Flashback: Best of the 90s. (Pt 1)

Remember when I shared those 80s scrapbook pages on "Before Websites Pt 1 and Pt 2"?

Well inbetween scrapbooking two decades back and the total new digital world of the Aughts, there was the long transitional period of the 1990s. Remember when the internet was just text (Anyone? Anyone?). The last two issues of my 90s zine (that pre-website relic mentioned in the Julianne Moore interview) were published in 2000.

<-- "90s character collage" Oil on canvas. I'm confused why I included The Phantom Menace because I hated the movie. I think I wanted something "up to the minute" Ha!

I had just moved to NYC and was in the process of chucking Quark for Dreamweaver. The first version of the site was already up and rapidly taking over my life so I'm not sure why I was trying to do both web & print. It was transitional hedging maybe. Plus html was way confusing at first before apps starting doing all the coding for you. Different era.

Interior "Ten Best" pages --- >

I thought I'd share these ancient lists on "Best of the 90s" for fun. I can't really stand by half the choices now 10 years later but can you stand by all your choices from Spring 2000?

Best Supporting Actor
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed. The very first one surprises me like you don't even know but we'll get to that in a minute.]

• Tommy Lee Jones, JFK (1991)
  Tommy back when he was exciting to watch onscreen.
  
• Michael Lerner, Barton Fink (1991)
  The funniest supporting turn of the decade
  
• Leonardo DiCaprio, What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
  The breaking point of Hollywood's It Boy.
  
• Ralph Fiennes, Schindlers List (1993)
  Astoundingly frightening American debut.

Leonardo DiCaprio (Gilbert Grape) & Ed Harris (The Truman Show)

• Samuel L Jackson, Pulp Fiction (1994)
  Much celebrated bible quoting hitman. Great.
  
• Martin Landau, Ed Wood (1994)
  Great character actor doing comic justice to a legend.
  
• Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects (1995)
  Kevin's much lauded Keyzer Soze role.
  
• William H Macy, Fargo (1996)
  Almost as great as McDormand. High praise.
• Rupert Everett, My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
  Wasn't even nominated. What?!?!
  
• Ed Harris, The Truman Show (1998)
  Terrific work from the ever magnetic actor.

That's what I said then. As you can see I wasn't yet a frothing at the mouth "Category Fraud!" crusader since there's at least two "leads" in there. In fact, for '99 I chose Haley Joel Osment (ru: Jude Law) who is obviously the lead of The Sixth Sense and in my runners up I list Rupert Graves in Where Angels Fear to Tread and how is that anything but the lead role? The weirdest nominee in this best of decade top ten is Tommy Lee Jones. I barely remember that performance -- I think he had white hair and that there was some rabidly anti-gay tone to his scenes? -- and what I do remember I don't like. I'm so confused that it's listed but that's what the pages say. The other thing that sticks out at me is that I was apparently on a first name basis with Kevin Spacey (unhh....) and I excluded Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights (very odd).

So yeah, I'm not happy with this list at all. I'd probably only keep half of it. But I'd need to watch a few movies again.

Best Supporting Actress
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed]

Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear) & Patricia Clarkson (High Art)

• Annette Bening, The Grifters (1990)
  As the delicious decadent Myra Langtree she was radiant.
• Uma Thurman, Henry & June (1990)
  Seduced Henry, Anaïs and the world as June Miller.
• Juliette Lewis, Cape Fear (1991)
  At just 18, stole the show from Lange, Nolte and DeNiro.
• Judy Davis, Husbands and Wives (1992)
  Gave Allen's neurosis a whole new energy level.
• Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction (1994)
  The hip film's central female role. Uma nailed it.
• Dianne Wiest, Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
  Dianne is always a treat. Against type, she soared.
• Joan Allen, The Crucible (1996)
  Breathtaking. One of the great screen presences.
• Julianne Moore, Boogie Nights (1997)
  Should've won the Oscar. What were they thinking?
• Christina Ricci, The Ice Storm (1997)
  Smart sad work. Confirmed her best-of-generation status.
• Patricia Clarkson, High Art (1998)
  How did this marvelous turn go so unnoticed?

That's what I said then. Obviously Catherine Keener would've made the list for Being John Malkovich had I waited a year to compile this. (I'm always so hesistant about brand new movies. A weird tic. And apparently I did the same thing here declaring 1999 movies ineligible for these top tens. Weirdness.) But nothing much surprises me about these supporting actresses. Love them all and the next ten would be almost as wondrous.

Best Actor
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed. I've recreated the illustration here just because I thought it was funny and I remember being super angry that Anthony Hopkins started going hammy and/or phoning it in starting about the mid 90s.


I no longer have any strong feelings about him. The quality dropoff was so severe that even know 15 years later I see his name in casting items and I feel nothing more than "Why'd they go with him? Laziness in thinking about their options?". Like, what was he doing in The Wolf Man? I feel like you give that same part to some hungry actor his age who never got inundated with huge offers and they're going to reward you with something special even if the movie bites. I don't mean to sound cruel about Sir Hopkins and I did name him Best Lead Actor of the Decade and that's saying something. He'll always have 1991-1993 when every performance was an event!]

• Anthony Hopkins, Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  Perhaps overcelebrated but it's a juicy star turn.
• River Phoenix, My Own Private Idaho (1991)
  A transformation that made him an icon.
• Denzel Washington, Malcolm X (1992)
  Should have easily bagged him the Oscar.
• Daniel Day-Lewis, In the Name of the Father (1993)
  Does anyone else miss this guy? Great actor.
• Anthony Hopkins, Remains of the Day (1993)
  Unquestionably fine. Does repression like no one else.
• Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
  His last great performance before big budgets beckoned.
• Sean Penn, Dead Man Walking (1995)
  Completely believeable difficult turn as a repentant killer.
• Ian Holm, The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
  A performance as complex as the film. That's high praise.
• Ian McKellen, Gods and Monsters (1998)
  Should have won the Oscar. What were they thinking?
• Edward Norton, American History X (1998)
  Fierce work that confirmed his best-of-generation status.

