Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Hump Day Hotties: Best Actress

In keeping with this blog's total slavish devotion to Hollywoods' naked gold man this time o' year, today's hump day hottiness features your entire Best Actress lineup sans Ellen Page who is old enough to appear nude on Vanity Fair like Scarlett or Keira (not that she would) but still too young for today's feature*.

First up, Marion Cotillard... one not so secret weapon she has on the Kodak theater campaign trail is that she's totally hot.


It's not a surprise to me since I follow the movies but a lot of media pundits seem very impressed that she's not actually a hunched over decaying 40-going-on-80-year-old singing junkie ! Those deglam points do come in handy when you're gunning for the Oscar.


Then there's our Mary Ann --and I mean that in both the Tales of the City way and in the Gilligans Island way too --known as The Lovely Laura Linney. She seldom really capitalizes on her apple cheeked beauty but she's hardly difficult to gaze upon. Wouldn't you love to see her take on a totally slutty role? I know I would. I loved her steaminess (however brief) in P.S. when she was seducing Topher Grace. Bring on the inner vamp, Linney. And very soon. Like the symposium decreed: step out of the comfort zone.

Ahhhh, Julie Christie. Y'all already know of my love.


I have to think that some of the internet negativity about her mini awards sweep is that younger moviegoers just aren't familiar with her. She hasn't bothered to stay in the limelight and film culture is really weak on getting people invested in older films. Which is a shame. But if one does see the films (Darling, McCabe and Mrs Miller, Shampoo, that wicked cameo in Nashville, etcetera...) it's difficult not to be bewitched. And, though it isn't right to judge new work based on past work, we all do it. It's impossible to forget Meryl Streep's entire career when you're seeing a new Meryl Streep performance, you know? And it's impossible (if you're familiar with Christie's legend) not to be even more affected by Away From Her, since Christie is a star that withdrew from the movies and faded away on her farm in England. It's like you're losing her all over again when you watch the movie. Heartbreaking.

And finally, there's this complete and utter unknown ...still struggling to break into Hollywood.


This Oscar nomination might totally help her find work!

In all of the fawning and hyperbole for her acting, sometimes more than justified and sometimes frightening in its cult-like fervor, people don't focus on the cheekbones enough. Cheekbones by god! Also, she's a stone cold fox. But that still doesn't mean I wouldn't be happy to have a wee break. Blanchett will never be able to star effectively in a movie like Away From Her because she will never give us enough distance to feel like we're losing her.

* to all the readers who are upset that Ellen Page is not featured.
Yes, yes, she's cute.
But didn't she try to castrate the last man who looked at her funny? And he so pretty. Who'd want to ruin that? So, let's not go there until she's oh... 26 or something.

**

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

A great blog!!!!

Anonymous said...

In my opinion (and I have many), you have achieved the rare feat of making me think of Cate Blanchett not as a superb actress, but as a sexual creature. That's one heck of a photo.

And Marion Cotillard also has my love.

c.p. iñor said...

Love the comments about the unknow Blanchett (here and in the Best Actress page "# of films") you are hilarious Nat.

Everyday I love you more.

Linney is HOT in P.S.... I would love to see her in a slutty role.

Blanchett and Cotillard are also absolutely SEXY!

and well... the BEAUTIFUL Christie is still one of the HOTTEST actresses in film history.

Anonymous said...

I've never thought of Blanchett as hot until that picture. Whoa.

Anonymous said...

And where's my favorite little child-looking Canadian lesbian at?

:P

Fox said...

Thank you for blogging on the hotness of Cotillard! For some reason, my friends do not agree. Seeing her as a orange-haired and frail Edith Piaf may have something to do with that.

Glenn Dunks said...

There is a film still from Away From Her where Christie is looking out the window holding a cup of coffee and... just... wow. She looks so beautiful. Utterly beguiling.

Anonymous said...

for a while there towards the end, i thought you'd call blanchett SHE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED. haha

-ryansumera

Y Kant Goran Rite said...

