Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Great (film) Debates vol. 28

Actresses are a dime a dozen (or 24 for $0.19 cents at WalMart). But good actresses are quite rare.

What actress do you wish would be better known (or “given more prominent films”)?


Panelist: ScottDS

I recently watched a Twin Peaks-inspired episode of Psych (cheekily titled "Dual Spires") and at one point, I thought to myself, "Why isn't Sherilyn Fenn more popular?" A cursory glance at her IMDb page reveals plenty of guest starring roles on TV as well as the occasional movie (including Carl Reiner's underrated noir spoof Fatal Instinct). I guess she's been immortalized for her work on Twin Peaks but in a world where a midget named Snooki is considered an A-lister, it's just a shame that an attractive actress who also happens to be talented is relegated to the back-burner, so to speak.

Panelist: AndrewPrice

This is a hard one because there are very few modern actresses who stand out to me, and usually when they do, it's in a bad way. But I have one in mind: Claudia Black. She played Aeryn Sun in Farscape, Vala Mal Doran in Stargate SG-1 and she was the prospector chick in Pitch Black. These were all great roles and showed she has incredible range. She's also not what you normally get in Hollywood.

Panelist: BevfromNYC

Cherry Jones. She does not do very many films, but is an amazing stage actress. She played The President in the last year of 24.

Panelist: T-Rav

There are few actresses who put me over the moon, but I would like to see more of Rebecca Hall. She was pretty good in The Prestige (one of the few times I thought Chris Nolan did a good job casting a female character) and I liked her in The Town as well.


Comments? Thoughts?

114 comments:

Tennessee Jed said...

Andrew and T-Rav: Both Claudia Black and Rebecca Hall are "hot" for sure, but I can't comment on Black. I did see the original Stargate, and I really liked the Prestige . . . . BUT, I have to cop to googling their images to being able to recognize them. And maybe that's what this category is partly about. Actresses who you have to say "Oh her . . . yeah, for sure."

Tennessee Jed said...

I lost my other post!! O.K. Cherry Jones I like a lot and recently saw her in a old, old "B" named the big town where she was a country singer in a western bar in Chicago. The movie was kind of a "what if The Hustler was about professional crap shooters. Scott - Sherilynn Fenn is a great choice. She was so much better than the thin chick who was her friend (the one who dated Nicholson for a awhile and was with Charlie Sheen and Clint in the Rookie.)

Anonymous said...

It's funny... I just watched the mid-season premiere of Psych last Wednesday which guest starred another actress I wish was more prolific: Mädchen Amick, who also starred on Twin Peaks. A look at her IMDb page reveals tons of TV credits, including the Fantasy Island remake in the late 90s. She also played Nicolas Cage's love interest in Trapped in Paradise, one of my guilty pleasures.

She seems to have been in this business forever and at the age of 42, she's still pretty hot. She just doesn't have that one credit on her resume that makes her a household name. If only she had been a regular on Friends, we'd all know her!

Tennessee Jed said...

Lara Flynn Boyle was who I was trying to think of. Cute, but pretty marginal as an actress.

My choices were Suzy Amis (Blown Away,) Ginnifer Goodwin (Walk the Line and Big Love, ) and Judy Greer (The Village and Californication.)

BevfromNYC said...

Interesting choices. My problem is not with the ones I WANT to be more well known. It's the ones I can't understand WHY they are so well known! I have no idea who most of these young actresses are. When Meryl Streep and Snooki appear at the same award shows you know there is a problem.

Many of these actresses like Sherilynn Fenn and Cherry Jones have the film career that they want and are mostly focused on live performance. Cherry spend most of her time on stage around the world. THough she is in a new tv show that premiered on Friday - Awake.

Anonymous said...

Jed -

I've never seen The Rookie but I just looked it up. Are you talking about Lara Flynn Boyle? I like her but judging from her IMDb photo, she's gotten some cosmetic surgery (it ain't pretty) and I know she went through a "way too thin" phase for a while.

