Winona For ... Now (Happy Birthday Suitless)

It has been almost eleven years since Winona Ryder's infamous trip to Saks Beverly Hills, when she tried taking the five-fingered discount while looped up on prescription vitamins.  And, frankly, it was one of the biggest tumbles we've ever seen with a modern Hollywood star, from just a professional standpoint.  Granted, things were already going south.  Commercially, her 1994 Oscar nod as Jo March in Little Women signified the height of her (limited) box-office and critical powers, having been designated earlier that year as the voice of a generation in Reality Bites.  She kept working, but everything she touched seemed to blow up in her face.  The final insult, perhaps, was that she set out to produce herself as the lead in Girl, Interrupted, only to end up observing, on-screen and off, Angelina Jolie steal all her thunder.  Within two years of Jolie's win, Ryder would be a Hollywood pariah.  She has been clawing her way back at a molasses pace ever since, as if there are invisible producers pushing up against her.

[Imagine via Lainey Gossip]

One could argue that she wasn't all that, as a thespian.  Heathers, Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands, were all modern classics that were more a privilege for her to have appeared in, rather than, having had enhanced with her acting abilities.  She had an open presence and unassuming qualities that worked for the characters she was playing.  Yet, cool films aside, her work didn't start to get interesting to watch until she started losing her grip on reality.  Her petulant movie star cameo in S1m0ne who Al Pacino replaces with a computerized actress was pretty shrewd.  And her Adam Sandler rom-com turn in the forgettable Mr. Deeds was an instance when she was actually adding something of value to a project that was well beneath her (watch a bit of her in it sometimes, she's great!).  Those were actually the last two films she made before she dove off into the deep end.

It took her a few years before she even started working again, as she was considered to be highly uninsurable.  And, sadly, many of these ventures (meaning most) were, embarrassingly enough, straight-to-DVD affairs.  And, when you compare the quality of these films to even what Lindsay Lohan (who is guilty of so many worse, often repeated transgressions) is making, it's quite shocking just how low on the totem pole she was pushed down (granted, Lohan benefits from the short-term sensationalism of her choices, which are going to do nothing for her long-term prospects).  Ryder was literally starting all over again.  From the bottom.  All she had was her name.  How could this be?!  In 2009, she scored a role in JJ Abrams' Star Trek.  But her appearance lasted all of say maybe thirty seconds.  And, Vulcan aspect aside, she played Zachary Quinto's mother. Not only has Ryder always looked years younger than her age, she was only six years older than Quinto.  It was as if she would have been better off doing a Lifetime movie (paging Lohan)--although she did do CBS two years ago, which got her a SAG nod.

However, the same year, with an albeit small, but effective role in the amazing, award-winning Black Swan, she turned a corner.  That isn't to say Hollywood was going to throw her a bone any sooner, but, at least, she was moving forward: fifth billing in an extremely cool Best Picture nominee.  She revisited a stupid guy comedy last year with The Dilemma.  She added some necessary verve to a banal situation much like she did with Mr. Deeds, only to have her character thanklessly dispatched.

Now, am I crazy about THREE of her upcoming projects being opposite James Franco?  Not really.  In a perfect world, it would be some amalgam of A Star is (Re)Born, with Ryder back on her way up, and Franco continuing further down from his self-designated "artistic" perch.  One of them sounds like a Black Swan with her in the Portman role, which has gone straight-to-DVD.  One of them costars Chris Evans, who was highly protective of her during TIFF and releases early next year.  And the final one, Homefront, leaves one asking: with Jennifer Lopez starring in Parker, is Jason Staitham now in the business of employing formerly bankable movie star actresses?  Go figure.

Tomorrow, Ryder turns 41.  Happy Birthday, Noni.  I hope your 40s treat you well and you find more opportunities to show off your maturing skills as an actress.

Here's a piece I wrote on her last year: Winona Ryder #2.

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Happy Birthday Suit: Cameron Diaz

I fell behind on the Happy Birthday Suit(less) series.  Its days are numbered anyway, so to speak, since I'm only focusing on post-World War II film actresses who were "big" at some point in their career.  Even though she turned 40 over a month ago, Cameron Diaz has been in the news lately for her Terry Richardson photo shoot.  So, in a way, she's still celebrating.  Richardson's the guy whose work you've probably seen more often in the last year or two, who has this way of making celebrities look cheap.  Despite his abrasive style, Diaz has come off looking mostly hot and she wants to remind everyone how good she looks ... at 40!  As the saying goes in Hollywood, for women, 40 is the kiss of death for their careers and the parts start drying up.  It is a truth that, unfortunately, has generally held up over the decades.  There are exceptions, of course.  In her 60s, Meryl Streep is enjoying an exceptional second act in her professional life both artistically, commercially, and critically.  At age 45, Sandra Bullock pulled a hat-trick, opening two of the highest-grossing movies of the year on mostly her name, and then winning an Oscar for one of them.  But, sadly, those two lovely ladies are not the rule.  And, as far as the box-office goes, with more of a concentration on known properties (bestsellers, comic books, franchises, etc) and less interest in going to see a particular actor on opening weekend (aka known as "the death of the movie star"), it's not helping matters any.