That's what I said then. And said rather repetitively, too. I used some of those exact same lines for Best Supporting Actress. Where was my editor? Oh, yeah. That was me. Elsewhere in the magazine I proclaim Kevin Spacey in American Beauty Best Actor of 1999 and now I would definitely rewrite history to pretend that I chose Jim Broadbent in Topsy Turvy (who I at least nominated. Yay, me). I had also forgotten that DDL made so few movies in the 90s (only 5) despite becoming a big star with the first of those (The Last of the Mohicans). And then he made even less in the Aughts (4) ! Does this mean we can only expect 3 movies from him from 2010-2019? And if so, does one of them really have to be a Sherlock Holmes sequel since he works so infrequently?

I'm also a bit surprised that I didn't give the top prize to River Phoenix as I was quite obsessed with My Own Private Idaho in the 90s. River Phoenix would've turned 40 last week. One has to wonder what would be different in the movies had he lived. Which star would never have risen up instead. Which roles we're familiar with would he have ended up playing?

I'm disappointed looking back that I didn't list Christopher Guest whose "Corky St. Clair" in Waiting for Guffman is arguably the finest comedic character creation of the 1990s. He should've made the list.

River Phoenix (My Own Private Idaho) & Christopher Guest (Waiting For Guffman)

You know what to do in the comments. Your lists please... and how have they changed over the past ten years. What did you love or hate then that you've changed your mind about now? And let's say you were born in the late 80s or in the 1990s. Which of these movies have you always meant to see but just haven't got around to yet?

p.s. If you're new to the blog and want to see more recent "best ofs" you can check out Best of the Aughts or my awards for 2009.
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Any Sam, Myth or Harry.

Jose here with some guys in skirts and feuding gods.

Images have began to circle the web announcing the remake of Clash of the Titans (is it just me or does it feel like it was announced about a month ago? Movie production sure is fast nowadays...). The movie based on the 1981 classic is being directed by Louis Leterrier and stars Sam Worthington (who's yet to prove his worth with James Cameron's upcoming Avatar) as the mythical demigod Perseus.

The original was a favorite of mine as a kid. I used to be enchanted by Ray Harryhausen's stop motion effects (I covered my eyes whenever Medusa appeared and was terrified by the Stygian Witches) and the plot got me interested in Greek myths.

Once I became film conscious however, the movie proved to be worthy because of several other things. That cast for starters! With Sir Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith and Flora Robson among others, the film is an example of how great actors make even campy fantasy seem relevant. Not to mention Harryhausen's breathtaking effects (how he was snubbed for an Oscar is insulting).

Now, next year's remake has people like Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Mads Mikkelsen, but I wonder, just how much of the wonder that fuels the original one, will be recreated with CGI?
Few people are remake advocates, but with this one in particular just how much charm will be lost with the, increasingly, generic look of computer animated effects?

In Defeat: Defiance.

Jose here with a bit of history and the movies. The title of this post appears in Winston Churchill's WWII memoir The Gathering Storm, but might as well describe Sarah Miles; Julianne Moore's character in The End of the Affair.

The 1999 film, based on Graham Greene's semi-autobiographical novel takes place in WWII London where Sarah, who is married, has an affair with writer Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes) until the Blitz provokes the film's title.

You see, it was 69 years ago today that the German Air Force began bombing England for almost a whole year. Once it began, London was bombed continuously for 57 days. One one of those days Sarah faces her greatest fear.



During one of their illicit rendezvous, she sees Maurice leave the room as the bomb alarms fill the city. A sudden blast (and a chance for cinematographer Roger Pratt to shine) makes Maurice disappear into a cloud of smoke and broken glass.


This leads Sarah to unexpected behavior that consequently gives Moore a chance to own the film in the subtle way only she knows how. Her portrayal of quiet dignity, unbridled passion and otherworldly faith earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

As a piece of Blitz trivia, the movie featured in The End of the Affair is 21 Days, starring Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier (who were also engaged in an extramarital affair). The film is about a man who kills his lover's husband and then has only three weeks to be with her before surrendering to the authorities. When Fiennes' character watches the movie he must've wanted to be the leading man. That the film condenses the themes of guilt, forbidden passion and limited time frames to love, speaks to Jordan's cinematic knowledge and his spoiler-ish slyness.

"Best Pictures From the Outside In" Returns

Many of you have been asking (publicly and privately) about the trifurcated Best Picture Oscar series that united Nick's Flick Picks, Goatdog's Blog and The Film Experience. Mike, Nick and I created the series together but the ball dropping was all me. I take full responsible for the unfortunate hiatus. Thanks for your patience.

Mrs. Miniver & Mr Schindler. World War II will change them both.

IF YOU'RE A NEW READER the series works like so: We started in early 2008 grabbing the earliest best picture winner (Wings) and comparing it to the most recent (at the time) No Country For Old Men. Then we started working inwards from both directions of Oscar's timeline. Eventually the series will conclude in the late 60s, the halfway point of Oscar's chronology. Here's a complete index of all 15 episodes (thus far) which cover the years 1928-1942 and 1993-2007. Nick is also maintaining a tournament poll of your favorites and ours so, vote.

If you want to really dive into the discussion with us and enrich your knowledge of Hollywood's grand back catalogue, consider renting the match-ups that are on the way. In a couple of weeks we'll be pairing two of Hollywood's most iconic men, Bogie & Clint for a discussion of Casablanca (1943) and Unforgiven (1992). Then it's on to Going My Way (1944) and Silence of the Lambs (1991).

But right now...

Mrs. Miniver and Schindler's List

NICK: Having watched my conspirators in pleasure show such effort and ingenuity in our last two installments to put our disparate films in dialogue with each other, I get to enjoy a ready-made Oscar juxtaposition of World War II dramas: Mrs. Miniver, the first entrant from this AMPAS-beloved genre to swipe the top prize, and Schindler's List, frequently hailed as a highpoint in the Best Picture heritage. Neither film is a battlefield picture; instead, they each focalize the magnitude of the war through the expanding consciousness of the titular character, and the subversion of her or his habits of thought and action. Both were the first movies by their pedigreed, Oscar-friendly auteurs to cop the Best Picture and Best Director trophies after multiple winless nods.

