Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Hump Day Hottie: 30 Years of Michelle Pfeiffer

Next Tuesday, November 25th marks the 30th anniversary of the very first filmed appearance of the legendary Michelle Pfeiffer. She had one line on a Fantasy Island episode... "Who is he Niobe?" To celebrate this landmark, Fran @ The Face (a great great pfan site) has compiled this video celebration.


Watch Michelle Pfeiffer, 30 Years of Career in Celebrity Videos | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

The first two minutes are montage but after that, it becomes a true event: a chronological completist stroll through her entire career (including TV appearances and voicework). It's 11 minutes and 47 seconds of Heaven... or my idea of heaven at any rate. One of my favorite things about the video is the thrill of watching the goddess get more and more beautiful as the years rush by. I also appreciate that the music changes just exactly when it should --round about 1987/1988 when her career went supernova (it was the combo of Witches of Eastwick / Married to the Mob / Dangerous Liaisons / Tequila Sunrise). This is my new favorite video. My cold dead heart nearly started beating again, my dry eyes nearly welled up -- so many memories rushing back along with reminder that I'll just never love another actress more ...and y'all know how big a statement that is given my, um, actressexual tendencies. Pfeiffer was with me as I took my first irreversible steps into cinephilia. She still sends me.

Here are my 10 arguably favorite pictures of Michelle Pfeiffer (yes I argue with myself about such things --you know it's so hard to choose)

Clockwise from top left: Photoshoot to promote Dangerous Minds (1995) -I heart the dangling "superstar", Herb Ritts imagined Pfeiffer as drag king in 1991, and finally: Actor/Photographer Jeff Bridges catches an candid moment on the set of Fabulous Baker Boys (probably 1988, she quit smoking not long thereafter) --I once nearly dropped... well way too much $ at a gallery for a breathtaking Bridges original of Pfeiffer atop the piano. If I were a rich man...


Left to right: by Rankin for Esquire in 2007 to celebrate her comeback, photographed by Davis Factor for Movieline in 2002... so atypically casual in denim.


Left to right: In 1990 by Jean Pagliuso when Russia House was coming out. That headshot is classic Pfeiffer. I'm not sure where I got the middle picture or who took it but it's one I've been obsessed with for a good while. Michael Thompson shot the actress for W in 1999... no one does ethereal miserabilism as well as she.


Left to right: Pfeiffer in Life magazine in 1986 by Co Rentmeester, Pfeiffer by Herb Ritts again in 1989 as she entered the pantheon of all time great silver screen beauties with the release of The Fabulous Baker Boys. It's never going to stop being frustrating that she lost the golden boy while everything in her career was screaming golden... even the photo shoots.
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16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, you surely know how to pay tribute to your loved ones! I love the Pagliuso photo but helloooo, isn't there something missing? Where is a photo from her greatest role ever? Needless to say which.


Jim

Anonymous said...

Omg, that was awesome. Pfeiffer will forever by my favorite actress. I cannot fathom ever loving another actress more than her. I reckon I have good taste. She did commercials before she got her one line on Fantasy Island though, right? I guess Fantasy Island was her first non-commercial filmed appearance. It would be awesome if the commercials she did after she first got her commercial agent would surface. It would be a hoot to watch!

My top 5 favorite Pfeiffer performances:

1. Fabulous Baker Boys (no surprise here)
2. Batman Returns (very close 2nd)
3. Married to the Mob (she is an underrated comedienne)
4. Frankie and Johnny (I know many were angry when she was cast, but I thought she gave a very touching performance)
5. Age of Innocence (lovely understated performance)

I need Cheri to come out NOW!

par3182 said...

wow, has it really been 27 years since i saw charlie chan & the curse of the dragon queen?

how come the rest of us mere mortals look worse as we age? that ain't fair

Karen said...

Great video tribute! My favorite Pfeiffer performance would have to be from Dangerous Minds.

Chris Na Taraja said...

she is stunningly beautiful, but that is more of anyone than I can handle at once. Modern people only have about 7 seconds of concentration. I was wowed for nearly a minute and a half though!

I can't say that she is my favorite actress, but she's damn good.

Anonymous said...

She definitely got more beautiful with age. So breathtaking, especially when she reached her 30s.

NATHANIEL R said...

chris --too much of Pfeiffer. Nay! You speak in riddles.

par --charlie chan is the only feature film of hers I haven't seen (I've missed some of the early tv stuff). I could never find it.

abstew said...

CUT TO: Feb 2010, the kodak theatre.
vo: please welcome a best actor winner for the movie MILK, sean penn.

sean says something about awards not meaning anything, blah, blah...and finally.

sean: and the oscar goes to...michelle pfeiffer CHERI!

Anonymous said...

I saw the Fabulous Baker Boys not too long ago and, well, WOW.

I mean...she was just...WOW.

I suddenly understand pfandom.

A.

Anonymous said...

i still can't get over her loss of a nom and win for white oleander a film i am not a fan of but her in it!!! up yours zeta jones!!!!

pfeiffer is for me one of the last true movie stars.

Anonymous said...

abstew, of only... I would be so happy if she got her long overdue Oscar for Cheri.

I agree she is one of the last great movie stars. One of the essential ingredients that most- if not all- great movie stars have is mystery, and she's got that in spades.

Amy Jane said...

Dude, you really gotta get some HELP!

NATHANIEL R said...

to amy jane: there is no cure.

Nor would I take it if one was invented!

Murtada said...

so what was she in with meryl streep... looked it up on imdb and couldn't find it
i thought there was a shot of both in this video

she's gorgeous

NATHANIEL R said...

i actually don't know (!!!!) but this collage obviously includes all her music videos so it must be one of them that i'm unaware of. Probably a benefit song since it's stars singing.

Anonymous said...

She was with Meryl Streep and a host of other celebrities in the 'Voice that Care' video clip to show support for the US troops in the first gulf war.

She's so great. I hope she gets good dramatic roles, in good films so that she can get that Oscar she missed out on.