Showing posts with label Women We Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Women We Love. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Women We Love: Mink Stole

We don't usually fall for uptight prudes or religious zealots, but when they're played by Mink Stole, we'll make an exception.

As all purveyors of queer cinema know, Stole gained fame (notoriety?) as one of the original members of John Waters' guerilla filmmaking ensemble. In fact, she was one of the cast members who were infamously arrested during the making of Mondo Trasho, wherein she also memorably tap-danced topless.

Stole frequently played more then one character in the early days, such as the "religious whore" who "seduces" Divine with a rosary in Multiple Maniacs. She and Divine often played adversaries onscreen, most notoriously in the midnight movie classic Pink Flamingos as two clannish matriarchs competing for the title of "The Filthiest Person Alive".

Female Trouble, Desperate Living and Polyester followed, but it was the original Hairspray that finally found Stole and Divine playing on the same side (ironically, it would turn out to be Divine's final film with Stole). In Cry-Baby, Stole spent much of her time in an iron lung, but she was back with a vengeance as the prudish neighbor Dottie Hinkle in Serial Mom. Her profanity-riddled telephone exchanges with Kathleen Turner have become legendary.

Through the years, Stole's roles in Water's films (Pecker, Cecil B. Demented, A Dirty Shame) grew smaller, but her own cult status earned her roles in such gay-themed movies as Leather Jacket Love Story, But I'm a Cheerleader and, most recently, Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds. But to us, she will always be Connie Marble. Or Taffy Davenport. Or Marge the Neuter. Or ...

Link via Imbd.com.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Women We Love: Salma Hayek

We all went to see Desperado for the then red-hot Antonio Banderas, but when we left the theater, we all had one question on our minds: "Who was that smokin' hot babe?" It was Salma Hayek, of course, and we have been in love with the Latin beauty ever since.

At first, Hayek specialized in sexy siren roles, usually with unlikely names like Santanico Pandemonium (From Dusk Till Dawn) or Serendipity (Dogma). She was much too good for her one attempt at mainstream romantic comedy (Fools Rush In), and for a while there she was stuck in smallish roles in mediocre movies (54, The Faculty, Wild Wild West).

Hayek was bidding her time though, preparing for the role of a lifetime as the influential Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Producing the film as well as starring, Hayek's performance in Frida was a revelation, delving deep into the pain and passion of the controversial artist. All the hard work paid off for Hayek when she earned her first Academy Award nomination as Best Actress.

After reprising her Desperado character for the sequel, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Hayek co-starred in After the Sunset and Ask the Dust, and has continued producing with the unexpected television hit, Ugly Betty. She even appeared on the critically acclaimed comedy series (nominated for ten Emmy Awards) in another smokin' hot performance, as a no-nonsense career woman who was, no surprise, also quite the babe.

Links via Imdb.com and Wikipedia.org.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Women We Love: Cate Blanchett

How does the cliché go? "So-and-so actor is so good, I'd watch him read the phone book"? Well, with Cate Blanchett, we'd watch her read a binary code; I'm sure she would make all those 1's and 0's riveting.

Most people "discovered" Blanchett with her brilliant, mesmerizing performance as Elizabeth; she made royalty sexy and alluring, earning her first Oscar nomination. Next, she delighted us with a string of supporting turns in a variety of films, from An Ideal Husband to The Talented Mr. Ripley to The Shipping News to The Lord of the Rings trilogy (her elfin goddess was so ethereal, she was downright scary).

More title roles in Charlotte Gray and Veronica Guerin followed, as well as her movie-stealing dual role as "herself" and her chain-smoking "cousin" in Coffee and Cigarettes, but it was her spot-on Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator that caught the Academy's attention again. She became the first actor to win an Academy Award for portraying an Academy Award-winning actor.

Last year was a big one for Blanchett, starring in three high-profile dramas: Babel, The Good German and Notes on a Scandal (another Oscar nod). However, this year is shaping up to be another busy one for the actress, playing two disparate icons in two very different biopics: Bob Dylan (yes, Bob Dylan) in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There and the Virgin Queen again in Elizabeth: The Golden Age. I have a feeling Blanchett will be very busy come awards time this year as well.

