The Lauren Bacall Edition

Welcome back to another Edition of the Entertainment Guru News and Views.

Much like with the case of Farrah Fawcett's death being overshadowed by the death of Michael Jackson, I feel that the death of Lauren Bacall is being overshadowed by the death of Robin Williams. Yes, they died a day apart but still. No one seems to really be talking about Bacall. Maybe it's because she was much older. Maybe it's because she wasn't in the lime light anymore as opposed to Williams who was still making movies, but I think attention needs to be paid to her as well.

Bacall died on August 12, 2014 at the age of 89 of a stroke.

There isn't much Bacall hadn't done in her career. She is a two time Tony winner, Kennedy Center Honors, Golden Globe winner, and an Academy Honorary Award winner as well. She won a National Book award as well.

Her co-stars include Kirk Douglas, Humphrey Bogart, Rock Hudson, Gregory Peck, Paul Newman, Gary Cooper and Marilyn Monroe. That is a fairly impressive list if you ask me. Comedy and drama, she could do it all.

She represented a time of glamour. She was Old Hollywood, in the best sense of the word.

I admit however, that I have never seen any of her movies. I know that is a terrible thing to say, but it is true. My field of expertise as an Entertainment Guru really starts in 1985. And while she was still acting at that point, I am afraid I didn't see anything she was in. And her last role was in the most unlikely of places, providing a voice on "Family Guy".

RIP Lauren Bacall.

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The Robin Williams Edition

Welcome back to the Entertainment Guru News and Views for this week in August, 2014. I wish I could be coming here with great news. Instead, I come with the death of a great comedian, actor and writer.

I walked in the door on Monday evening.. I was dealing with a pseudo-emergency in my head when I looked at my wife on the couch. She had opened her computer and was immediately met with bad news. By now you all know I am talking about Robin Williams.

Monday afternoon, Williams died of an apparent suicide. Williams was 63 at the time of his death. He had a well known battle with drugs and alcohol through his life. He also suffered from depression. He had checked in himself into rehab earlier this year in an attempt to fight his disease. As of this writing we don't if he was doing drugs or drinking at the time that he ended it all.

What we do know is the joy that Robin Williams brought into each and one's lives. There are some actors that are known for one thing or another that doesn't touch every single person's life. That doesn't take away from the talent that they have. But I highly doubt there is a person that has not enjoyed something from Robin Williams' tremendous career. From his turn as a teacher in an all boys' school in "Dead Poets' Society" to being a Genie in Disney's "Aladdin" to being Teddy Roosevelt coming back to life in the three "Night At The Museum" movies. That doesn't even include his Oscar winning performance as a teacher to a troubled genius in the film "Good Will Hunting". And that is just a small handful of his memorable movie roles. But he did so much more than that.

He recently starred in a CBS comedy called "The Crazy Ones" where he was the head of an advertising company along with his on screen daughter Sarah Michelle Gellar. But an older generation he was Mork, the lovable able in the 1978 comedy "Mork and Mindy".

Along side fellow comedians Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg, he co-hosted the "Comic Relief"
telethon which benefited the homeless in America. The event ran for several years and featured famous and up and coming comedians such as Dana Carvey, Jim Carrey, Bobcat Goldthwait, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock just to name a few.

The list of comedians that he helped inspired would be long enough to fill a blog. His frantic style of comedy was one of a kind, just like the man himself.

We will never know what his mind frame was as he decided to end it all. Whatever it is, his demons got the best of him. And because of that the world lost an inspiration. Robin Williams was a genius, a dark genius but a genius none the less. It also goes to show that you could be world famous and it isn't enough to make you happy.

My hope in all this is that we shine a light on depression. It's not something you can "just get over". For people struggling with depression it is a daily fight. Some days are easy to cope, with aren't. There doesn't even need to be a cause to trigger one's depression. It just happens.

Entertainment Guru News and Views would like to offer our condolences to his family. We all lost someone, but it's nothing compared to your loss. To his friends, count your blessings that you had someone in your life as amazing as Robin Williams. And to his fans, your comedy and legacy will live on. Thank you for the memories, Mr. Williams.

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The Winners of the second and a half EGNVies, Oscars and RIP Edition

Welcome back to a jam-packed edition of the Entertainment Guru News and Views. We have a lot to talk about this time, but we will get started with some sad news.

This past week we mourned the death of actor/director/writer Harold Ramis. He will forever be remembered as Egon Spengler. There are very few great projects from the 1980s and 1990s that Ramis was not involved in. From Ghost Busters to Stripes to Animal House to a movie that I think is vastly underrated, Back To School. He has been busy into the new millennium as well, showing up in Knocked Up as Seth Rogen's father as well. He was brilliant no matter what he chose to do. From everything that I have read about him, he was highly regarded as a nice guy. The term Renaissance Man gets thrown around a lot, but clearly Ramis fit the description. He was involved in so many different aspects of movie production. I could probably do a whole blog just about the cultural impact this man had, especially on my childhood, but instead, we will just sit back and remember one of his greatest moments in Ghostbusters. I give you, the Twinkie.