There's Something About Mary's Hair

Diaz is one of the few working actresses, who has no problem landing big-budget roles that either place her in the driver's seat or make her one of the main components of the movie.  She's a curious case, though.  She never technically hit Julia Roberts or even Reese Witherspoon level of commercial success.  Those two ladies could open a rom-com like few others.  It's not that Diaz can't handle that genre, she just has to have a male star at her side who is equal to or close to her level of popularity to help the film along, or appear alongside a bigger female name.  She has had killer supporting/ensemble turns in My Best Friend's Wedding and There's Something About Mary, as well as some respectable grosses with the Charlie's Angels film franchise.  But, she headlined The Sweetest Thing in 2002 to unimpressive results on every level.

As Lotte in Being John Malkovich

She also distinguishes herself from the aforementioned by never being an Oscar winner, or even nominee.  She had a Golden Globe streak in the early 00s and turned out effective performances working with directors like Spike Jonze in Being John Malkovich and Cameron Crowe in Vanilla Sky.  She struggled with an Irish accent in Gangs of New York.  And her dramatic roles In Her Shoes and My Sister's Keeper failed to elicit much awards traction.  It seems that Hollywood doesn't really take her that seriously.  While she might pull a Sandra Bullock one of these days, for now, she appears to be coasting along on her affability and comic charm.

Bad Teacher is her biggest hit to date that she comes
closest to calling her own

I can remember when she came out of nowhere as Jim Carrey's female lead in The Mask (her first film!).  It's weird how time flies.  Will the kiss of death strike Diaz?  By now, it seems if she was going to win any awards, it would have already happened.  Her dramatic range isn't so wide, but in very specific instances, like Vanilla Sky, she's quite good.  Her main strength, though, is her comedic ability and just-one-of-the-guys personality.  It will be interesting to see how that will play out in her 40s.  Despite her bankability, she hasn't successfully opened that many films on her name alone.  In fact, only the recent Bad Teacher comes to mind.  But, even then, it was a bit of a fluke--a shrewd comedy that enjoyed the convenience of perfect timing.  And, with the death of the "movie star," it seems that without attaching herself to a proven literary property, she may fade sooner than we think, no?

Another thing she doesn't have going for her is the fact that she's not a mother, nor probably will go that route.  I think there is a good contingent of the human population that is, at the very least, subconsciously judgy of women who don't procreate.  They somehow disturb the natural order of things, which somehow makes them less likable.  Jennifer Aniston, another non-Mom, three years her senior, still has a healthy career, with no evenings as a nominee at the Dolby Theatre anytime soon.  It just may be she's not interested in long-term relationships, either, as she's pretty notorious for having rotten taste in men.  And many of the ones that have lasted for more than a hot-second have been supreme douche-bags (i.e. Jared Leto, Justin Timberlake).  From the public's view, it appears that she just wants to have a good time.  Which is fine.  I would love to see Cammie with a guy who truly appreciates her, though, and treats her well.

She's No Angel!

There is something irrepressible about Cameron Diaz, though.  Fun fact: Did you know that she has never shown taken her top off in a feature length motion picture?  Pretty shrewd considering that a lot people write her off for her looks.  However, back in the day, she did this S&M photo shoot with a shirtless male and another scantily leather-clad female.  Some of it was taped, and later released overseas entitled "She's No Angel."  It comes off like a ridiculous ZZ Top video by way of Marilyn Manson.  There are whips and chains.  Despite the grainy video, she looks amazing in fishnet stockings, with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, and you can kind of make out a goofy innocence she would later employ to great success in her film oeuvre   Her team has been mostly successful in suppressing a wide distribution of the video, though I'm not sure how detrimental it would be to her career now.  But, it certainly wouldn't have helped her cause to be taken seriously as an actress when she was first starting out, taking audible direction like, "Stronger," "Go, baby," and "hit it."  Of course, the photographer insisted on set that he wasn't interested in taking "centerfold" shots (while Diaz' tits protruded from her open-breasted leather "bikini").

Upcoming for Diaz: Gambit.  She snagged Colin Firth right after he won the Oscar for The King's Speech to star in the Coen Brother's adaptation with Michael Hoffman directing.  It filmed over a year ago with no 2012 US-release in sight.  Don't know what to make of that other than, Hoffman did direct Soapdish twenty years ago!  She is also filming Ridley Scott's The Counselor, a thriller dealing with drugs and the law, starring Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, based on a screenplay by Cormac McCarthy.  She is also attached to headline Agent: Century 21, which would have her caught up in the hijinks of an action-comedy centered on the Mexican drug war opposite Benicio Del Toro.  It sounds like it has potential; if it's good, let's hope it gets made.  After making Bad Teacher a success, she deserves to keep that momentum going.

Other 1972-born-actresses who turned 40 (or will) this year: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Garner, Toni Collette, Leslie Mann, Sophía Vergara, Maya Rudolph, Thandie Newton, Amanda Peet, Elizabeth Berkley, Robin Tunney, Claire Forlani, Jenny McCarthy, Jennie Garth.

Cameron Diaz #2

Cameron Diaz #3

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Meet Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Future Oscar Nominee/Winner?

