Humor Break

Kanye West is planning to interrupt Patrick Swayze's funeral to let everyone know Michael Jackson's death was way more tragic...

'Dirty Dancing' star Patrick Swayze dies at 57

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iI6rYwtW5ttJYhJ51d_aPbnBpDkQD9ANK8OG2

'Dirty Dancing' star Patrick Swayze dies at 57
By CHRISTY LEMIRE (AP)
9-15-9

LOS ANGELES — Patrick Swayze personified a particular kind of masculine grace both on and off screen, from his roles in films like "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost" to the way he carried himself in his long fight with pancreatic cancer.

Swayze died from the illness on Monday in Los Angeles, his publicist said. He was 57.

"Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last 20 months," Annett Wolf said in a statement Monday evening. She declined to give details.

Fans of the actor were saddened to learn in March 2008 that Swayze was suffering from an especially deadly form of cancer. He continued working despite the diagnosis, putting together a memoir with his wife and shooting "The Beast," an A&E drama series for which he had already made the pilot.

Swayze said he chose not to use painkillers while making "The Beast" because they would have taken the edge off his performance. The show drew a respectable 1.3 million viewers when the 13 episodes ran this year, but A&E said it reluctantly decided not to renew it for a second season.

When he first went public with the illness, some reports gave him only weeks to live, but his doctor said his situation was "considerably more optimistic" than that. Swayze acknowledged that time might be running out given the grim nature of the disease.

"I'd say five years is pretty wishful thinking," Swayze told ABC's Barbara Walters in early 2009. "Two years seems likely if you're going to believe statistics. I want to last until they find a cure, which means I'd better get a fire under it."

And that's exactly what he did. In February, Swayze wrote an op-ed piece in the Washington Post titled, "I'm Battling Cancer. How About Some Help, Congress?" in which he urged senators and representatives to vote for the maximum funding for the National Institutes of Health to fight cancer as part of the economic stimulus package.

He also appeared in the September 2008 live television event "Stand Up to Cancer," where he pleaded: "I keep dreaming of a future, a future with a long and healthy life, a life not lived in the shadow of cancer, but in the light. ... I dream that the word `cure' will no longer be followed by the words `is impossible.'"

Celebrities and fans inspired by Swayze's struggle poured out their condolences, including C. Thomas Howell, who costarred with Swayze in "The Outsiders," "Grandview U.S.A." and "Red Dawn."

"I have always had a special place in my heart for Patrick," he said. "While I was fortunate enough to work with him in three films, it was our passion for horses that forged a friendship between us that I treasure to this day."

Others used Twitter to express their sadness, and "Dirty Dancing" was a top trending topic Monday night, trailed by other Swayze films.

Demi Moore, who played Swayze's fiancee in "Ghost," wrote: "Patrick you are loved by so many and your light will forever shine in all of our lives." Moore's husband, Ashton Kutcher, tweeted: "RIP P Swayze" and linked to a YouTube clip of the actor poking fun at himself in a classic "Saturday Night Live" sketch, in which he played a wannabe Chippendales dancer alongside the corpulent — and frighteningly shirtless — Chris Farley.

Larry King wrote: "Patrick Swayze was a wonderful actor & a terrific guy. He put his heart in everything. He was an extraordinary fighter in his battle w Cancer." King added that he'd do a tribute to Swayze on his CNN program Tuesday night.

A three-time Golden Globe nominee, Swayze became a star with his performance as the misunderstood bad boy Johnny Castle in "Dirty Dancing." As the son of a choreographer who began his career in musical theater, he seemed a natural to play the role.

A coming-of-age romance starring Jennifer Grey as an idealistic young woman on vacation with her family and Swayze as the Catskills resort's sexy (and much older) dance instructor, the film made use of both his grace on his feet and his muscular physique.

It became an international phenomenon in the summer of 1987, spawning albums, an Oscar-winning hit song in "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," stage productions and a sequel, 2004's "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights," in which he made a cameo.

Swayze performed and co-wrote a song on the soundtrack, the ballad "She's Like the Wind," inspired by his wife, Lisa Niemi. The film also gave him the chance to utter the now-classic line, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."

Swayze followed up with the 1989 action flick "Road House," in which he played a bouncer at a rowdy bar. But it was his performance in 1990's "Ghost" that showed his vulnerable, sensitive side. He starred as a murdered man trying to communicate with his fiancee, with great frustration and longing, through a psychic played by Whoopi Goldberg.

"Ghost" provided yet another indelible musical moment: Swayze and Moore sensually molding pottery together to the strains of the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody." It also earned a best-picture nomination and a supporting-actress Oscar for Goldberg, who said she wouldn't have won if it weren't for Swayze.

"When I won my Academy Award, the only person I really thanked was Patrick," Goldberg said in March 2008 on the ABC daytime talk show "The View."