Of course there are also clear markers of dissimilarity between these films and the stories they tell. Mrs. Miniver confronts the war as a crucible of combat, thrift, and social disruption at a time of siege; Schindler's List reconstructs and scrutinizes the supremacist and genocidal ethics and terrible, sometimes enforced complicities that both inspired and drew force from the Nazi war machine. Kay Miniver is a radiant paragon of noble citizenship and domestic steadfastness; Oskar Schindler is a rake and a profiteer whose unlikely emergence as an objector and protector arrives with all kinds of vagaries and caveats attached. Mrs. Miniver was not in every respect a picture that Wyler cherished; Schindler's List was self-consciously conceived, produced, and received as the technical, cultural, and moral apotheosis of Spielberg's career...

Read and comment on the entire discussion at Nick's Flick Picks

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Podcast: Kristin Scott Thomas Interview

Kristin Scott Thomas is "Extraordinary"

When I spoke with the acclaimed British actress in January, as we both recovered from Golden Globe parties, I discovered that she loves describing other actors that way. Yet the adjective fits her like a glove. "Versatile" would be another apt descriptor. She's equally at home in drama, comedy or in period epics. You'll find her in French, British, American and even Romanian cinema. She also treads the boards. Her recent performance in the Broadway run of The Seagull could bring her her first TONY nomination this summer. Her film career from Prince's odd con artist flick Under the Cherry Moon (1986) [think of his "Parade" CD if you're drawing a blank -ed.] through the Oscar stamped The English Patient (1996) to the recent French hits Tell No One and I've Loved You So Long (2008, just out on DVD!) has been alternately celebrated and underappreciated.

She likens her past twenty years in the spotlight to a rollercoaster

You have moments of complete grace and glory and heaven. Others of failure or rejection... So much of it is out of your control

That zen like acceptance of the ups and downs of a screen career threads itself throughout our conversation. She's benefiting from France's affection for mature women but she understands the irresistible beauty of youth. She credits much of her screen performance to what's built in the editing room but doesn't discount her own efforts in front of the camera "If you haven't got good raw material you can't create anything". She's just as willing to discuss that first high profile Prince dud ("a baptism of fire") as she is to chat about how proud she is of a small French/Romanian film An Unforgettable Summer. When asked about future roles she's interested in, there's also a little bit of the up and down balancing...

Once you've done something you're not really interested in doing it again. I'm quite glad to be rid of 'the withering remark'. But then on the other hand I really enjoy the withering remarks, the witticisms and the puff of the cigarette.

Despite the rich variety of characters she's essayed I half expected her stickiest screen persona, the initially icy aristocratic beauty familiar from Gosford Park and The English Patient, to bleed over into our conversation. Not so. She was congenial, down to earth and in great humor -- hardly ready with a "withering remark". Her co-stars performances are often deemed extraordinary but after our quick run through of her career, she does allow herself a minor pat on the back.

You know, I look back at the list... 'You haven't done too badly, old girl'

It's an understatement.
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*Go to iTunes for the enhanced interview or listen to the simple mp3

Listen and discuss.

What's your favorite screen memory of Kristin Scott Thomas? Are you excited for her pas de deux with Sergi López in Partir? Do you prefer those 90s arthouse films Angels and Insects, Bitter Moon or the big hits Four Weddings and a Funeral, The English Patient? How drôle was she as "Alette" in Confessions of a Shopaholic? Finally, if you've just seen her Golden Globe and Cesar nominated turn in I've Loved You So Long (the film just hit DVD) what did you think of her performance as the withdrawn ex-con?

Top Ten: After Kate Winslet, Who?

Kate Winslet finally won her Oscar, delighting the bulk of fans who have been rooting for her since she dreamt of Hollywood in '94 -- 'they're desperately keen to sign me up!' -- or nearly drowned in '97. She never let go. So, who is next?

Or rather... who is most overdue?

Contrary to popular belief, it ain't easy to win an Oscar. It certainly wasn't easy for Kate the Great. You need more than an accent, a disability, a good or popular movie, old age makeup or mimicry skills. You also need star charisma, a role that compliments or complicates that charisma and media support. Above all else you need luck combined with surgically precise good timing. History is full of performers who never won the movie's top prize despite plentiful contributions to the art of acting.

For the following list I'm ignoring outstanding performers who have never been nominated because I already made that list. But, yes: Donald Sutherland, Mia Farrow, Christopher Plummer and Christian Bale would certainly have cause to hate the Academy for pretending they don't exist. This list only concerns itself with previously nominated actors who are still working.

Top Ten Nominees Who Are Really Overdue For an Oscar Win

Honorable Mentions: Albert Finney, Debra Winger, Helena Bonham-Carter, Joan Cusack, Laura Linney, Jude Law and Ed Harris. Peter O'Toole has an honorary and Glenn Close gave up so I'm skipping them.


10 Sigourney Weaver 3 nominations
Sigourney strikes me as a Holly Hunter type: not easy to cast but riveting / perfect when the role fits. Historians sometimes think of the Oscars as a movie culture time capsule but as such they sometimes fail miserably at capturing the larger picture of the careers of famous actors. Weaver's case is interesting because her three nominations (Aliens, Working Girl and Gorillas in the Mist) actually paint a compellingly accurate portrait of her whole career. Think about it. Those three represent all the things she does best: sexy amazons in genre films, bitchy women in comedies and intense almost scarily obsessive women in prestige dramas. Unfortunately none of these three types are what Oscar voters go for unless they're tricked into it by some other mitigating factor or completely unable to deny the skill involved. Since she turns 60 this year I think that her only hope for a statue is a killer comedic supporting part -- preferrably in a well loved Best Picture nominee. The kind of role Maggie Smith got in Gosford Park could win Weaver the elusive gold, couldn't it?

09 Annette Bening. 3 nominations
The Bening is in the unenviable position of (arguably) finishing in second place every time she's been nominated. Second at the Oscars isn't any different than fifth... the math flatlines. 1990's The Grifters, her first nomination, established her unique star persona: calculated erotic cunning, theatricality and twinkly eyed laughter. She lost that first Oscar to a famous comedienne who was anchoring a mammoth hit (Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost) and then she lost twice to someone she's twice as talented as (the first time was justifiable. We'll let it slide ;) ). When will it be her turn? Maybe never. AMPAS passed her over for Bugsy, The American President and Running With Scissors despite, respectively, 10 other nominations, popularity and a baity role all of which suggests that they're not always keen on her. Perhaps its the envy factor? It can't suck to be her. Mr. Annette Bening, never won for acting either and he's a true screen legend.