I had Mary Elizabeth Winstead on my short list earlier this year for Best Actress. She was one of three actresses from Sundance who got most of the buzz for Best Actress. Quvenzhané Wallis seems like a sure bet, and Helen Hunt is also looking strong, but in the supporting category. I did a rundown in April on the critical praise Smashed and Winstead received (her costar is recent Emmy award winner Aaron Paul for Breaking Bad).  For a while, there didn't seem to be anything happening distribution-wise with the movie, which Sony Pictures Classics bought after the festival finished. However, the release date was set in early August for October 12th. The film has now shown at the Deauville Film Festival and TIFF.  She plays an alcoholic trying to walk the straight and narrow, so her role is Oscar-bait.  She is also young and beautiful, which the AMPAS love.  There is a lot going in her favor.  And, if the movie builds an audience, a nod is inevitable.  There's little that I'm familiar with about her other than the dubious remake The Thing she played lead on last year (not a good thing), as well as her part in Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World (a very good thing).

She did a lot of TV early on as a teenager.  As an adult, she graduated to film sequels like The Ring and Final Destination, the latter of which she was the main character.  She had roles in Bobby, Factory Girl, and Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof.  She scored another lead as an aspiring dancer in Make It Happen and, in perhaps her biggest get, she landed the Die Hard franchise as Bruce Willis' daughter in the fourth installment.  One of her best turns was in 2010's Scott Pilgrim as the memorable ass-kicking Ramona Flowers with the ever-changing-hair-color.  There was, of course, that smelly Thing from last year, and she also appeared in the Abraham Lincoln film with the vampires, as his wife Mary Todd.  Currently, she has three other films in the can: A.C.O.D, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, and a reunion with her Smashed director James Ponsoldt, The Spectacular Now.  She started producing shorts and appeared on Broadway with Donny Osmond in Joseph, and can sing and dance.  She married writer/director Riley Stearns two years ago, with whom she has been with for ten years (since she was 18 when they met).  Looking at her picture and her body of action work, I have to ask: has Hollywood finally found its Wonder Woman?  Right look, right age, right resume.  Check back with me if it ever gets made.  

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Friends With Too Many Benefits

Lainey has been calling out Mila Kunis on being spotted with Ashton Kutcher over the last couple months. At first, my instinct was to give Kunis a pass for an “old time’s sake” reunion with a guy she acted on a TV show with for nearly a decade (like I have any authority or should care). Now that it continues, it seems rather unfortunate that this talented star is spending time with someone who has made it publically obvious that he is … not exactly the kind of guy you want to hang out with, at least for professional reasons. This kind of gossip-related material is something I’m trying to put behind me, but what I find interesting are the greater implications in where her career is going. One could say they’re not connected. And/or one could say the girl is free to do whatever she wants. And she is. And, perhaps she is not as invested in her Hollywood career as others are (which is fine), or else she wouldn’t be caught dead with Kutcher (especially after multiple dates, dressed up, going to a nice Italian restaurant). Or, perhaps things aren’t going as well as she would like. (And, if that's the case, chin up, girl, and find some better company!) A few years ago, her prospects were definitely looking up post-That 70s Show. She made quite an unexpected impression in the adorable romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall (the last time she had a male costar worthy of her time). She showed she could do a mean cameo in Date Night. She almost got nominated for an Oscar in a fierce supporting role in Black Swan. And she helped carry the average Friends with Benefits (with the über-talented singer Justin Timberlake—another one that one may … not want to hang out with) to gross four-times its budget worldwide. This weekend she has a “girlfriend role” opposite Mark Wahlberg (slightly more talented than Kutcher, but yet another who …) in the comedy Ted. I was much excited for her to play one of the witches along with Rachel Weisz (who I imagine will knock it out of the park) and Michelle Williams in Sam Raimi’s Oz film next year (which is, obviously, the exaggerated version of the kind of projects she could be connecting with), but looking what else she has in the can or planned, on paper, it doesn’t sound so promising. And it includes another girlfriend role opposite a guy who belongs in the same company as the aforementioned males (James Franco in Tar). Kunis has proven to be capable and versatile. She's smart, gregarious, and gorgeous. She didn't emanate a high-wattage star energy in Benefits, but, with her recent successes, it's not like she shouldn't be able to catch a few roles with proven, established directors in worthier projects, even if they're nominal roles. And, instead of hanging out with Kutcher and company, she needs to be rubbing elbows with Ryan Gosling, Aaron Johnson, and perhaps even a reteaming with Jason Segel. Perhaps her trists with Kutcher are a symptom of her frustrations that she's just not being allowed in. (Find another entrance, Mila!) It’s unfortunate that the girl has got to wait to harness her career momentum. Or, maybe she just doesn’t want “it” bad enough. Not there is anything wrong with that.  Ultimately, I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about.  If you want to read a shrewder take: try here. And here.

