1. Being John Malkovich
2. Say Anything
3. High Fidelity
4. Identity
5. Grosse Point Blank
6. Con Air
7. Serendipity
8. Must Love Dog
9. Pushing Tin
10. America’s Sweethearts.

John Paul Cusack was born on 28 June 1966 in Evanston, Illinois, USA . His mother is a former teacher. His father is a filmmaker and his 4 siblings are all actors. His sister Joan is a comedic film actress who has appeared in several of his movies. In 2000 The Cusack family won the CFCA (Chicago Film Critics Association Awards) “Commitment to Chicago Award”.

While he was still in primary school he joined Chicago’s Piven Theatre Workshop. At the age of 17, he made his film debut in Class (1983). He won the CFCA “Emerging Actor” Award for his performance as Lloyd in the coming-of- age romantic-comedy,  Say Anything (1990).  The image of Llyod serenading his love interst, holding a boom-box above his head became a pop-culture icon. This performance was the highlight of his early career.

He starred co-wrote in High Fidelity (2000)  for which he shared nominations for  the “best adapted screenplay” WGA  and BAFTA awards. His performance as Rob the list-making music-junky,  also earned him a nomination for the  ”best hissy fit”  Teen Choice Award.

He was also a writer on Grosse Point Blank (1997) and War, Inc (2008). Cusack has also been a blogger for the Huffington Post since 2005.

He usually plays complex characters in quirky movies.His performance as a obsessive puppeteer in Being John Malkovich also earned him several award nomination. This is my favourite John Cusack movie.

John Cusack is one of my favourite actors and his movies (on DVD- yay bonus features) are the kind I like to pop into the DVD player often.

Source: IMDB
Picture: Wikipedia Creative Commons

MOLLY:
I love you.I really love you.

SAM:
Ditto

***
ODA MAE:
I know you don’t think I’m giving this 4 million dollars to a bunch of nuns!

SAM:
Think of it this way, you’ll go to Heaven.

ODA MAE:
I don’t want to go to Heaven, I want to go to the bank and cash a G*ddamn check!






Movie: Ghost (1990)
Sam: Patrick Swayze
Molly: Demi Moore
Oda Mae: Whoopi Goldberg
Directed by: Jerry Zucker
Written by: Bruce Joel Rubin

Patrick Swayze passed away yesterday, 14 September 2009, after battling pancreatic cancer. Swayze is best known for his roles in Dirty Dancing (1987) and Ghost (1990).

“I have a great deal of faith in faith; if you believe something strongly enough, it becomes true for you. I would like to believe that my father is right here with me in this room and that he’s my guardian angel, that there’s life after death — because if there isn’t, why are we here? I don’t believe that just flesh and bones can contain from the point of view of physics this very real recorded energy inside of us. Whether it’s true or not, we need to believe it.”

~Patrick Swayze

Patrick was born on 18 August 1952 in Houston, Texas to Patsy and Jesse Swayze. Patrick was the eldest son and had two brothers and two sisters. His mother had a dance school.

At the age of 19 he met one of his mother’s dance students, Lisa Niemi, who was 15 at the time. They got married in 1975. The marriage lasted until the time of his death, but produced no offspring.

In 1972 Patrick moved to New York to attend the Harkness Ballet and Joffrey ballet schools.

After doing some theatre work, including the role of Danny in Grease, he made his film debut in Skatetown, USA (1979). After a couple of years of film and television work he had his big break in Dirty Dancing.

After his brother’s death in 1982 Swayze battled with alcoholism. After his sister’s suicide in 1994, he decided to seek help for his addiction.

In January 2008 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer for which he received chemotherapy. In January 2009 it seemed that the cancer had spread to his liver and he was also hospitalised for pneumonia. The pneumonia might have been a side effect from the chemo.

Some other movies Swayze appeared in:

• Roadhouse (1989)
• Point Break (with Keanu Reeves) (1991)
• City of Joy (1992)
• Donnie Darko (2001)
• Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)
• The Beast (TV) (2009)

Trivia:

• He was voted “Sexiest Man Alive” by People magazine in 1991.
• He received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame On 18 August 1997.
• He received Golden Globe nominations for Dirty Dancing, Ghost and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
• He was also singer-songwriter
• He was a dance choreographer
• He has pilot’s license.
• His brother Don is also an actor, with who him co-starred in Powder Blue. (2009)
• He pursued various artist and sports activities.
• He was brought up Catholic but also studied Eastern religions and Scientology.

Patrick Swayze had an extensive acting career, which included theatre performances and 47 film and TV roles. His singing and dancing talents and natural athletic ability made him an all-round versatile actor. He has definitely made a mark on the pop culture of the 90s. I think I’ll watch Ghost on DVD tonight.

May he Rest in Peace.

Sources: Wikipedia & IMDB

Today is the birthday of British film director/ writer/ producer Guy Richie.

“I am relatively familiar with getting a good old rumping from the critics. In some cases, the critics just didn’t like the film – fair cop. Others, I think, didn’t understand it.”
~Guy Richie

Guy Stuart Ritchie as born on 10 September 1968 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. He dropped out of school at 15.

He got a job as a runner (an errand runner on film and TV sets). He was a fast learner and soon started directing music videos and commercials.

He wrote and directed his first short movie A Hard Case (1995) which was a prequel to his hit feature debut film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (2000). Lock Stock won him a (best director) Tokyo Film Festival award and a (best new filmmaker) MTV movie award.

He then made my favourite Richie film: Snatch (2000). The movie is hilarious and violent and features popular actors like Brad Pitt,Benico Del Toro and Jason Statham. Richie won the Empire “Best British Director” award for the brilliant movie. It was very successful at the box office. I have watched this flick several times

Guy Richie is perhaps more famous for his marriage to Madonna, which has since folded, than for his films. In 2002 he cast his wife as the leading lady in a remake of the 1974 Lina Wertmüller film Swept Away. He won a “worst director” Razzie for this box-office flop. Not surprisingly, it was ill received by critics and disappointed his fans. I think this movie sucks big time. I thougt I’d buck the trend and give it a rave review… but then I actually watched it… and I just could not. Watching it only once was more than enough. Luckily I waited for it to be on TV, so there was no money lost.

He also directed:

• Star (2001) – Short
• Revolver (2005)
• Suspect (2007) – TV
• Rock n Rolla (2008)

His latest film is Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jnr, which will be released this year. I look forward to seeing this movie. Judging from the trailers: it looks awesome!

Happy Birthday Guy! I think I’ll pop Snatch into the DVD player tonight and have a good laugh.

Filmography: IMDB
Photo Credit: Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

see more Lol Celebs