And according to her trivia page, she once posed for a Rolling Stone cover with, wait for it, Ms. Fenn and Ms. Amick.

The funny thing is, I've never seen an episode of Twin Peaks... I wonder what's drawing me to all of its actresses?! :-)

Anonymous said...

EDIT -

I see you were talking about Ms. Boyle.

I can safely say Suzy Amis is busy being wife #5 to James Cameron. It's nice he finally found The One. :-)

Tennessee Jed said...

Scitt - to answer your question: David Lynch :) As for Suzy, I wonder if Cameron beats her?

Anonymous said...

Jed -

No, I don't think Cameron beats her, but I can see why he'd be difficult to get along with. I know wife #4 (Linda Hamilton) has problems of her own (bipolar disorder, I think), but he and Suzy seem to be happy.

Tennessee Jed said...

"I really thought he beat her" said Jed facetiously!! ;) Actually, Suzy came to mind because of my getting the blu-ray of "Usual Suspects," and re-viewing the Cameron Titanic film back in December with my grand daughters as prep work for my Titanic films review. That said, I tend not to keep up with Mr. Cameron so I didn't know they were married. I noticed she hasn't done much since.

Tennessee Jed said...

Oh, and small world . . . I forgot. I recently saw her in "The Big Town" with, that's right, Cherry Jones.

T-Rav said...

I saw Cherry Jones in the last couple seasons of 24. I had a bad opinion initially, but that may be a reflection on those seasons in general. She did pretty good with the material she was given, I guess, especially in the series finale.

T-Rav said...

Jed, I think Ginnifer Goodwin will be increasingly well-known in the next couple years. Between ABC's "Once Upon A Time," which gets a lot of viewers, and some recent film roles, she seems to be getting some attention.

Floyd R. Turbo said...

Carla Gugino should be bigger. She has a great career it seems, but she should be an A-lister.

Sherilyn Fenn... Two Moon Junction! :-)

Floyd R. Turbo said...

And Lena Headey... Queen Gorgo from 300... she should be big

tryanmax said...

I'll have to rack my brain and get back to you on the primary question, but I just had to lodge some comments on Twin Peaks. I just got into it on Netflix and watched the whole first season in about two days. But once I started season two, I pretty quickly understood why it went away. It instantly became a parody of itself. I haven't gotten to it yet, but I'm told they also solve the mystery of "Who killed Laura Palmer?" halfway through the season. I'm not so sure if that was the big oops that everyone says it was, because I've already stopped caring. I haven't decided if I'll even trudge through the rest or not.

Tennessee Jed said...

Floyd - I totally agree with you about Carla. I remember her from Doogie Howser, and a dreadful comedy called Son-in-Law with Paulie Shore. Then, she surfaced in the t.v. version of Karen Sisco which I really enjoyed, and whoa, Sin City. Most recently, I liked her in The Mighty Macs which is a minor "sports" movie. The point, might be, is a lot of good actresses have done well in television instead of movies. It has actually become so much more "respectable" particularly if you land a premium channel series with a budget!! But these are actresses who, for soime reason, never got the big "star" tag

Anonymous said...

Jed -

I know you're being facetious. :-) I forgot Suzy Amis was in The Usual Suspects - I haven't seen the film in years but I'm waiting for them to re-release the Blu-Ray with all of the DVD extras (I hate when studios drop the extras for no good reason).

From a glance at her IMDb page, she ran a private school in SoCal and I believe she's involved in various philanthropic enterprises.

Tennessee Jed said...

Rav - you know, for one reason or another, I haven't caught "Once Upon A Time." Is it good? She is getting more and more known through . . . . ta-da . . . . television. I thought she took a lot of shit for portraying Vivian Cash "negatively." I can understand how Roseanne felt that way, but whether it was an accurate portrayal or not, what was undeniable was her acting chops. That scene where she is playing cards in Memphis while John and the Tennessee Two are strumming on the porch is priceless.

Anonymous said...

Floyd -

I agree with everything you just said.

