Who is Marilyn Monroe?

(Notorious beauties Marilyn Monroe and Angelina Jolie morphed together)

I just read an article that says Angelina Jolie will play the most famous blond, bombshell, Marilyn Monroe in an upcoming film adaptation of author Andrew O' Hagan's novel "The Life And Opinions of Maf The Dog, And Of His Friend Marilyn Monroe":

http://www.usmagazine.com/moviestvmusic/news/report-angelina-jolie-to-play-marilyn-monroe-2010168



Seconds later, I read a conflicting article saying Jolie will not be playing Monroe:

http://screencrave.com/2010-08-17/angelina-jolie-not-playing-marilyn-monroe-after-all/



Is she or isn't she?



I for one hope she is.



Although Jolie and Monroe are complete opposite in looks--- dark haired, thin Jolie and blond curvaceous Monroe, Jolie has the sex appeal and that gorgeous face to play Monroe well.

Her name alone attached to the project would sell the most movie tickets compared to any other Hollywood actress that would play Monroe.



Other contenders named for the prized Monroe role are said to be:





Scarlett Johansson

&





Christina Hendricks

Johanssen seemingly has the entire package--- blond hair and curvaceousness but I don't think her acting is strong enough to take on Monroe's personality.

I've never seen Hendricks act before so I don't know how good, okay or bad she is, but she certainly has all the right curves looks to play Monroe.



The right actress who plays Monroe has to be more coquettish as Monroe was, not blatantly sexy. Monroe had an innocence about her that may be hard unfortunately for Jolie to pull off.





Still I think with perhaps some padding here and there and her tough factor toned down a little, Jolie can be transformed into a great Marilyn Monroe.

(Jolie as a blond for the movie, Life of Something Like It)

My second top pick is:





Gretchen Mol





She successfully played pinup Bettie Page in The Notorious Bettie Page and it would be wonderful if she played another sex symbol. She has an innocence about her yet she can be very alluring. As well, her body type is just about right enough to play Monroe.



Third I'd pick:





Kate Winslet



She usually plays nice girls and sweet roles. It would be interesting to see if she could pull off such a sexy figure in history.





Johanssen I'd like to see play Monroe next, followed by Hendricks.





Always sexy,





Carla Gugino

&



Monica Belluci

---may be able to pull off playing Monroe also.

I'd love to see Jolie take on Monroe the most.



I'm crossing my fingers!

Girls on film 2000

More "Best of the 2000's" lists!

Honorable mention:

Kristanna Loken

Who can forget the beautiful "Terminatrix" of T3? She managed to be beautiful and frighteningly robotic at the same time, rather like a violent catwalk model, but also do an excellent fight scene where she and Arnold smash each other through walls. Her finishing move on Arnie's Terminator is one of the most brutal movie moments of the decade.



10. Kelly Hu

The beautiful model and actress took an interest in martial arts at an early age, and according to Wikipedia, her brother would get her to beat guys up. Now that's hot.



In: the surprisingly decent Cradle 2 the Grave, in the running for worst movie title of the decade, or opposite our favorite wrestler-turned-actor, the Rock, in Scorpion King. Don't watch her in X-Men 2; it was awful.

9. Jordana Brewster

Panama's most beautiful export has appeared in some very forgettable movies, but she's still hot.



In: D.E.B.S. A great movie, made even better by her.

8. Emma Watson

This may seem a bit wrong to more prudish people, but hey, she's an adult these days, and really, prudish people have no business reading this blog in the first place. As the Harry Potter books gradually make their way onto the big screen, we've watched her grow from a kinda-cute little girl to a genuinely beautiful woman.



In: The latest installment of the Harry Potter saga. The earlier ones are, in this context, just plain wrong.

7. Denise Richards

Who can forget Wild Things? Hardly a cinematic highlight of the 90's in any other respect, but it firmly established Denise Richards' place in every young man's conceptions of sexuality at the time. Since then, she's mostly been busy with a failed marriage, but she stayed gorgeous in the 00's as well, and found time for a stunning Playboy shoot, which I can't recommend too highly.