Links via Imdb.com and AwardsDaily.com.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Women We Love: Angela Bassett

Although she made notable appearances in such films as Boyz N the Hood, City of Hope and Passion Fish, it was when she started portraying real life figures that we really started to notice Angela Bassett.

In 1992, she played both the mother of Michael Jackson (in the TV movie The Jacksons: An American Dream) and the wife of Malcolm X. The following year she strutted her stuff (in every sense of that phrase) as the ultimate rock survivor, Tina Turner (another Woman We Love) in the musical biopic What's Love Got To Do With It. As Turner, Bassett ran the gamut of emotions from naive country girl to humiliated victim to triumphant diva, and we were with her every high-heeled step of the way.

She followed up that Oscar nominated, Golden Globe winning role with her fierce performance as the ultimate woman scorned in Waiting to Exhale and then showed us all How Stella Got Her Groove Back (opposite the delectable Taye Diggs). A string of strong supporting turns was next (Music of the Heart, The Score, Sunshine State), and she played another historical icon in the award-winning TV movie, The Rosa Parks Story.

Roles for so-called "mature" actresses are rare in Hollywood (at least in the movies), and those for women of color even more so, but Bassett consistently delivers in whatever part she plays, no matter the size.

Links via Imdb.com and LATimes.com.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Women We Love: Dolly Parton

Although primarily known for her incredible recording career, we love Dolly Parton for her movies too.

Dolly made her film debut in the beloved office comedy 9 to 5. The role of Doralee was likely tailored for the screen novice, but who cares. She is delightfully sassy in it, and her Oscar-nominated title track is a recurring theme song for anyone who has ever punched a time clock.

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas followed, and despite her miscasting, Dolly charmed us again. And who could ever forget her heartbreaking rendition of her own "I Will Always Love You", years before Whitney Houston and The Bodyguard ruined it for everyone. After Burt Reynolds in Whorehouse, Dolly teamed with Sylvester Stallone in Rhinestone and ... well, the less said about that the better.

Dolly next joined the sterling ensemble cast of Steel Magnolias, thereby increasing the film's gay fave-ness tenfold. Her role in that film also led to her memorable guest appearance in one of the best episodes of Designing Women - just try to watch it without bawling your head off.

After Straight Talk (another misguided romantic comedy with ... James Woods?), Dolly has mostly stayed away from movies. That is, until she gave us the gift that was her brilliant, gospel-inspired anthem "Travelin' Thru", featured in the movie Transamerica. The song netted here her second Oscar nomination.

Returning full-circle to her first film success, Dolly is currently working on the score for the Broadway-bound stage musical version of 9 to 5.

Link via Imdb.com.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Women We Love: Barbara Stanwyck

Barbara Stanwyck was one tough dame. And I mean that in the best possible sense. She often turned her leading men (Henry Fonda, Gary Cooper, Fred MacMurray) into putty in her hands, and we love every second of it.

Her early career consisted mainly of variations on the "woman of questionable morals" type (Ladies They Talk About, Baby Face), but she took the audience's familiarity with her in that persona and used it to deft dramatic effect in Stella Dallas, leading to her first of four Oscar nominations.

More independent "career woman" roles followed (Meet John Doe, Christmas in Connecticut), but she livened things up with the sophisticated romantic comedies The Lady Eve and Ball of Fire (my personal fave), then went on to more or less create the femme fatale in Double Indemnity. Her Phyllis Dietrichson is the model that all subsequent shady sirens aspire to.

Curiously, Stanwyck next turned to a string of victim roles, most notably Sorry, Wrong Number, as well as a host of westerns, culminating with her matriarchal Victoria Barkley in the classic TV series The Big Valley. Television is where she could be found for most of her remaining life and career, highlighted by the popular mini-series The Thorn Birds and the primetime soap opera Dynasty and its spin-off, The Colbys.

Through all her dames and matriarchs and villains and victims, one thing always typified a Barbara Stanwyck performance: you can never take your eyes off her. If you did, you may miss something brilliant.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is currently spotlighting the movie posters of Barbara Stanwyck in their Grand Lobby Gallery, now through August 26. Visit the Academy's website for further information.