[Photo via Celebrity Sentry]

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Kate Thin-As-Rail

I was just shopping for food at my favorite overpriced grocery store (because it's conveniently located a block from where I live) when I saw Kate Beckinsale on the cover of Women's Health. She was all thin and pretty, which is great, I suppose, especially for a woman who is a year away from 40. I'm not sure if it's the way she is photographed or what she's wearing, but the cover is so jarring. While she has done skimpy before, I still impose a sophistication on her that she constantly plays down. I guess I'm a bit judgy and sad that she kind of has to whore herself out like this. After all, if she had another Kate's career like Winslet or Cate Blanchetts', for example, you know this would have never taken place. I thought she was fantastically bitchy in The Last Days of Disco, droll in The Aviator, and disgruntled in Laurel Canyon. Parker Posey can also play an awfully good bitch. Perhaps, there is only so much room in Hollywood for the Miranda Priestly type. Beckinsale has proven she can carry a popcorn thriller in the underrated Vacancy. Considering she made her feature film debut prestigiously as Hero in Much Ado About Nothing, it's unexpected that her career as of the last decade has mostly been comprised of action roles in real pissers. Her husband Len Wiseman (whom she left Michael Sheen--the father of her daughter--and relocated for while they filmed the first Underworld) directed her in two Underworld films and the upcoming, unnecessary Total Remakecall. She has tried to expand her commercial profile through being second-banana to Angelina Jolie in the ass-kicking department, and by hitching her star to Adam Sandler's Click. She has also fallen way short of Oscar in Nothing But the Truth and is giving it another go with The Trials of Cate McCall. Her representation in the press hasn't been the best. Along with leaving Sheen for another man (they do, however, maintain a friendship and she has emphasized more than once that he never asked her to marry him), Claire Danes (who doesn't come across as very warm herself) is on record as describing her as prickly and Michael Bay (one of my least favorite "artists" in Hollywood) rather harshly, publicly played down her looks when discussing Pearl Harbor. Not sure if this is a management issue, but it certainly hasn't helped her get better parts. She seems to be capable of so much more. But, it's not like she cries when she goes to the bank and she is Bikini Ready, so all is not lost, I guess.

[Photo via I'm Not Obsessed]

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Nothing Is Too Much of a Stritch for Elaine

"Pretty sassy, idn’t? … Isn’t [she] divine?"

Autumn in New Yorkwas a Love Story directed by Joan Chen in 2000 that offered a May/December romance ala the Sabrina remake and As Good as It Gets from just a few years previously.  Richard Gere plays a womanizer and Ryder plays an old friend’s dying daughter.  This film was kind of gross, because how does a man really become better by falling in love with a woman over twenty years younger than him, who is going to die anyway—as if it was some kind of common occurrence?  (She’s always going to be young in his eyes; now, that's love!)  But, apparently, we must attribute his proclivities towards young women to unreconciled issues with his own slightly older daughter.  Much to the film’s credit, it, at the very least, perpetually acknowledges Will’s man-child complex.  The whole premise banked on the audience caring about watching Gere become a better person (funny how it takes such young women to accomplish this), as Ryder unsuccessfully tried to rehabilitate her image having shot so many commercial misfires in-a-row.  



Autumn would be yet another professional misstep from the quite unalert Winona Ryder as her career was beginning to slide into kleptomaniac oblivion.  Ryder was probably hoping for Pretty Woman, but she hadn't yet learned that box-office viability doesn’t come from playing downer characters (it’s all about balance).  At one point, there is some serious Lifetime channel love-making with, yes, Ryder’s hand pressed up against a cloudy glass partition, while Gere gives it to her from behind.  While she commits to the role and is better than I remember her, the awful quality of the script nullifies her contributions.  I actually paid money to see it in the cinema when it first opened. Also in the cast is Vera Farmiga, J.K. Simmons, Jill Hennessy, Anthony LaPaglia, Sherry Stringfield, Kali Rocha, and, as the almost unrecognizable gaytastic best friend, Sam Trammell (who now butches it up as Sam Merlotte on True Blood)—this was around the time the sassy gay best friends were becoming the norm, thanks to Will & Grace.  But, the reason why this movie matters most is that it introduced me (as well as I’m sure the few fellow clueless members left of my generation) to the wildly talented Elaine Stritch (who I probably saw on The Cosby Show, but didn’t have the good sense to remember).  The legendary theatrical actress gained wider-spread notoriety in the early 2000s, thanks to her one-woman show (winning her a Tony), as well as various television guest spots including her Emmy-winning reoccurring guest role as Jack Donaghy’s (Alec Baldwin) mother on the still airing 30 Rock. 

One of the harbingers of this Winter-career surge for Stritch was dubiously Autumn.  She first arrived in the frame of the film as Dolores “Dolly” Tallridge, commenting on Gere’s well-preserved visage.  Not recognizing her at first, he reaches in for an excited embrace, prompting Dolly to warn him,  “Careful of the cocktail!”  Priorities!  She further advises him to “Spare me the bullshit.”  She’s at his restaurant to celebrate her granddaughter Charlotte’s birthday (played by Ryder), who, along with all of her friends, including Sam Merlotte (who wouldn't mind a few rounds with Daddylicious Gere), go absolutely gaga over the suave silver-foxed restaurateur.  Additionally, they’re all wearing crazy hats made by Charlotte.  And, truth be told, if there is something this film (and the rest of the world) needs is more crazy hats from Charlotte Fielding.  STAT.

