Eddie Van Halen Recovering After Hand Surgery
Eddie Van Halen is said to be on the mend after undergoing surgery to treat increasing pain in his left hand.
“During the last leg of our tour, I started developing pain in my thumb and my pinky. I didn’t think much of it at the time,” the guitarist says. “It got progressively worse to the point that about three months ago I wasn’t able to play at all. My pinky and my thumb were totally locked up and felt like there was something broken.”
Van Halen sought out specialists in Düsseldorf, Germany, who initially began treating the guitarist for arthritis, but soon discovered a bone spur, twisted tendon and a cyst in the joint of his left thumb.
“They said the only way to fix it was surgery, which of course scared the shit out of me, but I was told it was the only way to fix it,” Van Halen says. “Surgery was a success, now I just have to let it heal. I am totally jazzed that they found the problem, fixed it and in about four months my hand will feel like I am 18 again. Thank God.”
Van Halen is said to be recovering nicely, having already regained his reach and full spread of his hand. He’s said to be taking his recovery slowly, however, to insure he heals properly. His rehabilitation should be complete in 4-6 months.
“In the meantime I am able to write a bit, but can not overexert my hand because it needs to heal properly,” the guitarist says.
His stitches come out in a few days, and he’s confident he’ll be able to play at maximum intensity when he completes his recovery.
Johnny Depp Crashes Comic-Con—Then Splits!
Los Angeles (E! Online) – There had been murmurs that Johnny Depp, one of the stars of Tim Burton's way weird live-action adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, would drop by this morning's Disney 3-D panel.
And—would you look at that!—he did.
In fact, Depp stopped by, said five words and then totally just left.
Here's what went down:
After screening a custom-made trailer for his Comic-Con fans, director Burton asked the crowd if they would like to meet the "imaginary friend" that follows him around.
The crowd cheered and Depp, who plays the Mad Hatter, walked onstage in a button-up shirt and fitted black vest. He had long bangs sweeping the side of his face, and wore a thick leather bracelet.
After several moments of cheering, Depp whispered into the mic:
"Hey. Happy to be here."
And then, poof, he was gone.
Moderator Patton Oswalt told the crowd that Depp could reappear later in the day, so "be nice to every guy you see dressed like Jack Sparrow."
Meanwhile, Burton said he's still filming the CGI-heavy fantasy flick, due next spring, and that he feels there's a "white rabbit with a stop watch" timing him.
In terms of plot, he also dished that there was an effort to make Alice (Mia Wasikowska) more active in the story rather than a bunch of "weird scenes" happening to her. Oh, and remember that Depp isn't the only person in this movie: Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter also star.
"Potter" prepared to fend off trio of newcomers
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is on course to be crowned king of the domestic box office again this weekend.
With $200 million in its cauldron at the start of just its second weekend, Warner Bros.' "Prince" could fall 60 percent from its first-frame tally and still produce a $31 million sophomore session. Bolstering the film's prospects is its expansion from four high-grossing Imax venues to 162.
Although three films opening in wide release Friday are expected to do solid business, none is likely to compete for the weekend title.
Sony's romantic comedy "The Ugly Truth," helmed by Robert Luketic ("21") and starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler, might be the strongest of the new pictures, with prerelease tracking surveys showing prospects for an opening north of $20 million.
Produced for less than $40 million, "Truth" carries an R rating but is likely to draw best among older females, who executives hope will rope in a few guys for a date-night outing. Sony offered 160 sneak previews of "Truth" last weekend and attracted 90 percent capacity audiences.
Meanwhile, Disney's Jerry Bruckheimer-produced family action-comedy "G-Force," featuring a mix of CGI and live action, also is looking good amid signs that its hefty marketing campaign is taking hold.
Helmed by effects supervisor-turned-director Hoyt Yeatman, "G-Force" also could top $20 million this weekend. Premium ticket prices in more than 1,600 3D auditoriums will help the cause. The studio's May release of Pixar's "Up" boasted 1,540 3D locations.
But there's little doubt the still-strong interest in the Potter pic will affect "G-Force," which carries the same PG rating. The question is whether the impact will be minimum or severe. "Prince" and "G-Force" target a similar audience, but the latter plays much younger.
Set for 3,693 playdates, "G-Force" totes a negative cost of $80 million-plus.