In: Playboy. I'd love to post some of the pictures, but someone would report me to Blogger.

6. Jessica Biel

Justin Timberlake's ex-girlfriend may not come with a hugely impressive résume of movies, but she is incredibly beautiful. I once had such a crush on her that I actually watched Stealth.



In: Blade: Trinity. I liked the first Blade movie, and I liked this one as well. She was also pleasantly pornographic in the pointless Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake.

5. Keira Knightley

A true English rose, who somehow managed to enter a world where Kate Moss and her ilk had taken the whole heroin chic light-years too far and still be skinny to the point of famine, but look stunningly beautiful. She's simply captivating to watch, and being a good actor makes it even better. Because of her, I even managed to sit through the totally senseless Pirates of the Caribbean 2: The Amusement Park Ride.



In: For acting, I was pleasantly surprised by her take on Pride and Prejudice, despite being an unrepentant fan of the BBC TV version. Seeing her as Elizabeth Bennett is a fair shot at an image of the ideal woman. For pornography, see the otherwise questionable Domino.

4. Emmanuelle Béart

One of France's many gifts to the world of cinema, Emmanuelle Béart is simply beautiful. In the legendary Jacques Rivette's four-hour epic La Belle Noiseuse, she ascends from an actor to an object of worship, and does it with a nonchalance that is uniquely French.



In: if you like musicals, 8 Women. If you like art house cinema, La Belle Noiseuse, a genuinely good movie. If neither is really your cup of tea, just google her; she's obliged us with several hot ad campaigns and nude appearances in French magazines. I have a difficult time understanding how anyone can dislike a nation where women like her appear naked in magazines as a matter of course.

3. Angelina Jolie

How could anyone go through the turn of the millenium and not have an opinion on Angelina Jolie? She won an Oscar for an excellent performance on Girl. Interrupted, stealing the spotlight from Winona Ryder; between that and creating the ultimate celebrity supercouple with Brad Pitt, she seemed to spend at least as much time talking about her sexuality as she did about her movies. Frankly, why not; she was gorgeous then, and after giving birth to several children and adopting enough to make up a Foreign Legion battalion, she's still gorgeous.



In: For acting and fun, Mr. and Mrs. Smith; for pornography, Tomb Raider.

2. Kiana Tom

I introduced the Hawaiian-born bodybuilder and actress in one of my previous posts. She may only have appeared in one JC movie, but she pushes pretty much all of my buttons.



In: Universal Soldier: The Return. Note that I'm not saying you should watch it. Even for her. Despite having Jean-Claude van Damme, her and Goldberg (!) in it, it still manages to suck. Luckily, she posed for an excellent Playboy pictorial in the May 2002 issue.

1. Rhona Mitra

The fabulous Anglo-Indian-Irish actress-model-singer was easily the most beautiful woman in the movies in the last decade.



In: Doomsday. She also makes a scantily clad appearance in the otherwise thoroughly forgettable Hollow Man.

Missing in Japan

MSNBC: Where are Japan's missing centenarians?

TOKYO — Japan prides itself on the world's longest life expectancy but is struggling with a disturbing footnote to that statistic — revelations that hundreds of people listed as its oldest citizens are either long dead or haven't been heard from for decades.

The mystery of the missing centenarians has captured the attention of this rapidly graying nation with reports of scamming relatives and overworked social workers and sad tales of old people, isolated and forgotten, simply slipping out of touch with society.

The story unfolded in late July when police discovered that Sogen Kato, who would have been 111 and was thought to be Tokyo's oldest man, had actually been dead for 32 years, his decayed and partially mummified body still in his home.

Police are investigating his family for possible abandonment and pension fraud.

That discovery led officials around the country to check up on the centenarians in their own districts, and what they found has been shocking.

Of course, the big question is this: what will this do to their life expectancy statistics?

The Indispensable Expendables

The Verdict: 
GO SEE!


