Over the weekend, while lazily flipping the channels, I stopped on some dragon movie and before I could click away, a familiar face caught my eye. Is that? Could that? Hey, that's Piper Perabo. Yes, indeed, it was Piper and she was starring in George and the Dragon, a 2004 movie loosely based on the Crusades-era legend of a knight who slew a dragon to save a princess.

I ended up watching the last third of the film, not because it was any good but because I kept being astonished by who popped up next. Not only was Piper in the film but so was Patrick Swayze, James Purefoy, Michael Clarke Duncan and Tony and Golden Globe-winning actress Joan Plowright. Geez, did they all lose a bet to the director?

Which, of course, got me thinking. How many other good actresses have bad films lurking on their resumes? And by bad, I'm not just talking bombs or flops, and I'm not talking early work when they were desperate to be in anything. Instead I'm talking the "I'm pretty famous, but I've still got to pay the rent" kind of bad. These are the movies they clearly made for the paycheck. These are the movies they hope no one will notice. So let's point them out and laugh … in a nice way. … continue reading

One of life’s great shared injustices is the yearbook photo. We all had to get them. And — unless they’ve somehow magically found a cure for awkwardness, geekiness and general dorkitude since I was a teenager — most of us dreaded them. For whatever reason, be it bad skin, bad clothes or the steadfast yet ultimately misguided belief in the transformative properties of big bangs, many of us look back at our school pictures and cringe. Or, at the very least, giggle. But you know what? Celebrities had to get them too, just like us mere mortals. Now that is what I call justice.

So, let’s play a little game called Name That Teenager. It’ll be fun; like being back in high school, but already knowing what everyone will look like at the class reunion. Let the games begin:

Among them you have a Rock star, an Alien hunter, an alphaBette and the possible next president of the United States of America.

Give up? … continue reading

Tonight at 8:00, tune in to Fox for the 39th NAACP Image Awards telecast. This year, the theme is "Stand Up and Be Counted." According to the press release,

During this crucial election year, the NAACP encourages everyone to be socially conscious and take a stand on critical human and civil rights issues.

Wouldn't it be nice if every awards show encouraged such things? Susan Sarandon always gets played off when she tries to be political on the Oscars, and Kanye West was barely allowed to remember his mom on the Grammys this year.

Here are some of the nominees:

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
CCH Pounder (The Shield)
Jennifer Beals (The L Word)
Nicki Micheaux (Lincoln Heights)
Regina Taylor (The Unit)
Wendy Davis (Army Wives)

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
America Ferrera (Ugly Betty)
Golden Brooks (Girlfriends)
Tia Mowry (The Game)
Tichina Arnold (Everybody Hates Chris)
Tracee Ellis Ross (Girlfriends)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Audra McDonald (Private Practice)
Chandra Wilson (Grey's Anatomy)
Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Without a Trace)
Pam Grier (The L Word)
S. Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order)

  … continue reading

I don't frequent Victoria's Secret stores. I don't watch those lame Victoria's Secret TV specials. I don't peruse the Victoria's Secret catalog and never have, not even when one of my college friends insisted it was the perfect study break.

So, fine; I didn't really expect to like the 2008 What Is Sexy? list, which was released by Victoria's Secret earlier today. But nor did I expect to be thoroughly confused by it. You've probably seen headlines about the most ridiculous one: Ryan Seacrest made the list for "sexiest smile." Ryan Seacrest? I think they must have accidentally copied and pasted from their What Is Icky? list.

But let's talk about the women on the list, starting with the one that really made me say "Whaaaaat?" in a Jill Bennett–esque way:

Sexiest Mom: Victoria Beckham

Uh. Did they mean Sexiest Person You Always Forget Is a Mom, Because, Really, Since When Can Mannequins Reproduce? I can think of many better candidates. Salma Hayek, for one.

Sexiest Actress: Eva Mendes … continue reading

I just read a piece of theater-casting news that made me very happy. Marni Nixon has been cast as Mrs. Higgins (mother to Henry) in the American tour of the Trevor Nunn production of My Fair Lady, which is reputed to be quite good.

This makes me happy because there's something so karmically right in casting Marni Nixon in this role. (I guess this is where the average non-musical-theater geek asks, "Who's Marni Nixon?")

Well, in her first on-screen performance, she played the nun in The Sound of Music who noted (regarding Julie Andrews' Maria), "She always seems to be in trouble, doesn't she?"

But Nixon is best known as the off-screen, uncredited voice of some of the biggest movie musicals of the 1940s, '50s and '60s. She sang for Deborah Kerr in The King and I (1956), Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961) and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964). Therefore, casting her in a live production of My Fair Lady is an absolutely wonderful incidence of what thelinster calls "meta-casting" — casting someone with a previous, significant connection to either the material or other cast members. … continue reading

Virginia Smith. She was my music teacher in high school. My heart beat faster in her class. Good thing it was choir, because otherwise I know she would have heard it.

One day Ms.Smith encouraged me to audition for a folk singing group. (Yes, folk singing. You do the math.) I sat next to her on the piano bench, meekly singing the notes she played, certain that I was shaking too hard to be on pitch. Then she turned to me and said, "You have remarkable voice control." I had no idea what that meant, but I floated out of the room. I folk-sang my little heart out that year, and singing has been an important part of my life ever since. A teacher can do that.

I know those of you in education get a little melancholy this time of year. Teaching is the Rodney Dangerfield of professions. (Except Rodney got rich off getting no respect.) Still, some of our favorite television characters have been teachers. Who among us didn't admire Miss Beadle for reining in Nellie Oleson? And who didn't know a Dorothy Zbornak (played by Bea Arthur on Golden Girls) who scared the hell out of us but was the best teacher we ever had?

Here are a few more: … continue reading

As Dorothy Snarker reminded us yesterday, in the land of recycled story lines, there is nothing new under the sun. I would add to that: Everything sacred to one generation of kids will eventually be ground into dust by remake machines for the next.

I take my 1980s dancing movies seriously, oh yes — leg warmers, tight pants, breakdancing, and all. There was Flashdance, with a baby-faced Jennifer Beals.

There was Dirty Dancing, the first one only, thank you. … continue reading