Helen Mirren rocks in "stripper shoes"

Not only that: She says she also dyes her hair pink. And nobody better give her any grief about it.

And this just in: Geezers still go the movies

But seriously,folks: This is great news to receive on my 60th birthday. Thank you, Hollywood Reporter (even if you are only the second best showbiz trade paper in the whole wide world).

A hot photo of Helen Mirren

Actually, it looks even better in the current issue of Esquire. Of course, the magazine's cover-story interview with Daniel Craig keyed to Cowboys & Aliens ain't chopped liver. But I have to say: That isn't the reason I'm so very glad to be a subscriber today

Titillation

When people ask me what I think are my greatest accomplishments as a critic and journalist, I freely admit: I take enormous pride in the self-control I evidenced on two different occasions when I conducted one-on-one interviews with Helen Mirren -- just me and her, all alone -- in posh hotel suites. To my great credit, I did not throw myself on the floor and start sucking her toes. I did not attempt to pour honey on her thighs and start licking it off. I was, in short, a thoroughgoing, respectful professional. Some people, it appears, are not nearly so disciplined. Can't say that I blame them.

Preview: Red

Helen Mirren with a machine gun? Oh, man, I am so freakin' there Oct. 15!

Helen Mirren: Still a hottie, and proud of it!

Will you still love her when she's 65? Hell, yeah! (Photo by Juergen Teller -- the lucky dog! -- for New York Magazine.)

Back in the Valley

A big-screen version of The Big Valley -- the popular 1965-69 TV Western starring Barbara Stanwyck as the proud matriarch of a 1870s ranching family -- is set to start production next April on location in Michigan and New Mexico. But, really, who can they get to fill Miss Stanwyck's boots? Helen Mirren? Meryl Streep? Judi Dench?

Helen Mirren: Bikini Queen

Gosh! I wonder what Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly will make of this?

MILF madness

Brian Alexander of MSNBC rightly praises the appeal of "older" movie actresses -- i.e., hotties over 40 -- in an article with this money quote from Lois Joy Johnson, fashion and beauty director for More magazine: “There is a big secret that women are discovering after 50, which is that you can become more irresistible than ever without even trying." (Which may explain why I thumb through More with the same interest I once brought to ogling Playboy.)

Alexander also notes -- as I did several weeks ago -- that Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly probably weren't kidding when they admitted to lusting in their hearts (and other vital organs) for sexy sixtysomething Helen Mirren during this year's Oscarcast. Hey, they're only human. Who can blame them?

On the other hand: It was a bit jarring to see Alexander refer to Halle Berry as an "older woman." I mean, geez, if she is "older," what does that make me? Antediluvian?

A man after my own heart

Even her husband can't keep his eyes off her...

Helen Mirren: Hottie

Speaking as someone who has long had lust in his heart (and several other vital organs) for Helen Mirren, I must admit that I enjoyed Sunday's Oscarcast musical interlude that had Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly admitting they, too, wanted to pay homage to The Queen. (Can you imagine that sort of gag in an Oscar show even just five years ago? I mean, a gag in which an older lady is genuinely appreciated by younger guys as the hottie she is? Truly, 60 is the new 40.) But had I known beforehand that Dame Helen would go commando for the evening's revels -- well, let's just say that I might have invested in a Hi-Def TV. And maybe a Tivo.

Blogging Oscar, 10:58 pm

Helen Mirren is the epitome of class while accepting her "the biggest and the best gold star" as Best Actress for The Queen. And I'm very happy for her. But is this the longest freakin' Oscarcast ever?

Blogging Oscar, 8:06 pm

Will Ferrell (who should have been nominated for Stranger Than Fiction), Jack Black and John C. Reilly made the most of a clever comic premise in their musical number bemoaning Oscar's lack of respect for comedy performances. And they're right -- Helen Mirren is a hottie, and Mark Wahlberg could kick their asses.

Nice presentation of Letters from Iwo Jima as a Best Picture nominee. Hope the other four will be presented in this nontraditional manner.

