Jezebel
No Heigl Night
Posts Tagged “
Hollywood
”
No Heigl Night
More on that profile of Penelope Cruz in the new W magazine: Cruz is still scarred by her former life as a Hollywood nobody: "'Many times I would pick up the phone and realize there was no one to call, because I didn't have any friends,' she remembers. Cruz still gets practically ill if she goes to the Sunset Marquis and tries to venture past the bar. 'I cannot even look at those rooms now,' she says. 'I have a weird physical reaction. Everything comes back from those years.'" Well, she certainly made some friends in Hollywood (Tom Cruise) pretty quickly! [W Magazine]
Start 'Em Young
It is generally agreed that tabloids and gossips have already crushed the self-esteem of every working actress by mocking their bodies, hairstyle, and clothing choices. Next up: Kids! Luckily, OK! magazine (cheaper than Us Weekly in every way) has finally begun judging the fashion choices of celebrity kids with its "Hollywood's Best Dressed Little Girls" feature. What other celebrity weekly is going to tell you that Marcia Cross' barely walking twins, Eden and Savannah, are a couple of fashion plates? Sure, they can barely form coherent sentences, let alone pick out outfits, but hell, let's really drive home the fact that, as celebrity children, they are always being judged. [OK! via Mollygood]
"I wish that the numbers were higher for women directors. I think that women have found that they are getting the farthest in creating their personal visions when they are writing their own material. I co-wrote this film on spec. I interviewed soldiers and put together the material and images cut to rock music. When I gave it to the studio there wasn't that question about whether a woman could do this it. I managed to cut through all those questions by writing it on spec... I want to make wildly commercial movies that appeal to audiences so I see no limitations for a man or a woman. You just need to be a disciplined and great artist. We are in the entertainment business we gotta make them laugh and cry." — Kimberly Peirce, director of Boys Don't Cry and Stop-Loss on being a female director. [Women And Hollywood]
critical mass
Hancock Will Rule The Weekend, Critics Be Damned
We all know that Will Smith is the King Of Independence Day, and his newest movie, Hancock, about a sort of anti-superhero in search of a new image, is said to be on track for a high-flying $115 million opening weekend...despite a chorus of negative reviews from the country's major movie critics. A quite loud chorus, soon to be drowned out by Mr. Smith's cackles as he laughs all the way to the bank. Which of you will see it? Which of you won't? Check out the reviews and weigh in, after the jump. More »
Women Scorned
Things Are Looking Up For The Women In Hollywood
Ever since Sex and the City turned out to be a money making juggernaut, Warner Brothers has decided to aggressively market The Women. "This is an about-face from the studio's earlier decision to leave plans intact for about-to-shutter Picturehouse to debut the chick flick in limited release and with a small P&A," says Nikki Finke, who has been following the fate of the Meg Ryan-helmed film for some time now (also starring: Annette Bening, Bette Midler, Jada Pinkett Smith). If you'll recall, last year Warner Brothers' Jeff Robinov famously declared, "We are no longer doing movies with women in the lead." Well apparently he's doing at least one movie with a woman in the lead, and while that's heartening, movies still have a long way to go. Looking at the just-released shortlist for Emmy nominations, however, shows that there are myriad plum roles for leading ladies on the small screen. Which leads me to wonder: why is there such an enormous disconnect between females on TV and the ones on the silver screen? More »
Missdemeanors
"[Alli Sims] Is So Fuckin' Doughy You Wouldn't Be Surprised If You Walked In On Britney Trying To Eat Her Leg"
Welcome back to our weekly examination of the Crimes Against Womanity committed by gossip bloggers and the virtual wristslaps we issue out to our grammatically and creatively-challenged web friends. In this edition, we give Alli Sims (Britney's former assistant and aspiring pop-star), Brooke Hogan, Jennifer Garner, Britney Spears, and Rock of Love 2's Daisy de la Hoya. More »
dancing queens
Cyd Charisse, Actress With The "World's Most Valuable Legs," Dies At 86
Cyd Charisse, the actress/dancer who rose to stardom dancing alongside Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, has died at the age of 86 of a heart attack, according to the New York Times. Born Tula Ellice Finklea in Amarillo, Texas, Cyd was a classically trained ballerina who was plucked from the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in California by studio scouts. Her big break was opposite Gene Kelly in Singing in the Rain, her performance in which the Times describes as "both sultry vamp and diaphanous dream girl." Other famous Charisse performances include Brigadoon, Silk Stockings, and Party Girl (not to be confused with the Parker Posey film of the same name). Cyd appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the "world's most valuable legs," as her studio reportedly took out a 5 million dollar insurance policy on her talented gams. More »
living la vida lohan
Dina Lohan Asks Ali What Liquid Is In Lindsay's Water Bottles
Despite Dina Lohan's insistence that she "can't stop" Ali from trying to "chase her dream" of being a hip hop artist (it's OK, you can laugh at that part), or can't protect her from "evil" reporters, she invited Access Hollywood into her home to interview her 14-year-old child, even though the kid had nothing in particular to promote. Dina sat down with Ali to prep her for the interview and asked a series of questions about older sister Lindsay that, frankly, seemed kind of inappropriate. If Dina wants Ali to be "normal," it would seem to us that she could just make the kid go to school and not bother searching this shit out, and inviting it into her home.
colorblind
Why Cast A Black Actress In Your Movie When You Can Get Mena Suvari In Cornrows?
Today's Los Angeles Times has a story about Mena Suvari, who is starring in a new film, Stuck, by Stuart Gordon. She plays Brandi, a young woman who hits a homeless man with her car late one night, sending him right through the windshield. Brandi panics and drives home (with the guy still in her windshield) and tries to go on with her life. The plot is based on a true story — the woman's name was Chante Mallard, and she hit a homeless man in 2001 after she spent an evening smoking pot, drinking and taking Ecstasy with friends. Her boyfriend later ditched the body in a park. Mallard is now serving a 50-year jail sentence. Mallard, it should be noted, is black. Mena Suvari is not. But she does wear cornrows to play the role of Brandi. More »
dirt bag
Ellen & Portia: So Happy, So Gay, So Getting Married
- Ellen DeGeneres is so psyched about the California Supreme Court ruling regarding gay marriage that she's gonna get hitched to longtime love Portia de Rossi. Woohoo! It would be kind of awesome if they did it on TV. And then danced! [TMZ]
- Pregnant Angelina Jolie will be looking "sexy" on the July cover of Vanity Fair; she was shot by Patrick Demarchelier. Wonder if he'll have her Photoshopped? [Page Six]
- Click here if you need info on Angelina's tattoos. [Sydney Morning Herald]
- Angelina will probably give birth in France, FYI. [USA Today]
- Angelina's dad Jon Voight is all riled up over Israel: "God gave this land to the Jewish people; they shouldn't be giving it away," he says. But, um, Voight is not Jewish. [Mirror]
- "If I punched every bitch who called me fat, it would be dead bitches all up and down the highway." — Star Jones. [Page Six]
critical mass
What Happens in Vegas: Almost As Bad As Ashton's Acting Skills
What Happens in Vegas is one of those movies that has no appeal to anyone who is emotionally or chronologically over the age of 16. (And even 16-year-olds may be too mature for it.) For starters, the wannabe-Apatow flick is set in Las Vegas, that overused land of glitz that holds a mystery of sin and drunken fun for frat boys. Plus, particle-board actor Ashton Kutcher and guffawing goof Cameron Diaz are not exactly two stars who send us running to the multiplex. Then there's the plot: Jack (Kutcher), a Brooklyn slacker and Joy (Diaz), a shrewy Wall Street something-or-other, meet in Vegas and get hitched during a drunken blitz. They are ordered to remain married for 6 months by a judge and battle-of-the-sexes comedy hijinks ensue. It might not be a total disaster (it's probably no worse than Made of Honor), but why do they have to drag Rob Corrdery into it? He deserves better! The unanimously bad reviews after the jump.More »
the politics of style
NY Times Discovers That Women Like Hollywood And Washington Heavyweights
Today's New York Times 'Thursday Styles' section takes a minute to note that other, less high-brow publications have suddenly gotten interested in politics. In fact, they report that everyone from People to US Weekly to TMZ to Inside Edition are covering the race alongside less important stories like Britney's recent weight loss and Lauren Conrad's supposed sex tape. What gives? As the one Jezebel contributor who knows too much about politics, nothing about fashion and writes for Glamour magazine's relatively new political blog, Glamocracy (which should have been a case-in-point for the New York Times, but bygones), I have some thoughts that boil down to: women are complex and interesting creatures with varying interests and politics are important! More »
hookers, victims & doormats
Ellen Page To Star As One Of English Literature's Saddest Sacks
Another day, another round of casting announcements chock full of stereotypes. While older actresses like Susan Sarandon have their pick of saucy-yet-loving-powerful-woman roles, the younger actresses who have yet to convince everyone they're talented sometimes pick up a few victim roles along their march to Serious Actress territory. Maybe it's because they are still pretty "fresh faces", but these talented actresses still succumb to playing victimized lovers, even in supposedly intellectual and interesting films. In this edition of Hookers, Victims, and Doormats, Ellen Page pretends she is "plain" in Jane Eyre and Eva Mendes continues to mimic Angelina Jolie's action film career. All that and more after the jump! More »
silver scream
Coming Soon: 2008, The Summer Of The Dick Flick
We've harped on the lack of female leads in Hollywood movies (here, here, here, here and here, for starters) and in Sunday's New York Times, Manohla Dargis also mourns the dearth of chicks in flicks. (Not to be confused with chick flicks!) The summer movie season is upon us and the blockbuster films will be almost totally male-dominated: between the comedies and action tentpoles like Batman, Iron Man, The Hulk, Indiana Jones and Hellboy, we'll be seeing stars like Will Smith, Brendan Fraser, Nicolas Cage, Mark Wahlberg and Vin Diesel, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Mike Myers, Steve Carell, Jack Black and Seth Rogen. Women headlining movies this summer? Emma Roberts (Wild Child), Abigail Breslin (Kit Kitteredge), Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia!) and the ladies of the sure-to-be-critically-acclaimed Sex And The City. More »
critical mass
Iron Man: The Charming, Agile, Crackling, Comedic Anti-Chick Flick
The summer blockbuster season is upon us, and we all know what that means: a lot fewer female-centered movies. However, as much as movie marketers seem to think every woman wants to see Made of Honor this weekend, many of us actually enjoy a good action flick every once and awhile. Like Iron Man. The first of the big-budget summer blockbusters, Iron Man, is a movie that has, in that annoying, trendy Hollywood jargon, "broad appeal". [Like "broad" as in euphemism for "female"? -Ed.] Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, an arms dealer with a limitless fortune who becomes Iron Man when he creates a computerized suit that gives him superhero abilities. (Sort of like Inspector Gadget meets Batman.) The real appeal of this movie is not in the stock Marvel Comics plot, but in the attitude and edge that Downey and Gwyneth Paltrow (who plays his assistant) bring to an otherwise standard, explosion-filled, digitally-enhanced film. In fact, film critics seem downright seduced by the film's cynical charm! Their reviews, after the jump. More »
hookers, victims & doormats*
Angela Bassett: Boarding The ER Ship To Troubletown
*Inspired by Shirley MacLaine's assertion that the best parts for actresses fall into one of the above categories.
This week in Hollywood casting announcements: plenty of potential victimization for Tinseltown's bold-faced beauties. (Victim characters, of course, are easy to spot: They're usually described as "troubled" or have a "tortured past," have "suffered" a "crisis," are "surviving" and "learning to move on" from their rape/brutal attack/illness...take your pick!) After the jump, take a look at the newest roles for Angela Bassett, Nicole Kidman, and America Ferrera and see how they stack up on the actress-cliche scale.More »
hookers, victims & doormats
