In the United States, today is Thanksgiving. Historically, the holiday commemorates a feast that occurred to mark the first successful harvest in the United States, and the peacable interaction between the pilgrims and the Native Americans. (How …
SoHerbierepresents an interesting litmus test. To this point, Lohan has been gaining momentum with each release. She was good inFreaky Fridayand better inMean Girls. But it was during herHerbiework that she became paparazzi fodder and started branching out. So the question for Lohan over her next few films (including this one) is whether she can continue to differentiate herself from the pack, or whether shell just become another of the many attractive had-beens in waiting.
Happy Birthday/Globe Trotting/Oscar Predictions
The best idea for those who want to be both pop stars and actors is to do them separately. If Lohan wants to make a few albums, she would be best served to take a few years off from acting. Billie Piper, the British teen pop princess, turned her back on music after a few years of stardom so she could focus on acting. Now 24, Piper has turned into a respectible actress with an increasingly impressive resume. If what Lohan really wants to do is act, then she should ignore the Hilary Duffs and Mandy Moores of the world and throw herself into movie roles. Shell be collecting award nominations long after everyone has forgotten who they are.
random ReelThoughts you might enjoy
The problem with Lohan is that, like many girl performers of her generation, she is trying to branch out into other fields, such as music. Looking back through the years, its difficult to come up with more than a handful of performers who were capable actors and popular singers. (Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and Cher are the best examples, but there arent many in that club.) Plenty of recent singers have tried to bridge the gap into movies, but the list of failures outnumbers the list of successes. And few who have gone in the other direction (acting to singing) have been able to keep their theatrical career moving forward. Jennifer Love Hewitt (who?) and Jennifer Lopez are prime examples.
Lopez is an especially sad case. Looking back to her early career, before her recording took off, she showed a lot of promise – the kind of promise that, if nurtured, could lead to an Oscar. RememberSelena, Out of Sight, andThe Cell? Then Jenny from the Block arrived, and Lopezs acting went into a tailspin from which it never recovered. The Ben Affleck debacle didnt help, but that was only a symptom. Now, shes a box-office name without a lot of clout, and an actress who has lost sight of her craft. Lopez is someone Lohan would do well not to emulate.
Today, January 26, 2004, represents the eighth anniversary of ReelViews. In real-world terms, that may not be very many years, but in terms of the Internet (and especially the younger World Wide Web), its a solid age. (Think of Internet years like…
Odds & Ends/Favorite Musical Scores (Intro)
Based on a sampling of e-mails I received this morning, I am in the position of having to defend my decision to review. Both are targeted at pretty much the same demographic, although one could make a case thatis a little more family friendly (it also has the nostalgia thing going for it). The reasonis more interesting to me is that Lindsay Lohan is more talented in front of the camera than Hilary Duff. The latter actress is a pretty face with the ability to manipulate girls into thinking they want to be like her. Lohan, on the other hand, has the potential to grow into a capable thespian – if she doesnt lose her focus.
James Berardinellis new epic The Last Whisper Of The Gods
A couple of minor notes for today…First, to clear something up, the October 1 ReelThought was not intended to be a jab at Roger Ebert. It was a jab at Flightplan, which I believe to possess a plot that is too absurd for even the most blas …