There has been talk about doing Ghostbusters 3 for years now. I know that Bill Murray had said he would not be involved with the film. And now that Ramis has passed, I think they should not make the movie. As big of a fan as I am of the movies (Yes, I even enjoy Ghostbusters 2, but not nearly as much as the original) it would lack something when half of the main actors are not involved. I think the time had passed for them to have made the movie, but now just let us move on. It would only ruin another great movie with another sequel not worthy of it.

Later tonight marks the biggest night in Hollywood, it's the Oscars with your host Ellen DeGeneres. I will admit that I have not seen any of the movies up for awards this year, but I thought I would go ahead and attempt to pick the winners. We will check next week to see how well I did with them. For Best Supporting actor, I predict that Jared Leto will win for "Dallas Buyers Club." I think this is the closest category, which is why I started here. I am hoping for an upset though. I think there is a chance (albeit a small one) that Barkhad Abdi will win for "Captain Phillips." For Best Supporting Actress, I say Jennifer Lawrence will win for "American Hustle." For Best Actor, my prediction is Matthew McConaughey will also win for "Dallas Buyers Club." The Academy tends to like true stories, and this one tugs at the heart. For Best Actress, I pick Cate Blanchett for "Blue Jasmine." For Best Director, I predict Steve McQueen for "12 Year's A Slave." For Best Original Screenplay, I am going to say that Spike Jonze will win for "Her." What are my picks for Best Adapted Screenplay? Why, I am glad you asked! John Ridley will win for "12 Year's A Slave." But I am hoping that "Philomena" wins it for Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope. For Best Animated Feature, it has to be "Frozen." Mostly since it's the only movie I saw that's up for anything this year. Plus it was just that good! And finally for Best Picture I say that "American Hustle" will win. Check back next week and see how many I got right. Or most likely in this case, wrong.

But now we will move to the awards that everyone is talking about, the EGNVies for this year. Last week I gave you the nominees. For those of you new to the blog, these are the awards for the movies that I actually saw. So we will get started with Best Ensemble. This year I give the award to "Fast And Furious 6." For Best Female Comedic Performance, the winner is Sandra Bullock in "The Heat." For Best Male Comedic Performance, the EGNVie goes to Alan Arkin in "Grudge Match," because quite frankly Alan Arkin is awesome. The Winner for Best Actor in an Action Movie goes to Tom Hiddleston for "Thor: The Dark World." Why? Because Tom Hiddleston is awesome too! The winner of Villain Of the Year goes to Donald Sutherland's performance as evil President Snow in "Hunger Games: Catching Fire." Speaking of "Catching Fire" let's also congratulate his co-star Jennifer Lawrence, winner of Best Actress in an Action Film. And the winner of EGNVie Picture of the Year, Congratulations "Frozen."

What did you think of my picks? What would you change? What categories do you want me to add for next year? Let me know! See you next week!

Special thanks as always to my wonderful and beautiful editor for helping me with this week's blog.

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The More RIP Editions

And I am back! A lot has happened since my last blog, and not all of it is good. So I thought I would start off with some negative before my regular posts begin again.

Two actors died long before their time was up since I last blogged so I wanted to give my thoughts on them. They lived very different lives, but both fell due to excesses in their lives. I enjoyed both through their careers. I am, of course, talking about Paul Walker and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Paul Walker died on November 30th, 2013. Sadly, he died doing what he loved doing, quite frankly what he was best known for. It's more than just ironic when an actor known for "Fast and Furious" movies died while allegedly speeding down the road. Walker wasn't driving, according to police reports. The good news (if there is any good news in this situation) was there were no drugs or alcohol involved.

The same cannot be said about Oscar winning actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who battled drug addiction for twenty-plus years. Reports surfaced that when he was found dead, the heroin needle was still stuck in his arm. Again, police reports I read said that 50 bags of heroin were found in his apartment that day.

The two of them really couldn't have been any different, yet they had something in common. While both were movie stars, they primarily lived their lives out of the spotlight. Neither of them seemed to enjoy the spotlight that came with success, especially Walker. He avoided the press as easily as his character in the Fast movies avoided the police. Hoffman didn't seem to enjoy it much either, but I feel he was much more comfortable than Walker was. Maybe it's from the years of Broadway experience Hoffman had. I don't know.

Their movies couldn't have been any different either. Like I said, Paul Walker was known for his action movies like the Fast movies or Into the Blue. Hoffman was known for more dramatic roles like The Master or the role that won him an Oscar, Capote. Hoffman did dip into action for one role, that of a Mission:Impossible movie. Because of how different their styles of movies were, I think it would be very difficult to play Six Degrees of Separation between the two of them.

Another thing they have in common was leaving franchises waiting for their actors to return. Paul Walker was filming another Fast movie, The Fast and Furious 7. That movie was due out this summer, but will now be delayed until next year while they work on reshoots. Brian O'Connor (Walker's character) will not die, according to internet reports. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was seven days a way from finishing his role as Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. That movie will not be delayed.

