Early Blanchett in "Paradise Road"

For this week's episode of Murtada's new podcast "Sundays with Cate," I've finally joined in as a special guest. I told him I wanted one of her obscure movies and though my preference was the total oddity The Man Who Cried (2000) which no one ever discusses and which is quite discussable (trust) it is hard to find these days. So we did Paradise Road (1997) instead. This is the movie Dame Blanchett made right before Elizabeth which would of course change everything. 

In the mid 90s she was but one of many rising actresses Hollywood was curious about but not yet besotted with... would this young Aussie deliver? The answer was "and how!" but time hadn't yet provided that spoiler alert. 

Listen in!

Tweetweek

Stuffed with easter dinner so let's share random amusing bonmots of tweets that made us lol or make you go hmmm.

Happy Easter from Fonda, the Easter Bunny ❤️🐰 pic.twitter.com/CAEzn4mBGG

— Jane Seymour Fonda (@Janefonda) April 12, 2020

Why is Jean-luc Godard dressed as Wallace? pic.twitter.com/GfzmJMj3A5

— Andrew Power (@andrewpower_) April 7, 2020

Click to read more ...

Game: In this brave new face mask world, the eyes have it.

Okay. Ready to play a game? Not everyone's eyes are as unforgettable as Bette Davis... 

But movie star eyes do tend to be wonderful to look at since eyes are the window to the soul and it's the actors job to project humanity, soul, and all else to us. Only answer ONE question at a time in the comments to give a chance for multiple people to play.

Tell us WHAT FAMOUS ACTOR you're looking at in the following 26 photos. Ready? Set. Go ! ...

Click to read more ...

Happy Easter!

May you find something to do today that's as sexy as feeding Paul Newman eggs...

Click to read more ...

Barbara Stanwyck: Comedy Goddess

by Cláudio Alves 

Despite being one of Old Hollywood's most electrifying actresses, Barbara Stanwyck feels somewhat forgotten (apart from cinephiles) when compared to her contemporaries like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford or Ingrid Bergman. The one role that arguable does keep her immortal with the mainstream is the devilish Phyllis Dietrichson in Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity, the noir to end all noirs starring the greatest femme fatale of them all. Still, to believe that Stanwick was essentially a noir vixen is unfair to her grand legacy. More than many actresses of her time, she rejoiced in hopping from genre to genre, unencumbered by exclusive contracts to studios that might want to pin her down to one type of role. 

Because of that, she was able to experiment with the extremes of Pre-Code libertinism (Baby Doll), weepy melodrama (Stella Dallas), historical epics (Titanic), tragic romances (There's Always Tomorrow) and even camp classics (Walk on the Wild Side). Her tonal flexibility was unparalleled as she was able to mold her trademark toughness and sexual confidence into almost any role conceivable. She was much more than just the venomous Mrs. Dietrichson, even though that is one of her greatest achievements. I'd go so far as to say that she was one of the great comediennes of her era, on par with Irene Dunne, Carole Lombard, and Jean Arthur. Just take look at her second Oscar nomination…

Click to read more ...