Category Archives: The Ladies

What We’re Listening To – The Best of Roxy Music

(Album cover for Roxy Music’s “Country Life” featuring Constanze Karoli & Eveline Grunwald)

Roxy Music need no introduction, but here’s one anyway… Founded in 1971 and led by the inimitable Bryan Ferry, the band have been hugely influential on multiple genres of music spanning several generations. I mean really, how many groups or individual performers can you think of that were simultaneously influencing punk bands like the Sex Pistols and pop acts like Duran Duran? Their musical range and originality still influence artists 40 year later.

They put out several great records between 1972 and 1982, all but one of which featured album art made up of super-hot supermodels in various costumes, becoming a trademark feature of the band’s image. Individually they’re all pretty solid albums, but for my tastes the best overall Roxy Music album is actually “The Best of Roxy Music”, released in 2001. A lot of “best of” records seem to fall short, suffering from bad decision making or publishing copyright issues that seem to always leave one or two great songs off of the list. However, “The Best of Roxy Music” shines from start to finish. It is a great introduction to the band as well as a great go-to record for devoted fans. Check out the weird but genius, “Mother of Pearl” or the hard driving pop masterpiece, “Virginia Plain”. Or tune out the world and listen to the sugary sweet ballad, “Oh Yeah.” It’s all good stuff so you can’t go wrong. Get the album on iTunes, or on Amazon right here. Unfortunately this record isn’t available on vinyl, but write your Congressman and cross your fingers…you never know. And of course, if you really can’t bring yourself to buy a compilation record there’s also a great box set, including every studio album the band made. Happy listening!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cjR5QHFpEo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUy-Vbrt9o4

Gorgeous Lady of the Week — Malin Akerman

What is it about Swedish beauties that stirs the, um, soul? Take the lovely Malin Ackerman. She made an indelible impression in Zach Snyder’s remarkably faithful (with one major exception to the deus ex machina) 2009 film adaptation of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons’ paranoid 1980s graphic novel masterpiece, Watchmen. Dressed up in a kinky bumblebee-colored latex costume and sporting a brunette wig, Malin’s Silk Spectre was the kind of sexy superheroine dreams are made of (though not it you’re a bad guy — then you just get your ass kicked).

While she’ll never be confused with greats like Ingrid Bergman or Liv Ullman in the acting department, Ms. Akerman does tend to light up the screen whenever she’s on it with her classic Scandinavian good looks and playful charm.

Swedish by birth, Malin grew up primarily in Canada. After acting and modeling success there, she made the transition to Hollywood with a good supporting role in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle followed by starring parts in the Farrelly Brothers’ remake of The Heartbreak Kid alongside Ben Stiller, the formula rom-com 27 Dresses and her breakthrough in the eye-popping anti-superhero movie Watchmen.

She’s also a rock chick, yet another turn-on, and was lead singer for the Petalstones where she met her now ex-husband, the drummer (of course — but, hey, I said “Ex” at least), with whom the 35-year-old stunner has a son. And while she left the group to focus on acting, that experience undoubtedly helped her accomplished and sexy duet with Tom Cruise singing Foreigner’s “I Wanna Know What Love Is” in 2012’s big budget classic rock musical, Rock of Ages, where both stars do the singing for real.

Malin can currently be seen showing off her comedic chops in ABC’s Trophy Wife alongside Macia Gay Harden and Bradley Whitford. While we’re certainly happy for her success on that funny sitcom, we can’t help but wish it were on a more risque channel like HBO or Cinemax. Because the more we see of Malin, the more we like.

The Gender Style Gap: Don’t be that guy

At a certain point in a man’s life, most likely as the big 3-0 begins to loom on the horizon, he should probably come to the realization that he can no longer get away with always dressing as if he were back in college on a couch watching football at the frat. This is especially true when escorting his lady for a night on the town or even to the movies. If you are looking like this…

Nice look, K-Fed.

And your lady is looking like this…

Ooh la la, Malin!

You are courting an irreparable style gap and you better reconsider your threads. Y’see when a woman goes to all that effort to make herself lovely, she is going to expect a little effort in return. Particularly as she gets a little older (and you do, too) she is going to start looking around and seeing all sorts of well-dressed and successful gents and wonder why it is you look like a refugee from ‘N Sync circa 2000.

You’ve come a long way, Mr. Timberlake.

It’s a matter of basic respect. When I see a couple out on a date and the woman is dressed nicely and the guy has got on sweats and a backward ball cap I think Wow, dude, make a little effort, as well as That is never going to last. Think about the conceit it takes to believe that you have to put zero effort into your appearance and your lady is still going to find you attractive over the long haul. Put simply, that sort of laziness may fly in your 20s but it rapidly loses its charms as you get older.

