German film director Wolfgang Petersen has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 81. Petersen received critical acclaim – and two Oscar nominations – for 1981’s Das Boot. Petersen’s first English-language film was 1984’s The NeverEnding Story, based on the German fantasy novel by Michael Ende. He went on to direct 90s thrillers like In the Line of Fire, Outbreak, and Air Force One.
I am 100% here for this:
And for those people complaining about Luis Guzman (with Catherine Zeta-Jones, above left) being cast as Gomez, a reminder of what Gomez looked like in the original Charles Addams comic strip (right)
Glamour‘s YouTube channel has released the latest in their series, “Would They Wear That?”, and it covers one of my faves, A League of Their Own. Fashion historian Raissa Bretaña hosts the series, which basically fact-checks the wardrobe – head to toe – of a movie or television character. Previous entries in the series include Titanic, Grease, The Queen’s Gambit, and Mary Poppins.
On the heels of last week’s news that Lauren Ambrose would be joining the cast of Yellowjackets for its second season comes another juicy casting tidbit: Elijah Wood will play a fellow member of Misty’s citizen detective club named Walter. This isn’t the first time Wood and Christina Ricci have worked together; they both appeared in the 1997 gem The Ice Storm.
Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood in The Ice Storm
Five years after his death, Bill Paxton’s family has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. On February 14, 2017, Paxton underwent open heart surgery to repair a damaged aortic valve. Complications led to a second emergency procedure the following day; Paxton’s condition deteriorated over the next ten days and he died of a stroke on February 25. The family alleged that Paxton’s surgeon, Dr. Ali Khoynezhad, used “high-risk and unconventional” methods and that he was not present in the operating room when Paxton developed the arterial damage that necessitated the second surgery and ultimately led to his death.
Actor Gary Busey has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct following an appearance at Monster-Mania Con in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. This isn’t the first time Busey has faced accusations of misconduct: in 2001, he was arrested amid allegations of spousal abuse by his ex-wife Tiani Warden and in 2011, he allegedly sexually assaulted a female member of the Celebrity Apprentice production team.
Musician Q Lazzarus (real name: Diane Luckey) has died following a brief illness. She is best known for the haunting 1988 synthpop single “Goodbye Horses”, which became a cult hit following its use in the infamous “tuck” scene from The Silence of the Lambs. Fun fact: Q used to drive a cab in New York City and one fateful day in 1985, she picked up director Jonathan Demme and played him the demo of “Goodbye Horses”. Demme loved the song so much that he featured it in both 1988’s Married to the Mob and Silence. Q Lazzarus was 61 years old.
Fun fact: this iconic scene was originally rehearsed to “Her Strut” by Bob Seger
One of my favorite composers, Claude Debussy, was born on this day in 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. A piano prodigy from a young age, Debussy was accepted to the Conservatoire de Paris at age ten. A founding member of the Impressionist musical movement (though he vehemently rejected the label), Debussy preferred “symphonic sketches” to full operas or symphonies. Debussy was one of the most influential composers of the 20th century; among his acolytes were Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, and Leoš Janáček.
Peanut Butter and Julie 