And I've been in love with Ms. Gugino ever since she was a regular on the first season of Spin City where she played Michael J. Fox' girlfriend. She was also in one of my guilty pleasure films: Snake Eyes, with Nicolas Cage.

I didn't like Sin City but... yeah. :-)

Tennessee Jed said...

Scott - the studios want to charge more for Blu-Ray and so far have been unable to do so. They tried "combo-pack" and now seem to be releasing a lot of blu-rays with virtually nothing.

Anonymous said...

By the way, good choices, everyone! I confess I'm not that familiar with Ms. Jones or Ms. Goodwin. Farscape has been on my to-watch list forever so I already feel like I know Claudia Black. :-)

Anonymous said...

Jed -

I think The Usual Suspects was one of MGM's first Blu-Rays and, just like the first DVDs, the first Blu-Rays were more or less bare-bones, not to mention MGM's financial troubles may have prevented them from producing more elaborate editions at the time. This is why I haven't upgraded my RoboCop or Terminator DVDs.

Fox also released a ton of Blu-Rays without their DVD extras, which is why I'm holding on to my Master and Commander 2-disc DVD set till the Blu-Ray gets an upgrade.

tryanmax said...

I think it is interesting that the question asks about actresses in the plural, but none of the panelists offered more than one. Here are the actresses I’d like to see…

…better known: Clea DuVall. She’s probably better known that most of the other actresses named here, but I don’t see her name on a lot of marquees. Her IMDB page shows she’s always working, but I think she’s got the talent and the looks to be more prominent than she is.

…in more prominent films: Christina Ricci. Well-known child actress gone Indie, so it’s partly her own doing that she’s not in many big releases. This selection is perhaps more a commentary on the nature of big releases.

…more of: Angela Sarafyan. Uh, just what it says. I’d just like to see more of her.

Floyd R. Turbo said...

The ultimate "she should be bigger" is Marisa Tomei... talk about squandering Oscar mojo.

She's had some good work (though I cannot scrub my mind's eye of her and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Before the Devil Knows Your Dead), but unless her choice to stay beneath the radar was intentional or she made a ton of bad choices (or Vinny was a fluke?) that's a mystery

Floyd R. Turbo said...

@tryanmax... Ricci is full-time on ABC's Pan Am currently. It might be a mainstream breakout for her. She looks gorgeous in it.

tryanmax said...

Floyd, I've seen a couple of episodes of Pan Am and her presence is not enough to carry it for me. It's just a wretched show.

BTW, good picks all around, especially Ginnifer Goodwin and the ladies of Twin Peaks.

Floyd R. Turbo said...

no but it may help her move more mainstream

Tennessee Jed said...

Tryanmax - you are absolutely correct about Twin Peaks. I have always thought my biggest complaint about Lynch is exactly that. He tries to "outcute" himself and ends up becoming a parody of himself.

I am in the midst of a review of his masterwork "Mulholland Drive" that shows Lynch at it's best.

Unknown said...

I'll go off on a different tangent. Tiffani Thiessen (aka Tiffani Amber Thiessen). I had to put up with her when my kids were still young enough to be watching Saved by the Bell and then the original Beverly Hills 90210. She stood out as being the closest thing to a serious actress on either series. She's done some other gigs since, but she is just really good and really attractive in her current role as the wife of an FBI agent on White Collar.

Tennessee Jed said...

Another thing I noticed (the guys anyway) is what pigs we all still are :) There are actresses and there are babes, and a precious few babe actresses. Good to see so many are being mentioned primarily based on their (to quote Garth) "babelonian qualities.

Tennessee Jed said...

Floyd - again, I'm with you on Marisa. She "shoulda been a contenda!"

Anonymous said...

LawHawk -

Good choice. Incidentally, Tiffany Thiessen is one of the few celebrities to share my birthday (1/23).

While I despise Saved by the Bell with the fiery intensity of a thousand suns, her presence is always appreciated. (It doesn't even have to do with her looks - some actors and actresses just give off that comforting vibe, I guess.)

tryanmax said...