Swayze himself earned three Golden Globe nominations, for "Dirty Dancing," "Ghost" and 1995's "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar," which allowed him to toy with his masculine image. The role called for him to play a drag queen on a cross-country road trip alongside Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo.

His heartthrob status almost kept him from being considered for the role of Vida Boheme.

"I couldn't get seen on it because everyone viewed me as terminally heterosexually masculine-macho," he told The Associated Press then. But he transformed himself so completely that when his screen test was sent to Steven Spielberg, whose Amblin pictures produced "To Wong Foo," the director didn't recognize him.

Among his earlier films, Swayze was part of the star-studded lineup in Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 adaptation of S.E. Hinton's novel "The Outsiders," alongside Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez and Diane Lane. Other '80s films included "Red Dawn," "Grandview U.S.A." and "Youngblood," once more with Lowe, as Canadian hockey teammates.

In the '90s, he made such eclectic films as "Point Break" (1991) in which he played the leader of a band of bank-robbing surfers, and the family Western "Tall Tale" (1995) in which he starred as Pecos Bill. He appeared on the cover of People magazine as its "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1991, but his career tapered off toward the end of the 1990s, when he went to rehab for alcohol abuse. In 2001, he appeared in the cult favorite "Donnie Darko," and in 2003 he returned to the New York stage with "Chicago"; 2006 found him in the musical "Guys and Dolls" in London.

Swayze was born in 1952 in Houston, the son of Jesse Swayze and choreographer Patsy Swayze, whose films include "Urban Cowboy."

He played football but also was drawn to dance and theater, performing with the Feld, Joffrey and Harkness Ballets and appearing on Broadway as Danny Zuko in "Grease." He turned to acting in 1978 after a series of injuries.

Within a couple years of moving to Los Angeles, he made his debut in the roller-disco movie "Skatetown, U.S.A." The eclectic cast included Scott Baio, Flip Wilson, Maureen McCormack and Billy Barty.

Off-screen, he was an avid conservationist who was moved by his time in Africa to shine a light on "man's greed and absolute unwillingness to operate according to Mother Nature's laws," he told the AP in 2004.

Swayze was married since 1975 to Niemi, a fellow dancer who took lessons with his mother; they met when he was 19 and she was 15. A licensed pilot, Niemi would fly her husband from Los Angeles to Northern California for treatment at Stanford University Medical Center.

Top 6 Most Bad-Ass Patrick Swayze Roles

http://coedmagazine.com/2008/12/03/top-6-most-bad-ass-patrick-swayze-movie-roles/

Top 6 Most Bad-Ass Patrick Swayze Roles
December 3, 2008

Back in March, Hollywood star Patrick Swayze was given only 5 weeks to live due to a nasty bout with pancreatic cancer. But one life lesson you must learn is that although he’s down, you must never, ever, count Swayze out.

Because of his role as a prancing, dancing fairy in Dirty Dancing many assume that Swayze is a effeminate wuss - but that is not the case. In fact, he’s one of the most bad-ass superstars in all of Hollywood… and here are 6 definitive reasons why.

6. “Vida Boheme” in To Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar

Patrick Swayze. In drag. Dancing and kicking ass. If you haven’t seen To Wong Foo, that’s ok - you should never see it, unless watching Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo sass it up is your idea of entertainment. On second thought, this SHOULD be your idea of entertainment. “I’m am hereby stripping you of all your Princess Points.” Eternal.

5. SNL - Chippendale Dancer w/ Chris Farley

In this classic SNL skit Swayze proves that he’s a good sport and can make fun of himself, unlike all those other pompous Hollywood stars.

4. “Darrel ‘Darry’ Curtis” in The Outsiders

In The Outsiders Swayze plays Darrel, leader of “the Greasers,” a gang of poor kids who have an all-out turf war in Tulsa, Oklahoma with their pretty boy rivals, “the Socs.” If you don’t know what any of that means, rent the damn movie.

3. “Jed” in Red Dawn

Red Dawn is a mid 80’s movie about a bunch of high school kids in a small town. When Russia invades the US and takes over their town Swayze leads his buddies into the mountains to hide out, ultimately fighting the Russians with deer rifles. Do they win? Of course they do - but not before Swayze drinks a whole bunch of deer blood and yelling “wolverines” every time he pops a commie.

2. “James Dalton” in Road House

Swayze comes to the rescue of a seedy Missouri bar, the Double Deuce, as its top bouncer, to save the venue (and the entire town) from evil businessman Brad Wesley - and the awesome doesn’t stop until the end credits roll. The whole thing is pretty much a giant bar fight, along with some great T&A, some explosions, a monster truck and an unreasonable number of knife fights. (Seriously, why does only one person in the whole town have a gun?) If there’s a bad part to this movie, we’re yet to see it.