I can't... resist... Overwhelming urge... Must offer Oscar predictions...

My track record as an Oscar prognosticator is, to put it charitably, uneven. On the other hand, I did manage to predict the Best Picture win by Chariots of Fire a quarter-century ago. And I think there may be two similarly surprising upsets on Sunday night. For what they’re worth – which, trust me, likely isn’t much – here are my guesstimates, along with some second-guessing.

BEST PICTURE

WILL WIN: Little Miss Sunshine
SHOULD WIN: The Departed
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Marc Forster’s exquisitely spare yet emotionally resonant Stranger Than Fiction

ACTOR

WILL WIN: Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
SHOULD WIN: Peter O’Toole (for, I freely admit, purely sentimental reasons)
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Aaron Eckhart, for his ferociously funny and fearless performance as an amoral PR spinner in Thank You for Smoking

ACTRESS

WILL WIN: Helen Mirren (The Queen)
SHOULD WIN: Helen Mirren
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Gretchen Mol, for her tantalizingly ambiguous portrayal of a ‘50s pin-up queen who may be innocent and knowing in The Notorious Bettie Page

SUPPORTING ACTOR

WILL WIN: Alan Arkin (a.k.a. Upset No. 1) for Little Miss Sunshine
SHOULD WIN: Alan Arkin
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: James McAvoy, if only because he hasn’t been given sufficient credit for his shrewdly nuanced performance as the callow Scottish doctor who’s all-too-easily seduced by a gregariously psychotic Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. (It can be argued, of course, that McAvoy actually was the lead, and Whitaker was the supporting player – but, hey, that’s showbiz.)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

WILL WIN: Abigail Breslin (a.k.a. Upset No. 2) for Little Miss Sunshine
SHOULD WIN: Rinko Kikuchi for Babel
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Maggie Gyllenhaal for either World Trade Center or Stranger Than Fiction

DIRECTOR

WILL WIN: Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
SHOULD WIN: Martin Scorsese
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Robert Altman for the deeply affecting long goodbye of A Prairie Home Companion

Royal flush at BAFTA

From the Associated Press: "A gracious monarch and a charismatic dictator took the top prizes Sunday at the British Academy Film Awards."

BTW: At this point, Helen Mirren is such a favorite in every awards competition that even her competitors are starting to joke about it. As the AP reports: "I'm a betting woman, so I'll put money on Helen," [Judi]Dench said before the ceremony. "I'm just here for the show."

Handicapping Oscar, Take 3

Roger Ebert thinks Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson, Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker are mortal locks. And in the Best Documentary category... well, let's just say, you've already read a lot about it on this blog.

BTW: Whitaker is hosting Saturday Night Live tonight. Seems to me I recall that Jeremy Irons did the very same thing right before his Best Actor win.

Handicapping Oscar, Take 1

Anne Thompson sizes up the Oscar race, seeing potential for Peter O'Toole to pull an upset in the Best Actor race, and more or less anointing Helen Mirren as Best Actress. Best Picture? The industry-savvy Thompson says that, even at this late date, "it's anyone's guess." But she does venture this: "Babel has art and gravitas and emotion. And a sprawling ensemble like Crash."

Helen Mirren isn't getting older...

She's getting hotter. And she's not the only one, God bless her.

Hail Helen!

It's been a great weekend so far for Helen Mirren. And the accolades should continue on Monday. Jack Mathews certainly thinks so.

Actors honoring actors

Early this morning in L.A., the Screen Actors Guild announced nominees for the annual SAG Awards given to film and TV thespians. Leonardo DiCaprio and Helen Mirren each landed two nominations. But many others -- including Jack Nicholson of The Departed -- are conspicuous by their absence. And it appears that SAG voters weren't terribly impressed by Sacha Baron Cohen's star turn in Borat. (Well, either that or they didn't think what Baron did qualified as acting.)

FYI: Film and TV nominees were chosen by two groups of 2,100 people randomly chosen from the guild's 120,000 members. The guild's full membership is eligible to vote for winners (which will be announced Jan. 28 during ceremonies cablecast on TNT and TBS).