"Is this how we dress for the office?"

.

"You look like a blood clot."

[Great Moments in Screen Bitchery #404, Bette Midler in Big Business]

JA from MNPP here. I just gave a ton of love to Lily Tomlin's performance in this movie over at MNPP. I probably have too high an opinion of this film but what can I say, I was eleven when it came out and deeply infatuated with everything Midler at the time.

And the way Bette's naive-country-twin studies the Grand Dame bitch of them all, Alexis Carrington (Joan Collins) in Dynasty, for clues on how to be a ruthless business woman!

As if Bette ever needed lessons on bitchiness from anybody!
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Birthday Suits and a Ballsy Actress

Today's stars! Well not literally today's but November 18th. Get a little history. Celebrate one of these cinematic entities today in whatever way occurs to you.

Senors Gilbert, Hemmings and Infante

1836 W.S. Gilbert of 'Gilbert & Sullivan' legend. If you've never seen Mike Leigh's exceptional biopic of this creative giant, Topsy-Turvy, drop everything right now and do so.
1908 Imogene Coca beloved comic actress, mostly known for TV roles
1917 Pedro Infante Mexico's biggest movie star ever. Here he is singing. Pedro Almodóvar fans will recognize this one immediately



1939 Margaret Atwood, best-selling much-awarded author. Strangely Hollywood doesn't seem to have taken to her in a big way. The Handmaid's Tale (1990) starring Natasha Richardson is one of the few adaptations
1939 Brenda Vaccaro, Midnight Cowgirl and she of one of the oddest Oscar nominations of all time... seriously, have you seen Once Is Not Enough? Here's StinkyLulu's look at that Oscar year.
1941 David Hemmings, actor. Star of Michelangelo Antonioni's riveting Blow-Up (1966). Also: Camelot, Barbarella and Gladiator...
1942 Linda Evans, silver helmeted TV diva, Mrs. Blake Carrington.
1952 Delroy Lindo Spike Lee regular, the voice of "Beta" in Up and fine stage actor -- recently saw him on stage with Garrett Dillahunt.
1953 Alan Moore, eccentric comicbook genius: From Hell, Watchmen, etc...
1960 Kim Wilde ♪ youjustkeepmehanginon
1960 Elizabeth Perkins Weeds has cast a long shadow backwards but remember when she was Wilma Flintstone or Demi Moore's bitchy BFF in About Last Night or Tom Hanks's girl in Big?
1968 Owen Wilson to me he'll always be Hansel. And Eli Cash. (mmmm, The Royal Tenenbaums). That scene where he describes the rules of Whack Bat in Fantastic Mr. Fox is pretty choice, too. "It's real simple..."

Finally, a happy 35th birthday to Chloë Sevigny who has never been shy about wearing suits, birthday or otherwise, in her rampage through fashion and film. It seems strange to me that this actress who debuted in the savage Kids and was no stranger to provocations (Brown Bunny, Boys Don't Cry, Gummo) would end up best known for television work (Big Love) ... but at least her excellence is within a semi subversive TV show.

Next Up: Mr. Nice starring Rhys Ifans and Barry Mundy starring Patrick Wilson without his balls. Won't anyone leave Patrick Wilson's private parts alone? I'm talking to you Kate Winslet, Malin Akerman, Ben Shenkman and especially Ellen Page !!!

Streep Nom #2, 1979

An open discussion thread for each of Streep's nominations. The nominees for 1979 were...

• Jane Alexander, Kramer vs. Kramer
• Barbara Barrie, Breaking Away
• Candice Bergen, Starting Over
  
• Mariel Hemingway, Manhattan
  
• Meryl Streep, Kramer vs. Kramer

...and Meryl won. The first of her two (only two. sigh) Oscar wins. As a little kid I was really into Breaking Away because my sister was in love with it... and I worshipped everything my big sister loved. Barrie was quite an endearing presence as the cycling nut's mom. Hemingway and Streep are my favorite among the nominees these days. The Golden Globe lineup went 3/5 with Oscar, trading out Mariel and Barbara for Valerie Harper in Chapter Two and Kathleen Beller in Promises in the Dark... yes that Kathleen Beller, "Kirby Colby" from Dynasty for your 80s nostalgia freaks! I personally still wonder if Oscar ought to have thrown a nomination towards crazy-eyed, long-legged, codependent dancing freak Ann Reinking in All That Jazz (more on her performance here).