I'm among the younger moviegoers more than a little tired of the Julie Christie sweep. It's not because she's unfamiliar to me or that I don't respect her older performances: I've seen and enjoyed all the ones you mentioned, esp. Mrs. Miller, and I thought she was lovely in Away from Her. But this was not the only leading performance by an actress this year and neither was it inarguably the best. I don't mind her picking up trophies here and there (and I care little whether the Oscar is one of them), but I keep getting this feeling that Helen Mirren has hypnotised the world into believing she is Julie Christie this year and is still winning awards for The Queen. I like to see a second actress (and movie she headlined) get some recognition from time to time. And I wonder also, if Christie gave the exact same performance in a Romanian Alzheimer's drama, whether she'd be placing on all these ballots.

The Jaded Armchair Reviewer said...

I have a special place in my heart for Julie Christie because of her performance as Liz in the movie Billy Wilder. I will only stop loving Julie Christie when I find my own version of Liz because damn, who wouldn't want someone like her for a best friend? ;)

Anonymous said...

and ellen page is nowhere to be found why? she's hotter than most actresses in "young" hollywood

Anonymous said...

Do people still think Cate Blanchett deserved to get nominated for "The Golden Age"?
She may be a great actress, but she is not infallible. Her shrieking queen might be popular within camp lovers, but when it comes to oscar glory, it`s an entire different situation.
Where is Helena Bonham-Carter rightful nomination for "Sweeney Todd"?

Peter said...

booo... stop the anti-Ellen Page bias! She's hot too!

Otherwise, great post.

NATHANIEL R said...

i have updated the post to reflect your ELLEN PAGE needs

Anonymous said...

Blanchett is hot, if you have a thing for horses.

The other three are genuinely sexy women.

And thank you for not including Page. She looks like a (sullen) little kid, especially in that EW cover. The people who find her "hot" most likely love that infamous first song from Gigi...

Glenn Dunks said...

Umm, Goran both Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page won several awards this season if I'm not mistaken. In fact weren't we all discussing after the first two weeks or so of the season that Christie and Cotillard were pretty neck and neck with the wins. It's just with the bigger awards shows where she's taken over (and even then, Cotillard still won a globe for a perf that was neither musical or comedic so people obviously like her!)

Anonymous said...

Marion Cotillard's performance was musical enough and fit into the category placement just fine (just like Jamie Foxx, Reese Witherspoon, etc., did), and I loved that she won the Globe for the role. And also, I've seen many performances by Julie Christie, but that has nothing to do with me not liking her "Away From Her" sweep. There was just better performances out there that should be sweeping this year, like Marion Cotillard, or for that matter the snubbed Angelina Jolie, Ellen Page, or hell, I'll even take Nicole Kidman.

Glenn Dunks said...

Christie:
Dallas-Fort Worth
New York
Phoenix
San Diego
San Francisco
Toronto*
Washington DC
Southeastern Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
National Board of Review
Online Film Critics Society
BFCA Award
Golden Globe Award
SAG Award

Cotillard:
Boston
Hollywood
Los Angeles
Satellite Award
Golden Globe Award

Page:
Central Ohio
Chicago
Florida
Las Vegas
Toronto*
Gotham Award
Satellite Award

* denotes a tie

So, yes, she's won a lot, but Page and Cotillard didn't do too shabby themselves.

Last year Helen Mirren won every.single.award. Except one! ONE! And that went to Ellen Page (randomly). So... yeah... it wasn't as one sided as some people may think.

The Jaded Armchair Reviewer said...

It's not that Ellen Page castrated Patrick Wilson that irks me, it's that she had to lie about liking Goldfrapp that pissed me off. That sh!t just doesn't fly. >:(
(Was that not a big enough clue that she was insane??????? C'mon!)

Glenn Dunks said...

Anon, not to get into the debate yet again, but Reese actually sang and Foxx actually played the piano and Ray was significently about the creation of music.

But, again, I don't want that debate again.

Julie Christie has not swept the prizes. Not at all. If I were Ellen Page or Marion Cotillard and I lost the Oscar I'd still be happy with the swag I collected through the season.

NATHANIEL R said...

anonymous... cotillard's performance was not musical enough like Foxx's or Witherspoons. FOXX played his own piano. Witherspoon played AND sang the songs. what did Cotillard do other than lipsynch to make it a musical performance?

i guess i don't like the idea that lipsynching is a musical enough talent to win musical awards with.

ALTHOUGH ... when it comes to LYPSINKA i bow down... and throw flowers ... and underwear... and, whatever. L-O-V-E

Anonymous said...

