Spartacus

Very sad news over the weekend...

“On a beautiful sunny Sydney spring morning, surrounded by his family, in the arms of his loving wife, our beautiful young warrior Andy Whitfield lost his 18 month battle with lymphoma cancer,” Whitfield’s wife Vashti said in a statement. “He passed peacefully surrounded by love. Thank you to all his fans whose love and support have help carry him to this point. He will be remembered as the inspiring, courageous and gentle man, father and husband he was.” Whitfield was 39.

He was great on the first season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand...such a shame for him to pass away so young.

Kirk Douglas

 Very sad news today...

Kirk Douglas, an icon of Hollywood’s Golden Age and star of such films as Spartacus, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Bad and the Beautiful and Champion has died. He was 103. 

A three-time Academy Award nominee and recipient of an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1996, Douglas will be remembered for a prolific career in which he appeared in close to 100 movies and delivered numerous defining performances. 

As well as his titular role in Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 historical epic Spartacus, in which he played the leader of a slave revolt against the Roman republic, his leading turns included fierce defense attorney Major Steve Garrett in Gottfried Reinhardt’s Town Without Pity, ambitious and devious journalist Chuck Tatum in Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole, and Colonel Dax in Stanley Kubrick’s anti-war story Paths of Glory. Douglas was well noted in the biz for his fiery personality. 

The actor once claimed he was “the most disliked actor in Hollywood” because of his aggressive nature, though he also was highly regarded for his sense of humor. 

Alongside Michael, Douglas had three other boys: the producers Joel and Peter, and the actor and stand-up comedian Eric, who died from an accidental drug overdose in 2004. The elder Douglas was married to the actress Diana Webster from 1943-51, having Michael and Joel, and then the producer and philanthropist Anne Buydens from 1954 until his death.

He had a very long and successful career and lived to be 103.

That's quite a life.

He will be missed.

Don't be a Sue

Well, Glee started its new season this week with a Britney-themed episode that did a pretty amazing job of recreating a lot of her most popular videos with the cast, especially the character also called Britney (who often as the best lines in an episode). She really looked a lot like Brits in each scenario, which was surprising.

The show has also partnered with American Express for their Member's Project to raise money for charities. My favorite is the one with Sue talking about getting involved in the world...



"What do animals do besides poop on your lawn and make you feel guilty about how delicious they are?"

I love me some Sue Sylvester.



Also, sad news today about Tony Curtis...

Screen legend Tony Curtis died Thursday, his family said. He was 85.

Curtis starred in more than 150 motion pictures and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in 1958's "The Defiant Ones" with Sidney Poitier.
 Curtis also is known for his roles in the 1959 movie "Some Like it Hot" with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon and "Spartacus" in 1960 with Kirk Douglas. He also played the lead role in "The Boston Strangler," released in 1968.

He will be missed.

Ye Gods!

In case you've missed their commercials every fifteen minutes on every channel for the past couple of weeks, the fat-free movie Immortals opens today.







If you're a fan of 300 and the Spartacus series as well as mythical, scantily clad Gods, dramatic comic book blood, and Ginsu slice and dice violence...there's a pretty good chance you're going to enjoy this too.

It features Henry Cavill (the new Superman, also immortal)...





Mickey Rourke and Stephen Dorff...





And Kellan Lutz (whose next Twilight film also opens next Friday)...





Kellan even sacrificed his shirt on the cover of the new Men's Fitness just to help promote this movie.



He's a trooper.

It looks like it's going to be a visual extravaganza with, if this clip is any indication, lots of graceful slow-motion carnage for every boy and girl in Whoville.



Ouch!

I'm in.

Gawker has a very funny review of the movie here.

Switcheroo

The first official picture of Andrew Garfield (replacing Toby McGuire) from the new Spider-Man movie was released recently. The change of casting doesn't really seem to be that big of a deal to me, since Spidey is covered from head-to-toe for most of the film anyway.

Toby is probably happy to be able to gorge on pizza and beer without having to worry about squeezing into those unforgiving red Spanx again.



In another bit of recasting news, it was announced today that Australian actor Liam McIntyre has been officially cast to replace lead Andy Whitfield (who is being treated for a second round of cancer) in the second season of STARZ popular series Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

They do look a bit similar and it will have been two years since the first season aired by the time the second season rolls around next year. So, that may work in the network's favor.

However, replacing a lead actor in any show is a risk, especially when the role comes with some very specific physical requirements.



Liam has some very big...sandals to fill.

300 STARZ

It looks like the STARZ cable channel has created a "300-esque" series, "Spartacus: Blood and Sand", complete with a CGI warrior world, Lucy "Xena" Lawless, and a variety of form-fitting Folsom casual wear for the pec-tacula lead actors.



The show debuts in January, a month where most people need to wear just a little more clothing to keep their nether regions toasty.

Maybe the warriors wear special leather Slankets during the chilly winter months...