Charton Heston is one of the greatest film actors of our time. With legendary roles in movies like “Ben Hur” and “The Ten Commandments” there are few who can hold a candle to his resume. He went on to star in movies such as “The Planet of the Apes” and “The Omega Man”. He starred in well over 100 movies during his career as an actor. 

He was an avid hunter and sportsman and went on to become the president of the National Rifle Association. His acting career ended in 2003 when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

He died today and left behind a wall of accomplishments. May he rest in peace.

There are two rules in Hollywood that cannot be broken. Rule #1, if a movie makes a lot of money then sequels are a must. Rule #2, If the 2nd and 3rd movies made money dispite being ridiculously bad, surely a 4th will.

That being said, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and company are back for a true sequel to the original Fast & The Furious movie. Vin Diesel skipped out on #2 to move on to bigger and better franchises such as “The Chronicles of Riddick” and Disney’s “The Pacifier”, both highly successful in the box office and very smart moves for him. Meanwhile, “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift” were both released and were TERRIBLE. Not wanting to end on an extremely low note, the producers of the franchise have apparently decided to pay the big bucks required to get Vin Diesel back for a 4th. Maybe just maybe the 2nd and 3rd just lacked this crucial element. We’ll see. Hopefully the 4th feels more like the 1st and we can forget the middle two. If not then maybe at least the series can be laid to rest once and for all. If Vin Diesel can’t save it then nothing will, and that’s not saying it’s necessarily “savable” in the first place.

Heath Ledger was filming the movie “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” when he died tragically in January. Unfortunately there was no way the movie could be completed with just the scenes that had been filmed so far. Ledger still had many scenes to film and his death left a huge hole in the production. The producers have come up with a very interesting way of preserving Ledger’s final role while also keeping the movie intact.

Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell will each play a different version of Tony, Ledger’s character in different seasons of his life. Apparently Ledger had completed enough scenes for this to work. The movie deals with magic and somehow will be rewritten a bit in order to match the new multiple personalities cast. It will definitely be an interesting way to complete the film and I’m sure Ledger’s fans will appreciate the extra work required to make this happen.

Jaws Actor Roy Sheider has died today at age 75. He had been acting since the 1950’s and landed is first big role in 1975 as Police Chief Martin Brody in the Stephen Spielberg blockbuster “Jaws”.

According to his IMDB page he never really stopped acting. His final movie is in production for release in 2009. I didn’t actually realize he was this old. I remember seeing him in “The Punisher” a few years ago. He didn’t seem like somebody who’d be dead in just a few short years.

May he rest in peace.

Hollywood has lost a legend today. I am in total shock at the news of Heath Ledger’s untimely death. He was found dead in his appartment this afternoon. The cause is assumed to be an accidental sleeping pill overdose. This is simply tragic. He leaves behind a 2 year old daughter Matilda and his ex-wife actress Michelle Williams who stared with him in “Brokeback Mountain.”

Heath Ledger wasn’t the most well known actor out there but his role as the Joker in the upcoming Batman sequel was certainly going to propel his career to new heights. His fanbase had grown enourmously since he was first announced for the role back in 2006. The worst thing is that Heath won’t even get to see his groundbreaking performance this summer. Hopefully his scenes are done and able to be used in the final film. The Dark Knight is in post production which means that most if not all of the scenes have been filmed. His death will add a whole new level of darkness to the film. Based on what I’ve seen in the trailers so far, his role as the Joker will be his finest hour. It’s a terrible tragedy that he won’t be here to enjoy his work.

Ledger’s death will be listed among the likes of James Dean. His death came at a time when his career was just about to explode. May he rest in peace.