Peugeot produces its last car at the Ryton Plant signalling the end of mass car production in Coventry, formerly a major centre of the British motor industry.
2005 - It is reported that The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe topped the British box office with the biggest-ever opening weekend receipts for a Disney film.
2003 - Mick Jagger became a Sir after being knighted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.
2002 - Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry and Judi Dench star in Die Another Day which started screening in Australia. James Bond is sent to investigate the connection between a North Korean terrorist and a diamond mogul who is funding the development of an international space weapon.
2002 - Iraq War: CIA Director George Tenet is said to have assured Pres. Bush that the evidence against Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction was a slam dunk. Pres. Bush would later declare "George Tenet did a superb job for America."
2000 – Tony Bennett is on hand at the Friar’s Club in New York to commemorate the Birthdays of his late friend and fellow entertainer Frank Sinatra by announcing the September 2001 opening of the Frank Sinatra School Of The Arts. The New York public high school will offer gifted artistic students an education in drama, instrument and vocal music, dance, fine arts, filmmaking, technical theater, and musical theater.
1992 - Whitney Houston started a twenty-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'The Bodyguard'.
1991 – Truly Madly Deeply starring Juliet Stevenson and Bill Paterson starts screening in Australia. Once upon a time there were two people in love, their names were Nina and Jamie. They were even happy enough to be able to live happily ever after …
1987 - George Michael started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Faith'.
1985 - Michael J. Fox, James Hampton and Susan Ursitti star in Teen Wolf which started screening in Australia. A highschooler discovers that he is a werewolf.
1985 - Dionne Warwick received a star on 'Hollywood's Walk Of Fame'.
1981 - The Human League had their only UK No.1 single with 'Don't You Want Me.' The Christmas hit of 81, the biggest seller of 1981 and Virgin Records first No.1 UK single.
1980 - The U.S. Congress amended the Copyright Act in 1980 to explicitly recognize that computer programs were protected as literary works.
1980 - Oil tycoon Armand Hammer bought a notebook of writings by Leonardo da Vinci for $5.28 million at auction in London. It was the highest price ever paid for a manuscript. It was 36 pages long and dated back to 1508.
1971 - Filming began on the Diana Ross movie, "Lady Sings the Blues."
1970 - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Tears Of A Clown'. It was the group's 26th Top 40 hit and first No.1, also a No.1 hit in the UK.
1964 - Bobby Vinton went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Mr Lonely', his second No.1 of the year.
1964 - The Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" is released.
1959 - At 22 years and 104 days of age, Bruce McLaren became the youngest driver to win a Grand Prix race as he earned first place at Sebring, Florida.
1957 - Al Priddy a DJ on US radio station KEX in Portland was fired after playing Elvis Presley's version of 'White Christmas' The station management said, 'it's not in the spirit we associate with Christmas'.
1955 - The largest philanthropic act in the world was announced by the Ford Foundation which gave $500,000,000 to private hospitals, colleges and medical schools.
1955 - Bill Haley records "See You Later, Alligator"
1955 - British engineer Christopher Cockerell patented the first hovercraft.
1952 -Disney's Goofy short How to be a Detective is released.
1951 - The U.S. Navy Department announced that the world's first nuclear powered submarine would become the sixth ship to bear the name Nautilus.
1941- Disney's animated commercial Seven Wise Dwarfs is released. The short is made for the National Film Board of Canada to promote the purchase of Canadian war bonds.
1927 - Disney's Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit short Empty Socks is released. This silent black & white animated piece is the first ever Disney Christmas themed short.
1925 - The "Motel Inn," the first motel in the world, opened in San Luis Obispo, CA.
1915 - The first all-metal aircraft, the German Junkers J1, made its first flight.
1912 - The Mother's Day International Association was incorporated with the purpose of furthering meaningful observations of Mother's Day.
1911 – (UK) King George V crowned Emperor of India and founds New Dehli to replace Calcutta as the capital.
