Saturday, January 30, 2010

Hangin' out with the stars!

We get to do many exciting things in the Army, especially while deployed. Last night we were surprised with a visit from some of the cast and crew members from the new hit movie AVATAR. (Pictures below.)



With Stephen Lang. This guy is awesome to talk to. He has been acting for 30+ years. He was fighting to stay awake through the whole meeting, and finally fell asleep in that chair. We talked for a good fifteen to twenty minutes about life, acting and my book.

Lang played one of Dustin Hoffman's sons (Happy) in the Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman in 1984 and the 1985 television movie, and appeared in the first Hannibal Lecter film, Manhunter (1986), as reporter Freddy Lounds.[7] From 1986 to 1988, he played attorney David Abrams in the television series Crime Story. He played the title role in the NBC 1991 made-for-television film, Babe Ruth. He later played the "One Armed Man" in the 2000 revival of The Fugitive starring Tim Daly. The series was a modest success, but only lasted one season due to its expensive production budget.

In 1992, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his lead role in The Speed of Darkness. His role in the film version of Last Exit to Brooklyn garnered him universal acclaim and Oscar buzz, but its limited release prevented the film from reaching a wider audience. On stage, he was the first to play the role of Colonel Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men, a role made famous on film (1992) by Jack Nicholson. He is the winner of over half a dozen theatre awards including the Drama Desk and Helen Hayes awards.

He played Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett in the 1993 film Gettysburg and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in the 2003 film Gods and Generals, both from director Ronald F. Maxwell. He considers his portrayal of Stonewall Jackson in Gods and Generals to be his finest performance. Arguably his most famous film role was his portrayal of the villainous Ike Clanton in the successful 1993 Western Tombstone, with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer.

Before Arthur Miller's death in February 2005, Lang appeared in his longtime friend's last play which was titled Finishing the Picture. It premiered at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in the Fall of 2004. This was the same theatre where Lang had the second run of his own play Beyond Glory, which had premiered in Arlington, Virginia early in 2004, and also his Tony-nominated portrayal for The Speed of Darkness. In 2006 he played the role of Colonel Littlefield in John Patrick Shanley's play Defiance. He brought Beyond Glory to Roundabout's Off-Broadway Laura Pels Theatre in 2007.[8] Since its New York City premiere, Beyond Glory has been nominated for a Drama Desk Award and a Lucille Lortel Award both for outstanding solo performance.[9][10]

Recently, he filmed a key role in the ESPN mini-series The Bronx is Burning as well as roles in the independent features Save Me and From Mexico With Love. He plays a lead role in James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar as the villainous Colonel Quaritch.[11]

He appeared in Michael Mann's film Public Enemies as Texas Ranger Charles Winstead,[12] the man widely considered to have fired the shots that killed John Dillinger.[13][14] Also in 2009, Lang appeared in Grant Heslov's The Men Who Stare at Goats alongside Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, and George Clooney, as an intelligence officer.[15]

In 2009 he narrated the audiobooks Road Rage including Richard Matheson's Duel and Throttle by Stephen King and Joe Hill.

And he recently guest-starred in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent 8th season finale episode, "Revolution" as Axel Kaspers.

(Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Lang_%28actor%29 )





With Sigourney Weaver. She ROCKS! The thing I liked most about her was her kind and approachable attitude. I autographed a copy of my book for her. It was very exciting!

Although Weaver has played a number of critically acclaimed roles in movies such as Annie Hall, Gorillas in the Mist, The Ice Storm, Dave, and The Year of Living Dangerously, she is best known for her appearances as Warrant Officer/Lieutenant Ellen Ripley in the blockbuster Alien movie franchise. She first appeared as Ripley in Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien. She reprised the role in three sequels, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection. She was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for portraying Ripley in Aliens. She also starred in two films in 1988, receiving Academy Award nominations for her roles as Katherine Parker in Working Girl and as naturalist Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist. She lost out to Geena Davis and Jodie Foster respectively, although she received Golden Globes for both roles.

Weaver also appeared in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II as Dana Barrett. She played the role of agoraphobic criminal psychologist Helen Hudson in the 1995 movie Copycat, and went on to become one of the most highly paid actresses of the 1990s. In addition to her trademark role as Ripley, Weaver has recently concentrated on smaller roles such as 1999's A Map of the World and 2006's Snow Cake. She has also appeared in comedic roles, such as Jeffrey (1994), Galaxy Quest (1999), and Heartbreakers (2001), in which she starred with Jennifer Love Hewitt.

In 1997, Weaver won the BAFTA Award for her supporting role in Ang Lee's The Ice Storm. In 2003, she was voted 20th in Channel 4's countdown of the 100 greatest movie stars of all time. She was one of only two women in the top 20 (the other was Audrey Hepburn). That year, she also played The Warden in the movie Holes. In 2006, Weaver returned to Rwanda for the BBC special Gorillas Revisited.