Which performances are you most crazy about from 1979 and how close did Oscar get to your dream ballot?

Red Carpet Lineup. Hot Streaks

We haven't done a fashion lineup in a while, so here goes...some ladies walking the flashbulb-lined red this past week.


Even though Rumer Willis (who turns 21 this summer) is not what you'd call traditionally beautiful I admire that her public persona often screams "I'm hot shit!" I think you have to respect that. Martha Plimpton is hot shit on Broadway (where she's currently enjoying her 3rd consecutive TONY nomination) if nowhere else. But isn't Broadway enough? She seemed to give up on her dwindling movie career just as the new decade began. It pisses me off that most people only think Goonies! when they see her because, helloooo, she was so good in other 80s gems like Shy People, Mosquito Coast and Running on Empty back in her River Phoenix days. And though I barely recall it I seem to remember that she was hilarious in 200 Cigarettes (1999). Does anyone remember that holiday comedy?

Anne Hathaway is fierce. It's like she just stepped out of the opening credits of Dynasty -- loves it.

Audrey Tatou is... I have to admit I don't really get her though she was cute in Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie. I'm vaguely curious about (Le Fabuleux Destin de...) Coco Avant Chanel but isn't it weird how there's always a glut with bios? First the Shirley Maclaine TV movie and now this AND Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky. No Coco and then Coco tripled.

And I have to give credit when it's due: Renée Zellweger looked amazing at the Met Costume Ball. I'm totally confused. Gone is the weird 'she'll break in half' hot mess we've been seeing for years. The skin looks fresh, the dress is flattering... the eyes are open! It's a small miracle.

I've hidden Kerry Washington behind Renée because none of us should have to see that dress full on. Y'all know I've been rooting for Kerry for years but if she doesn't ascend in some memorable way in the next two years I don't think it's ever going to happen. She's got three movies on the way: Life is Hot in Cracktown with other semi-famous B & C listers, A Thousand Words with Eddie Murphy and what looks like an important supporting role in the acting showcase Mother & Child starring Annette Bening and Naomi Watts.

Marisa Tomei is here because I'm addicted. Why isn't everyone? I don't understand why she doesn't have 12 projects lined up post Wrestler. And as StinkyLulu pointed out -- here's to her longevity. She's been Oscar nominated in her 20s, 30s and 40s -- a rare feat. It's like Cher with #1 singles. Here's to a fourth Oscar nomination once Marisa hits her fifties.

And finally, one more note on "Miss Golden Globe 2008" (that'd be Rumer). She co-stars in her mother's directorial debut, a short film called Streak (pictured right). Brittany Snow plays an uptight sorority girl who is always counting calories and making herself miserable. One day she meets free spirit Rumer. There's some lesbo subtext/teasing and eventually the girls end up streaking together across campus. Streak beats you over the head with a 'love your body no matter what you weigh!' message but then when Brittany finally does love her body, stripping off her clothes in a moment of joyous abandon, we only see her from the neck up. It's total Message Dysmorphia. It's... unfortunate.

Love your extra lbs ... from the neck up!

I'm sorry Demi. I still love you. xoxo
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Ricardo Montalban: From Latin Lovers to Khan (1920-2009)

Yesterday was a heavy business day so I'm late on the news.

The most important movie item yesterday was the passing of Ricardo Montalban (pictured left, source). He was 88 years old when he passed away on Wednesday. His greatest fame came in the 80s from television. You may remember him as either "Mr. Roarke" on Fantasy Island, "Zach Powers" on Dynasty spinoff The Colbys or as the title villain in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) --the only Star Trek outing I've ever loved and largely thanks to him. Khan was a character he was reprising from a guest stint on the 60s television show and yes, that was his real chest in the movie. He was eating his spinach as a sexagenarian.

