As questions about how their loved one died remain unanswered, Heath Ledger’s family is expected to begin arriving in New York City Friday for his funeral.

“The family doesn’t want us to give out any information,” George Amad, the general manager of the Frank E. Campbell funeral chapel told the Associated Press.

Who can blame them? The actor’s family found out about his death in a most unfortunate way.

“I heard about his death in the press, and I called his mother to find out what was happening, and even she didn’t know,” Heath’s uncle, Neil Bell, told People. “Heath’s father found out through the press. ... It’s a pretty devastating way to find out.”

The actor had been filming “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” at the time of his death and now the Terry Gilliam-directed film has been suspended indefinitely. He had been scheduled to arrive in Vancouver today to resume filming.

A decision has not yet been made about whether to scrap the entire film or to recast his role. Sources told ET Online that the filmmakers are hoping to regroup after the weekend and then decide how to proceed.
Heath’s director in “Four Feathers,” Shekhar Kapur, said that he last spoke with the actor on Monday night when Heath told him he was jet-lagged. He tried calling him Tuesday morning but got no answer.

On his blog, Kapur wrote: “Farewell Heath. I always knew you had an ancient soul. I always said you had a wisdom beyond your years. And somehow I always knew that your spirit was too restless. Goodbye, my brother.”

Daniel Day-Lewis appeared via satellite on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” this week to talk about his Oscar nomination, but he quickly changed the subject: “I hope you don’t mind if I speak about this. I feel very unsettled at the moment... and I suppose it’s because I only just saw the news about Heath Ledger’s death. It seems somehow strange to be talking about anything else. Not that there’s anything to say really except to express one’s regret and to say from the bottom of one’s heart to his family and to his friends that I’m sorry for their trouble. I didn’t know him, I have a strong impression I would have liked him very much.”

John Travolta did know Heath who he called a friend and “my favorite actor and my favorite talent.”
“I did know Heath and I adored him,” Travolta told reporters at an event celebrating Australia Week. “I am pretty devastated over this. ... It’s like losing James Dean.”

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In far happier news, Tori Spelling and her actor husband Dean McDermott are expecting their second child, the couple confirmed Thursday. Their son, Liam, was born last March.
The couple is also celebrating the fact that their Oxygen series, “Tori & Dean: Inn Love” was picked up for a third season.

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And finally, there is a name for the next James Bond flick: “Quantum of Solace.”

Daniel Craig returns as Agent 007 for a second time and “Quantum” picks up where 2006’s “Casino Royale” left off.

The title had been a closely-guarded secret for some time. I hate to be difficult but ya know something, the title doesn’t really send me. It’s not provocative as “Octopussy,” “Dr. No” and “Goldfinger” or as fun as “From Russia With Love” and “Diamonds Are Forever.”

Maybe It’ll grow on me.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 5:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

]Rambo is back! But will anyone care?
After enjoying surprising success with “Rocky Balboa” a year ago, Sylvester Stallone revives the other of his iconic movie heroes in “Rambo” which opened in 2,800 theaters today.
The “Rocky” franchise had dormant since 1990 and the low-budgeted “Balboa” managed to earn strong reviews and a domestic gross of $70.3 million.
The character of John Rambo has been absent from the big screen even longer. “Rambo III” grossed just $53 million in 1988 after the franchise had peaked three years earlier when “Rambo: First Blood II” grossed $150 million.
As far as the new “Rambo” flick, I think Stallone’s return as Rocky and Bruce Willis’ successful revival of the “Die Hard” franchise last summer will bode well. It could open in first place with a gross as high as $20 million.

OTHER NEWBIES: Diane Lane, Oscar-nominated for the drama “Unfaithful” several years back, headlines the thriller “Untraceable” which bowed in 2,300 locations today.
Lane has had her share of modest hits and this looks to be another one of them. I give the movie a shot at a $12 million debut. It will likely just edge past the comedy “Meet the Spartans” which would do well to reach the $10 million mark. I don’t give the music drama “How She Move” much of a chance of doing any better than the $7 million range in its debut since it is bowing in just 1,500 locations.

HOLDOVERS: The thriller “Cloverfield” has a decent chance of repeating as number one if it can gross higher than $20 million in its second weekend. I also predict a strong sophomore outing for the Katherine Heigl comedy “27 Dresses” would could add about $14 million to its haul.
Also look for the Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman flick “Bucket List” to keep filling seats to the tune of about $10 million over the weekend.

OSCAR BUMP? The legal thriller “Michael Clayton” was a critical fave but has only grossed just under $40 million at the box office. Warner Bros. hopes to take advantage of the movie’s seven Oscar nominations - including best picture and best actor for George Clooney - by re-releasing “Clayton” onto 1,000 screens today.
Similarly, fellow best picture nominee “No Country or Old Men,” which earned eight Oscar nods this week, expanded today into 1,500 theaters to try and build on it’s domestic gross of $50 million.

LIMITED BOWS: Some movies need to be handled with care - specialty films that can’t just be thrust upon the masses in one fell swoop.
The idea is to slowly roll them out and build strong word-of-mouth. Of course, if no buzz is built, the flick dies on the vine and hopes for a strong life on DVD.
National Geographic Films releases the rock-and-roll documentary “U2 3D” in 60 locations. Among the other movies poking their heads into theaters today: “The Air I Breathe” in seven LA and New York City theaters and “Trailer Park Boys: The Movie” in three LA and NYC theaters.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...this morning on "The Today Show."
Check it out!

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The loss of Heath Ledger is still so tough to absorb. I think a lot of people are wondering why it has struck such a deep place in them. It still seems unbelievable not matter how many newspapers or magazines you read or how many TV shows you see. Good God., last night, it seemed that "The Insider" had literally changed it's name to something like "The Death of Heath Ledger." Most of the time, those shows are harmless fun but sheesh, give them the death of a young celebrity, and they will go wall-to-wall for weeks - sometimes months as was the case with Anna Nicole Smith.

Anyway, I guess I'm part of it in a way as I am writing a lot about Heath right now but I am trying to do so with respect and restraint. What has been so disgusting is the hateful anti-gay speech some so-called "Christians" have directed at the actor because he starred in "Brokeback Mountain." The vile Fred Phelps has threatened to picket the funeral and Fox commentator John Gibson has said some unforgiveable things. I didn't post about them yesterday because I felt too angry, too disgusted. These people cannot claim to be human beings.

What I was heartened about some is that MSNBC's Dan Abrams spoke out about it in the video posted below calling them "nuts on the fringe right" saying in part: "This is insanity. Yes I thought it was going to happen to some degree. But the notion that there are going to be some people there picketing at his funeral. I mean this is disgusting beyond what I even expected, and I think it's going to continue to some degree..."

"The Today Show" had a good five-minute update with the latest news and an interview with Dave Karger of "Entertainment Weekly" who described Ledger as a dedicated actor but a reluctant star. When they had a two-hour interview in a bar to promote "A Knight;s Tale," Karger said of Ledger: "I've never seen anyone with such an amount of nervous energy...He was always uncomfortable in the spotlight."

Here is the piece:

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)