1896 - Guglielmo Marconi gave the first public demonstration of radio at Toynbee Hall, London.
ENTERTAINMENT
NEWS ...
GENE BARRY PASSES
Gene Barry, who played the well-dressed man of action in the television series "Bat Masterson," "Burke's Law" and "The Name of the Game," has died at age 90 of unknown causes, his son said Thursday.
Fredric James Barry said the actor died Wednesday at a rest home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Woodland Hills.
Gene Barry essentially played the same character in all three series, which spanned the 1950s to the 1970s. Always fashionably dressed, the tall, handsome actor with the commanding voice dominated his scenes as he bested the bad guys in each show.
In the first of the three, the Western "Bat Masterson," he was a frontier dandy who rarely resorted to gunplay, choosing instead to beat his rivals senseless with a gold-handled cane.
Before he landed the role in 1958, Barry's movie career appeared to be on the rise, and he was at first reluctant to play Bat Masterson. He had starred in the science-fiction classic "War of the Worlds" in 1953 and opposite Clark Gable in "Soldier of Fortune" in 1955.
He said he was won over to TV when he learned that lawman Masterson had worn a derby and carried a gold-handled cane in real life.
Barry is survived by his three children, Michael, Fredric and Elizabeth, as well as three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Uber producer Frank Marshall has tweeted that the second (and we presume, first full) trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender” (goodbye, “Avatar” in the title) has been pushed back from its original Christmas premiere to sometime in February of 2010.
The culprit: a lack of finished shots from the blokes over at George Lucas’ Industrial Lights and Magic, who are doing the special effects for the movie.
This is the teaser trailer already released.
The tradition of hanging stockings has been practiced for decades. Most do not know the exact history of Christmas stockings.
The Dutch Theory
As per the Dutch theory, the tradition of Christmas stocking was introduced in America by the Dutch. It is said that in the 16th Century, the children staying in Holland kept their clogs, filled with straw, by the hearth for the reindeer.
At the same time, they placed a treat for 'Sinterclass' (Santa Claus) near the fireplace in the house. As a return gift, the Sinterclass used to leave some gifts for the children. With time, the clogs became stockings and Sinterclass became Santa Claus.
The Nobleman Theory
A nobleman and his wife had three daughters and they were living quite happily. One day, the wife contracted some fatal illness, which led to her untimely demise. Devastated by his wife's death, the nobleman squandered all his wealth and property. Since he was left with no money, he had to move into a peasant's cottage, along with his daughters. Soon, the time came for the daughters to get married. However, the father had lost all his wealth and could not afford to give any dowry.
As time passed, the father started getting more and more worried about getting his daughters married. One day, St. Nicholas of Myra happened to pass through the nobleman's village and heard the villagers discussing what the father was going through. St Nicholas knew that the father would be too proud to accept money from him. He decided to wait till dark and then, went to the nobleman's house and threw three bags of gold coins from the chimney.
The same evening, the daughters of the nobleman had washed their clothes and had hung their stockings by the fireplace. The bag of gold coins dropped into the stockings, one bag for each daughter. When the family members woke up in the morning, they found the money in their stockings. The father utilized the money for marrying away his daughters, each with a generous dowry. Soon the villagers came to know of St. Nicholas' generosity and started hanging their stockings by the fireplace.
Sandra Dee - an American actress. Dee began her career as a model and progressed to film. Best known for her portrayal of ingenues, Dee won a Golden Globe Award in 1959 as one of the year's most promising newcomers, and over several years her films were popular.
Sandra Dee made her first film, Until They Sail, in 1957, and the following year, she won a Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress, along with Carolyn Jones and Diane Varsi.
She became known for her wholesome ingenue roles in such films as Imitation of Life, Gidget and A Summer Place, all in 1959. She later played "Tammy" in two Universal sequels to Tammy and the Bachelor in the role created by Debbie Reynolds.
PANCHO VILLA
JOHNNY DEPP