Warners' R-rated horror film "Orphan" should do midteen millions this weekend, with solid interest evident among younger moviegoers. The story of a demon-seed orphan on a tear is female-oriented, but the question remains whether young female moviegoers will be turned off by the restricted rating. "Orphan" was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra ("Goal II: Living the Dream").
Cronkite eulogized as newsman, friend, father
NEW YORK – Walter Cronkite was remembered as a great journalist, sailor, friend and father during services that, despite the grandeur of the setting, felt remarkably comfortable — like the man.
"I was often asked, `What he's really like?' And I would always answer, `He's just the way you hope he is,'" said Mike Ashford, a sailing comrade of more than 30 years and one of the speakers at Thursday's funeral.
Another speaker, longtime CBS newsman and "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney, recalled meeting Cronkite when they both were in England covering World War II.
"You get to know someone pretty well in a war," said Rooney, describing Cronkite as "such a good friend."
"I just feel so terrible about Walter's death that I can hardly say anything," he admitted, excused himself and left the pulpit.
The services were witnessed by a near capacity crowd at the elegant, enormous St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in midtown Manhattan, where the Cronkite family has worshipped for years.
Broadcast journalists — co-workers, competitors, successors — were on hand, including Connie Chung, Bob Schieffer, Diane Sawyer, Brian Williams, Dan Rather, Barbara Walters, Charles Gibson, Matt Lauer, Tom Brokaw, Morley Safer and Meredith Vieira. Comedians-actors Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller were also in attendance.
But there was also room for members of the public to pay their respects.
James Huntsburg and his wife, Sylvia, visiting from Canada, had heard about the funeral. Admitted to the sanctuary, they took their place in one of the pews.
Huntsburg said he grew up watching Cronkite, who, he said, "touched me."
When he heard of Cronkite's death last Friday at 92, Huntsburg and his wife hadn't yet left from their home near Toronto for their Manhattan vacation.
"I feel blessed to be here," said Huntsburg, visibly moved.
For his reporting, Cronkite came to be called "the most trusted man in America" and was widely considered the premier TV journalist of his time. He anchored "The CBS Evening News" from 1962 until 1981 — a period that included the Vietnam War, the space race, the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy as well as Martin Luther King Jr. and Watergate.
Sanford Socolow shared anecdotes from his many years working with Cronkite as a producer.
"Once," Socolow recalled, "he had this bizarre idea that he would ad-lib the newscast without a script." As Cronkite's cue for the control room to roll each film clip, he would gently brush his nose with his hand.
"It was utter chaos," said Socolow. "It lasted for two days."
But repeatedly during the ceremony, Cronkite's passion for sailing his beloved boat, the Wyntje, was celebrated.
Ashford offered vivid memories of their sailing adventures.
"Walter, hunched over the helm, would catch my eye, grin, and over the racket of the wind, holler, 'Sen-sational!'"
And veteran TV producer Bill Harbach, a Cronkite friend for a half-century, recited the John Masefield poem "Sea-Fever," movingly addressed to Cronkite.
Chip Cronkite affectionately gave thanks to his father for a host of things — on the water and off.
"Thanks," he said, "for rushing to the side of the boat when a boom knocked me overboard. You stood there ready to jump in after me, and then were glad you didn't have to. Thanks for getting ready to take out my appendix yourself with a sharpened spoon on the African plains, two days' drive for a hospital. That time, I was glad you didn't have to."
A separate memorial will be held within the next few weeks at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Cronkite is to be cremated and his remains buried next to his wife, Betsy, in the family plot at a cemetery in Kansas City, Mo.
Blunt rejects Yankovic parody
James Blunt has refused comedy singer 'Weird’ Al Yankovic the right to sell a parody of his single You’re Beautiful, vowing he will "never approve" its release.
Yankovic has written and recorded You're Pitiful, his light-hearted take on Blunt's 2005 hit, and had hoped to include it on his upcoming greatest hits album Essentials, scheduled to hit shelves later this year.
But the funnyman - best known for his satirical takes on Michael Jackson's hits - has had to axe the song after Blunt failed to see the humour in the joke track.
Yankovic tells fans on his Twitter.com page, "In case you were hoping for You're Pitiful to be included on my Essentials collection, sorry, this just in from Blunt's manager: Thanks for your email, but both James and I will never approve this parody to be released on any label."