The next time we see Dolly, Will comes to visit Charlotte, and she receives him with a long string of “well’s” before inviting him in to her favorite hobby, “Care for a cock-a-tail … Scotch? … My kind of guy.”  The writing is pretty sub-par, but the seasoned pro Stritch knows how to give these boiled potatoes some much needed flavor.  She talks about time and how precious and discriminate it is before requesting Will leave her granddaughter alone.  Unsurprisingly, it turns out that, like Stritch, Dolly is an alcoholic.  The next time Stritch makes her way onscreen, she has to console the unsuspecting Charlotte over her mother’s unreciprocated love for Will.  The writing continues on its terrible trek, but Stritch knows just how to play up dull, as well as temper over-the-top.  Dolly explains how Will broke her daughter’s heart: “The next thing you knew, he was knocking up Millie-what’s-her-name-in-a-cabana.”  “Millie?” Charlotte restates the name in disbelief.  Mildly annoyed by her granddaughter not keeping up with the conversation (well, she's probably more miffed at Will's callousness), firmly retorts, “YOUR MOTHER’S DOUBLES PARTNER.”  After Charlotte informs Dolly that she could have told her that her mother had affections for her current lover, she delivers the line that made Autumn at all possible, “Yeah, I could of, but I didn’t.”  The scene ends in tears as Charlotte informs her grandmother in not so many words that she has failed as a guardian, leaving Dolly to soak her sorrows in scotch straight up. 

In a wordless scene much later in the movie, the concerned Dolly is shocked that her granddaughter has asked to see Will to her deathbed instead of her.  Again, with no lines, every major castmember waiting at the hospital, including Stritch with her mouth agape, gets a close-up as they watch the doctor approach them with the grim news.  For having very little to work with, as well as minimal screentime, Stritch manages to offer so much.  Feel free to check out her contributions on Netflix.  

[Image via Wikipedia]

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Happy Birthday Suit: Angelina Jolie

Her award-winning Gia as a Geisha?

Raw, unhinged, Angelina Jolie in her youth kind of did whatever she wanted.  You could say her "wild child" image was calculated.  Or maybe playing drug addicts and lesbians were something she needed to get out of her system, as well as intimating an incestuous relationship with her brother; writing husband #1's name in his blood on her wedding-day outfit comprised of a white T-shirt and black rubber pants; and wearing the blood of husband #2 around her neck on Oprah.  Did she really think or care it would have led her to where she is now, humanitarian mother of six?  Who knows how many more children she will introduce to her family with fiancee Brad Pitt, but it wouldn't be surprising if, after all is said and done (is that possible?), she will have plucked a child from and/or conceived one on every continent on earth.  Both on and offscreen, she has consistently possessed a mysterious quality that keeps many guessing.  Now, instead of publicly toying with her beau's blood, she takes her leg out on the town.  Her kicks have mellowed, at least wherever there are cameras.  From bawdy to regal, this body has made a career transformation we've never witnessed before in quite the Jolie manner.

Jolie providing caged lesbian heat as Gia 

The beautiful, sexy daughter of Oscar-winner Jon Voight quickly established her talent and rather swiftly erased whatever doubts that take root from nepotastic origins.  After a variety of straight-to-DVD schlock and slogging through teenager roles in Hackers and Foxfire, her tour-de-force turn as supermodel heroin addict Gia Carangi separated her from the rest of her generation as one to watch and transitioned her to more challenging work and industry respect.  Gia her got nominated for an Emmy (she lost to Ellen Barkin; her supporting nomination for George Wallace that same ceremony resulted in a loss to Mare Winningham) and won the Golden Globe (her second of three consecutive wins) and SAG.  A year later, Winona Ryder, with her own star beginning to fade before the age of 30, in an ironic twist of events, would produce her to a supporting Oscar for Girl, Interrupted.  Within that three-year window, she would enjoy three box-office hits: The Bone Collector, Gone in 60 Seconds, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

Yeah, how many other actresses
can make this work?  

But, the early 2000s (even still today, but less so), audiences weren't as willing to pay to see a woman in a crappy movie they'd be more likely to watch a man in.  Despite her confidence and ability to simultaneously explore her masculinity without sacrificing an ounce of her femininity, the turkeys started rolling in, one right after another.  It was like Jolie and her success was a fluke.  For FIVE full calendar years, she put out a string of live-action features which currently do not rise above a 30% RT, including the hit movies that kicked off that dubious chapter of her resume.  The much-maligned Beyond Borders didn't do anything for her commercial profile, but it certainly laid the seeds as an international crusader for the downtrodden.  People wouldn't even pay to watch her and Antonio Banderas have sex in erotic thriller [read: low-rent soft-porn] Original Sin.  She would continue the tradition as a morbid Clarice Sterling knockoff with cut-rate-Tom-Cruise-impersonator Ethan Hawke in the marginally more successful Taking Lives.  She quickly learned she would never be the queen of comedy when Life or Something Like It belly-flopped into the box-office pool.  She has smartly steered away from the genre and platinum blonde wigs ever since [though that strawberry blonde ponytail in Salt was pretty hideous].  Jolie's allure is opposite accessibility, which is a key ingredient for viewers to fall in love with the heroine, while she makes them laugh.  They weren't as eager to see her return as Croft in The Cradle of Life either.  Even working with Oliver Stone did little for her as Colin Farrell's mother in Alexander.  But, around that time, she did at least start to take supporting roles in more reputable projects.  She got the best line in the much-admired flop Sky Captain and the World Tomorrow ("Alert the amphibious squadron").  Robert DeNiro directed her and Matt Damon in the Eric Roth-scripted The Good Shepherd.  Things were turning around both professionally and personally.