Like many actors who get choice supporting roles in genre movies and/or television stardom in their senior years, Montalban was already famous. He'd been both a working Broadway actor and a movie star in Mexico. Fiesta (1947) was the big breakthrough and like many bilingual foreign actors before him, Hollywood snapped him up. He became a contract player in the studio system.


His American movie career peaked in the 1950s when Montalban was in his 30s and often cast for his physicality and exotic beauty (Hollywood used to have a new ubiquitous 'Latin Lover' every decade, didn't they?). He starred in films like The Mark of the Renegade (1951) with Cyd Charisse, Latin Lovers (1953) with Lana Turner and Sayonara (1957) with Marlon Brando for which he won his only big screen acting nomination, the Golden Laurel (from an awards group that was short lived, lasting from 1958 through 1971). He lost that award to his co-star Red Buttons who also went on to win the Oscar. Montalban was not nominated though his three co-stars were (It's hard for a single film to achieve four acting nominations -- only 34 films have done so in the 80 year history of the Oscars). Still and all, this was a long and rich entertainment career stretching across multiple mediums and making things easier for future generations of Latino actors. Well done!
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Hump Day Hotties: TV Characters

I was seriously not feeling it today, the selection of some random star to drool over. So: something different. There’s a listing meme sweeping the blogs now occasioned by our master Joss Whedon naming his 25 fav TV characters of all time. My blogbuddies Stinky & JA took up the task as well. Now as I’ve remarked many a time I don’t watch a lot of television (relatively speaking) so today’s Hump Day Hottie is the 25 Hottest TV characters according to moi. Some of which I’m embarrassed about. But lists are always confessionals, aren't they?

25 Rachel from Friends. I know. I know. I'm totally Team Jolie but in the first several years of this show: hot! (My favorite hairdo was the long impossibly sleek version)
24 Dark Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Reg'lar Willow is too pure to be pink. But Dark Willow? Rowwwwrr. Love the gay foreshadowing.
23 Dr. Mark Greene from ER. I'm sorry. In those first few years I just wanted him in the worst way. So adorably bald and soft lipped.
22 Samantha from Bewitched. Wasn't just the nose but that helped.
21 Chachi from Joannie Loves Chachi . I apologize.

20 Sammy Jo from Dynasty. White trash nouveau riche is no longer even remotely hot. Nobody will ever do it better.
19 Alex P Keaton from Family Ties. The only Republican I'd sleep with.
18 Maya from Space: 1999. Shapeshifting sexiness.
17 Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yeah, I got sick of him too. But for a good long while it was pure yum.
16 McDreamy from Grey’s Anatomy. He gets so much sexier every decade he will be causing spontaneous multiple orgasms in the entire world populace when he hits 90.
15 Six from Battlestar Galactica. She terrifies me. And apparently with my actressexuality, that's a turn on. I didn't know.
14 Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. *sigh*
13 Claire from Six Feet Under. Why didn't she win 100 Emmys?
12 Laura Holt & Remington Steele from Remington Steele.
11 Kelly Garrett from Charlies Angels. I know this is such a K-Mart Middle America choice. But I'm a midwestern boy and as a little kid I thought she was the prettiest person ever. I knew that Sabrina was cooler and Jill was foxier but it was Kelly all the way for me.

10 Captain Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly
9 Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica. (prev. post)
8 Jordan Catalano from My So Called Life. Like Angela, I'm helpless.
7 Batgirl from Batman.
6 Chris Keller from Oz. I hate this show. But Chris Meloni? Damn.<
5 Agent Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks. I love every single thing about him --especially the way he disarms everyone around him with nonsequitors and contagious enthusiasm.
4 Carrie Bradshaw from Sex & The City . Some of the credit has to go to Patricia Fields, genius costumer, but SJP is hot stuff. I don't care what anyone says.
3 Rick & Lily from Once & Again. The scene where they sleep together for the first time remains the sexiest thing I've ever seen on my television screen.
2 Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer "five by five" And a "10"
1 Michael from thirtysomething. Ken Olin, Mmmmm. (prev. post)