08 Joan Allen. 3 nominations
I used to joke that this great actress needed only two seconds of screentime to start Oscar buzz. Her presence alone is so commanding that you're glued to her. You're ready for every line reading, gesture and closeup from the moment the camera first spots her. But that was then. This is now and the now is not looking like an Oscar is coming. Which is very frustrating. She was arguably the best of the nominees on her first and second nominations (Nixon and The Crucible) but the films themselves weren't loved enough to bring that winning momentum. Her third nomination (The Contender, 2000) was one of those "I'm just happy to be nominated" situations since that was Julia Robert's Oscar to lose even before the previous year's Oscars were handed out (Erin Brockovich was released a week before the 1999 Oscars were held). Most agonizing of all is that in 2005, a very weak Best Actress year, the Academy missed a golden opportunity to give Ms Allen one of those career style statues for The Upside of Anger. Her sexy, funny, dramatic and film carrying star turn topped anything that any of the nominees that year were up to. The Academy didn't even nominate her.

07 Sir Ian McKellen 2 nominations
The Academy's anti-genre bias cock blocked his second move towards that naked gold man (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring). I still don't know WHAT THE HELL happened in 1998, the first time he was up for the prize (Gods and Monsters). I don't even wanna talk about that. Shut up!

06 Meryl Streep. 15 nominations / 2 wins
It's been twenty-seven years since her last win (Sophie's Choice, 1982) and she's the only previous acting winner working whose career since her last triumph completely justifies an additional statue. She's given at least three performances in those ensuing 27 years that would have won most other star actresses an Oscar and would stand as their all time best work. Raise your hand if you think she's winning on her next nomination.

05 Jeff Bridges 4 nominations
Some people actually think he's the greatest American actor of his generation. If you think about the range, depth, effortlessness and conviction displayed in performances like The Door in the Floor, The Big Lebowski, Fearless, Seabiscuit, Cutter's Way, The Fabulous Baker Boys and The Fisher King it's hard to argue with that assessment. And that's just the major performances he was NOT nominated for. Add his four nominations (The Contender, Starman, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and The Last Picture Show) into the mix and we're not talking 'overdue' so much as 'let's riot until he gets one!'


04 Ralph Fiennes 2 nominations
His performance in Schindler's List was not only the best of its category but in the running for best of its entire decade. Shame that they didn't hand him a statue right then. Now he's one of the biggest mysteries in Oscar land. He's British (extra points), he does lots of period pieces (big plus), he's regularly brilliant (that helps), he has no tabloid drawbacks (that sometimes distracts), he does prestige pics and stars in multiple Best Picture nominees (huge plus) he's great with other actors (lots of goodwill earned, presumably). Solve this mystery in the comments please. This man practically screams "Oscar winner" and yet he's only been nominated twice.

03 Julianne Moore 4 nominations
As noted before, winning an Oscar is about managing the tricky combination of star persona, role choice, luck and timing. Julianne has had trouble working all four of those elements simultaneously. It's frustrating. If a much lesser actress with a goody two shoes persona had stumbled into a performance as great as the one Julianne gave in Boogie Nights, they would have won --playing against type is a time-tested awards ploy (especially if you go from good to bad). Since Julianne was already considered a consummate, experiment-friendly and altogether brave actress, she was only considered to be doing her job if rather brilliantly. Sometimes the best actors have the hardest time winning because expectations are so high. There's no surprise factor when they knock us out. She also tends to be most magical in difficult films from true auteurs (think Paul Thomas Anderson and Todd Haynes) and Oscar doesn't reward those types of pictures with statues, just scattered nominations. What could she do to win? Give her great unsolicited advice in the comments.

02 Johnny Depp 3 nominations
If you ask young up and comers who their favorite actor is you'll hear his name pop up a lot. Trust me, I've tested the theory. It may have taken the Academy a long time to notice his gifts but certain pockets of the public (especially younger generations) and many critics were with him much earlier. As early as Edward Scissorhands and Cry-Baby (his very first leads in 1990) he was proving what an imaginative and committed actor he was, adept at spinning drama from comedy and the reverse, too. After that he excelled in biographical dramas (Oscar's favorite genre) like Ed Wood, Donnie Brasco, Blow and Fear and Loathing... and still they ignored him.


Perhaps he was too original. He was definitely too young (Oscar wants the men to have some years on them) and the performances themselves were sprung from weird or comedic impulses that don't resonate with stuffier aesthetics. But eventually everyone caught on to his gifts (Hello Pirates of the Carribean!). Now he can even get acclaim and nominations for performances that aren't any appreciably better than the ones he used to give (Sweeney Todd) or are way more boring than what he used to offer (Finding Neverland) which means that the Academy finally loves him. It also means he'll be winning real soon.

<--- Michelle Pfeiffer and Jeff Bridges in 2007

01 La Pfeiffer 3 nominations
The evidence: Scarface, Married to the Mob, Dangerous Liaisons, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Russia House, Frankie & Johnny, Batman Returns, Love Field, The Age of Innocence, What Lies Beneath and White Oleander. I rest my case.

Percentage of this list that I think WILL eventually win the coveted statue: 30% Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep a third time and Ralph Fiennes... and in roughly that order, too.

previous top ten lists
for past articles on any of these actors just chase the labels below
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We Can't Wait #12 The Hurt Locker

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce and Evangeline Lilly.
Synopsis An Army bomb squad in Iraq tries not to get blowed up.
Brought to you by Summit Entertainment
Expected Release Date Ummm...

Joe: The Hurt Locker is probably the 2009 title we know the most about, because it played the festival circuit pretty heavily, including Toronto, Montreal, and Venice (where it won an armload of awards, if not the big one). It even nabbed two Independent Spirit nominations. Early word is very good, and Bigelow, who manages to be artful even in her failures, is said to have put together a gorgeous action movie. Nobody will see it, of course, but we can all drive ourselves crazy talking about why!

Whitney: As much as I love that there is a prolific female director working in action, I'm so not interested in this movie. And even when Ralph Fiennes is in some really wonderful films, I just want to punch him in his ugly ugly face. That's right, RaLF!