1. “Bodhi” in Point Break

Swayze plays a professional surfer who, in the off season, is a member of the “ex-presidents,” a crew of mask-wearing bank robbers - but you already knew this. From befriending his worst enemy, Special Agent Utah (Keanu Reeves), just to lead him on a wild goose chase, Bodhi is 100% pure adrenaline. Thank God Point BreakBack Mountain isn’t the truth.

How Swayze danced into fans' hearts

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7281311.stm

How Swayze danced into fans' hearts
Thursday, 6 March 2008

Actor Patrick Swayze, who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, is best known for his roles in the hit films Ghost and Dirty Dancing.

It was his role in the latter as a dance teacher with a penchant for tight trousers and Cuban heels that turned the Texas-born performer into an overnight sensation.

The film celebrated its 20th anniversary last year and has since spawned a London musical, while his line "no one puts Baby in the corner!" has become one of the most quoted in movie history.

He consolidated his celebrity with action roles in the 1989 films Road House and Next of Kin, but it was his portrayal of a boyfriend who comes back from the dead in 1990's Ghost that confirmed his status as a romantic leading man.

The scene where he sculpts clay with co-star Demi Moore, accompanied by the Righteous Brothers' Unchained Melody, swiftly became iconic.

And "Swayze" even made it into the hip-hop lexicon as an adjective meaning "gone" or "disappeared".

Skater

Before he turned to acting, Patrick Wayne Swayze had been a professional dancer and accomplished figure skater.

After suffering a knee injury, he moved into musical theatre and landed roles on Broadway - among them Danny Zuko in the stage version of Grease.

Swayze's first film roles were undistinguished, though 1984's Red Dawn - in which he played a young man defending America against a Soviet invasion - helped raise his profile.

But the combination of Dirty Dancing and Ghost made him one of Hollywood's hottest properties.

By 1991 he was famous enough to be voted "sexiest man alive" by People magazine.

His subsequent movie outings, however, were greeted with rather less acclaim.

Paralysed

Worthy drama City of Joy flopped at the box office, though Swayze did surprise audiences by appearing in drag in 1995 comedy To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.

But a series of personal setbacks in the late 1990s - among them a horse accident that left him temporarily paralysed, the death of his father and his sister's suicide - saw him spiral into alcoholism.

An uncharacteristically sinister role in 2001 cult film Donnie Darko seemed to signal a change in his fortunes, however, and 2003 he returned to musical theatre when he joined the Broadway cast of Chicago.

He went on to make his West End debut three years later in the musical Guys and Dolls.

Recent film roles include a cameo in Dirty Dancing sequel Havana Nights and a golf instructor in British comedy Keeping Mum.

Off screen, he is in the process of turning his timber farm in New Mexico into a wildlife reserve.

The New Cult Canon: Donnie Darko

http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/the_new_cult_canon_donnie_darko

The New Cult Canon: Donnie Darko
by Scott Tobias
February 22nd, 2008

In embarking on the mammoth, open-ended project that is The New Cult Canon, I face the scary and exhilarating prospect of a journey with no set course and no planned destination, but there was never a question that I'd be leaving port with Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko. To my mind, Donnie Darko is the quintessential cult movie of the last 20 years: Here was a much-hyped washout at Sundance that fell to a second-tier distributor (Newmarket), which released the film to middling reviews and feeble arthouse box-office (barely half a million when all was said and done). The film was left for dead until, miraculously, word of mouth started to swell and an audience steadily grew and rallied around it. The Pioneer Theater in New York ran it as a midnight movie for two years—this at a time when the midnight movie itself had long been left for dead. And DVD sales were so robust that Newmarket attempted to re-release the "Director's Cut" theatrically. (It tanked a second time, too.) The movie has inspired a level of obsession that separates cult phenomena from the everyday hits that wither past opening weekend.

I saw Donnie Darko three times in the theater: Once at the press screening, where I was apoplectic to find many of my fellow critics shrugging their shoulders; a second time during its two-week run here in Chicago, where I saw it with maybe five or six other people in the theater; and a third time at the Gene Siskel Film Center, where it kept coming back month after month to packed houses, including the near-soldout showing I attended. (And on a weeknight, no less!)