Jed, I have to say, it's sorta hard to pick out actresses that aren't attractive. It seems that whenever some actress who doesn't fit the conventional standard of beauty makes the scene, she either gets jammed into quirky roles that in no way could showcase anyone's talent, or she gets lauded as immensely talented when it's simply not true. "It's so great to see an (unflattering adjective) actress do well."

Tennessee Jed said...

Scott - Also hope they do a new and better telecine on Master & Commander. When I visited Digital Projector Inc.'s headquarters to audition my 1080p projector, their marketing V.P. showed me the difference in quality between the DVD and Blu-Ray. DVD way better, although I'll admit Master & Comander is one of the most difficult films to make look good because of the lighting. Today's digital technologies all struggle with black levels to a certain extent. Anyway, hold off on that one for sure :)

Tennessee Jed said...

Tryanmax - "homely" is probably as good a description as any l.o.l. Here is an actress I have always respected who never made it big: Linda Hunt.

Tennessee Jed said...

Hawk - leave it you to make a choice so nuanced, I've a) never heard of her and b) never seen any of the things you mentioned she played in. l.o.l. The one thing I can count on is that she probably is incredibly undervalued since you are never wrong about these things.

tryanmax said...

An interesting phenomenon occurs if you do a Google image search for "homely actress." I don't understand it and I wholly disagree.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, Here's your initial commment, it was on the other page. I forgot to turn the comments off at the main page. Sorry about that:


Jed...
I don't know how I missed this question. Too many choices, I guess. I like everybody's pick, particularly Cherry Jones. As a young actress, I just saw her as a country singer in a "B" movie called Big Town which was an attempt to do "If the Hustler was about a crap shooter."

Sherylenn Fenn is a choice I also like, Scott. You are right, she was a much better actor than the chick who used to be Nicholson's Girlfriend, but was marginal at best, and got way too skinny.

My choices would include Suzy Amis (Blown Away) Ginnifer Goodwin (Walk the Line) and Judy Greer (Californication, The Village among others.

Anonymous said...

A couple more suggestions...

-Margaret Colin, who played the White House press secretary (and Jeff Goldblum's ex) in Independence Day. A glance at her IMDb page reveals plenty of TV credits... a working actress, just not on anyone's A-list.

-Vicki Lewis, who played Beth on Newsradio. Sure, she isn't a household name but she seems to be working non-stop, plus she does tons of stage work.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, Claudia Black has proven to me that she has a ton of talent and a very wide range. She can do serious, funny and everything in between.

I don't really know Cherry Jones. I've seen her, but haven't watched her so I can't say how she is as an actress.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, L.Flynn Boyle is an interesting choice. When I first saw her in movies like Poltergeist III she was a teen and seemed kind of lightweight. Then I saw her in Men in Black II and didn't even recognize her. I think she has a good deal of talent and a pretty strong scene presence.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I'm less than thrilled with much of what Hollywood does for casting. Far too often the actresses are little more than props who look like someone said "get me some Playboy model for the background." And then they always seem to rely on the same couple like Streep for dramatic stuff. Only, I don't think she can do it. I think she's a horrible actress, but she's famous so they cast her. Hollywood really needs to expand the net of possible actresses and stop looking for specific body types rather than talent.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav and Jed, I first saw Ginnifer Goodwin on Big Love. I liked her and it was a good show. I'm not sure I've seen her in anything else since.

AndrewPrice said...

Floyd, I've seen Carla Gugino in several things apparently, but I had to look her up so I can't comment on her specifically.

As an aside, one film she was in recently was Sucker Punch. What an atrocity. They should burn that one before anyone else sees it.

Anonymous said...

Andrew -

I've got Sucker Punch set to record on the DVR later this week! I'll let you know if I survive in one piece. :-)

AndrewPrice said...