Whatever Jolie wants ...

... Jolie gets ...

... And, little Pitt ... Angie Jolie ... wants you ...

After Chloe Sevigny turned down the role of Jane Smith and Nicole Kidman dropped out (Catherine Zeta-Jones was also under consideration), Jolie started filming the $110M Mr. and Mrs. Smith in early 2004.  The script was above average, but the sparks between her and her costar Brad Pitt would fly both in front of the camera as well as behind the scenes.  The tabloids could not get enough about her much rumored relationship with then married Pitt.  She insists she did not romantically involve herself with Pitt until after he separated because her father had cheated on her mother.  The movie went on to become an international hit and they have been procreating and adopting ever since.  As of yet, they have no plans to reunite onscreen.

Straight drama is still quite sketchy from a commercial angle for her.  The next two years, Jolie would enjoy some of the best reviews of her career working with Clint Eastwood, which garnered her an Oscar nod for Changeling, as well as narrowly missing out on AMPAS recognition for her powerful portrayal of Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart.  The summer release accumulated a pretty solid reception.  However, unfortunately, audiences just aren't willing enough to take a journey through the war zone, unless the heroism is more sweeping, the morality very clear, and/or there are special effects.  It also helps if the leads are all men.  She has also enjoyed some success with voice-over (Kung Fu Panda franchise) and motion-capture (Beowulf) work.

Driving, shooting, and playing psychiatrist to her passenger,
Jolie is a woman, W-O-M-A-N

It wouldn't be until Wanted that she reaffirmed an assumption that wasn't always clear to me: that she could open a film on her own.  Because, if you think about, she has always had a lot of help from name recognition outside of herself, whether it be her more notable costars (Denzel Washington, Nicolas Cage, Pitt) or role (Lara Croft).  Amazingly enough, the movie isn't even her story and one could even argue she has a supporting role; yet, without her, Wanted clearly wouldn't have been much desired and was sold mostly on her name alone.  While the subsequent Salt wasn't a runaway hit, in a role that was originally supposed to be for Tom Cruise, she performed quite well as far as profits were concerned.  It's really in the action genre audiences will pay money to see her.  She hasn't dipped back in her milieu since, but you know after she tanks one or more times in the future, Hollywood will cover her in another dash of Salt or figure out a way to weave her into Wanted 2 so she'll hold onto her star status.

I could be wrong, but I think
Brangelina kind of likes
Sean Young's party-crashing crazy

For her next production, she's jumping on the fairy tale bandwagon with Malificent with many of Tim Burton's team from Alice in Wonderland.  Prospects are very up-the-air right now.  Commercially, this may work for her.  Artistically, we may have another eyesore on our hands.   Right now, she looks good with no recent bombs under her belt.  She even weathered The Tourist and the accompanying Ricky Gervais Golden Globe skewering (wasn't he off this year?) by turning it into an international hit with Johnny Depp.  She has had a few voice-over hits, three to be exact, including the last one, Kung Fo Panda 2, the top grossing feature length of all time directed by a woman.  Today, Saint Angie turns 37.

[Image via W Magazine]

Check Out Other Happy Birthday Suit(lesses):

Jennifer Aniston     Ellen Barkin     Drew Barrymore     Annette Bening     Jessica Biel     Juliette Binoche     Cate Blanchett     Helena Bonham Carter     Cher     Glenn Close     Claires Danes     Geena Davis     Kirsten Dunst     Jennifer Garner     Jennifer Grey     Kate Hudson     Holly Hunter     Angelina Jolie     Ashley Judd     Keira Knightley     Jessica Lange     Andie MacDowell     Eva Mendes     Rosie O'Donnell     Lena Olin     Michelle Pfeiffer     Natalie Portman     Emma Thompson     Uma Thurman     Rachel Weisz     Debra Winger     Renée Zellweger

Jennifer Aniston #1     Nicole Kidman #1     Rachel McAdams     Julia Roberts     Winona Ryder     

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Happy Birthday Suit: Annette Bening

"Why don't you run outside 
and jerk yourself a soda."

Like Cate Blanchett, as discussed earlier this month, Glenn Close, and the recent Jessica Chastain, Annette Bening was one of those rare actresses working nowadays who actually got a "late" start in Hollywood.  Then, again, for her generation, breaking into films in one's late 20s, was still not quite yet a rarity.  One of her contemporaries who signaled the return to early debuts was Sharon Stone (but not early by today's standards).  But, both embodied a glamour that was a throwback to the 1940s.  They each had a toughness and confidence about them that the men in their life found fascinating and irresistible.  Stone built a career on her breakout role as Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct, where Bening tended to drift to characters who were more neurotic.  But, the way she seduced future husband Warren Beatty (and became the woman who "tamed" the infamous playboy) as Virginia Hill in Bugsy was a mesmerizing example of how she could effortlessly conjure up old Hollywood with an Ida Lupino exotic, yet simple beauty and sultry, husky voice.

