• Patrick Swayze left us this week, passing away of cancer at the age of 57.
• The Venice Film Festival drew to a close, with Israeli war drama “Lebanon” taking top honors.
• It was Colin Firth, however, who emerged with Oscar buzz for the Weinstein-acquired “A Single Man.”
• Across the Atlantic, we kept you up to date with Toronto goings-on, as buzz for “Precious” continues to build.
• Success. The Tokyo International Film Festival bows to global pressure and allows screening of “The Cove.” [Variety]
• Jeffrey Wells gets a comment from festival jury chief Alejandro González Iñárritu. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• Anne Thompson spends some quality time with Michael Moore. [Thompson on Hollywood]
• Keanu Reeves on Patrick Swayze: “He was a beautiful person, an artist.” [People]
• Peter Bart salutes John Calley for landing an honorary Oscar but highlights the producer’s roller coaster career. [BF Deal Memo]
• Peter Knegt talks to the beautiful Anna Kendrick about butterflies going into the “Up in the Air” shoot. [indieWIRE]
I got the AP alert on my iPhone while I was out this afternoon and my heart sank. Patrick Swayze is gone. For most it was “Dirty Dancing.” For some it was “Point Break.” Still others, “Ghost.” For me, the man was epitomized in the bad-assery of “Road House” and that’s how I choose to remember him. But I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pay this ode to two of our fallen entertainers: