BLACK DOG PRESS

HEATH LEDGER AND MICHELLE WILLIAMS BREAKUP

Another Holly Wood Split?

Brokeback Mountain stars Heath Ledger and Michelle Willaims have apparently split-up. 

Sources close to the couple have reported that Heath, 28, and Michelle, 26, who quickly partnered up while filming "Brokeback" in 2004, "quietly and amicably split a few weeks ago."

Ledger, in the meantime, has managed not to let the news show publicly as he is promoting his new movie "I'm Not There" at the Venice Film Festival on Monday.

For now, it remains unclear whether Ledger and Williams will have to go through the legal hassle of a divorce, as they have refused to comment on speculation that they secretly married earlier this year.

"We try not to talk about it, to keep it our own kind of thing. It's obviously very sacred," the Australian actor told Newsweek when asked about the wedding rumors in April. However, he did hint that "photos of us wearing our wedding rings" would offer a pretty big nuptial clue.

Williams, for her part, has long referred to Ledger as her "husband," and recently gushed to Vogue that their connection was "as strong as love at first sight."

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE WORLD'S END

BLACK DOG'S OWN MOVIE REVIEW CORNER:

BEHOLD PIRATES REVEALED THROUGH OUR OWN MOVIE CORRESPONDENT: CAPTAIN MEG MARDEGAN

A'vast me hearties it would seem that Davy Jones' locker be too hard to imagine so the makers of this third installment of the Disney blockbuster pirate trilogy decided to go with nothing. Yes, a vast empty landscape. It looked to me like the Californian desert except that there was no sand, just a very white flat ground that went on forever till of course those mountains in the distance, which again just seemed like the Californian landscape. But apparently this is Davy Jones' locker. This is where Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is to spend an eternity after being devoured by Jones' beastie the Kraken at the end of the previous movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

But Captain Jack is not alone, he has an entire crew of himself, yes other Captain Jack's to deal with that are driving him mad. He argues with several versions of himself, some aren't wearing shirts, some are you see (gotta tell 'em apart somehow). He even does a Jack in with a sword. Jack is finally undisputed Captain of the Black Pearl but now he is also his own crew.

The empty landscape and the multiple Captain Jack's took me right out of the "Pirates" movie experience that is usually a perfect mix of action, swashbuckling, the supernatural, comedy and romance. It felt more a surreal Terry Gilliam film not Gore Verbinski (Pirates director). I swear I thought the giant that wears a ship for a hat in Gilliam's "Time Bandits" was going to walk through the scene.

But thankfully Jack is rescued fairly early on by Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and the recently resurrected from the dead Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). It seems it is not as hard as you would think to travel to the end of the world, into Davy Jones' locker and back again, not when you have the help of a map from the Chinese pirate Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat).

Every character has his or her own motives for rescuing Jack. Elizabeth feels guilty for chaining Jack to the Black Pearl, serving him up to the Kraken in the last movie. Will needs the Pearl to catch The Flying Dutchman, Davy Jones' ship, to save his father from his eternal debt to Jones. Barbossa indebted to Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), who is really the goddess Calypso, for bringing him back from the dead must bring all nine pirate lords of the Brethren Court together. Jack of course, is a pirate lord, and the court must come together in order to free Calypso from her fleshy prison. What?

All this and more while fighting Lord Cutler Becket (Tom Hollander) and the East India Trading Company that are threatening to put a stop to all piracy across the seven seas with the aid of an unwilling Davy Jones (Bill Nighy).

The twists and turns in the plot will make your head spin but the pirate action is there along with a good dose of humor. Oh yeah, and then there was Keith Richards, who makes a cameo as Jack's father.

The romance between Will and Elizabeth seems to be dead in the water till the very end when their relationship meets its bittersweet destiny. And on that note make sure you stay till the very end of the credits. Even though "At World's End" goes overboard in order to top the first two "Pirate" installments, it is a lot of fun, and a must see for fans. And if you're like me, you need closure. 

 

   

Evil Mutant Provokes Chuckles, Feels Remorse

I knew that Spiderman 3 was going to introduce the Symbiote, the weird alien creature that enhances Peter Parker's abilities and complicates his sense of morality, so I knew that flirting with evil would be a theme in the third installment of the series; but I never could have predicted that the film would make this internal conflict into a source of comedy.

FAT FILM FOP FINED?

The ever gracious and objective film maker Micheal Moore has once again come under scruntiny leading up to the release of yet another shocking critic of how awful America is, in "Sicko". The docu-drama, as it is appropriately called is now intended to inflame the masses against President Bush and all people who talk to Republicans due to the health care crisis in these United States.

Coincidentally Moore's films which never seem to have a marketing budget behind them manage to land him in a National scandal before each release. This year's troubles come from the U.S. Treasury department. Moore, who took 9-11 rescue workers to Cuba, in order to demonstrate their health care would be more adequate than in the United States, failed to recieve permision from the United States government to travel to the Embargoed land.

The penalties for such an infraction generally amount to heavy fines up to 75 and 100 thousand dollars, or whatever the monitary profit value of such an illicit trip has percipitated. Moore, the Castro loving commie, was informed of the infraction via a letter from the Treasury Department and immeadiately had a copy of his latest film "Sicko" sealed away in a hidden safe house. And Dick Cheney was so close this time, well maybe next year.

Moore made a name for himself as the pioneer for the working man in a cold corporate America. His land mark film Roger And Me, depicted the terrible affects of General Motors indifferent business practices on his home town of Flint Michigan. Subsequent years have shown a politically energized Moore whose work doesnt necessarily follow even the facts he knows. As recently as last year, former Moore partners came clean on some of these practices, including those involved in Roger And Me.

What had been hailed as the new grapes of wrath, appears to be just another Michael Moore docu-drama. The film's title is derived from Moore's continual efforts to sit down with GM head Roger Smith to discuss what's going on. He never gets the chance and at the end is physically removed from GM offices in one final desperate attempt. However, recent sources have made it clear, that Roger Smith did in fact meet with Moore and his interview was taped for the film. Moore, simply didn't see how it was relevant to the story he was telling.   

GRAMPS

So this is'nt much of a story, blog, or anything, and I promise to stop making them personal. At least it seems I am becoming more of a figure in my own blogs, anyway. Just thought if anyone is interested to know this is my grandfather. I found him on the web, and thought, people should know.

I didn't know him personally, he had a heat attack before I was one, and I think there used to be a picture of the two of us together but that has long since dissapeared if ever such a thing did exist.

What is worth telling you, is that he is considered the Father of Film Noir by many film critics. Most of you probably don't know what that is, to be honest the best way to describe it to you is: kinda like the Big Lebowski, only serious, and mostly in the 40's and 50's. Technically it's a pretty big thing to be the father of and I'm proud of him for that. You can find much more information on IMB or any such movie website, there's tons to know about him, and maybe you will learn something too.

Lots of stories but not going to elaborate now, just gonna put this out there, also, here's him with Boggart I believe. Will try to get a bigger picture of it later. That's the gramps update for today, hope you enjoyed it.

(small note: after reviewing copy right laws it's safe to say gramps died in 1980, or there abouts, thus still before I was one, but just dont think that picture is around, I really wonder who that was with him?)