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7 articles from 2008

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Michelle Williams Supports Scholarship Honoring Heath Ledger

25 September 2008 1:25 AM, PDT | From PEOPLE.com | See recent PEOPLE.com news

A scholarship to help emerging Australian actors and honor the memory of Heath Ledger has launched – and Ledger's ex, Michelle Williams, is stepping up as the first donor. The Australians in Film Heath Ledger Scholarship will award recipients up to $10,000, and round-trip airfare from Australia, to pursue a career in the United States. Ledger was an Ambassador for Aif before his death in January; current ambassadors include Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and Naomi Watts. "Broke Aussie actors in La form a tradition that goes all the way back to Errol Flynn," says Ned Kelly director and Ledger pal Gregor Jordan,

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Alexis Chiu

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Christopher Young: The Informers

21 August 2008 1:48 AM, PDT | From Upcoming Film Scores | See recent Upcoming Film Scores news

Spider-Man 3 composer Christopher Young has now included The Informers in his filmography on his official web site. This is the film version of the Bret Easton Ellis' novel featuring seven different stories of various morally challenged characters - the tagline of the movie is "Greed is good. Sex is easy. Youth is forever." The pretty impressive cast includes Amber Heard, Billy Bob Thornton, Winona Ryder, Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke. Gregor Jordan (Ned Kelly) directs. The novel includes fantasy elements (one of the main characters is a vampire), something which reportedly has been omitted from the film version. Distribution will be handled by Senator International. Christopher Young is also doing the music for romantic dramas Traveling and When in Rome, and he also returns to the horror genre, scoring Drag Me to Hell, produced and directed by Sam Raimi.

noreply@blogger.com (Mikael Carlsson)

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The Not-So-Uplifting Trailer for Bret Easton Ellis' 'The Informers'

6 August 2008 3:00 PM, PDT | From GetTheBigPicture.net | See recent Get The Big Picture news

Well this one looks fun. Of course, it is a Bret Easton Ellis adaptation, and nobody can put a smile on your face like that guy.

Actually, this trailer makes the world of The Informers look really screwed up, not that that's always a bad thing as a moviegoer. The tagline pretty much says it all: Greed is good. Sex is easy. Youth is forever. The movie explores the downside to the go-go 1980s, tackling infidelity, addiction, and other lighthearted subjects with a great cast that includes Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Winona Ryder, new It-Girl Amber Heard, and Mickey Rourke, and it also marks the final performance of Brad Renfro, which makes the whole dark affair a little more bleak.

Still, this could be incredible if Australian director Gregor Jordan handles the storylines carefully. His career is spotty, however. I liked Buffalo Soldiers but didn't care for his Ned Kelly remake.

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Colin Boyd

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Michelle Williams Helps Fund Heath Ledger Scholarship

6 June 2008 4:45 AM, PDT | From PEOPLE.com | See recent PEOPLE.com news

It's been five months since Heath Ledger's shocking death at age 28. But the young actor was still very much on the minds of his colleagues at Thursday night's Australians in Film 2008 Breakthrough Awards in Beverly Hills. The emotional highlight of the evening came when Gregor Jordan – who became good friends with Ledger after directing him in 1999's Two Hands – announced the formation of a Heath Ledger scholarship fund to help struggling Australian actors. Long before the success of Brokeback Mountain, the director recalled, Ledger was just "your old, broke Aussie actor." Once, things got so bad, in fact,

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Kate Stroup

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Scholarship Created In Ledger's Memory

6 June 2008 1:06 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

A scholarship fund benefiting struggling Australian actors has been established in late star Heath Ledger's memory.

Gregor Jordan, who befriended Ledger while directing him in 1999's Two Hands, announced the fund's formation at Thursday night's Australians in Film Breakthrough Awards in Beverly Hills.

Jordan, who also directed Ledger in 2003's Ned Kelly, told guests Ledger's spirit had inspired the foundation, as he was once just "your old, broke Aussie actor" struggling to make a name for himself.