Joe: Backing away. Waiting to see how JA responds.

Nathaniel: Is it time for the Bizarrro blog-a-thon again already? Yeah that Fiennes is a dog.
No, no, no. I can't do the Bizarro-thon. I can't. I can't.

See, Kathryn Bigelow makes me feel earnest. I love her. I can't entirely explain it. I like how deadly serious her films are, even when they kinda should be funnier (hi, Point Break). Okay, at least I love the idea of Kathryn Bigelow (stereotype defying action director) even when I don't love some of the films. She'll always have Near Dark and Strange Days! Thus, this goes on my list.

Fox: I side with Nathaniel on being a fan of Bigelow. As for the subject matter ("The Iraq"), I wonder how she'll handle it. Most directors screw it up, but Bigelow seems to be a mature, even-handed lady. I'll freakin' go to war for Point Break. That movie is a joy to watch. And Near Dark? Well, can we just say that it's probably a genre masterpiece? Come on Whitney, just say it! JUST SAY IT!

Whitney: I totally blanked on Near Dark. I'll give you that.

JA: Sorry, it took me a little extra time to get all my rings off so as to deliver a scar-free Ralph-defending righteous beat-down.

Ahem.

Did somebody just go bad-mouthing my Ralph? NUH UH. That's crazy talk. Not just crazy-talk, it deserves extra syllables. Kuh-Razy Talk. And on grounds of him being ugly? Ugly? Have you only seen him in the Harry Potter movies, Whitney? He has a nose in real life, you know - a regal, parochial nose* I want to make love to on its own, at that. Not just a pair of serpentine slits. But He Who Shan't Be Spoken Of, Ralph can defend himself. He's a big boy. A big boy with an oft-deployed serial killer's sexy come-hither-and-be-destroyed stare. Swoon.


This movie didn't make my list, because I am just so over Iraq movies. Unless they can beat Channing Tatum rolling around in his underwear for several minutes, I'm done for the time being. I need a breather. That said, I do like Bigelow, and Ralph (insert fist-to-chest "recognize" thump here), and if I keep hearing that Jeremy Renner - a wonderful actor that does not get the credit he deserves - is great in it, I'll probably see it too.

* Excuse me, in my thunder I named Ralph's nose after a boarding school. I meant "patrician's nose." Do carry on. It's early. Need coffee.

Joe: I kind of like the idea of Ralph having a parochial nose, though. What kind of a nose would that be? The kind of nose that only associates with other noses like it?

Anyway, I feel like I should stick up for Whitney since I too don't find Ralph quite all that, in the looks department. That's right, I'll bear my share of the blowback from this particular explosion, much like Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and co. will no doubt do in the movie.

And THAT'S how you bring it 'round full-circle.

Nathaniel: Ha! and indeed.

Readers, do I put too much faith in Kathryn Bigelow? Have you taken my unsubtle hints over the past few years and screened Near Dark or Strange Days? Has my unshakeable belief that action films peaked from 1986-1995 -- years which not coincidentally surrounded MIA auteur James Cameron's marriage to Kathryn Bigelow and included both of their best films -- confused my thinking? Do you have any desire to see this or are you, like JA, burnt out on Iraq movies? (Unless Channing Tatum strips in them)

In case you missed any entries they went like so...
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We Can't Wait:
#1 Inglourious Basterds, #2 Where the Wild Things Are, #3 Fantastic Mr. Fox,
#4 Avatar, #5 Bright Star, #6 Shutter Island, #7 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
#8 Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, #9 Nailed, #10 Taking Woodstock,
#11 Watchmen, #12 The Hurt Locker, #13 The Road, #14 The Tree of Life
#15 Away We Go, #16 500 Days of Summer, #17 Drag Me To Hell,
#18 Whatever Works, #19 Broken Embraces, #20 Nine (the musical)
intro (orphans -didn't make group list)
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Hump Day Hottie: Ralph Fiennes

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JA from MNPP here, adopting the HDH authorship reins from Nat for a moment to give a little appreciation to (slash rant over) a man I've come to feel defensive over lately in what appears to me to be an endless onslaught of oversights. Basically what I'm getting at is...

Where the heck
is the Ralph Fiennes love?

Granted I'm starting to seem obnoxious with my praise-singing for the man so perhaps nothing short of a Presidential bid would sate my thirst, but I think Meryl knew well enough at the SAGs when she planted a big wet one on him - what better way to celebrate? I wish the world would follow suit. Ralph should be positively drowning in sloppy-tongued accolades, yet it's as if a giant cricket croaks its weary tune whenever it comes to an enthusiastic reception of his consistently admirable work.

And I don't get it. From where I'm standing the man gave two fine performances this year: oh sure, his work in The Reader is the sort of understated stuff that awards bodies hardly ever go anywhere near (what clip could they possibly show when he never screams or cries or bleeds out?), but what really saddens me is the lack of love for his delightfully profane comic performance in In Bruges, which was one of the funniest things I've seen all year. Just imagine a clip of his "Inanimate Object" speech smacking up against Phillip Seymour Hoffman's beatific glow in Doubt! That's what magic is made from.

And that Ralph can swing so effortlessly from that bared-teeth f-bomb snarl in Bruges to that quiet bruised stare in The Reader... I haven't seen it but he appears to have made powerful work of the part of Doris Duke's swishy butler in the TV movie Bernard and Doris opposite Susan Sarandon... then earlier this year he was seducing and destroying Keira Knightly in The Duchess... and then there's his recurring gig as the Evilest Evil To Ever Evil called Voldemort He Who Shall Not Be Named...

Well I ask you, where does Ralph's never-ending parade of talent slam into the critical praise that he so richly deserves, that's what I want to know. Somebody tell me where that place is, cuz I'm booking a room. Me and Ralph and a medieval f@$%ing bowling alley for two!

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Good Things in Small Packages

Some wonderful things that come in tiny packages:

cupcakes, old fashioned letters, gifts, reese's peanut butter cups, glitter, gift certificates, fortunes, mp3s, rings, cream filling, Kristin Chenowith, eyeshadow, matches, pills, kittens...