REVIEW:

Forget the plot.
The point of seeing the Expendables, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Randy Couture, Terry Crews and Dolph Lundgren is to see them kick ass together.

Then add Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Steve Austin to the list and well, every living, breathing male should be kicking down theatre doors to see this.

The action film The Expendables is being hailed the "ultimate guy's movie." I'm not a guy but I agree.

There's every cliche thing in The Expendables that men supposedly love: explosions, guns, knives, helicopters, motorcycles, cigars, darts, tattoos, hot girls (well one--- surprisingly there is only one scantily clad female to be seen) and violence, violence and more violence!

Along with the big action hero names of Stallone, Statham, Li and Lundgren, UFC fighter Couture and WWE wrestler Austin and ex-NFL player Crews.

No surprise at all the theatre I was in was jam packed with testosterone (and I assume at every other The Expendables showing). The commericals before the previews were targeted towards men: CK underwear, Old Spice cologne, the video game "The Clash of the Titans" along with clips from the upcoming spy T.V. show Undercovers. The girls that were there were with their significant others. I think I only saw two women there without a male with them. For once, when the movie was over, the men's bathroom line was long and the women's (well, still long) was shorter (well, than the men's).

Being a fan of action films, I wanted to see this.

Of all the big names, I wanted to see Statham and Li the most (who turned out to be my favorite Expendables). Also I was curious to what Schwarzenegger would do (too bad his nano second role was disappointing).

The gun play (Crews' character take the cake mid movie with his gigantic black gun that obliterates everything with one firing) and especially the knife play (boy, does Statham's character knows how to handle a blade!) of the Expendables is jaw-droppinginly crazy (in the good sense)! There's almost an art to it.

The last 30 minutes or so is the most action packed where each of the Expendables have their moment to shine doing what they do best in a one on one to one on many, fighting a bad guy.

The very last death in the film has classic potential. Killing one bird with two stones is the case. You just have to see it!

So oh yes, the plot finally!

Stallone (Rocky series, Rambo series) as the leader, Barney Ross, Statham (The Transporter series, Crank series) Lee Christmas, Li (Hero, Fearless) Yin Yang, Crews (Friday After Next, Gamer) Hale Caesar, Couture, as Toll Road, and Lundgren (Rocky IV, The Punisher (1989) ) as Gunnar Jensen--- are mercenaries who go to South America (sans Jensen) to stop a ruthless dictator General Garza (David Zayas) and the ex-CIA agent James Monroe (Eric Roberts, The Dark Knight) who's trying to control the dictator.

Mickey Rourke (9 1/2 Weeks, Iron Man 2) is a part of the Expendables team but as their tattoo artist, Tool.

Besides the half-naked girl mentioned earlier (who is Tool's girl of the moment), the other two women in The Expendables are Christmas' ex-girlfriend (Charisma Carpenter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (T.V. show) ) and the daughter of the dictator (Gisele Itie). Both are damsels in distress of course, which every good action film needs.

So, what roles do Schwarzenegger, Willis and Austin have?

Well, Austin has a bigger role than Schwarzenegger and Willis. He's Dan Paine, the right hand man of Monroe. Schwarzenegger (The Terminator series) is Trench and Willis (Die Hard series) is Mr. Church and they appear together in a less than three minute scene along with Stallone's Ross. The fact that the three of them are in a scene together is pretty cool. The biggest audience claps and whistles came when Schwarzenegger appeared.

If Schwarzenegger, Willis and Stallone would have fought (they really should have) together at least in one scene, that would have been one for the history of action films.

Seeing them together in a small scene just talking wasn't enough.

That's like putting Jim Carrey, Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld in a scene and they're sleeping instead of making jokes.

Still, it's a feat that the top three action greats are in a movie together.

The Expendables has the same old formula every action film has but you're going to see what the legendary action hero actors will do with the formula.

Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, Statham, Li, Lundgren, Crews, Couture, Austin.

Together.

Enough said.