Floyd, I like Leana Heady a lot! She was excellent in 300 and she's been very good in Game of Thrones.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, I had the same thought with Twin Peaks. I saw it after the fact and the first season was great, then it suddenly got goofy.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, I think you'll find Farscape to be "interesting." It was an odd show that I wanted to like much more than I did and it kept getting strangely surreal for seemingly no reason. It was like a show that had an idea but kept distracting itself and never quite bothered to nail down the rules of how its universe worked. So I sit on the fence about it. I had a ton of potential and you saw glimpses of it, but it also fell flat on its face repeatedly.


As far as sitcoms go, I actually enjoyed Spin City.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, I struggled to come up with any if truth be told.

Ricci is a good choice. I've come around a lot to her recently.

I liked Clea DuVall in Carnivale but I haven't really seen her in anything else that comes to mind. I know I've seen her elsewhere, but nothing comes to mind.

AndrewPrice said...

Floyd, Good question. Tomei was fantastic in Vinny. And I have liked her in other things as well. I'm not really sure if she got typecast or what?

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, I'm actually a fan of Lynch's Dune, though apparently few other people are.

Actually, I take that back... I prefer the version he won't put his name to, the longer version. I think it was better done.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, I came around on her as well. I don't know when I changed my mind, but somewhere along the way I realized she's actually pretty good as an actress and not just as a goofy teen.

Unknown said...

Tennessee: I'm not that good. I once thought I had made a mistake, but it turned out I was wrong about that. LOL

Andrew: Boyle was a regular on the series The Practice, first as a deputy DA, then as a defense attorney. That was before the series forgot what it was about and turned into bad horror/comedy/drama with bad, bad lawyering and changed it's name to Boston Legal. Boyle was beautiful, but during the course of the series, she began to look anorexic. She had originally auditioned for the part of Ally McBeal but lost out to Calista Flockhart who also began to look anorexic. Still, producer David Kelly was so impressed with her that he added in the DA role for her in The Practice.

Tennessee Jed said...

Actually, Lara Flynn Boyle was not a choice. Honestly, I've only seen her in three or four things that I remembered: Twin Peaks, Wayne's World, The Rookie, and Red Rocks West. I just never felt like she distinguished herself in any of them, at least not to the extent Sherilynn Fenn did. I think I remember one good role for her where she played "the temp." At least I think that was her.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, I don't see it that way actually. I am depressed that Hollywood only chooses centerfolds as actresses. When I look back on films from the 1970s for example (or shows from Britain) they chose real women for many roles. I like that. I think television/film is much more interesting when the people look real.

To me, this idea that every actress needs to look like a centerfold is as creepy as if they picked only musclemen for the male parts. It's messed up. It's also why I think we don't get interesting actresses because they all look like they've been stamped from a factory.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, You know who I think of when that issue comes up about actresses being flattered because they don't look the part? Cathy Bates. I've personally felt for years that she's not a great actress. She plays cliches and I've always felt she was Cathy Bates playing the cliche of a ___.

But she got mega praise because she was overweight. I think it's the same thing with some of the older actresses. They get praised because they are old and can still find work. So it becomes a vicious circle.

I truly wish Hollywood could drop the attitude on this and just cast people who are good at what they do rather than trying to find centerfolds and then using a couple "acceptable" nonstandard models for everything.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, I like Linda Hunt a lot, especially in Year of Living Dangerously -- well done.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, It's the most worthless film I've ever seen, I kid you not. It's basically violent porn masquerading as pretend art for nerds.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, I haven't seen her in a while and that's too bad if she went the anorexic look. There's so much of that in Hollywood these days. I feel like I should mail them all sandwiches or something.

Tennessee Jed said...

Andrew - :( I was being facetious about the "babes over actresses."

Another actress who recently knocked my socks off is the Irish actress Dominique McElliott. So far, the only thing I've seen her in is "Hell on Wheels." Despite your very valid criticisms of that show, I hung in there with it through the season so I must have found something worthwhile. And by far, she was the best thing about it. Is she classically beautiful? Well, yes. But she was able to wonderfully bring out the strength of character of Lilly Bell.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, I just couldn't take it anymore. It got to the point that I decided the politics just overwhelmed anything else the show had going.