And something else, too: performances. There are no small parts. I'm thinking of this today because my friend Tom told me about a spill Lena Olin took at a Variety screening of The Reader recently. She was descending the insanely steep steps of the Sunshine Cinema in huge heels. He describes

As she was about half way down, Lena stumbled... she was only saved from a serious fall by running smack into Ralph Fiennes's back (his strong, silent, brooding back). She was clearly startled and embarrassed...and probably saw her whole life flash before her eyes...plummeting to her death at the Sunshine Cinemas. How pathetic would that have been...to die for a Q&A? And where was Sydney Bristow when we needed her?

Seriously steep steps @ Sunshine (selling point: the seating for screenings is superb) sssssssssss

Anyway... Lena has a terrifically brittle scene very late in The Reader... which got me to thinking? Which are your favorite very brief acting turns this year? One scene or frequently appearing but totally backgrounded wonders. People you could technically lift out of the movies and still have a movie (I'm not talking about the Viola Davises in Doubt here since that whole movie requires her lynchpin scene to work.). Yes, I'm looking for FYC ideas for my "Best Performances in a Cameo or Limited Role" (last year's nominees if you need a refresher) at the ninth annual FiLM BiTCH Awards which begin in but 3 weeks time.
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20:08 (Best Pictures From the Outside In)

screenshots from the 20th minute and 8th second of movies.
I use a VLC but different DVDs do come up with slightly different screenshots. It's an inexact exercize.

It's a very plum... plum

Even Pee Wee Herman would love this redundant statement from The English Patient. 'Mmm, plummy!' But it gets at one of the best things about the movie, the feast it offers the senses.


In this first frame from Gone With the Wind, "Good Morning Scarlett", our heroine is all ablur ready to wreak havoc at the Wilkes Plantation. In the second frame (20:08 if you remove the overture) she's transferring her affections to Charles when she can't find a wedge inbetween Ashley & Melanie, newly betrothed.

Charles Hamilton, I want to eat barbecue with you! And mind you don't go philandering with any other girls because I might be jealous.

Such a troublemaker, that one! Or as her husband hunting rivals call her, "a hornet".

Visit Nick's Flick Picks for the new episode of Best Pictures From the Outside In as Mike, Nick and I tackle these two film giants, two of the longest best picture winners evah. "Fiddle Dee Dee"

And here's a chart of all episodes as per requests
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Time to Read The Reader ?

As I'm sure you heard, The Reader, a WW II themed literary adaptation starring Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet is now heading for a December 12th release after months of rumors and speculation about continued delays. I know this will strike many as big 7 or 8 on the Awards Richter Scale, i.e. total Bait™Quake news -- lots of damage ahead to other contestants. But I'm leaning towards: not so much... maybe a 4 [i.e. noticeable shaking of items, rattling noises. Significant damage unlikely]

Sure, it sounds golden and both stars are still unOscared (I know!) but haven't the Weinsteins lost their touch with AMPAS since losing Miramax. Which recent campaign run by the Weinstein's has had all that successful of a run towards the Kodak theater? Part, though certainly not all, of the problem is that they only know how to do one campaign style:

1. Release very late in the year at a scarcity of theaters
2. Resist adding theaters. My god, only do that if you actually get Oscar nominations.
   
3. Spend lots of money on schmoozing precursor bodies instead
4. Cross fingers

I'm snarkily oversimplifying, sure, but my point is this: the annual Oscar race is an evolving beast and unless I missed some major development, they haven't done much evolving. This was a successful style of campaigning 10 years ago. Recent history suggests that it doesn't work as well anymore. The Weinstein's were very clumsy with the release of I'm Not There for example and ended up botching 'Blanchett's Second Oscar' momentum that her fans were so excited for. Not that I'm complaining, loving Tilda Swinton as I do.

On a now unrelated note -- The Reader makes me think of the 2009 Oscar race. That's how I'd come to think of it -- I must tell you a tragic story. Bored on the subway last night, awaiting my stop, I was killing time playing with my iPhone's Magic 8 Ball. On a whim I asked the truth-telling device "Will Michelle Pfeiffer's performance in Chéri next year finally win her that damn Oscar?" I gave my phone a gentle shake and you know what that Magic 8 Ball told me?


Unhappy with the answer, I decided to go for 2 out of 3. My Magic 8 Ball got even meaner.
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Ubiquitous in 2008 (Pt 1)

Last year we investigated actors who might dominate 2007, hard working SAG card holders with 3 or more movies arriving. Oddly many didn't have a "big" year. Will the casting director pets of 2008 fare better? You might want to buy stock in the following careers...

Ubiquitous Actors
Part 1 ~ A-K scroll down
for Part 2 ~ L-Z (click here)

If you're the type of moviegoer who regularly asks "who's in it?" than you're going to love the new year of movies or hate it depending on how you feel about these thesps, who might be all over your screens. This year is tougher to guess about since the ripples of the now ended writer's strike might be felt and actors themselves could go on strike soon. You'll be surprised to note that Cate Blanchett is not on this list. But be warned: she will be just as ubiquitous as ever on magazine covers, red carpets and screens this year since her two '08 projects will both be inescapable: it doesn't get much more high profile than Indiana Jones and the Place of the Thing or the reunion of Se7en's director and star David Fincher & Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Both films are already in post-production so there's plenty of time for her to squeeze in something else. She doesn't sleep.

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Amy Adams has just woken up from her nap in a nearby meadow and hollow tree. Everyone's favorite new princess is ready for more close-ups. None of her upcoming films are as blockbuster-friendly as Enchanted but it's a safe assumption that she'll continue to sparkle in them. First up is Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, a period comedy in which she hires Frances McDormand as her personal assistant. Later she'll be cleaning crime scenes with another rapidly rising beauty (Emily Blunt) in Sunshine Cleaning, before putting on the nun's habit for the adaptation of the Pulitzer winning stage play Doubt (with Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour-Hoffman). A lot of people will be predicting Doubt for a swath of Oscar nominations. It's an exciting water-cooler type experience as a stage play but as a film? We'll see.