Why did I and so many others keep shuffling, zombie-like, to see this movie again and again in the theater? It certainly isn't perfect—films this crazily ambitious, from a first-time director no less, are rarely flawless—but Donnie Darko accomplishes perhaps the one thing I value most in cinema: It creates a world to get lost in, so particular and full of life that other concerns (in this case, an overstuffed mind-bender of a plot that has never quite cohered for me) fall by the wayside. And though I'll probably be defining cult movies a million different ways in this column, that's likely the common denominator, because once you have the ins and outs of the story figured out, what's the point of seeing a movie a second or third or hundredth time? The world of the film is paramount. And sequences like this one help, too:

If Donnie Darko coasting through the suburb of Middlesex, Virginia on his bicycle as "The Killing Moon" plays on the soundtrack wasn't attention-getting enough already, the "Head Over Heels" sequence had me sitting bolt upright in my seat. In this mesmerizing five minutes, Kelly introduces many of the major characters (and wordlessly suggests the tension between them). More impressive still, he evokes the life of a late-'80s adolescent with a tone that hovers somewhere between nostalgia and dread. It's very hard, especially when the soundtrack is this irresistible, to revisit a period without making it seem like facile "I Love The '80s" nostalgia. (Just ask Richard Linklater, who intended Dazed And Confused—another New Cult Canon contender—to be suffused with melancholy, but doesn't always get that response from viewers who groove on the music and stoner comedy.) But Kelly maintains that ambivalent tone from start to finish, and for as much love as he displays for the popular music and movies of the period, the film is still sobering, hypnotic, and more than a little sad.

Back in 2001, when the film was first realized, a wise man (okay, me) summed up Donnie Darko thusly:

A dense and wonderfully stylized amalgam of genres and influences, Donnie Darko resists any clear definition, which is perhaps its most appealing quality. Is it the flip side of Blue Velvet, a blistering satire of Reagan-warped suburbia? Or is it an anarchic, Fight Club-style punk film about the impulse to tear down a corrupt world in order to build a new one? Is it mind-bending science fiction? An adolescent romance? Catcher In The Rye?

Of course, the film is all of these things and more. But it's also a case where the individual parts don't necessarily work that well until they're factored into the whole. As a satire especially, Donnie Darko takes a fairly broad, predictable indie-movie posture toward the Reagan '80s: Dad nearly spitting out his dinner when his daughter announces she's voting for Dukakis; liberal intellectuals (like the teachers played by Drew Barrymore and Noah Wyle) falling prey to narrow-minded conservatives looking to shake up the curriculum with guru Patrick Swayze's New Agey baloney; a cartoonish Supermom (and chief Sparkle Motion sponsor) who at one point dons a T-shirt that says "God Is Awesome." As for the Holden Caulfield angle, or the enormously sweet relationship between Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) and the new girl (Jena Malone, always terrific), the film can only strike a glancing blow, since Donnie's metaphysical journey overwhelms any deeper character-sketching.

And how about that journey anyway? One reason why people might rewatch Donnie Darko is to figure out all that mind-bending stuff about portals and wormholes and rabbit suits that twist up the story so intriguingly. For me, the science-fiction elements are mysterious and perhaps not altogether accountable, though I know I'm not alone in resenting Kelly's attempt to iron everything out on the DVD commentary for the film. (And on a related note: I have never seen the "Director's Cut" of the film, because I didn't care much for the deleted scenes I watched on the original DVD, and didn't want any more of the film spelled out for me.) For me, Kelly not tying up every loose thread and explaining away the film's mysteries is a major plus, though his fiasco of a follow-up, Southland Tales, proves just how easily a movie like this can devolve into a clutter of half-realized ideas and references masquerading as ambition and substance. Here, Kelly has the good sense to let the audience connect the dots and advance their own theories and meanings.

Perhaps we can hammer out the details in the comments section, but here's my general take on it: When Donnie and his girlfriend go to see Evil Dead at the town's single-screen theater, the other movie on the marquee is The Last Temptation Of Christ. To me, this is the skeleton key that puts the entire film in perspective: The whole of Donnie Darko is analogous to the infamous dream sequence in Last Temptation, where Christ is on the cross and fantasizes at length about the life he might have had if he rejected God's plan and embraced his human side. The temptation is appealing: marriage, a home, making love (gasp!) to his wife, having children, etc. Throughout the course of Kelly's film, Donnie comes to realize the tragic consequences of him not being in his room when the plane engine drops through the ceiling; as much as he endeavors to change the world and bend time in his favor, he eventually has to reconcile to his fate.

Or something to that effect, anyway. There are plenty of holes in that interpretation without question—for one, it would never have been revealed that Swayze is harboring a "kiddie-porn dungeon" in his house— but for me, figuring the film out on repeat viewings has always been secondary to simply returning to that world one more time, like a tourist. Kelly piles on the '80s signposts—the amazing soundtrack; the nods to Evil Dead, E.T., Blue Velvet, The Karate Kid, Back To The Future, and Stephen King's It; the reactionary tenor of suburbia in the Reagan era—yet they add up to a specific and deeply personal vision of what it was like to be a teenager in October 1988. And for a guy like me, who at that time was a 17-year-old living in Newt Gingrich's district (Cobb County, Georgia), that's pretty fucking resonant.