Disney Says Heigh-Ho to a Master
And then there were none.
Legendary Walt Disney animator Ollie Johnston , the last of Uncle Walt's band of pioneering cartoon geniuses known as the Nine Old Men, died Monday of natural causes at a long-term care facility in Sequim, Wash.
Over his four-decade career, Johnston worked on such classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella , Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp, Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins.
He also authored several authoritative books documenting the Mouse House's masterworks.
Johnston was 95.
Burn After Reading Red Band Movie Trailer
Focus Features has released a red band movie trailer for Burn After Reading. Written and directed by The Coen Brothers, this new dark-spy comedy stars Academy Award nominee John Malkovich as an ousted CIA official, whose memoir accidentally falls into the hands of two unwise gym employees (Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand) intent on exploiting their find. Also featuring George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Richard Jenkins. It looks like the Coens have hit another home run. Could Burn after Reading be to No Country for Old Men what The Big Lebowski was to Fargo? As long as its not another Ladykillers, I’ll be happy. Watch the trailer below and tell me what you think in the comments!
You can watch the trailer in High Definition on Apple. Burn After Reading will hit theaters on September 12th 2008.
And The 2008 Golden Trailer Award Goes Too…
…The Dark Knight!
44% of voters decided on the USA Today website that the second trailer for The Dark Knight was ‘the best’ this year. It beat out other trailers in its Best Action category earlier in the year, consisting of Iron Man, Live Free or Die Hard and Hellboy 2. It then went on to beat Enchanted (Best Animation/Family), Tropic Thunder (Best Comedy), Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? (Best Documentary), No Country for Old Men (Best Drama), and I am Legend (Best Horror).
I think it is well deserved, as the trailer certainly got me pumped. Last years winner was 300, which again deserved to win. I am a trailer nut so these awards are more important to me than the Oscars, even though the winners are decided by USA Today visitors and not experiences members of the movie industry.
You can remind yourself why the trailer won by watching it below!
Would you wear a Hannah Montana wig?
I guess that question is for all of the 9 year old girls reading this (believe it or not, girls 12 and under are our biggest demo) and not any of the 40 year old men who are reading this. Though after the various things that dads (and moms) have done recently to get tickets for their daughters, maybe it’s a question for them too.
Disney is teaming up with Wal-Mart to unleash 140 different Hannah Montana items that they will sell in specially-designed “mini-stores” at 750 Wal-Mart locations. The items include wigs, clothing, glasses, and even cupcakes. Yes, cupcakes.
In related news, the Hannah Montana movie, with the cumbersome title of Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert 3-D, opens up this Friday for one week only. Many shows have already sold out. That’s a shrewd piece of marketing, taking an insanely popular star, making a movie featuring her, and then releasing it to theaters for a limited time only. I’m sure we’ll see it on The Disney Channel soon though.