Jennifer Aniston. Proclaiming that the ex Mrs. Pitt will be "ubiquitous" in a calendar year is a little like claiming that Michelle Pfeiffer will be beautiful, Tom Cruise crazy and Britney Spears tragic. But, let's say so anyway. Could be a bigger year that usual. She's part of the all star ensemble in the dramatization of the best-seller He's Just Not That Into You, she has the lead role in the romantic comedy Management and she's filming Traveling , a drama with Aaron Eckhart. Three more films are lined up beyond that to so she'll stay spotlit well into 2009.

Eric Bana The former Incredible Hulk won't go green this year (that gamma curse has now fallen on Ed Norton) but he's definitely earning some. Things get hot and heavy quickly. This month bring us the Australian drama Romulus, My Father with German wonder Franka Potente (Run Lola Run, The Bourne Identity) as his co-star as well as the already-in-theaters The Other Boleyn Girl (pictured right) in which he muscles Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson into his bed, poor things. He'll follow that by freaking Rachel McAdams out in The Time Traveler's Wife and he was supposed to cap the year off with some sort of glorified cameo in Star Trek as "Nero" but the movie is now pushed back to summer 2009. When tent-poles are delayed its often a bad sign.

Elizabeth Banks is F***ing Seth Rogen (offkey!) on YouTube

Elizabeth Banks, that naughty nozzle-loving comic delight from The 40 Year Old Virgin, is gracing the Vanity Fair fold-out for a reason. She's got a passel of movies coming out. The romantic Definitely, Maybe (Ryan Reynolds is a lonely dad and Abigail Breslin his matchmaking daughter) is already out. Later in the year she'll appear in the horror thriller A Tale of Two Sisters but it's a trio of comedies that could bestow A list status by year's end. She has the lead female role in the odd summer film Starship Dave in which a human-looking spaceship (Eddie Murphy) falls for her, displeasing the aliens who live inside him. Later in the year she returns with her Wet Hot American Summer co-horts Paul Rudd and writer/director David Wain for Little Big Men and she's also one of the two title characters in the upcoming comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Zack is Seth Rogen). At Christmas time we might see her in Lovely, Still an elderly romance starring Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn.

Emily Blunt is a tease. She glided down the stairs in just a man's dress shirt and her skivvies in Charlie Wilson's War (yowza) and then *poof* disappeared from the movie, leaving you wanting much more. As the top hat top girl on the new Vanity Fair Hollywood cover the year looks promising. First up is a co-starring gig with another cover girl Amy Adams in Sunshine Cleaning. She also has a supporting role in The Great Buck Howard an indie with John Malkovich as an over the hill entertainer. Most importantly, if Oscar history is any indication, she'll be enjoying an awards run next winter for the biopic The Young Victoria (previously discussed here) in which she plays... well, you've already figured that out. Oscar does love a royal. But... they don't always love younger queens. We'll see.

Jim Broadbent. Fans of this delightful and often inspired character actor have been hankering for another 2001. Remember that? He was right there providing dramatic, moving or hilarious support to 60% of the Best Actress nominees (in Moulin Rouge!, Iris, and Bridget Jones Diary) and he won the Oscar, too. This year could be as big. We hope that the father/son drama And When Did You Last See Your Father? (already completed) makes it to America. Then there are supporting roles in the aforementioned The Young Victoria and and some fantastical probable blockbusters like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Inkheart and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In the latter he has the plum role of potions instructor Horace Slughorn who has crucial information about Lord Voldemort's youth.

Daniel Brühl. Who loves this German actor (most recently seen in The Bourne Ultimatum and Two Days in Paris)? Raise your hands. Oh, so many of you! I keep wishing he'd have more of an international breakthrough... or at least something as big as Goodbye Lenin again to remind people about him. With European stars it's nearly impossible to know whether or not we'll get to see any of their films but he's got several going on so if the distributors are kind we'll see some of the following: In Tranzit (a WW II drama with Vera Farmiga) A Tram in SP (plot unknown) Krabat (a German fantasy about sorcerers), John Rabe (a German biopic about a businessman who saved hundreds of thousands of lives during the Nanjing Massacre in the late 30s). And he's already signed for a few more. Chief among them is Julie Delpy's period epic The Countess about the infamous 16th century noblewoman Erzebet Bathory who bathed in blood and inspired all those vampire stories. The cast is in place so we hope Delpy speeds it through production. Hurry up you crazy multi-talented French wonder!

Bradley Cooper. Was I just imagining it or was he not well liked in those first couple of seasons of Alias? It's years later and he's in demand and delighting audiences. He was laugh out loud funny on Nip/Tuck this year as a narcissistic actor with no boundaries and now he has four motion pictures due. He's part of a strong cast in Peyton Reed's (Bring It On, The Break Up) next comedy Yes Man (Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Terence Stamp also star) which is due this Christmas.


He's part of the huge star-studded ensemble of He's Just Not That Into You but the key to a future A list movie career might be found in what he does with the title role in All About Steve. Sandra Bullock is his stalker in that Fox comedy. As if that comedy triple feature weren't enough he's also got the lead in the summer horror film Clive Barker's Midnight Meat Train.

Daniel Craig I saw him first. No seriously. At this point I'm totally annoyed with all his new crazed fans and the entire blogosphere posting any picture of him they can find. Where were you when I was shouting his praises before Bond. Huh? You were complaining when I did saying 'he's weird looking'. Now, will you learn to trust me when I fawn over an actor you haven't heard of? Anyway Bond is back in Quantum of Solace but that's in November. Before then, cross your fingers, we could see him in the memoir-of-a-star drama Flashbacks of a Fool. After Bond, he'll close the year with Defiance which is directed by Edward Zwick. Zwick never gives up chasing that Oscar dragon. So many baity projects on paper (Glory, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall, Courage Under Fire, Blood Diamond) but the Academy never completely bites down once they're on screen. The bait this time? Jewish brothers leading a resistance movement in the Belarussian forest against the Nazis during World War II. Will Zwick finally capture gold?

Melonie Diaz. I don't usually do Sundance but I hear that if you bought tickets to anything she was in it. The new indie queen? We'll see. I hold a special place in my heart for anyone who was in Raising Victor Vargas (seriously, put it on your rental queue) and this year she's in the comedy Be Kind Rewind (out right now with Jack Black and Mos Def) I'll Come Running (a romantic drama), American Son (an indie about a Marine on leave) and the comedy/mystery Assassination of a High School President which I can't really recommend but in which she is her usual adorable self... and I'll give her this --she does a fine drunken dance in a hot red dress.