In 2009, Weaver starred as Mary Griffith in her first made-for-TV movie, Prayers for Bobby, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award. She also guest starred in the TV show Eli Stone in the fall of 2008.[10]

Weaver also has done voice work in television and film. She had a guest role in the Futurama episode "Love and Rocket" in February 2002, playing the female Planet Express Ship. In 2006, she was the narrator for the American version of the Emmy Award-winning series Planet Earth. Also in 2006, Weaver narrated "A Matter of Degrees". A short film that plays daily at The Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks (The Wild Center) in Tupper Lake, New York. In 2008, Weaver was featured as the voice of the ship's computer in the Pixar and Disney release, WALL•E. She also voiced a narrating role in another computer-animated film, 2008's The Tale of Despereaux, based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo. Weaver has also expressed interest in starring in a fifth Alien film. Pre-production details for the film are expected to start soon. Ivan Reitman has confirmed that Weaver will reprise her role as Dana Barrett[11] in the rumored third Ghostbusters movie due for release in 2012.[12]

Weaver has hosted two episodes of the long-running NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live: once on the 12th season premiere in 1986, and again, on a season 35 episode in January, 2010. Weaver has now broken Madeline Kahn's record for longest gap between hosting appearances on SNL. Kahn had an 18-year gap between her second appearance in 1977 and her third and final appearance in 1995; Weaver, on the other hand, has a 24-year gap between her first appearance in 1986 and her second and most recent appearance in 2010.

(Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigourney_Weaver )




With Michelle Rodriguez. This girl loves Reese Cups! She must have ate ten of them during her stay with us! :) She was very energetic, funny and kind. I'm anxious to see if that video she recorded of the unit makes it to Good morning America like she said it might. (I say in the video, "This is SPC Harmon from 1-7 ADA. Just want to say hey to my wife and family in Florida, and also to my family in Alabama. I love and miss you!")

Having run across an ad for an open casting call and attending her first audition, Rodriguez beat 350 other applicants to win her first role in the low-budget 2000 independent film, Girlfight. With her performance as Diana Guzman, a troubled teen who decides to channel her aggression by training to become a boxer[7], Rodriguez accumulated several awards and nominations for the role in independent circles, including major acting accolades from the National Board of Review, Deauville Film Festival, Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards, Las Vegas Film Critics Sierra Awards, and many others. The film itself took home a top prize at the Sundance and won Award of the Youth at the Cannes Film Festival.

Subsequently, she has had notable roles in other successful movies, including The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil, Blue Crush, and S.W.A.T. In 2004, Rodriguez lent her voice to the video game Halo 2, playing a Marine. She also provided the voice of Liz Ricarro in the Cartoon Network series IGPX. From 2005 to 2006, she played tough cop Ana Lucia Cortez on the television series Lost during the show's second season (the character's first appearance was a flashback on season 1's finale, Exodus: Part 1), and returned for a cameo in the second episode of the show's fifth season in 2009. In 2006, Rodriguez was featured in her own episode of G4's show Icons.

In 2008, she appeared in Battle in Seattle alongside Charlize Theron. Rodriguez next appeared in the fourth installment of the The Fast and the Furious franchise, which was titled simply Fast & Furious and released to theaters on April 3, 2009.[8] Rodriguez can currently be seen in James Cameron's big budget sci-fi adventure Avatar, which was released to theaters on December 18, 2009. She also recently wrapped filming on TrĂ³pico de Sangre, an independent film based on the Dominican Republic's historic Mirabal sisters who were assassinated in 1960 by the Dominican dictator Trujillo for opposing his rule.[9]

As of 10 January 2010, Rodriguez's films have grossed $916,296,898 in the United States and $2,100,145,993 world-wide.[10]

Rodriguez can next be seen in Robert Rodriguez's Machete, and starring alongside Aaron Eckhart in the sci-fi film Battle: Los Angeles.

(Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rodriguez )





With Jon Landau. Jon has a sarcastic kind of personality that you can't help but like.

Jon Landau (born July 23, 1960) is an American film producer.

Landau was born in New York City, New York, the son of Edie, a producer, and Ely A. Landau, a studio executive and producer.[1] He is one of the "famous faces"[2] due to being a regular player on the online poker website Hollywood Poker which is run in conjunction with Ongame Network. He is best known for producing Titanic, a film which won him an Academy Award. Throughout the early '90s, Landau was Executive Vice President of Feature Film Production at Twentieth Century Fox.

In 2009, Landau and James Cameron produced the motion picture blockbuster, Avatar.

Filmography:

* Avatar (2009) - Producer, with James Cameron
* Solaris (2002) - Producer, with James Cameron
* Titanic (1997) - Producer, with James Cameron
* Dick Tracy (1990) - Co-producer
* Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989) - Co-producer
* Campus Man (1987) - Producer

(Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Landau_%28film_producer%29 )




The guy in the black shirt with his arms crossed is Mike Cameron, James Cameron's brother.