Last week, E! Online's Reel Girl posted her "Incomplete Top 10: Great Cameos." The list ranges from obvious (Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall) to random (this must be the only best list on which Dumb and Dumber appears, courtesy of Cam Neely) to wrong (Meryl Streep, yes, but in Stuck on You? No).

While I understand Reel Girl's "good lighting" theory (a well-done cameo makes everyone look better), I prefer scene-stealers to film-stealers, special moments of brilliance rather than lone moments of brilliance; even Streep doesn't make a lame comedy worth my time. Also, while blink-and-you-miss-it cameos are fun (see Cate Blanchett in Hot Fuzz or Julie Delpy in But I'm a Cheerleader), they don't require much, so they're not included.

My favorite bit parts fall into a few categories, and I'm sticking with the ladies exclusively. I'm also sticking to film — sifting through all of the Simpsons and Will & Grace cameos is daunting enough; add The Muppet Show and it's nigh impossible. Since the following is therefore an unscientific bunch of personal observations, discuss away!

The Hat-Tip Cameo: Chita Rivera, Chicago

Hollywood producers are far too obsessed with remakes, but if they must go there, I appreciate it when they doff their proverbial caps to original stars. Respect wins points every time, and as the creator of Velma Kelly on Broadway, Rivera deserves every ounce of respect she gets and then some. Her cameo as cell block diva Nickie in the 2002 movie adaptation is too brief, but any more would be unfair to successor Catherine Zeta-Jones — can't have the new star too far in the shadow of her elder. … continue reading

Not to have his Oscar thunder stolen by the monarchy again, Martin Scorsese is currently producing 19th-century biopic The Young Victoria, and Miranda Richardson has just signed on as Duchess of Kent to Emily Blunt's Victoria.

Richardson is a great reason to look forward to the film, which starts production this month. Another reason: Devil Wears Prada star Blunt — who actually resembles her filmic mother-to-be even without movie magic — is absolutely made to wear a crown.

The woman just emanates royalty, doesn't she? … continue reading

Entertainment Weekly recently issued a list of the 25 best action movies. I skimmed it so fast, I almost sprained something, because very few of the movies appealed to me. I'm just not big on big exploding things. There are exceptions, of course (like The Matrix and the original Star Wars trilogy), but I tend to prefer films in which character development prevails over plot development — or at least doesn't disappear entirely in a flaming fireball or a rain of bullets.

So here's my list of inaction movies. In these films, the fireworks occur inside the characters' heads. Maybe the characters talk a lot; or maybe they think a lot but say very little; or maybe they actually do a lot, but the doing is less important than how they feel about what they've done. Or maybe it's not so much about a lack of action as an abundance of brain activity. Or maybe I'm overthinking it. Nah! Anyway, here they are. (The quintessential inaction movie is, of course, My Dinner With Andre (1981), but I'm not including it here because, hello? No women.)

13. Clockwatchers (1998)
It's right there in the title: In this movie about temporary office workers, all the characters do is watch the clock and plan to prepare to get ready to change their lives. It's like 9 to 5 on quaaludes. But I can't think of four people I'd rather watch do nothing than Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow and Alanna Ubach (she also happens to be my favorite part of Legally Blonde). Don't miss Debra Jo Rupp (the mom from That '70s Show) as the paranoid, pernicious head of personnel.

The trailer even crows, "In a world where nothing ever happens ..." … continue reading