Day 8- Nothing Rhymes with Eight

Its a little bit early (or late depending on your time zone) to be discussing the Academy Awards, but I am going to talk about them anyway. That is, I am going to talk about what happens after a certain trend related to the Oscars.

Since the "superhero boom" of 2001 that started when "Spider-Man" had the biggest weekend opening of all time to date. $114 million. (And for bonus points who knows the current all time biggest weekend opening of all time? If you said "Maid in Manhattan" then you are woefully misguided. Its Spider Man 3, with $151 million!) This phenomenon had studios green lighting even superhero movies left and right. Some good (Batman Begins-YAY!) and some not so good (Daredevil-BOO!)

There has also been a trend in the academy as of late, to nominate actors for Oscars for performances in more "indie" roles. A lot of these actors were lesser known/unemployed before and so, when they are finally recognized for great work they want a large payday. What movie roles give actors large paydays? ACTION MOVIES. What type of action movies are Hollywood making these days? SUPER HERO movies. My theory is also made true by this statement of principles:
1. If Indie actors want money and big roles.
2. And Superhero movies want indie actors and have money and big roles
3. Therefore Superhero movies will give indie actors big roles and money.

Don't quite follow? Well the proof is in the pudding.

After her big Oscar win for "A Beautiful Mind" in 2001, actress Jennifer Connelly (who's biggest film to date before that was David Bowie's "Labyrinth") chose to make Ang Lee's "The Hulk" her next big picture in 2003. (PS. I saw the new Hulk this weekend and I was pleasantly surprised. It was very good. During the fight scenes I definitely felt like punching someone/destroying something/screaming loudly.)
Charlize Theron followed her Oscar win for "Monster" with "Aeon Flux" (also the next big picture for Oscar nominee (for "Hotel Rwanda") Sophie Okondeo).
Holly Hunter followed her nomination for "Thirteen" by doing voice over work for "The Incredibles."
Morgan Freeman followed his long overdue Oscar win for "Million Dollar Baby" with a small role (for which he got a large paycheck) in "Batman Begins."
Phillip Seymour Hoffman followed "Capote" with "Mission Impossible III" (not a comic book movie, but a big time movie villlian nonetheless and a provider of one of the most kick ass trailer monologues ever ("Do you have a wife...or a girlfriend? Cause I'm gonna find her. And I'm gonna hurt her. Then I'm gonna KILL YOU RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER!!!")
Judi Dench followed her Oscar win for "Shakespeare in Love" with her role as "Catwoman."

JK! That was Halle Berry who after her win for "Monster's Ball" did X2 and then Catwoman silly billy.
Thomas Hayden Church followed his much lauded role in "Sideways" with his role as The Sandman in "Spider Man 3."
Heath Ledger followed his Oscar nom for "Brokeback Mountain" with his upcoming role as the Joker in "The Dark Knight."(Insert dead Heath Ledger joke here).
Cate Blanchett folllowed "Notes on a Scandal" with Indiana Jones 4.

AAAANND If I were to extend the Phillip Seymour Hoffman category, I could put Alan Arkin who followed his win for "Little Miss Sunshine" with "Get Smart" and Helen Mirren who followed her win for "The Queen" with "National Pleasure 2: Book of Secretions." (Thanks Wayne's World!)

Do you see what I'm getting at? So moral of the story is, if you want to get a part in a new superhero movie, getting an Oscar nomination makes it a whole lot easier. So don't be surprised if you hear that Hal Holbrook is playing "Thor!"











Now I am going to introduce a section of the blog I'm going to call, "Actors Who Made the Right Choice." The first actor (or actress in this case) who made the right choice is......

MARA WILSON
You may remember this adorable young actress from her roles in "Mrs. Doubtfire" as the adorable "Nattie."(Some of my favorite Natty lines: "We're his goddamn kids too," "But we're in the middle of Charlotte's Web" and "DADDY!") In her heyday, this precocious doodlebug even gave the Full House Olsen Twins a run for their money. She was super-cute in Mrs. Doubtfire, uber-cute in "Miracle on 34th Street" and not as cute, but still engaging as the magical, literary tour de force "Matilda." After "Matilda," she made two more movies, "A Simple Wish" and "Thomas the Magic Railroad" and then disappeared. There was no comeback at age 18, no guest starring role on "Judging Amy" or "Law and Order," no DUIs. She stepped away from the camera and that was it. And boy is she better off for it. Not only did she cement her status as one of the cutest child actresses of the early 90s but she is always going to be remembered for her cuteness and delicate acting and that's it. Mara Wilson (if she continues to stay off the radar and does not pursue acting after college) will be frozen in time in the minds of our generation as just a wonderful, adorable, child actress who, while in her prime, was at the top of her game. No afterthought. For all of these reasons, in my mind, Mara Wilson is an actress who made the right choice.

Until Tomorrow--