Monday, September 19, 2005

Busy as Bees

I'm happy as a clam that Michelle Pfeiffer is ACTUALLY FILMING A MOVIE right now. I'm hoping it leads to a flurry of activity from the goddess. But if it doesn't at least some other greats are working frequently again. What's up with actors when it comes to that seesaw of years of inactivity and then tons of work (*cough* Jill Clayburgh *cough*) ? Civilians pretty much just have to work all the time. But I guess actors can take 2 to 5 years off and then suddenly be in demand again.

Meryl Streep has, according to IMDB, nine pictures forthcoming in the next couple of years. Prime with Uma Thurman is out next month (internet buzz will explode next weekend since test screenings are being held soon) Prairie Home Companion from Robert Altman is bound to get people talking next year. She's doing voice work on two pictures, there's a throwaway picture for young adults with Anne Hathaway. Flora Plum, Jodie Foster's cursed circus project is remarkably still on Streep's schedule to. But the one to watch from this vantage point (outside of the Altman musical) is Dirty Tricks the Watergate era comedy that could net Streep that third Oscar she's been waiting 23 years for.

Also in that Watergate film is Annette Bening who would already have an Oscar were it not for the one who shall not be named. Provided the one who shall not be named hasn't made a recurring three-Oscar pact with Beelzebub, Mrs Warren Beatty might be able to nab the statue soon now that she's working full time again. She's got six pictures in the works after several spare years of family life. The murder dramaMrs Harris just played at TIFF (the cast is full of name actors: Bening, Kingsley, Burstyn, Sevigny, and Leachman among others) but no word on its release pattern just yet. Next year's Running with Scissors gives her a crazy juicy role as a bipolar lesbian mother. And there is still the all-star version of The Women to consider. Though that's probably more an intended comedy blockbuster than a play for Oscar glory.

Bening and Streep aren't just working hard...they're getting juicy lead roles. Calling Sigourney Weaver, Glenn Close, Kathleen Turner, Winona Ryder, Angela Bassett, and Michelle Pfeiffer! Are you paying attention? Step it up. It's time to get busy and really commit yourself to grabbing that naked gold man. He may have played hard to get in the past but it's never too late.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice to see Annette back out there. She'll definitely win it eventually. But I'm not so optimistic about Pfeiffer (sorry). For some reason she has an aura of a Scorcese. Lots of noms but never enough for a win.

I'm fully pumped for A Prairie Home Companion because not only of Altman but because of that that cast. Streep, Lohan, Tomlin, Harrelson, Lee Jones, Kline, Madsen, Reilly.

On APHC's IMDb page they have this bit of trivia that will forever mock her.

"Trivia: Michelle Pfeiffer was originally slated to play the mysterious "Angel of Death", but then backed out of the project. (more)"

-Glenn

Anonymous said...

Mrs. Harris will most probably be released on HBO next spring and nab Annette (and hopefully Cloris) an Emmy nom at least

Anonymous said...

Poor Sigourney Weaver. She must want her Oscar "comeback," considering those no-buzzed but nevertheless bait-ish roles she's taken in The Guys and Imaginary Heroes, but...Will Oscar ever bite?

But, Nathaniel, how's about Melanie Griffith? Wouldn't you love to see her (finally) snag herself the statuette she thought she won for Working Girl? Then she could declare, on stage, how important empty our world would be without hubby Antonio. Yay.

Now, off to bed!

Joe R. said...

I can't imagine how Sigourney or anyone could see suburban dysfunction flicks like Imaginary Heroes as bait-y these days. That genre peaked with American Beauty (in terms of Oscarability not necessarily quality) and has gone swiftly downhill since. They're just so uninspired these days.

I didn't particularly hate Imaginary Heroes or anything, but Sigourney wasn't getting anything for playing Pot Smoking Parent #22374 in a Family Dysfunction Suburban Underbelly Self-Conscious Indie movie.

end rant.

Anonymous said...

She needs to play a diva!!! or a downtrodden miserable wreck. Then she'll win.

-Glenn