Everyone has their favorite movies of certain actors’. While I enjoyed The Fast and Furious, my favorite Paul Walker movie was one of his first movies, Varsity Blues. He has a supporting role in the film as the hot shot quarterback Lance Harbor who gets injured and James Vanderbeek comes in to save the day. It's cheesy at times, but it made me regret not playing high school football. Not that it would have ended well for me if I did. But that's another story. Phillip Seymour Hoffman has a very small role in one of my all time favorite movies though. I believe he is only in three or four scenes (if even that) but he plays a huge part in the main character’s life, and really helps the story get going. So if you haven't seen Almost Famous, I highly recommend it!

Special thanks as always to my wonderful editor. Thank you for all your hard work to make my words right.

Oh yeah, before I let you go. I said it would be difficult, but I didn't say it couldn't be done. Paul Walker was in Fast and Furious Five with The Rock. The Rock co-starred in Journey 2 with Josh Hutcherson. And of course Josh Hutcherson was in Catching Fire with Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

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RIP Cory Monteith

I was all prepared to write a blog about my review for the movie "The Heat" and my thoughts on the critics who bash Melissa McCarthy for her weight. But then something happened this past week that completely trumped that. But rest assured, that blog is coming soon. Because quite frankly I am tired of posting about celebrities after they passed away

As you know, last Saturday night Glee star Cory Monteith was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room. At the time of his passing, he was only 31 years old. He had recently gone to rehab for a drug addiction only months prior to this. Unfortunately, the cause of death was found to be a mixture of heroin and alcohol. 

I fully admit that I watch Glee on a weekly basis. I wouldn't call myself a Gleek, but I do enjoy the show. I even have songs on my IPad from Glee. I watched my first episode half way through the first season because Neil Patrick Harris was guest starring. I am a huge NPH fan and wanted to see it. I said the show was good, but it wasn't something I would watch on a week to week basis. But my fiancée is a huge Gleek so I wound up watching more and more of the show and really enjoying it far more then I thought I would.

Finn Hudson wasn't my favorite character, but I did enjoy him. I think the thing that I enjoyed most of his performance was the fact that he wasn't the best singer. It was a running joke that he is a horrible dancer. But he enjoyed singing and everyone enjoyed hearing him. His voice was not polished at all. But that didn't stop him. And I really liked that about him

I have no idea how Glee will handle this situation. He was written off the show when he went to rehab. They can't just ignore that he has died, can they? Whatever tone the scripts for this season had has to change now. Hell, if I was their writers I would just start from scratch. A new interview with Glee creator Ryan Murphy just came out on E! to address this matter.

I'm not famous. I probably won't be famous, not even from this blog (But hell, I will keep trying) so I don't understand the perils of the famous and why they always turn to drugs. Yet here we are once again talking about a famous actor or musician (and in Monteith's case, both) who lost to his demons and is no longer with us. Haven't they learned from those that went down that road before them? The Heath Ledgers, the Amy Winehouses, the River Phoenixes of the world that had so much more to show us that we never got to see. Instead, Cory Monteith's name will be added to this list instead. It's a damn shame.

In honor of his passing, I give you his first performance on the show. Enjoy. Rest in peace Finn Hudson

Elizabeth Taylor Edition

Breaking news: Elizabeth Taylor died earlier this morning.

I admit that I don't watch a lot of old movies, despite being the entertainment Guru. I have never seen Cleopatra, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf or even Cat on A Hot Tin Roof. In fact I have never seen anything that she acted in. All I can tell you is that she married alot of guys in her time and was friends with Michael Jackson.

She was a fashion icon though. She is one of the few people known more for their style then for anything else. She was humanatarian, donating a lot of her money to charities.

The last few years of her life had been known more for frequent trips to the hospital then anything.

She is one of the last Icons from Hollywood from yesteryear. She always seemed to have a certain class to her, in the interviews I saw of her, that most of today's young Hollywood will never understand. There are few people left in the world like her. Her fans all around the world will mourn her, though very few people will be surprised.

Hopefully this week I will post another blog, one that isn't so somber.

The Lose Of Two Legends Edition

The word legend gets through around a lot, especially lately. But this past week, we lost two people who will live on in the world of Pop Culture.

Gary Coleman died just a few days ago. For some people, he became a punchline when he was working as a secruity guard and got beat up. But for people of my generation, he will always be Arnold "Whatcha you talking, Willis" Drummond on Different Strokes. He died of a brain hemorrage after a fall in his home in Utah. That shows how serious of a condition Bret Michaels condition could have been. The good news is he made a great recovery, enough to win Celebrity Apprentice and also appear on the finale of American Idol as well.

We also lost Academy Award Nominee Dennis Hopper. He was one of the few actors the could pull off crazy and you weren't entirely sure if he was acting or if he was actually being Dennis Hopper. He was in Easy Riders with Jack Nicholson. He has appeared in several movies and TV shows, even doing a stint for a couple of years in TV commercials. He had fallen on hard times recently too. It was unfortunate as many saw that his best days were behind him and his health failing.

Last year we lost a lot of celebrities, and I have a bad feeling that this year we could be heading for an equally bad year.

Let us have a moment of silence for the passing of Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper