My ALS Ice Bucket Challenge!

Photo from: Kim Kardashian's Facebook page

Hi everyone! I'm sure most of you have heard by now about the latest craze to take the world by storm. Yup! I'm talking about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's a charity fundraiser in order to raise money for ALS disease. ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis disease. It is a motor neuron disease similar to MS, which ultimately results in death. Medications are used to reduce the symptoms of ALS but currently there is no cure for the disease.

The ALS Association is raising money for medical research to find a cure for the disease so many people have taken the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to help raise funds for the cause. How it works is that a person is nominated by someone or you can nominate yourself to participate, you pour a bucket of ice water over your head and then you nominate three other people to to do it. The rule is that you must be filmed while doing the challenge and you must share it on social media to create awareness for the disease. Participants are generally required to complete their challenge within 24 hours of being nominated, I did my challenge a few days after being nominated though because I figured as long as I do the challenge and donate to the charity it shouldn't matter when I do it. If you are nominated but do not complete the challenge you are required to donate $100 to The ALS Association but if the challenge is accepted you are only required to donate $10 to The ALS Association. 

Many high-profile celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, John Travolta and Victoria Beckham have all participated in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. That's not why I did it though. I actually think it's a great cause to find a cure for a very serious disease. I was nominated by my sister, Liat and I nominated two of my friends, Hannah and Lauren as well as Australian TV show host, Rove Mcmanus so let's hope they all accept their challenges haha! I am also going to donate to The ALS Association. Here's my ALS Ice Bucket Challenge video! Please excuse the profanities LOL! Don't forget to donate to the ALS Association at   http://www.alsa.org/ .

STARDUST weekly tidbits- September 13

Photo from: Miley Cyrus's Facebook page

Here's what's been making entertainment news headlines around the world this week...just in case you missed it!

Miley Cyrus goes topless to New York Fashion Week after-party
Miley Cyrus attended fashion designer, Alexander Wang's New York Fashion Week after-party this week, wearing nothing on top but ice-cream cone pasties. Cyrus's daring outfit included her sunglasses, which had rainbow pills decorated onto them. The 21-year-old singer posted a picture of herself at the party on Instagram with the caption, "Btw I don't have some weird rash. I got pink glitter rubbed all over me on the party bus. #Rave". The singer posted another picture from the party saying it was "the best night eva". Other celebrities such as Nicki Minaj and Kendall Jenner also made an appearance at the after-party.

The Kardashian clan hit Sydney
Reality TV star, Kim Kardashian arrived in Sydney on Thursday morning with her rapper husband, Kanye West and their 14-month-old daughter, North in tow. The trio touched down in Sydney in spectacular celebrity style, being taken away in a car, which took them straight to the Park Hyatt Hotel. Kanye West is performing tonight and Saturday night at Qantas Credit Union Arena in Sydney and then he will do another show in Brisbane on Monday. Kim Kardashian will be making her only public appearance at Parramatta Westfield tomorrow to promote the Kardashian Kollection.

Nicole Kidman's father dies after fall
In breaking entertainment news tonight, Nicole and Antonia Kidman's father has died. It is believed that Dr Antony Kidman was at his daughter, Antonia's house in Singapore when he fell and later passed away. Dr Kidman was a respected psychologist, aged in his 70s. He was the Director of the UTS Health Psychology Unit and Director of the Foundation For Life Sciences at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital. In June this year Nicole Kidman walked the red carpet with her father at the Swisse Celebrate Life Ball in Melbourne. Dr Kidman had a very close relationship with his daughters, Antonia and Nicole, as well as their families. "The family is in shock and is grieving over the tragic news Dr Anthony Kidman has passed away" Nicole Kidman's publicist, Wendy Day said. The Kidman family was last seen together in Sydney in January for Dr Kidman and his wife, Janelle's 50th wedding anniversary.

Joan Rivers gets her fabulous send off
Joan Rivers got the fabulous funeral she wanted this week, as close friends and family paid their respects in a ceremony held at the Temple Emanu-El synagogue in New York City. There was a red carpet inside and the New York City Gay Men's Chrous sang Hey Big Spender and That's Entertainment before the funeral began. Opening prayers were led by Rabbi Joshua Davidson. Margie Stern, Cindy Adams and Ms Rivers daughter, Melissa all spoke about the late comedian. Hugh Jackman was even there to perform a musical interlude. Many of Joan Rivers close friends attended the service including Kathy Griffin, Rosie O'Donnell, Howard Stern, Judge Judy Sheindlin, Donald Trump, Sarah Jessica Parker and Whoopi Goldberg. A large crowd of fans gathered outside the synagogue to pay their final respects to Joan Rivers.

Ashley Tisdale gets hitched
High School Musical star, Ashley Tisdale wed her musician fiance', Christopher French on September 8. The actress shared a picture on Instagram saying "Best day of my life! Introducing Mr. and Mrs. French". Tisdale's High School Musical co-star and bestie, Vanessa Hudgens was a bridesmaid at the wedding. The couple officially started dating in December 2012 and they got engaged in August 2013.