"The lady or the loot?"

A good part of Bening's 20s were spent in the theatre.  She graduated from ACT in San Francisco and earned a Tony nomination for Coastal Disturbances.  She also dealt with an eating disorder.  Having confronted and sorted out such a major issue in her life before the limelight is a testament to how well she negotiated through the movie business.  Here's a woman who reached success fairly quickly at an accelerated age, but then chose marriage and family over career just when things were getting hotter.  She infamously backed out as Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer was purfect, but I imagine Bening would have been equally memorable), and also left the just-add-water-hit Disclosure due to separate pregnancies.  Yet, despite what might have been, Bening's talent and extraordinary patience perhaps gave her the career she had in her 40s and 50s that she might not otherwise have had if she had peaked too soon.

The Bening Attacks!

Bening has been nominated four times for Oscar.  A strong argument has been made that two of those times she not only lost to Hilary Swank, but was probably runner-up.  A fictional "rivalry" was concocted the year Swank narrowly missed out on a third nomination when Bening was recognized for The Kids Are All Right.  She also narrowly missed the award against Natalie Portman.  One might consider that she would have two additional nominations were it not for 1991 and 2006 being extremely competitive years.  Noting Bugsy had pulled in a hefty ten nominations, Bening scored a Golden Globe drama nod (always a notable precursor), and she delivered the goods, one might imagine that Bette Midler stepped in her way to join the company of Clarice Sterling, Thelma & Louise.  She also hosted Saturday Night Live around the release of the then highly anticipated Running with Scissors, but its poor showing at the box-office wouldn't help amongst the tough competition which included an unnominated Maggie Gyllenhaal (Sherrybaby) and Beyoncé (for the multiple-nominated Dreamgirls).

Why so glum Bening?  You're a standout in a sub-par film? 

Bening continues to plug away.  This year she has supporting roles in Ruby Sparks (from the team that brought us Little Miss Sunshine) and Kristen Wiig's Imogene, playing a Jersey Shore-type mother.  She also has a bit role in a Sally Potter movie due out next year, as well as the lead opposite Ed Harris and Robin Williams in the romantic comedy drama The Look of Love.  Other possible projects include Lullaby, another one of Ernest Hemingway's lovers, and Catherine The Great.  Today, one of my favorite actresses turns 54.  For a really great recent writeup on Bening, check out Nat's eloquent valentine to her over at The Film Experience.

Check Out Other Happy Birthday Suit(lesses):

Jennifer Aniston     Ellen Barkin     Drew Barrymore     Annette Bening     Jessica Biel     Juliette Binoche     Cate Blanchett     Helena Bonham Carter     Cher     Glenn Close     Claires Danes     Geena Davis     Kirsten Dunst     Jennifer Garner     Jennifer Grey     Kate Hudson     Holly Hunter     Angelina Jolie     Ashley Judd     Keira Knightley     Jessica Lange     Andie MacDowell     Eva Mendes     Rosie O'Donnell     Lena Olin     Michelle Pfeiffer     Natalie Portman     Emma Thompson     Uma Thurman     Rachel Weisz     Debra Winger     Renée Zellweger

Jennifer Aniston #1     Nicole Kidman #1     Rachel McAdams     Julia Roberts     Winona Ryder     

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Happy Birthday Suit: Helena Bonham Carter

I don't remember where, but I once watched a program/interview on Helena Bonham Carter years ago and it discussed her rather auspicious start in A Pattern of Roses.  She began acting in her late teens and described herself as quite terrible in the movie, which other opinions corroborated (kind of like Angelica Huston's debut).  She must have learned pretty quickly and on-the-spot, because it wasn't very long before she was a regular fixture in Merchant-Ivory films.

The Wings of the Dove

I also remember reading she lived with her parents until she was 30 or some odd age like that.  She came across as very down-to-earth and willing to make fun of herself.  Throughout the 1990s, she possibly risked being typecast for the rest of her life as period-British actress were it not for her shrewdly chosen role in Fight Club (which she beat out the likes of Winona Ryder).  Quite the opposite milieu, she played the chain-smoking Maria Singer drenched in eye-liner.  That role led to her unconventional part in Planet of the Apes, where she got to make out with Mark Wahlberg while she had an ape mask on.  This would also begin her personal and professional relationship with quirky director Tim Burton.  They have produced two children and worked together a total of seven times.  In fact, his upcoming feature-length version of the animated Frankenweenie will mark his first film without her since Apes.  If they weren't taking a break from working together, you might say she had typecast herself into a different role.

How come there are so few of
these this season?

For years, her cinematic identity has been inextricably tied to the Burton films and her forays into other franchises (Terminator, Harry Potter) haven't exactly carved her out from the crowd.  Recently, she enjoyed a role in the inspirational juggernaut The King's Speech and an Oscar nomination.  She was the fuel behind her royal majesty's fire, and the success may have led to her playing Miss Havisham in the upcoming Great Expectations.  However, the Oscar buzz is currently, suspiciously dim.  Odd, considering she is one of the few actresses to get the special promotional shot treatment a year in advance.  There's an undeniable confidence to her inclusion in the film.  I guess we shall see.  Director Mike Newell has been behind such films as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco (which starred Johnny Depp), and Enchanted April.  He also was responsible for helping bring Miranda Richardson to life in Dance with a Stranger.  However, he hasn't had much luck in the 2000s, except for directing a Harry Potter film (not the two she worked on).

