Ten Actresses to Keep an Eye On In 2008

Actress: Cate Blanchett
2007 notables: Hot Fuzz, I'm Not There, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
2008 notables: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Why she made the list: Cate got great reviews for revisiting Queen Elizabeth even if the actual movie didn't. Meanwhile, there's a good chance a Best Supporting nod is on the horizon with her turn as a Dylan in I'm Not There. Cate, or "The New Meryl" as I like to call her, will try to continue her strong streak of performances with the heavily anticipated Indiana Jones movie and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button starring Brad Pitt and directed by David Fincher.

Tilda Swinton Actress: Tilda Swinton
2007 notables: Michael Clayton
2008 notables: Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll

Why she made the list: It's my firm belief that Swinton doesn't get nearly enough love because she looks like an alien. She's kind of like Christopher Walken in female form. She is good-to-great in almost every movie she's in though and I really liked her turn in Michael Clayton this year. She joins Cate in Benjamin Button, but the movie I'm looking forward to more is the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich and Frances McDormand. Swinton has one more notable project that inspires me to drink: Phantasmagoria, a bizarre project about Alice In Wonderland author Lewis Carroll that will be written by, directed and star Marilyn Manson. I'd like to tell you I was lying. I'm just not.

Halle Berry Actress: Halle Berry
2007 notables: Perfect Stranger, Things We Lost in the Fire
2008 notables: Happily Never After, Tulia, Class Act

Why she made the list: You ever see that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry dates a woman he finds beautiful, but every so often with the right (or wrong, really) lighting, she's turns into a butterface? Berry's career is kind of like that. Sometimes it looks good (like her latest, Things We Lost In The Fire) and sometimes it looks like Perfect Stranger. John Singleton's legal drama Tulia, and the heartwarming true story, Class Act, sound like potential winners.

Reese Witherspoon Actress: Reese Witherspoon
2007 notables: Rendition
2008 notables: Four Christmases

Why she made the list: I know she doesn't have much on the plate but her December 2008 release, Four Christmases sounds like a doctor-prescribed rebound flick. It's about a couple (Reese and Vince Vaughn) whose parents are both divorced. You know what that means... four trips to four homes on Christmas Day. It's Christmas, it's Vince Vaughn so you know all kinds of crazy hijinks will ensue. It doesn't matter whether or not this movie is good or lame because it sounds like a holiday hit.

Rachel McAdams Actress: Rachel McAdams
2007 notables: Nada
2008 notables: Married Life, The Lucky Ones, The Time Traveler's Wife, State of Play

Why she made the list: With Wedding Crashers and The Notebook, Rachel looked like she was primed to make le leap. As far as I can tell, everyone loves Rachel McAdams. Everyone I talk to is positively smitten. It'd make me nauseous if I didn't have a serious case of puppy love for her as well. So yeah, lots of love to go around. We just all hated Red Eye.

I think she felt scorned by this. She took 2007 off and went out to the lake where she spent her fondest childhood years. She had time to reflect, hook a worm and watch the sun set. All the while, never forgetting and methodically planning her comeback to the very last detail. Twirling her mustache, shaving her mustache... until finally she was ready to unleash herself again upon John Q. Public.

Or maybe the scheduling just worked out the way it did. Anyway, with a full slate of films to be released in 2008 (including State of Play with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton), McAdams looks to be one of next year's most prolific prospects.

Source: www.film.com

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Celebrities are NOT role models

Would you like your daughter to be like Britney?

Would you like your daughter to be like Britney?

I know I've said it before, but I'm going to rant again. Celebrities aren't role models! And it looks like the media is beginning to agree with me.

The tide of public opinion is finally beginning to turn against celebrities? Yes, we are obsessed with them (and before you get on your high horse and talk loudly about how you don’t give a damn about celebrities, let me just remind you that you’re reading THIS blog), but it seems as though we’re finally coming to the realisation that celebrities are not generally people that we should admire or strive to be like.

Cleo Magazine has come out and said that they will not be featuring celebrities on the cover of their magazine anymore. Cleo Editor, Nadahl Stelio says of celebrities, “their lifestyle is not one to aspire to at all and I just thought we shouldn’t have them on our cover.” That’s a big call when you consider that in the last 7 years, Cleo has only featured celebrities on it’s front cover. Cleo are instead looking to bring back models on their covers.