Information compiled from: The Daily Telegraph and Entertainment Tonight

Got any opinions or comments on any of the entertainment news headlines this week? If, so I'd love to hear about them! Feel free to leave any comments in the comment box below.         

Movie Review: Into The Storm

Photo from: Into The Storm Facebook page

Star Rating 3/5: ★★★

I went to see Into The Storm a couple of days ago. The film is directed by Steven Quale and stars Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Walsh, Arlen Escarpeta and Jeremy Sumpter. In general I thought it was a good movie, although I did think it took a while for the action to start. The movie is an action/natural disaster film. Of course I will not be giving too much of the plot line away for people who haven't seen it yet, but the basic plot is that in the span of a single day, the town of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of tornados. Each tornado is worse than the previous and the entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones.

I saw the movie in Vmax so the sound quality was amazing. The sound was so powerful sometimes that I felt a rumbling under my chair. For me personally that is a positive thing because in an action film I think people do want a great cinematic sound as it makes you feel like you are actually part of the action.

As I mentioned I thought the movie was quite slow to start off with. For the first half an hour I was thinking "where's the storm already?" The film is a little less than an hour and a half long and I think that's usually quite short for an action film so I did expect the storm itself to come in a lot earlier than it did. If there was more action at the beginning of the film I would've given it a 3.5 star rating rather than a 3, because that's what really dragged the movie down for me. I went to see the movie with my friend so I asked her for her opinion on whether she thought the movie was slow to start because I wanted someone else's take on it and she agreed with me. Once the storm hit though the movie was action packed, dramatic and suspenseful. I was literally on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next! 

For a movie about a storm one would expect a lot of special effects, right? Well, the special effects in this movie definitely delivered. There were a few fire scenes, which I thought were pretty impressive and they certainly fit in well with what was going on in the film. It was great to see Jeremy Sumpter in a film, because I haven't seen him in anything for a very long time, probably since Peter Pan in 2003. I enjoyed seeing him in a movie as an adult and in a very different role. I haven't heard of any of the other lead cast members before. To be quite honest I didn't think the acting in the film was that great. Don't get me wrong it wasn't terrible, but at the same time I wouldn't say it is anything to write home about either. The actors and actresses performances in the film were pretty mediocre. 

Overall, I actually did enjoy the movie because it turned out to be very action packed, suspenseful and dramatic, despite the slow start. If you like other natural disaster films like Twister and The Day After Tomorrow you will probably enjoy this one too.

                             Into The Storm official trailer courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
                
If any of you have also seen Into The Storm I'd love to know what you thought of it so feel free to leave your comments in the comment box below!                                                                                              

RIP to the lovely Ms Joan Rivers!

Photo from: E! Online's Pinterest account

Hollywood has lost another one of its legends! Bad news travels fast unfortunately so I'm sure that you all know by now that America's funny woman, Joan Rivers has died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York today. Rivers was pronounced dead at 1:17pm New York time. Complications started when she stopped breathing during a routine endoscopy and was rushed to the hospital about a week ago on August 28.

Ms Rivers paved the way for many future female comedians, breaking the glass ceiling of late night television by becoming the first woman to host her own late night talk show, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers. Joan Rivers has always had that trailblazing wit and humour, which has made audiences around the world love her. Nothing was ever off-topic with her, she talked about everything from jokes about her single daughter, Melissa to her own sex life.

Of course Rivers was famous for giving her hilarious commentary about her fellow celebrities in Hollywood. I don't think there is one celebrity in Hollywood who Ms Rivers didn't have a dig at. Her opinions may have seemed to harsh and controversial at times but she poked fun at everyone, and a lot of the time she was the butt of her own jokes. The comments were all in good fun and there was never any malicious intent in them. As Joan Rivers herself often said "I succeeded by saying what everyone else is thinking" and that's what she did. 

The world has lost so much laughter recently, first Robin Williams and now Joan Rivers. Joan Rivers death is such a great loss to the entertainment industry. No matter what people may say about her, she is a true stalwart of entertainment. I personally loved her and her humour because it was honest and clever. I loved her recent rant about the Gaza conflict. It was brilliant! There seems to be a great comedy lineup in the heavens at the moment with Robin Williams and Joan Rivers. I hope Ms Rivers keeps 'em laughing up there as much as she did here during her lifetime! RIP Joan Rivers you amazing lady! 

Do any of you have any favourite Joan Rivers moments or quotes? If, so I'd love to hear them so feel free to leave your comments in the comment box below. I will leave you with a recent appearance of Joan Rivers on The Late Show With David Letterman from July, 2014, which I thought was quite funny. 

                                          Video from: The Late Show With David Letterman Youtube channel