And for even more on the legendary Stanwyck, check out this insightful article from the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Links via Imdb.com, Oscars.org and SFBG.com.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Women We Love: Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury has had quite the career, conquering both stage and screen (big and small) in her sixty-plus years in show business. And she did it with a mug that, while not typically glamorous, sure was interesting. Not to mention a voice that was equally unique.

Lansbury hit the ball out of the park with her first film, Gaslight, netting her first of three Oscar nominations. She would alternate roles between "loose women" meant to make the leading lady look better (The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Harvey Girls) to the star's eccentric sister or mother (National Velvet, Blue Hawaii) until she shocked everyone with her manipulative mother from hell in The Manchurian Candidate.

Broadway was next, with her Tony Award-winning turns in Mame, Gypsy and Sweeney Todd (Helena Bonham Carter has huge shoes to fill in the upcoming movie version). Musicals continued to dominate her filmography as well, such as the Disney favorites Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Beauty and the Beast, but it was her long-running television series Murder, She Wrote that cemented her status as pop culture icon.

From Mrs. John Iselin to Mrs. Potts to Mrs. Lovett to Miss Jessica Fletcher: what a range. And that is why we love Miss Angela Lansbury.

Links via Imdb.com and Ibdb.com.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Women We Love: Judy Garland

"What's more boring than a queen doing a Judy Garland imitation?"

As you can see by that quote from the seminal play The Boys in the Band, even by 1968 the gay icon status of Judy Garland had become clichéd.

What it is about Garland that makes her so appealing to gays of every generation has been discussed and dissected almost as long as she has been deified. Quite simply, her tragically public - or publicly tragic - life, so beautifully conveyed - or unconsciously betrayed - in every nuance of her film and song performances, is so intrinsically, immediately relatable to not just gays, but anyone who has felt they were given a raw deal in life.

At some point, we have all wanted to be Dorothy, wishing for a better world "over the rainbow". We have all pined away for "the boy next door" and then mourned when he grew up to become "the man that got away". And who amongst us doesn't want to just "forget your troubles" and "get happy"?

While watching Judy sparkle and yearn her way through her many movies, it sure is easy to do just that.

Link via Imdb.com.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Women We Love: Kate Winslet

Leonardo DiCaprio. Johnny Depp. Patrick Wilson. That is the type of leading man line-up any actress would kill for.

The lady who had them all (on film at least) is the marvelous Kate Winslet. An actress of unfathomable talent, Winslet is a joy to watch simply because she makes it all look so easy, especially when it comes to making her co-star (and audience) fall in love with her.

Winslet appeared seemingly out of nowhere with Heavenly Creatures, solidifying her future stardom with Sense and Sensibility (wherein she was romanced by both Greg Wise and Alan Rickman). However, it was with Titanic that Winslet truly entered into our hearts forever. A lesser actress would have been lost among the ice burgs, but Winslet's Rose is one for the romantic ages.

Other, ever more varied roles followed: Quills, Iris, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Finding Neverland and, most recently, Little Children. With five Oscar nominations at age 31 (the youngest most-nominated person in Academy history), Winslet is poised to overtake current record-holder Meryl Streep as the most nominated actress ever.

And we will have the privilege to witness her every step of the way.

Link via Imdb.com.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Women We Love: Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy was the epitome of class.

During her long, amazing career she starred in everything from melodramas (The Rains Came) to screwball comedies (Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House) to social commentaries (The Best Years of Our Lives) to extravagant musicals (The Great Ziegfeld) to all-star blockbusters (Airport 1975) to a long-running series of romantic who-done-its (The Thin Man, et al).

Yet, in all that time and with all those performances, Loy was never once nominated for an Oscar (the Academy made up for it with an honorary award in 1991), nor has she ever been as canonized as such peers as Davis, Crawford and Hepburn.

However, all one has to do is watch one of her pictures on TCM or on DVD (such as the upcoming box set collecting her non-Nick and Nora movies with frequent co-star William Powell, available August 7) to see how graceful, how witty, how classy she truly is; if you do, I guarantee she will be elevated to your own list of favorite screen actresses.

Click here to pre-order Myrna Loy and William Powell Collectionon DVD from Amazon.com.
Link via Imdb.com.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Women We Love: An Introduction


The finest and the fabulous, profiles on the greatest actresses of all time. (Posts every Wednesday.)