While you can make the argument that models are no better than celebrities, when it comes to being a role model, Kate Moss being one example, Cleo claims that celebrities are too overexposed. Models are seen as more mysterious.

Remember the days when Vogue, Cleo, Cosmo, Vanity Fair and the rest only ever had models on the cover? The day of the supermodel may be coming back.

But before you all let out a sigh of relief and think ‘well now, there’s some good role models for my kids’, remember one thing. Models, generally speaking, are paid to look good. Not to think. Not to have an opinion. But to look good. Their good looks sell products. Is that really the kind of person you want your kids to look up to? Someone with no opinions or thoughts, but who looks good in a bikini. Of course, both Lindsay Lohan’s and Britney Spears’ mothers’ answered yes to that question!

It’s fine to admire a celebrity, model or sports stars talent. But should their talents automatically make them role models? Hell no! Shane Warne is an amazing cricket player. But he’s a bloody ordinary human being. Admire him for his sporting skills, but don’t try to emulate how he acts.

Britney Spears was a global phenomenon at the age of 16. Can we admire the way she was catapulted to the top of a very difficult industry? Absolutely. Do you want to be like Britney? Lets see, constant partying, rehab, very public breakdowns, a loser ex-husband who now looks like a better parent than you because you’re so mental. Hmmm….sounds like fun to be Britney, but I think I’ll pass on that one.

Being really good at something does not automatically make you a good person, someone to be admired. I’m from Melbourne, the land of AFL. Where we treat football players as though they’re gods and then lament the fact that they’re not good role models. People, they’re football players. They’re real good at running fast and kicking and catching an odd shaped leather ball. I know that there are a lot of very intelligent footballers. But lets face it, they’re famous for their sporting prowess, not their brain power. So am I surprised when they do dumb stuff? Uh….that would be a no.

So, am I a bit hypocritical for being a self-confessed celebrity gossip addict and yet telling you not to use celebrities as role models? Eh, maybe. But I personally look at celeb’s and think to myself, they work a couple months a year, make mountains of cash, always look glamourous and can get just about anything they want. Sure, it’d be fun to have their life for a few days or weeks. But do I want to have paparazzi constantly following me around? Do I want to live knowing that I’m wide-open to criticism at every turn? My every move discussed and dissected by people I don’t know and will never meet.

Yeah, I’ll just stick to my own life thanks. It may not be as glam as some, but you know, I’m happy with it.

So, if celeb’s are out as role models, then who do we have? Who are some of the people that you admire or see as role model potential?

Okay, I'm going to go now and give you more celebrity gossip a little later on. See who wants to be a celebrity when it means you have people like me writing about you!

*Link source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=285158

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The 68th Annual International Best-Dressed List

Fashion-conscious judges from around the world weighed in for the 68th annual poll to determine who wears it best. In the September issue, the stylish-elect—women, men, couples, fashion professionals, and fashion originals—reveal their favorite purchases, ensembles, and inspirations. Here are those who made the cut this year, including seven additions to the Hall of Fame.

For an in-depth look at this year's list, see the September issue.

Women

Charlotte Gainsbourg
Princess Alexandra of Greece
Marjorie Gubelmann
Princess Mafalda of Hesse
Fran Lebowitz
Michelle Obama
Bee Shaffer
Tilda Swinton
Ivanka Trump
Renée Zellweger

Men

Tiki Barber
Jonathan Becker
Count Manfredi Della Gherardesca
Lapo Elkann
Richard E. Grant
Lenny Kravitz
Luis and Rafael Medina
Hidetoshi Nakata
Nicolas Sarkozy
Gay Talese

Couples

David and Victoria Beckham
The Earl and Countess of Cawdor
Damon Dash and Rachel Roy
Frédéric Fekkai and Shirin von Wulffen
Mitch Glazer and Kelly Lynch
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore
David Lauren and Lauren Bush
Viscount and Viscountess Linley
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
Ruben and Isabel Toledo

Fashion Professionals

Amy Astley
Tory Burch
Jefferson Hack
Liya Kebede
Alexandra Kotur
Margherita Missoni
Stefano Pilati
Michael Roberts
Katherine Ross
Hedi Slimane

Fashion Originals

Peter Beard
Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele
Lisa Eisner

Hall of Fame

Alba Clemente
George Clooney
Marina Rust Connor
Anderson Cooper
Sofia Coppola
Jemima Khan
Anna Piaggi

::visit this link source http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/09/bestdressed200709

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