The point was that it's a musical film that brought to life the musical works of the artist featured. Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Edith Piaf all fall into that category. Jamie Foxx's performance was mostly lip-synching. Yes, he did play the piano, but the vast majority of his "singing" wasn't his own. Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix did do their own singing, which is great for them, but I don't classify it as "they're better b/c they didn't lip-synch". It's about the full performance and the totality of what was brought to the character through the music. As for Marion Cotillard, yes, her performance is lipped, but that's not all of her performance at all. She gave life to all of those performances with conviction and emoting like she truly was Edith Piaf. Musical/comedy was the only placement she should have been in. Still, all of those Globes placements are fine in the musical/comedy category to me, and my view isn't changing on that.

The Jaded Armchair Reviewer said...

Slightly Random:

After all this discussion of Oscar and reading Nath's Oscar Party Planner, I think the opening montage should be of every acting nominee to deliver the "friendo" line. Or "honest to blog." Or heck, "friendo vs. honest to blog" contest. @_@

Anonymous said...

Yeah, but Christie has won all the major awards - except LA (and maybe Boston, if you're feeling generous re: that critic group's prestige level): NYC, NSFC, NBR, BFCA, GG, SAG. And probably BAFTA.

Comparatively, Cotillard has LA and GG (where she wasn't even competing with Christie).

Page didn't grab anything major.

So it's not an outright monopoly like Mirren's run last year, but it's clear domination nonetheless. It doesn't bother me particularly (even though Christie isn't in my own Top 5), but I can see why people are irritated by it.

Anonymous said...

Right. That's semantics, but if sweep isn't the right term, then replace it with majority (and that majority includes the biggies, and if you think those awards should have gone to someone else . . .).

NATHANIEL R said...

anonymous i think my point has been obscured for people because of my known dislove of the performance itself. My complaining about the musical/comedy win has NOTHING to do with the fact that I don't love the performance. It's based on the categorization is all...

those categories are a mess.

I mean, remember that BJORK was nominated for best actress in a drama for a musical in which she composed the score and did all her own singing.

it's just... it belonged in the drama category. if they want to give her the win there, fine. But it's not a comedic or a musical performance.

Anonymous said...

Well, for me, Marion Cotillard belonged in the musical/comedy category at the Globes, and the placement's always been fine. Agree to disagree I guess.

NATHANIEL R said...

so what do you make of that BJORK placement?

Anonymous said...

I don't "make" anything of it. If it had been placed in musical/comedy, I would have supported that too.

Anonymous said...

i find that pic of cate blanchett....for some reason....a bit creepy. she's not pin-up material at all. ewwwww.

Kurtis O said...

I loooove that photo shoot of Cate. A perfume ad, no? Gorgeous. I also love that you referrenced "Hard Candy" in explanation for the exclusion of Ms. Page. Funny.

Jason Adams said...

I don't know what it is, but Ellen Page reminds me of a Russian Nesting Doll. I think it's that her hairline starts at the top of her head.

I say this as a fan of hers, mind you.

Does this mean we'll get the Actors next week, Nat? Love these gals, but I'm way too close to a Kinsey 6 to get too hot and bothered over em. ;-)

Anonymous said...

"Love these gals, but I'm way too close to a Kinsey 6 to get too hot and bothered over em."

Love it! Comment du jour? More like comment de l'an.

Anonymous said...

for those who thought page's performance wasn't oscar worthy enough. you be juno, let's see how you fare. :)

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/07/dice-08-quirky-indie-hit-juno-to-birth-a-game/

-ryansumera

Anonymous said...

I don't get why Cotillard is considered "hot". She's cute, not hot, she doesn't scream sex, for me someone who's hot has to scream sex ! Bellucci, Jolie ar hot.. Cotillard is cute. Same goes for men.

Anonymous said...

Since I saw her in Chloe and A good year or like Tina Lombardi in A very long engagement... For me, Marion cotillard is one of the msot beautiful and sexy women in Europe... Christie is a legend and Blanchett has presence and style, including now, when she's pregnant she looks radiant, but Cotillard is a future european star in Hollywood like Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Catherine Deneuve

Anonymous said...

"The people who find her "hot" most likely love that infamous first song from Gigi..."

Would you like to be a bit more offensive while you're at it?

Cinesnatch said...

I think Laura Linney needs to tap into her inner-Alex Forrest.