"Uma. Nathaniel" "Nathaniel. Uma" I still remember my introduction to this woman vividly. We were both much younger. I was anxious to get to the theater for Dangerous Liaisons but as I sat down the faces that I was longing to gaze at were those of Close & Pfeiffer. The first was hot hot hot and due for Oscar at the time and the latter was closing out a big year with her third success (following Tequila Sunrise and Married to the Mob). But as the reels unspooled it became clear that there were lots of other people milling about onscreen (the nerve!).One of those was the quivering naive Cecile played by Uma Thurman. It was impossible not to notice her given that amazingly fresh and sculptural face. It didn't hurt that her romantic interest was a similarly blessed unique looker, Keanu Reeves. But let's be honest. It wasn't Uma's face that first hooked audiences, nor the performance. I still remember the gasp heard around the movie theater when she pulled off her top for John Malkovich [NSFW]. I still remember the dream I had about her later--oh, sorry TMI!
Fortunately for Uma she proved to have the talent to keep audiences drooling for years to come. Just two years later she gave an awesome theatrical star turn in Henry & June. That sexually provocative film had lots of nudity but I still maintain that it was Uma's (mostly) clothed star turn and her smoldering in-your-face eroticism, that raised temperatures enough to provoke the ratings board into creating a new rating. The NC-17 was born.Uma's filmography, performances and even her willingness to use her sensuality onscreen have been wildly inconsistent... but when she's "on" she is one for the pantheon. She proved it again just recently with that Kill Bill led revival. She returns to the screen again in two days for My Super Ex Girlfriend so I send her love now in case the critical and box office reception is unkind. Robert and Nena Thurman done right when they named their daughter Uma. It's an unforgettable name for an unforgettable woman.
Previously on "Hump Day Hotties"
Cheyenne Jackson -extreme stage hottie crossing over to film.
HDH Season One - Jake Gyllenhaal, Lady Tottington, and more...
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Uma Thurman, Kill Bill, Henry & June, movies, film, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Dangerous Liaisons, Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer
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7 comments:
Uma was at her sexiest in the Kill Bill films IMO. and she wasn't too shabby in Pulp Fiction either.
and Nat, shame on you, you should have made Pfeiffer your hump day hottie, with these new photos from next month's issue of INSTYLE:
http://pfeiffer.morrisseydesignstudio.com/main.htm
but I guess there's only so much Pfeiffer your readers can take after a while...hehe =)
Uma is not an actress "for the pantheon". Her best work is that of a muse to Quentin Tarantino, who knows how to get career best work from any number of actors (Pam Grier, Robert Forster, Sam Jackson, John Travolta, Uma, Michael Madsen). I don't always credit directors for performances, but in the case of Uma in Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction, I give most of the credit to Tarantino. She's simply never been that interesting an actress on her own.
She's no more than a competent actress when left to her own devices. Even Michael Madsen can look like a genius actor in the hands of Tarantino. Away from Tarantino, Madsen is just as as "blah" an actor as Thurman.
Mind you, Uma Thurman is blessed with one of the most fascinating movie faces in ages - she has shown enormous expressiveness in lot of films, not just Tarantino's, and to credit the director for the full greatness of a performance is downright silly, I say. She's wildly uneven, to be sure, but that's part of what makes her so interesting.
PS: Nat, have you seen the new Pfeiffer pics? Holy Mama.
and notice i did use a qualifier "when she is 'on'..."
but i find it difficult to argue or quibble with her work in Henry & June or the Tarantino films. In all three cases she's out of this world.
she's just one of those actors. she needs to be cast very specifically
baby, you deserved two noms for the kill bill series.
(and had they been made into one film, you should've gotten the damn thing itself.)
(and she was the only one of the 'les miserables' cast who got considerable raves for her perf, if i remember correctly.)
Yowza! That picture of Uma in the green dress with the fishnets is HOT! *fans*
You can tell how much I love my Uma by the simple fact that I christened my annual movie awards The UMAs.
Uma is a great actress. Her most remarkable performances have been those in Henry & June, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill Vol.1 and Vol.2 but I also liked her roles in Beautiful Girls, Gattaca, Prime and The Producers, she was so charming in those films.
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