Robert Downey Jr is in one--OK, let me rephrase: the rumor is that Downey Jr will appear in not one but two superhero films this year. Which means he's going to have a very big year. Basically if you're in even one you're as high profile as it gets. Iron Man we're well aware of. But it's rumored that that tin man will have a cameo in The Incredible Hulk too. I think that's a smart move on Marvel Entertainment's part, even if it's not true. He's also got two comedies: he plays the principal to a therapist teen in the high school comedy Charlie Bartlett and he's part of the comedic crowd in Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder about a group of actors becoming soldiers. Finally and with the most trepidation I approach The Soloist . It's directed by the talented rising star Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice) but the subject matter sounds terrible on paper: a schizophrenic homeless musician (Jamie Foxx) with big dreams. Doesn't that sound so 90s and Desperately Seeking Oscar? Yikes.

Ralph Fiennes needs to get his calendar in order. It seems like we never see him. And then we see him constantly. And then we never see him. 2008 is Fiennes-full. In Bruges a gangster comedy is the first attack. Bernard and Doris a long delayed never released biopic with Susan Sarandon should be on DVD soon, and a war drama The Hurt Locker which finally brings director Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, Strange Days) back to the action genre where she made her name. He's also Duke to Keira Knightley's The Duchess and for his last act of 2008, he could be in the Oscar race again (it's been a long time) co-starring with Kate Winslet in Stephen Daldry's (The Hours) adaptation of the novel The Reader. But since the new Harry Potter picture focuses on Voldemort's youth, word is that you won't see him in that one. Still... I wouldn't be surprised if they worked in a cameo somehow.

Colin Firth is a star I don't really get. I'm agnostic about his charms....you might even say atheistic. Yet the abundant love others feel for this everyman Brit is impossible to deny. If you're a Firth lover you'll be happy to hear he's got a whole bunch of celluloid coming your way. Mamma Mia! (he'll play an old paramour of Meryl Streep's), Genova (a new drama with a strong role for him opposite Catherine Keener and Hope Davis), And When Did You Last See Your Father? (if it ever opens in America), The Accidental Husband (an Uma Thurman romantic comedy), St. Trinian's (a girl's school drama with Rupert Everett), Then She Found Me (directed by Helen Hunt) and even more films are on their way --at least three already marked for 2009. Colin Firth = busy.

Gael García Bernal. Unlike Daniel Brühl listed above, Gael is a foreign star who has broken out in America. He turns 30 this year and he's already one of the best actors on the planet. It still feels like the sky is the limit. So why aren't we getting all of his Spanish language films? Grrrrr. And, more to the typical Hollywood point: why isn't he being cast in more English language films when his English is fine? If we're lucky we'll see him this year in Déficit (which Gael directs and stars in), The Past (a romantic breakup drama from Hector Babenco -still best known for helming the Oscar nominated Kiss of the SpiderWoman, 1985), Rudo y Cursi (inside the world of competitive soccer, directed by Carlos Cuarón), Mammoth (the new international film from the controversial Swedish director Lukas Moodyson). But if we don't see any of those we will at least be seeing the diminutive star with giant talent in Oscar hopeful Blindness in which he plays 'King of Ward 3'. A lot more on that film in previous posts.

Anne Hathaway makes me go goo-goo eyed. I just. Well... I just. I'm sorry but I do. I'm happy to report that she has the high profile role of Agent 99 (who I had a huge crush on as a wee boy) in Get Smart . Later she's part of the dramatic ensemble in Passengers and last but definitely not least she headlines Dancing with Shiva about a recovering junkie and ex-model (Hathaway) returning home for her sister's wedding. The reason I'm excited for it --apart from the Hathaway love is that it's a Jonathan Demme original. He's had a rough go of filmmaking this past decade doing a lot of poorly received remakes of superior films. But I'm hoping that we see a burst of his 80s spirit and invention this time out. Demme was once an important director for actresses who were looking to step it up. He directed Melanie Griffith's best work in Something Wild (1986). He gave Michelle Pfeiffer (who he claimed was his favorite actress) one of her best roles in Married to the Mob (1988), and she was never looser or funnier in another comedy. And before he started fumbling his career he won the Oscar directing Jodie Foster to her second statuette for The Silence of the Lambs. Will he work magic with Anne Hathaway and Debra Winger (who plays her mother)?

Angelina Jolie reminded people about her Mighty Talent in 2007 so this year she goes back to just being a diva. You'll hear her as the voice of Master Tigress in Kung Fu Panda and you'll see her in the flesh tossing around a lot of heavy artillery in the politically suspect action movie Wanted in which she and Morgan Freeman convince James McAvoy to be a wolf rather than a sheep. Shoot first, second, third and fourth. Ask questions much later. Most importantly, she'll play the lead in the 20s drama The Changeling for Clint Eastwood. Eastwood pictures lately have a habit of being major Oscar players but who knows. He made a lot of movies that weren't Oscary before he was suddenly the Academy's favorite septugenarian. We'll see.

Catherine Keener, an actor's actor and audience fav', will have five to seven pictures out this year (!) In no particular order there's An American Crime (delayed from last year) in which she abuses Ellen Page in her basement. Strangely it's going to cable instead of the theater. You'd think distributors would want to catch little "Juno" while she's hot. Catch her and tie her up in the basement! Keener will also be featured in Michael Winterbottom's next, Genova which is about a father raising three young girls. I've already written a big post on Synecdoche, New York which is screenwriter Charlie Kauffman's directorial debut. Keener is currently filming the next Joe Wright picture The Soloist where she'll appear with Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. Plus: we might get her fourth collaboration with writer/director Nicole Holofcener. That's a director/actor pair worth getting excited about. But that's not all. Catherine was featured in two Sundance ensembles in January. Sometimes Sundance movies take more than 12 months to make it to a theater near you but at some point you'll be able to see the high school theater comedy Hamlet 2 and the inside Hollywood satire What Just Happened? with Robert DeNiro.

Will these 17 actors lead you into the movie theater?

Continue to Part Two

related posts: 2008 Preview "We Can't Wait"

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