Disney+ launched two years ago yesterday, and the streamer celebrated the occasion with tons of new content, including – finally! – Enchanted and five new episodes of The World According to Jeff Goldblum, a series I highly recommend.
Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams in Enchanted
Drummer, songwriter and poet Graeme Edge, co-founder of prog-rock titans The Moody Blues, has died at the age of eighty.
Graeme Edge, center, with Moody Blues bandmates Justin Hayward and John Lodge
In a year (1967) full of amazing albums, Days of Future Passed was among the best.
Christa B. Allen, who played the thirteen-year-old version of Jennifer Garner’s character in 13 Going On 30, turned thirty this week.
Red Notice premiered yesterday on Netflix, and it looks like a blast. Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds seem like a comedic match made in heaven.
Grace Kelly was born on November 12, 1929. Glamourous and stunningly beautiful, Kelly was the epitome of Hollywood royalty and an absolute fashion icon. After graduating from American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1949, Kelly began her career in the New York City theater. Bit parts in films and episodic television led to Kelly’s big break, 1952’s High Noon. The following year, John Ford’s Mogamba yielded Kelly her first Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actress. In 1954, Kelly starred in five films, including two collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock (Dial M for Murder and Rear Window) and The Country Girl, which earned Kelly her only Oscar. In 1956, after making her final movie (High Society), Kelly retired from acting at the age of twenty-seven to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco; the Hollywood princess became a literal princess. On September 14, 1982, Grace Kelly died from injuries sustained in an auto accident the previous day; she was just fifty-two years old.
High Noon
Mogambo
With James Stewart in Rear Window
The incomparable Wallace Shawn was born on November 12, 1943. An actor and playwright, Shawn made his film debut in 1979, in Woody Allen’s Manhattan (he’s appeared in six Allen films total). Two years later, Shawn and his frequent collaborator André Gregory co-wrote and starred in My Dinner with Andre, playing fictionalized versions of themselves. In 1987, Shawn appeared in his most iconic role, as Vizzini in The Princess Bride. Shawn is also an accomplished voice actor, most notably Rex from the Toy Story series.
With André Gregory in My Dinner with Andre
As Rex in Toy Story
“This word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
On November 12, 1969, Julie Andrews married Blake Edwards. The two made several films together and remained married until his death in 2010.
Edwards directed his wife to her third Oscar nomination in 1982’s Victor/Victoria
The happy couple in later years
On November 12, 1955, lightning struck the Hill Valley clock tower, sending Marty McFly back to 1985 – but not before he helps his parents hook up by subbing for Marvin Berry & The Starlighters’ injured guitar player at the “Enchantment Under the Sea” dance.
Perpetual scene stealer Steve Zahn is celebrating his 54th birthday today.
As Lenny in That Thing You Do! with Giovanni Ribisi
As Sammy in Reality Bites
With Lisa Kudrow on Friends (“The One with Phoebe’s Husband”)
As Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr. in Happy, Texas
Duel, Steven Speilberg’s feature film debut, debuted fifty years ago today. Originally aired as an ABC Movie of the Week, Duel later received an international theatrical release. Written by the late, great Richard Matheson from his short story of the same name, Duel pits Dennis Weaver’s David (in a 1970 Plymouth Valiant) against a mostly-unseen trucker with a terrible case of road rage. I watched Duel in high school, and I remember enjoying it, but I couldn’t say how well it holds up.
And finally, Britney Spears is free of the conservatorship that controlled her life, her finances and even her medical decisions for the past thirteen years.
Peanut Butter and Julie 
How did I not know that The World According to Jeff Goldblum was a thing? It is now on my list. As is Red Notice, looks like a fun movie!
Grace Kelly was simply gorgeous. I remember being sad when she died, I’ve no idea why.
LikeLiked by 1 person