McElliott is the wife of the dead surveyor?

Floyd R. Turbo said...

Tricia Helfer -- Number Six -- from Battlestar Galactica should be a name. She did a lot of the heavy lifting on that show. TV to movie is always dicey though.

Tennessee Jed said...

Andrew - I appreciate that point of view. I think the western motif was probably what allowed me to hang in, along with the intrigue of Durant (Colm Meaney) who is an actual person that allowed me to hang on. That, and Dominque. Yes, she is the woman who survived the Indian attack that killed her husband.

AndrewPrice said...

Floyd, She was excellent in BSG. In fact, I think she made the series.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, I wanted to like it. I liked the style and the photography and the whole idea. It just drove me nuts because it began to feel like a Black Panthers recruiting video.

tryanmax said...

As long as we're talking BSG, I'll throw out Mary McDonnell.

Tennessee Jed said...

Mary McDonnell is a great choice. I've enjoyed her recently on The Closer. Another actress I like a lot is Lana Parilla. Like many we have mentioned, she has had a solid career guesrting on shows like Spin City, JAG, The Shield, Lost, and others. I first really noticed her chops on a short lived series called "Swing Town" which was about the "swinger wife swapping" fad of the 80's.

AndrewPrice said...

I like Mary McDonnell a lot and I thought she was excellent in BSG, though I had some issues with how they handled the character... but that's probably a topic for another day.

Jed, The Shield was awesome! That is easily my favorite "cop" show.

T-Rav said...

Jed, it's kind of campy, but certainly watchable. (Okay, a lot campy, but still.) Lana Parilla is on the show too, FYI. I've only seen Walk the Line a few times, so I can't remember too much about Goodwin in that role, but I did think she was entirely believable as the first Mrs. Cash. And it's kind of a difficult role to play regardless, because Johnny and June have been treated as country music royalty for so long, we kinda forget that some people did get hurt along the way, deliberately or not. I thought she did fine.

BevfromNYC said...

Ooh, I love Linda Hunt! She's one of the reasons I watch NCIS Los Angeles.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I didn't know she was on that? In fact, I haven't seen her mentioned for years now and I thought she might have retired.

Doc Whoa said...

Excellent lists everyone, as always. I always liked Kate Jackson from Charlies Angels and I thought she would have a bigger career.

T-Rav said...

I only know Linda Hunt from The Incredibles. But her character was funny, and she gives an interesting impression from the NCIS LA previews I've seen.

Outlaw13 said...

Well, I don't know about anybody else but when Moe poked Snookie in the eye during the new Three Stooges trailer, I laughed my ass off. Now that's entertainment.

Seriously though, there seems to be a lost generation of actresses. Mary Stewart Masterson (Some Kind of Wonderful and Gardens of Stone) where have you gone? Diane Lane is another we could stand to see more of.

Outlaw13 said...

Sucker Punch...truth in advertising.

AndrewPrice said...

Outlaw, Isn't that the truth. I kept waiting for something in that movie and it never ever tries to deliver. It's just violent porn all the way through done against different backdrops.


I liked MS Masterson a good deal. I like Diane Lane too.

Eric P said...

Carla Gugino, hubba-hubba and otherwise fun to watch, too. Boo on the Justified producers for only having her in one episode this season. Would also like to see more Joan Cusack, even if it's just in the supporting roles she always slam-dunks. Hmmm, profession supporting actress ... I kinda like that.

Sucker Punch, lots of hella good music videos, the best even I can say after seeing what I was told would be a better, ahem, fleshed-out director's cut. Zack Snyder better come back strong with his Superman installment, 'cause 300's looking more like a fluke as time passes.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed Mary McDonnell in Independence Day and Galactica. It was also nice to see her in something "light" when she appeared in Sneakers.

