If you've been wondering when Hollywood will finally get its act together and make a major motion picture about George W. Bush, well then, I have some very exciting news for you: Oliver Stone has come to our rescue. The controversial director is working on a new biopic about Dubya, and the film will be titled simply W.

The strangest part about W (aside from the fact that it is actually being made) is that we're all familiar with the people that the movie will be about. They have had the pleasure of being a part of our lives for eight agonizing years.

Photo credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

I don't envy the job of casting agents who have to find actors who will be believable in these roles. I mean sure, we praise their past decisions when they cast Helen Mirren as The Queen and or Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan (and Cate Blanchett actually made Bob Dylan look sexy — is there anything this woman can't do?). But there isn't much artistic freedom when it comes to casting the first family or Bush's cabinet members. They're sort of … well, boring.

We all know who Barbara Bush is and what she looks like, and we've heard all about the drama surrounding Bush's booze-loving daughters, Jenna and Barbara. So it's interesting to see who are the lucky actors who have been cast in these roles. Let's break down some of them, shall we? … continue reading

There’s a half-funny, half-embarrassing story concerning me and women on the cover of magazines. It involves the year 1998, a newsagent, Denise Richards, a copy of FHM, and my firm insistence — to a male friend of mine who happened across me browsing — that I didn’t realize FHM was a men’s magazine. I think he believed me ... just about.

Nevertheless, for most of my teen years I didn’t dare to cast more than a furtive eye in the direction of the men’s magazine section. Fortunately, they’re not the only magazines to feature lots of glamorous women. In fact, one of my favorite magazine covers was from around the same period as the FHM fiasco, in 1997:

Now, I couldn’t care less about Cameron Diaz, but Kate Winslet and Claire Danes in the same frame? Be still, my beating teenage Titanic- and My So-Called Life–loving heart!

What I didn’t realize at the time was that this cover was part of what has become an annual series for Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue, by a rather well-known photographer named Annie Leibovitz. VanityFair.com is currently running a retrospective of these foldout covers (which typically entice you in with three beautiful women on the front, and then open out to reveal about seven more). That means you can time-travel all the way back to the first one in 1995:

Um. Yes. Normally I think that the expression “legs for days” is an exaggeration, but in the case of Uma Thurman (pictured second from left), it might actually be true. And I’m not even going to get started on that picture of Nicole Kidman.

Also online is the latest cover, for 2008: … continue reading

The BAFTAs took place in London last night. If you’re American, this is your chance to say, “What are the BAFTAs?” If you are British, then it was your chance to feel embarrassed as journalists ran right and left on the red carpet, trying to persuade the major Hollywood actors who had flown over for the occasion to say that the event was as big as the Oscars.

The BAFTAs — or annual film awards given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts — aren’t as big as the Oscars, but they are the closest we Brits get to an equivalent. And, in their favor, they’re usually a lot more concise than the Oscars, clocking in at a neat two hours rather than a bum-numbing four.

I’ll admit I love awards ceremonies — the women, the gowns, the often incomprehensible choices by the Academy, and the awkward acceptance speeches — so without further ado, here’s a rundown of what went down last night:

Sienna Miller was nominated for the Orange Rising Star Award (voted for by the public):

As were Ellen Page and the beautiful Lust, Caution actress Tang Wei. But they lost out to Shia LaBeouf. Yawn. … continue reading