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.

Toon Talk: “I Wish I Were a Princess”

What little girl hasn’t said just that at some point in her young life? While it is not surprising that Disney has found a way to capitalize on these nascent feminine inspirations, what is surprising is that it took them as long as it did to recognize the moneymaking capabilities of a “Disney Princess”.

After all, Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora were around for decades without much out-of-the-ordinary going on. It took the one-two-three punch of Ariel, Belle and Jasmine to wake up the suits to the idea of a merchandise line based solely on these fairy tale divas. As more movies came out, some leading ladies made the grade (Pocahontas, Mulan), while others did not (Esmeralda, Megara), and it didn’t seem to matter much whether they were actual princesses or not. And forgive me if I sound jaded, but surely the in-the-works The Princess and the Frog was green lit at least in part to add a long overdue African American princess to the lineup. (“To bad Rapunzel isn’t a Latina,” I could here the marketers say, "we could really give Dora the Explorer a run for her money!")

Once the “Disney Princess” ball got rolling, nothing could slow it down. From dress-up dolls to easy-bake ovens to Halloween costumes to jewelry (real and fake) to band-aids to breakfast cereals … the list goes on and on. And that’s not even touching on the dozens of CDs, video games and DVDs produced, which brings us to the matter at hand: the latest DVD release, Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams.

This Toon Talk review continues at LaughingPlace.com.

Click here to purchase Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreamson DVD from Amazon.com.

Best of the Fests: Telluride and Venice Reax

With the Telluride and Venice film festivals both in full swing over the weekend, fest watchers and award pundits the world over have been abuzz about what's good and what's not. It's a veritable information overload out there, so I'll try to sum it up here, separating the hits from the hype.

One film has emerged as a clear victor and early Best Picture contender: Atonement, directed by Pride & Prejudice's Joe Wright and starring his Pride star Keira Knightley (pictured), The Last King of Scotland's James McAvoy and Oscar perennial Vanessa Redgrave. The epic romantic drama has English Patient written all over it, with some critics decreeing it an "instant classic", a term that may come back to haunt the pic if it peaks too early in the game.

I'm Not There, Todd Haynes' unconventional biopic of Bob Dylan, seems to play best to fans of the folkie. Meanwhile, Jason Reitman's follow-up to Thank You for Smoking, the comedic look at teenaged pregnancy Juno, benefited from being one of the few light-hearted flicks amidst all the gloom and doom dramas and Klaus Barbie docs.

More mixed reactions were delivered to such eagerly-awaited entrants as Sean Penn's true-life adventure tale Into the Wild, Noah Baumbach's "put the fun-in-dysfunctional" dramedy Margot at the Wedding, Ocean's buddies George Clooney as Michael Clayton and Brad Pitt as Jesse James, the Salvadorian The Hunting Party (starring Richard Gere and Terrence Howard) and Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah (or, as 'Rollerboy' over at AwardsDaily.com calls it, In the Valley of Eh).

The biggest divide in critical opinion comes from an unlikely source: Brian De Palma. Yes, the director of the so-bad-it's-good Dressed to Kill and the just-plain-bad Black Dahlia has delivered the controversial "fictional documentary" Redacted, centering on what seems to be every real documentarian's favorite subject of late, the Iraq war. As could be expected with such a hot-button subject, the film has already stirred-up impassioned reactions from both sides of the political spectrum, yet such controversies rarely lead a film to the Oscar podium (except in the actual documentary category).

Bringing up the rear are a few high-profile projects that apparently will be sitting out this year's trophy races: Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited has more to worry about then a troubled star (with all due respect and best wishes to Owen Wilson); Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream was roasted despite the presence of hunkalicious duo Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell; there was no love lost for Ang Lee's Lust, Caution; and it looks like Kenneth Branagh should have left well-enough alone with his Sleuth remake.

That pretty much wraps things up for these two fests, but there's more to come: the Toronto International Film Festival begins this weekend.

Links via TellurideFilmFestival.com, LaBiennale.org, GoldDerby.LATimes.com, ArtsIndependent.co.uk, Reuters.com, EW.com and TIFF07.ca.

Poster Post: Cowboy Up

Russell Crowe is a notorious outlaw and Christian Bale is the rancher charged with delivering him to the train on time in 3:10 to Yuma, opening this Friday.

James Mangold (Walk the Line) directed this remake of the 1957 western of the same title (starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin). This new take is already garnering some award buzz, specifically co-star Peter Fonda as a nasty bounty hunter. Ben Foster and Gretchen Mol also star.

The poster art above, reminiscent of a period wanted poster, was one of three designs released by Lions Gate.

Click here to buy 3:10 to Yumaposters from Amazon.com.
Links via Imdb.com, AwardsDaily.com and ObsessedWithFilm.com.