Tricia Helfer was cast, along with a couple other Galactica actors in a fantasy procedural pilot called 17th Precinct from Ron Moore. Unfortunately, it was not picked up and the rough cut of the pilot isn't online anymore.

AndrewPrice said...

Eric, I've always like Joan Cusack as well. She plays "crazy dangerous" very well.

Yeah, 300 is looking more and more like a fluke. I don't know what he was thinking with Sucker Punch. That thing was rotten through and through.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, I think Helfer has entered the realm of "used science fiction actors," like the people from Stargate and Eureka who now periodically pop up as the leads in some Sci-Fi Channel schlock or guest start on Sci-Fi Channel series. That's too bad. She was really excellent in BSG.

Patriot (Who went to this naming convention anyway?) said...

Folks......who could forget Natascha McElhone, the Irish terrorist from Ronin? Why haven't we seen more of her? Granted, I've got a thing for beautiful British Isles actresses....say another like Catherine McCormack, William Wallace's wife in Braveheart? These are beautiful women who need to be put in front of red blooded men much more often.

Anonymous said...

That's a shame about Helfer. She should be on one of the big cable series like Breaking Bad or Sons of Anarchy... one of those.

"Used science fiction actor" is the phrase you'll be using to describe my choice when we get to the male actor version of this question. :-)

AndrewPrice said...

Patriot, She's one of my favorites. I love her in Ronin and in The Truman Show and Solaris, but I haven't seen much of her since.

Anonymous said...

Patriot -

I was actually thinking about Ms. McElhone myself. I remember asking "Who's this?!" when I first saw her in The Truman Show. I think she appeared on Californication but I don't know if she was a regular or simply a recurring character.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, LOL! That seems to have become a new category. Just the other day I watched Joe Flannigan battle dinosaurs and Mitch Pileggi battle ants. Sci-Fi seems to have learned these people bring a lot of good will and so they have begun casting them in these garbage films. It works... I watch.

Did we do a male version of this question? It's all a blur to me. LOL!

I don't know why Helfer hasn't caught on more? Maybe she has and I just missed it?

Anonymous said...

Yes, we did. I won't spoil my answer here but I sent it in to you in November!

I don't watch them (I probably should) but I always enjoy seeing who shows up in those ridiculous SyFy hybrid creature features. It's usually the most random assortment of actors:

"This fall, SyFy Channel will be airing the original movie Octo-sloth, starring Christopher Lloyd, Marina Sirtis, Scott Baio, Miss Cleo the Psychic, The Situation, Garrett Morris, one of the Real Housewives of New Jersey, a Kardashian (TBD), and Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson."

(I just made that up but I know I'm not too far off!)

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, I would absolutely watch that! LOL!

The worst one of those I've seen recently was called Swamp Volcano, about a giant volcano in Miami. It was HORRID. One of the actors couldn't even pronounce basic words. The lead actress (if it's fair to call her an actress) was stiff as a board. On the plus side, it had Rembrandt "Cryin' Man" Brown from Sliders as an evil businessman.


You probably did, but I don't recall all the questions/answers... plus I'm still waiting for more answers from certain people (HINT, HINT folks).

T-Rav said...

Your Honor, I present in my defense this email from Andrew saying he still had a few weeks' worth of answers from me before he ran out!

AndrewPrice said...

You get a pass for the moment.


Blech on the new commenting system at BH. I've dealt with it on other sites and hate it. I'm fighting right now to open an account. Grrr.

Anonymous said...

I managed to register but I don't dare post a comment. I see we now have the opportunity to give individual articles thumbs down (tee hee).

I doubt they'll be carrying over all the old comments from three years' worth of articles. I'm almost tempted to deleted my IntenseDebate account... but I might need to refer to an old comment later.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, I got an account opened, but it won't update. I think their system is currently overwhelmed. And the two comments I made vanished.

I hate to say this, but this is going to be a disaster. This is not an easy system to use. I've seen it at other sites and it becomes hard to follow once you start getting too many comments.

Anonymous said...