~Trailer:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808411960/trailer

*The Stars:
Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger

~Director:
Sylvester Stallone

~Music:
Brian Tyler

~Rating:
R

~How Long:
1 hr. and 43 minutes

~Opening:
8/13/2010

~FUN FACTS:
~Three actors known for their action hero roles turned down roles in the film: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal and Kurt Russell.
~The role of Hale Caesar was originally considered for Wesley Snipes, then rewritten for Forest Whitaker, and then for rapper 50 Cent, before finally Terry Crews took it on.
~The definitions of "expendable" is, "not essential" and "able to be sacraficed to achieve an objective, esp. a military one."

Finnish police to get fingerprint database

In January 2009, the Finnish government decided that all Finnish passports will incorporate fingerprint information. Over several protests from officials and citizen groups, the fingerprints were assembled into a database. We were told at the time that the database wouldn't be used for anything except identifying dead people.

Here's the question: how long do you think it will take for the Finnish police to get unrestricted access to the fingerprint register?

Yesterday, the minister of the interior announced that the ministry is looking into allowing the police access to the register "to solve serious drug and sex crimes". Now, I'd argue that under Finnish law, there is no such thing as a serious sex crime (see here), but nonetheless, this is what they're doing (sez Hesari).

If all goes as usual, the next parliament will probably approve this. After all, they'll use it to catch paedophiles. You don't hate children, do you? After that, how long until the definition of "serious crime" gets expanded? And, after all, the Finnish police will never exceed their authority.

Funny but true: according to Finnish Wikipedia, the slippery slope argument is a fallacy.

Take Your Time with Eating, Praying and Loving

The Verdict: 
MAYBE SEE...


REVIEW:

In Eat Pray Love, the second unofficial "girl movie" of the year (Sex and the City 2 is the predecessor) America's Sweetheart aka Julia Roberts as always, is a delight to watch. Eat Love Pray seems to be her big comeback film, since her latest films (Valentine's Day, Duplicity) haven't been up to par with her earlier, well-known movies (Pretty Woman (1990), Erin Brockovitch (2000) ).

Roberts is perfectly cast as Liz Gilbert, an all American woman who seems to have the perfect life but suddenly one day, she wants to divorce her husband Steven (a silly and sad Billy Crudup, Watchmen, Public Enemies).

Eat Pray Love is based upon the 2006 New York Times bestseller memoir, Eat, Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Eat Pray Love (the film) had the potential to be a really inspiring film but despite having the great Roberts as the star, it falls short.

It actually reminds me of the 2003 film Under the Tuscan Sun (which I highly enjoyed), in which a newly divorced woman starts her life over in Tuscany, Italy. Coincidentally, that film is also based on a memoir.

However, because of the idea of the search for self for Liz (the main character in Under the Tuscan Sun goes to Italy at first as a vacation to escape her problems, but then falls in love with it so much she buys a villa and decides to call Italy her new home), I dub Eat Pray Love, women's Into the Wild (the beautiful 2007 Sean Penn directed film based on the non-fiction book of the same time, of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, a young man who abandons the life he knows, to travel to Alaska to find himself).

But unlike the tragic Into the Wild, Eat Pray Love is more about the celebration of life.

Admist Liz's divorce she decides to go away for a year--- first to Italy, then to India and lastly Indonesia--- in hopes of finding herself.

Liz eats until her heart is content in Italy, goes on a spritual quest in India and finds peace and love (with Felipe, played charmingly by Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men, Vicky Cristina Barcelona)again in Bali.

I like that she narrates the film at certain points, which is very effective, giving the audience access to some her thoughts and the feeling that she is actually telling her story to us.

The best scenes of the film are in Italy where food as pleasure, is her new way of life. The most scrumptious Italian foods from pasta to pizza are given close up shots so close, you can almost smell the aroma floating off the screen.

As Liz travels to India and Indonesia, India is lively and Indonesia is calm.

But it was disappointing not to see really any beautiful scenic shots.

In a film about traveling to different countries, you'd especially expect gorgeous shots everywhere but there isn't any.

