Helen Mirren

Forget it: No Oscar for Helen Mirren in 'Arthur'

The original "Arthur" won two Oscars in 1981: one for its song "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" and the other for John Gielgud's role as the hilariously crusty butler to a billionaire playboy.

Helen Mirren Russell Brand Arthur newsDudley Moore earned an Oscar nomination as the mischievous tycoon, but there's no way his replacement, Russell Brand, could ever get such respect in the industry for a modern reboot. He's been too much of a real hooligan without much cred yet as an actor. But it's tempting to think that his new comic sidekick might sneak in: Helen Mirren.

Just because Mirren won the Oscar for lead actress in 2006 for "The Queen" doesn't automatically disqualify her for consideration in the supporting slot. Ingrid Bergman won in supporting ("Murder on the Orient Express," 1974) after prevailing twice in lead ("Gaslight" in 1944, "Anastasia" in 1956).

And just because the role of Hobson won in the past doesn't disqualify the role from triumphing again. Marlon Brando ("The Godfather," 1972) and Robert De Niro ("The Godfather, Part II," 1974) both won chunks of academy gold for portraying Vito Corleone. It's a bit of a stretch to say that Mirren portrays the same role as Gielgud, though. Gielgud played a butler. The character Hobson retains the same name in the remake, but Mirren is now the playboy's nanny.

But none of that matters, considering the film's negative reviews. The new "Arthur" scores only 38 at Metacritic. Below are snippets of a few reviews regarding Mirren's performance.

ROGER EBERT, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: "Helen Mirren has the presence and authority of John Gielgud, but not the same aloof dignity. Gielgud's Hobson was a man so reserved, you sometimes wanted to knock and see if anyone answered. Then again, they've made Hobson into a nanny still loyal from Arthur's childhood, so she should be expected to love him in a more tender way."

BETSY SHARKEY, LOS ANGELES TIMES: "Mirren, that grande dame of cinema, just seems tired. And who could blame her? She's in the midst of this disaster, literally and figuratively dying right in front of us."

CLAUDIA PUIG, USA TODAY: "His nanny, Hobson (Mirren), is around to make sardonic quips. While Mirren has some dryly witty lines, she's a tad too kindly to pull off the acerbic dismissals that Gielgud did, making Arthur's revised saga sloshily sentimental."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/awards/2011/04/helen-mirren-russell-brand-arthur-oscars-movie-news.html


When Billy Met Helen

From Pac-Man: The Movie to homoerotic re-imaginings of Star Trek as an intergalactic equivalent of Brokeback Mountain, the Internet is awash with spoof trailers. Few of them, though, have an iota of the intelligence of those created by Funny or Die, the comedy website co-founded by Will Ferrell. And absolutely none have the star power.

Funny or Die’s latest counterfeit coming attraction advertises a sequel to Rob Reiner’s beloved When Harry Met Sally. And, whereas other efforts of this kind would have seen one nerdish university student in a blonde wig faking an orgasm opposite another nerdish university student doing a bad Billy Crystal impression, this one actually stars Billy Crystal. And Rob Reiner. And Dame Helen Mirren.

Set in an old people’s home, into which Harry moves after Sally’s death, it manages to send up ageing actors, youthful Hollywood executives, rom-com conventions and the Twilight generation in four and a half spectacularly silly minutes. And it features the funniest use of bad language in a bingo hall ever committed to celluloid.

It’s also an indication of the progression made by this form of filmmaking (for a form of filmmaking is now surely what it is). A few years ago, only amateurs and wannabes made videos like these. Now, it seems, there is no celebrity too starry, or actor too august, to appear in one. I wonder if there won’t soon be an Academy Award given to the Best Spoof Movie Trailer Uploaded to Video Sharing Site.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/arts-and-culture/night-and-day/6854373/when-billy-met-helen.thtml