Bonham Carter has reunited with the director of The King's Speech to give her singing voice another go on the big screen in Les Misérables.  She'll be starring opposite her husband's favorite male muse in The Long Ranger.  AND, she has a (probably exciting) role in the upcoming Jean-Pierre Jeunet film about TS Spivet.  Today, she turns 46.

Check Out Other Happy Birthday Suit(lesses):

Jennifer Aniston     Ellen Barkin     Drew Barrymore     Annette Bening     Jessica Biel     Juliette Binoche     Cate Blanchett     Helena Bonham Carter     Cher     Glenn Close     Claires Danes     Geena Davis     Kirsten Dunst     Jennifer Garner     Jennifer Grey     Kate Hudson     Holly Hunter     Angelina Jolie     Ashley Judd     Keira Knightley     Jessica Lange     Andie MacDowell     Eva Mendes     Rosie O'Donnell     Lena Olin     Michelle Pfeiffer     Natalie Portman     Emma Thompson     Uma Thurman     Rachel Weisz     Debra Winger     Renée Zellweger

Jennifer Aniston #1     Nicole Kidman #1     Rachel McAdams     Julia Roberts     Winona Ryder     

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Happy Birthday Suitless: Cher

There are some actresses who win an Oscar that only a few years before they're honored, many probably scoffed at their ever being considered.  Sandra Bullock and Halle Berry come to mind.  So does Cher.  She had a rather loose reputation and was known for her cheesy self-titled variety show with her husband Sony Bono and string of pop hits.  But in the course of only five years, she would surprise everyone and show that you can win an Oscar and go on to show off your forty-something buttocks in a revealing outfit while tramping around on an aircraft carrier singing "If I Could Turn Back Time."

Cher decided in her early 30s that she wanted to act in films.  And with each subsequent movie, she kept impressing critics.  While she starred in a road movie written by Bono when she was very young, she didn't make her proper debut until 1982 in the Robert Altman film Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean playing a member of the actor's fan club reuniting with friends.  Her reviews were solid and her next part in well-received Mike Nicholas' hit Silkwood opposite Meryl Streep would garner her an Oscar nod.  In her third film Mask, she played the mother of disfigured boy.  It was hit and put her on Oscar's short-list, but she'd get snubbed for performances in more prestigious fare.

But her momentum was in full force and, in 1987, she rolled out three high-profile films.  She played one of The Witches of Eastwick opposite Jack Nicholson, which was a blockbuster.  She portrayed an attorney who falls in love with the Suspect, that also bowed to decent numbers.  The icing on the cake, or, more precisely, the parmesan on the pizza pie, was her Loretta Castorini at the end of the year in Moonstruck.  Loretta was engaged to Danny Aiello, but in love with his brother Nicolas Cage.  It's an endearing, iconic performance, and, though she was up against the formidable Glenn Close as batshit crazy Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction, AMPAS couldn't "snap out of" the spell she put them under.

Other entertainers who firmly established themselves as singers and then went on to Oscar recognition for acting ability (whether nomination or win) include (but not limited to): Peggy Lee, Barbra Streisand, Liza Minelli, Diana Ross, Ronee Blakley, Bette Midler, Queen Latifah, and Jennifer Hudson.

From there, it was never going to be quite as golden cinematically.  Three years later, she rounded up rising stars Winona Ryder and little Christina Ricci for the hit Mermaids.  She would take a much longer break before engaging the bomb Faithful opposite 1970s wash-up Ryan O'Neal.  Tea with Mussolini showcased her screen legends and she played herself in Stuck on You; she wouldn't have her next major role until 2010's Burlesque.  Thanks to her pull overseas, the Showgirls-without-the-camp was a harmless, but unmemorable affair.

Cher is one of those rare stars who knows how to work a crowd, as well as the press junket.  She's fun-loving and candid; whenever she's on Letterman, it's generally good TV.  She has a legion of devoted fans and has been incredibly influential in the music world.  She has been putting out albums and/or touring consistently since the mid-1960s.  Bitch gets props for being such a work horse.  Tomorrow, she turns 66.

Check Out Other Happy Birthday Suit(lesses):

Jennifer Aniston     Ellen Barkin     Drew Barrymore     Annette Bening     Jessica Biel     Juliette Binoche     Cate Blanchett     Helena Bonham Carter     Cher     Glenn Close     Claires Danes     Geena Davis     Kirsten Dunst     Jennifer Garner     Jennifer Grey     Kate Hudson     Holly Hunter     Angelina Jolie     Ashley Judd     Keira Knightley     Jessica Lange     Andie MacDowell     Eva Mendes     Rosie O'Donnell     Lena Olin     Michelle Pfeiffer     Natalie Portman     Emma Thompson     Uma Thurman     Rachel Weisz     Debra Winger     Renée Zellweger

Jennifer Aniston #1     Nicole Kidman #1     Rachel McAdams     Julia Roberts     Winona Ryder     

Read More