There are some sweet and tender moments where you may find yourself about to spill tears, but they don't run rampant (the scenes don't and your tears won't).

The most poignant, powerful scene is when Liz spontaneously gets on her knees to pray to God asking Him while crying, what should she do. Should she divorce her husband or not?

Roberts is at her best in that moment.

How inspiring is Eat Pray Love as a whole?

Well the the most inspiring thing about Eat Pray Love the film for me is Liz's trip to Italy.

It inspired me in what to eat for dinner.

I really couldn't get the delicious looking Italian food out of my mind from Roberts' falling in love with food period.

I got pizza.

I never got around to finishing reading the novel Eat, Pray, Love.

Hmmm...

That should have been the red flag for me to skip the movie.

Fans of the book should love the film version however.

All others, unless you're a die hard Julia Roberts fan, take your time with seeing Eat Pray Love.

~Trailer:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810105588/trailer

*The Stars:
Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup, James Franco, Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins

~Director:
Ryan Murphy

~Music:
Dario Marianelli

~Rating:
PG-13

~How Long:
2 hrs. & 13 mins.

~Opening:
8/13/2010

FUN FACTS:
~Julia Roberts gained 10 pounds from her role of Liz Gilbert, from all her eating scenes while in Italy.
~Brad Pitt is one of the producers of the film.

If The Expendables Wore Pink

Would this be how the movie poster would look?

Of course this mock poster is a joke, but how would the actual theatrical poster look if the 2010 action film The Expendables (starring legendary action heroes Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li and with brief appearances by the king of all action heroes, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as Bruce Willis) movie was starring female action heroes?

It certainly wouldn't look like the real The Expendables movie poster---

filled with guns and knives galore which look drenched in blood complete with a menacing skull.

An even more important question is, what would the cast sound like if the tables where turned and the stars were girls instead of boys?


Could there even be a cast?

I thought long and hard about the female version of The Expendables and came up with:


Jolie (as in Angelina)
Thurman (Uma)
Rodriguez (Michelle)
Liu (Lucy)
Lawless (Lucy)

Chyna

Jovovitch (Milla)
Garner (Jennifer)
Grier (Pam)
Fox (Vivica A.)

Queen Latifah

Beckinsale (Kate)
Moore (Demi)
Dushku (Eliza)
Gershon (Gina)
Lilly (Evangeline)

These actresses have at some point played the role of a strong, butt-kicking machine woman (with the exception of ex-wrestler Chyna, who has done very few movies and more of television acting and Lilly, who has done movie acting but is best known for her T.V. role on Lost as tenacious Kate) but would they have it in them to play ruthless, killing machines as the actors in The Expendables do?

I don't know...

Maybe...

Yes!

I would love to finally see a real action film starring women. And not part cutesy and sexy like in recent girl action films, 2000 & 2003's Charlie's Angels and 2006's DOA (Dead or Alive).
I'm talking realistic, brutal, no holds barred action that happens in male dominated action films.

If the actresses mentioned above couldn't do such an action film, I don't know which actresses could.


Imagine this poster of The Expendables---

with the actresses' name mentioned before, wearing similar suits (and not in pink!) and armed to the teeth as the actors are.

I think it's only a matter of time before real women action heroes (read: not at all sexed up somehow) in film comes along.

Besides Alice from the Resident Evil films (has a late summer 2010 film out), Selene from the Underworld series (will reappear in a 2011 film), Black Mamba from Kill Bill series (she will resurface in Kill Bill Vol. 3 in 2014) and Lara Croft (who is MIA at the moment), what other female action heroes do girls have?

Angelina Jolie's recent fierce Evelyn Salt character could be the beginning of a new, real female action hero.

However Salt, Alice, Selene, Black Mamba and Croft still aren't as notorious as the male action heroes Rambo, The Terminator and John McClane.

When will we finally see a worldwide female action hero?

It's 2010 already.

Hollywood, it's time.

* http://screenrant.com/female-expendables-movie-pauly-67099/

* http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/top-female-action-stars-081210