But after earning his first significant paycheque, the Perth, Australia native immediately went "into a bar (to) buy everyone a round of drinks."

The director said, "It is that generosity that somehow sums Heath up. When he had nothing, he still found a way to give to others."

Jordan admitted the details of the scholarship at this point remain "a little sketchy" but did pronounce the first benefactor would be Ledger's former girlfriend, Michelle Williams - the mother of Ledger's two-year-old daughter Matilda Rose.

He added: "It's going to involve a number of benefactors and there's been a lot of interest already.

"I was talking to Michelle Williams, his partner and the mother of his child, today and Michelle has said she would be very proud and happy to be the first benefactor."

A letter written by Ledger's father Kim, who could not attend, was read aloud, stating: "We know that Heath would be proud of his attachment to this scholarship.

"(It) does what Heath has done personally during the last 10 years, (supporting) Australian actors, singers, directors or writers who seek to supply their talents to the U.S.A."

The first scholarship is due to be awarded in 2009.

Ledger died in January, aged 28, after accidentally overdosing on prescription drugs at his New York apartment.

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Bloom Uses Coogan's Chat-up Lines

28 March 2008 5:10 AM, PDT | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Hollywood heartthrob Orlando Bloom is taking relationship advice from British funnyman Steve Coogan's comedy alter-ego Alan Partridge.

The Ned Kelly star claims he once wooed a girl with a line used by the comic on his hit British TV series I'm Alan Partridge.

He says, "(I said), 'I'm off to a Bp (British Petroleum) garage for a mushroom slice. Want to come?'"

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Heath Ledger Dead at 28

23 January 2008 | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Movie star Heath Ledger has been found dead in his Manhattan, New York apartment. The actor was declared dead by medics at his Broome Street, SoHo home at 3:30pm on Tuesday, according to the New York Police Department. A police spokesperson reveals Ledger was discovered by his housekeeper, after he failed to answer the door to a masseuse he had booked to give him a massage. While prescription drugs were found at scene, there were no illegal drugs discovered. The Australian Brokeback Mountain star, 28, was just about to start promoting the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, in which he plays movie villain The Joker. Born in Perth in 1979, Ledger made a name for himself in a series of brooding roles on the big screen; he was nominated for a 2006 Oscar for his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in the gay-themed drama Brokeback Mountain. Fiercely private, Ledger has openly spoken about his public shyness, but he hit the headlines for romances with Heather Graham, Naomi Watts and his Brokeback Mountain co-star Michelle Williams, the mother of his two-year-old daughter Matilda Rose.

A star field hockey player and athlete, Ledger turned his attentions to drama in his teens and, when a friend headed to Sydney, Australia to chase an acting dream, the star-to-be went along for the ride. He landed a break as a gay cyclist in 1996's Sweat - a TV drama about a group of Olympic hopefuls - and then he portrayed the best friend of a rapist in low-budget 1997 movie Blackrock. Hedger left Australia to find acting work in America in 1999 and landed the lead in Aussie director Gregor Jordan's crime thriller Two Hands. That film helped him land the lead hunk role in teen movie hit Ten Things I Hate About You. He went on to play Mel Gibson's son in The Patriot and Billy Bob Thornton's troubled offspring in Monster's Ball. Both roles earned Ledger high praise from critics. But then came a string of critical flops - A Knight's Tale, Ned Kelly, The Four Feathers, The Order, Lords Of Dogtown, and The Brothers Grimm. But then followed Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain in 2005, which Ledger has often described as a major turning point in his professional and personal life. As awkward cowboy Ennis Del Mar, Ledger regained his position as one of Hollywood's top stars. The role led to a Best Actor Oscar nod and the coveted role of The Joker in the upcoming The Dark Knight, for which he's already receiving great acclaim. Ledger has also won acclaim for his role as Robbie Clark in quirky Bob Dylan-inspired movie I'm Not There. The tragic star was last seen publicly on the London set of director Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus on Saturday.

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2008 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002

7 articles from 2008

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