RIP Director of Snakes on a Plane, excuse me, MotherFucking Snakes On A Plane

NEWSWIRER.I.P. Snakes On A Plane director David R. Ellis 

By Sean O'Neal January 7, 2013

Deadline is reporting the death of David R. Ellis, the actor turned stuntman turned director with numerous credits on mostly action-oriented, B-movie fare, but who is undoubtedly best known for making the knowingly campy Samuel L. Jackson thriller Snakes On A Plane. Ellis died of as-yet-unknown causes in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was preparing to reunite with Jackson on a live-action adaptation of the Japanese anime Kite. He was 60 years old.

Ellis started out doing small bit roles and stunts in films such as Smokey And The Bandit, Scarface,Road House, and Lethal Weapon before breaking into second-unit work. Over the years he served as second or assistant director on movies like Patriot Games, Waterworld, The Perfect Storm, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone, and The Matrix Reloaded, where he was primarily responsible for overseeing action sequences. His first solo directing gig, Disney's Homeward Bound II: Lost In San Francisco in 1996, was an unlikely false start to a career that truly took off some seven years later with his assuming control of Final Destination 2. That sequel's franchise-cementing success concurrently confirmed Ellis as a go-to guy for providing reliable thrills (he also directed its fourth installment, The Final Destination), and he followed it soon thereafter with the similarly instantly gratifying Cellular and Snakes On A Plane.

While Snakes On A Plane is often recalled as a casualty of its own hype and a cautionary example of the dangers of Internet meme oversaturation, it bears remembering it would be nothing but a cheap, disposable thriller were it not for Jackson and Ellis' willingness to embrace its unpredictable pre-release cult following. Ellis' reshoots incorporated lines spawned wholly from online jokesters—including the infamous, "I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!"—and thus turned the erstwhile Pacific Air Flight 121 into a lasting cult phenomenon that was in on the joke.

Years later, Ellis argued for a similar strategy when it came to promoting his Shark Night 3-D, whichhe wanted to call Untitled 3-D Shark Thriller: " The title says everything you need to know: 'We’ve got sharks.' 'It’s in 3-D.' and, 'It’s a thriller,'" Ellis was quoted as saying, in his typically, admirably unpretentious fashion.  

source: the AV Club

RIP Paparazzo who died trying to get a picture of Justin Bieber

First of all, I owe my ability to spell "Bieber" to our college friend Anna, who used to pronounce is "Bee-eye-ber." Every time I write his name (which is sadly more often than you may think), I hear her saying it in my head and somehow, I spell it right every time, although now that I think about it - Bieber doesn't translate especially well to the phonetic pronunciation "Bee-eye-ber."

Second, this is a tragedy. Death is sad. But dying trying to take a picture of Justin Bieber - in the end it wasn't even him anyway - is even more sad. Sad because when people say, "Oh how did he die?" The answer will always be "Chasing a guy who wasn't Justin Bieber."

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Wed Jan 2, 2013 2:20pm EST

(Reuters) - Pop star Justin Bieber on Wednesday called the death of a paparazzo, who was chasing his white Ferrari in Los Angeles, a tragic accident and said he hoped it would spur action to safeguard the lives of celebrities, police and photographers.

Police said the freelance photographer, whose name has not officially been released, was killed by another driver on Tuesday evening after he crossed a busy highway to snap pictures of the Ferrari that had been stopped by police for speeding.

Bieber, 18, was not in the sports car, which was reportedly being driven by a friend.

"While I was not present nor directly involved with this tragic accident, my thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim," the "Boyfriend" singer said in statement.

Bieber, who is followed day and night by photographers, said he hoped the incident "will finally inspire meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders, and the photographers themselves."

Celebrity website TMZ.com said the photographer was following the Ferrari after seeing it pulling out of a Beverly Hills hotel on Tuesday evening, believing Bieber was inside the car.

Los Angeles police said the photographer was seen taking pictures of the traffic stop and was ordered by highway patrol officers to return to his car for safety reasons. He was struck by another motorist while trying to cross four lanes of traffic.

Bieber was stopped by police for speeding on a Los Angeles freeway last July, when the Canadian teen sensation told police he was being hounded by paparazzi.

But a Los Angeles judge in November threw out criminal charges against the photographer who was charged in that case under a new California law aimed at cracking down on aggressive photographers and celebrity media. Judge Thomas Robinson called the 2010 law "problematic" and "overly inclusive."

The death on Tuesday brought calls from some other celebrities for a halt to the sometimes 24/7 tracking of their activities at work, home and leisure.

Singer Miley Cyrus, 20, a frequent paparazzi target, sent out a stream of Twitter messages, referencing the death of Britain's Princess Diana in a 1997 car crash while being chased by paparazzi in Paris.

"Hope this paparazzi/JB accident brings on some changes in '13 Paparazzi are dangerous! Wasn't Princess Di enough of a wake up call?!" Cyrus tweeted.

"This was bound to happen! Your mom teaches u when your a child not to play in the street! The chaos that comes with the paparazzi acting like fools makes it impossible for anyone to make safe choices," Cyrus added.

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