Amy Adams: Magically Enchanting

How adorable is Amy Adams?

Adorable enough to be a major movie goddess and still accessible to mere mortals.  Adorable enough to withstand the pressures of Hollywood and still be a nice, beautiful person. That’s how adorable she is.

I love this photograph of her.  Amy looks sweet and natural as an ocean breeze. She exudes warm fuzzies. And behind the beautiful eyes burns an actress with intelligence, wit and comedic timing the likes of Meryl Streep. That’s right – I just invoked Streepdom on Ms. Adams.  Mark my words, she’s going to be around as long as Meryl – doing more dramatic roles while keeping up her comedic chops.

A Hollywood actress has to be very smart and lucky in today’s overcrowded, media-crazed world. Her persona has to be close enough to her own personality not to become engulfed by nasty headlines and even nastier paparazzi who wouldn’t mind destroying someone for a quick money-grab. I don’t know Ms. Adams but the way she manages to stay above the fray makes me think she’s an honest-to-goodness serious actress who just wants to be taken at face value. And what a face she has.

And now Amy is playing a totally sexy and intoxicating femme fatale in David O. Russell’s next film after the smash success of “Silver Linings Playbook.” Look at the transformation above. Amy has channeled the 70’s so completely with the perm and the sequined, silver halter top. But it’s the look she give the camera that makes me shiver. She’s come into her own totally in the last few films – she commands the screen in a way I never would have imagined with her earlier, fluffier work. Since “The Fighter” Amy has shown she’s got acting chops galore…and not afraid to use them.

But to look at this picture of her – she really doesn’t need me spouting off about her virtues on screen or off. I just wanted to let everyone know that I think Amy has the potential of being as ever-present onscreen in ten years as she is right now in 2013. And for a working actress in Hollywood, that’s quite a magic-trick.

Anne Hathaway: Good Girl Gone Bad?

When I first heard that dear Anne Hathaway was chosen to portray the latest incarnation of the evil, maniacal femme fatale known as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, I was skeptical. No doubt the young actress has the acting chops, but the edge? I mean, dark, jagged cat-claw edges. To look at her in most of her movies, I could pop her onto my shoulder with one hand. Not that the latex body suit doesn’t hug her slender curves just like a feline – but holding her own in a roustabout?

Then I remembered. Anne is a consummate professional who wouldn’t take on the iconic role opposite Christian Bale’s Batman in his big-screen swan song from the role that made him insanely rich and famous – unless she and director Christopher Nolan thought she could pull it off. Just how she’s going to pull it off is exactly why I’m going to be lining up with the rest of the country on Friday, June 20th to find out. But the larger question is whether she will be able to hold her own against Catwomen of the past. Will time be kind to dear Anne, who most of us can still remember first meeting in The Princess Diaries, I and II?

For me, I’m going to reserve judgment until after I see what Anne’s slinking, kicking and clawing do for me at the multiplex. I must admit, however, that Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992) is going to be a really tough act to follow. Michelle’s slinking, kicking and clawing was the best I’d ever seen. 100% pure hellcat encased in a shiny black, figure-snugging catsuit no less. And Michelle had the sexy pedigree of a superstar to play against type, too. Anne on the other hand has a squeaky-clean persona to play off of. Again, not to say she can’t do it – but put the two catwomen in a room together for half an hour and I’m pretty sure who’s going to be the only one walking out.

And I don’t mean Halle Berry.