We should probably change BH's url in the blogroll here and on the other site, though I'm happy to take it off since the new Breitbart sites don't seem to have blogrolls of their own.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, We'll have to update the address. I don't know about dumping them as I don't know how many people use it.

DUQ said...

I don't personally use it. I do use some of the others thought.

AndrewPrice said...

DUQ, I've never been able to get a handle on that from people -- how much they use the links or other things in the sidebars. That's all space we could use for other projects but I don't want to take out something people like.

Kit said...

Jewel Staite of FIREFLY and STARGATE: ATLANTIS

AndrewPrice said...

Kit, Good call! I like her a lot.

AndrewPrice said...

I finally got my account sorted out over there! Yeah! :)

Tennessee Jed said...

well here is something interesting. I actually did give you a couple of names for this question in an email dated November 6th. The fault is entirely mine since I neglected to put the number beside my answer. My original answer was . . . ta-da: Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sophie Marceau. Both are plenty well known, but my answers were geared towards the "wish we would see more of them" part of the equation. In Catherine's case, she sort of sublimated her career after getting married. Sophie Marceau was enjoyable in Braveheart. Her part was a bit sappy, but she acted it beautifully. She was an unlikely Bond villain and did a credible job. There was one other romantic comedy of little note, and poof! . . . she disappeared from my radar.

I did miss answering the one about "errors" but I couldn't have given you an example regardless. I believe I have answered all the others :)

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, Sorry about that. Somehow I missed that answer. This one and the one about the continuity errors are the only two where I don't have answers from you. So I do have answers for the rest.

rlaWTX said...

I know these faces, but not always the names.

Tiffani Thiessen has been fun to watch. I really like her as "Mrs. Suit" on White Collar.

Anonymous said...

Kit -

Great call on Jewel Staite! Hopefully, she won't fall into the "used science fiction actor" category. There's no reason she shouldn't be in some big studio movie, like a romantic comedy or something.

Speaking of Canadian actresses, I'd love to see more of Caroline Dhavernas, who starred in the short-lived Fox series Wonderfalls. She has done a ton of French Canadian films and was also in a short-lived ABC series a year ago called Off the Map.

Kit said...

She should be in Rom-Coms but that would make too much sense for a studio to do.

She has a tv show coming out called THE L.A. COMPLEX.

It is a CTV (Canadian) drama series.

The IMDB plot summary: "Full of new relationships, salacious temptations and make-it-or-break it decisions, the series coming-of-age dwellers grapple with life's defining moments as they deal with the unreality of the show-biz industry"

Anonymous said...

Nice to see Canada's TV shows are just as unoriginal as ours! :-)

AndrewPrice said...

Staite would be great in a rom-com or a comedy. I just wonder if Hollywood would allow a transition from science fiction to other work?

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, "Mrs. Suit"? I haven't watched the show, so I'm not familiar with the character.

Kit said...

Scottish actress Karen Gillan.

I would also like to see more from Catherine Tate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxB1gB6K-2A

It would be fun to see her in some comedies.

AndrewPrice said...

Kit, Sadly, Catherine Tate is the one companion I can't stand.

Here's the link: LINK

Kit said...

I loved her.

Perfect chemistry with David Tennant!

AndrewPrice said...

She has a lot of fans. She just rubbed me wrong. I think my favorite from the new shows is Gillan.

rlaWTX said...

Andrew, short version: one of the characters (Mozie) calls the FBI agent "the Suit". His wife is "Mrs. Suit".

El Gordo said...

I would like to mention Gail Russell who died under very sad circumstances in 1961. Apparently she was chronically shy and fearful, and she drank herself to death.

I saw her in Angel and the Badman and Seven Men from now. Wonderful actress and so beautiful it hurts (stills don´t tell the whole story). I challenge any man, knowing about her sad fate, to see her and not want to ride in on a time machine and save and protect her. Naive as it certainly is, but contemporary actresses never push my button that way.

AndrewPrice said...

El Gordo, I don't know her, but you're right that she's definitely beautiful. And that is a sad story.

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