But fear not. It’s really not very hard to get yourself looking good without going the “full dandy”. Continue reading →

Gorgeous Lady of the Week — Margot Robbie

Yes, at 23 this stunning Australian beauty is a little younger than the ladies we normally go for here at MFL. But c’mon — who can resist that face and, well, all the rest? She strikes us as a bit like the second coming of Grace Kelly, who was also a very young breakout sensation in her day. And we wouldn’t be surprised if a wealthy prince whisks her away someday either. But we’re in good company in being enchanted by such a youthful beauty — one has only to check out her sizzling work in The Wolf of Wall Street to see that Martin Scorcese is just as smitten with this blond bombshell. And he’s a hell of a lot older than us!

After making it big on the Aussie mega-soap Neighbours, Robbie split for LA and landed a prime role in ABC’s 2011 retro series Pan Am as a rookie flight attendant. While it seemed that Pan Am would also capture that magical 60s zeitgeist so successfully mined by Mad Men, the show was cancelled after only one season. But it’s hard to keep a stone looker with Margot’s kind of talent down and after a supporting part in 2012’s About Time, Ms. Robbie scored the plum role that any aspiring young actress would give their eye teeth for: the ultra-sexy party girl Naomi LePaglia who tames Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street.

Trust me: you’ll need a cold shower after watching their sex scenes.

With a great photo shoot for Esquire under her belt and currently illuminating the various red carpets of awards season, Margot Robbie is one of the fastest rising stars in Holywood. She’s now shooting Violent Talent and will co-star in the upcoming Will Smith vehicle, Focus, so we’re definitely not the first to peg her as a sure thing for a long and successful Hollywood career. With a face and bod like that, and talent to match, she’s a slam dunk… and definitely the stuff that lupine dreams are made of.

Gorgeous Lady of the Week — Amy Adams

With her girl next door good looks, peaches and cream complexion and megawatt smile, Amy Adams is a born ingenue and the stuff that Holywood dreams are made of. But she’s more than just a wholesome all-American girl with a decidedly pretty face. Ms. Adams can flat out act.

After struggling in Holywood in the early 2000s for several years without much to show for it, Amy Adams broke through to widespread critical recognition in 2005’s indie hit, Junebug. Her irrepressible Ashley Johnsten in that film earned the then-30-year-old a Best Supporting Actress nomination. And she has’t looked back since.

In 2007 she was Princess Giselle in Disney’s megahit Enchanted and quickly followed that up with starring roles in the underrated Sunshine Cleaning and another critical success alongside Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia, which hinted at something more in her than just sweetness and light. She explored her tougher side further in David O. Russell’s excellent The Fighter as boxer Mickey Ward’s tough-as-nails and fiercely protective working class girlfriend, Charlene Fleming. After a return to perky form with The Muppets, Ms. Adams continued to mine a darker vein as the manipulative power behind a cult leader in P.T. Anderson’s grim The Master.

With major roles in this past year’s Man of Steel as a fair haired but pitch perfect Lois Lane and another David O. Russell success, the recently released Oscar contender American Hustle, Amy Adams is now securely on Hollywood’s A-list for leading ladies and it would seem that the hard working 39-year-old’s best work is yet to come. With a smile that can melt the most cynical heart and an inner toughness that can tame the most unruly leading men, it’s certain that Ms. Adams is determined not to let her wholesome looks typecast her as just another good girl. Which suits us just fine — there’s nothing we like more than a little spice with our sugar.

Gorgeous lady of the week — Gina Carano

Gina Carano, the sexy former MMA champ, burst — and ran, and punched, and kicked — onto the scene in Steven Soderbergh‘s underrated Haywire in 2011, where she smoked Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor’s asses as deluxe super agent Mallory Kane. Take a look-see here what you get for treating Ms. Carano poorly, as Fassbender finds out the hard way (note: this clip contains spoilers):

Despite some controversy about her voice being altered (read: deepened) in post, Gina can walk with her held high for her work in that demanding and satisfying action epic. She manages to be tough, smart and vulnerable at the same time as she deals with a mission gone south and treachery from her former boss. And did I mention that she kicks everyone’s ass pretty much all the time in emphatic fashion?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6UTRX8SajY

Since Haywire, Ms. Carano has acted in Fast & Furious 6, the soon-to-be-released In the Blood and rumor has it that she will be playing the title character in an adaptation of the comic book Avengelyne, which seems like perfect casting for that scantily clad avenging angel.

Sure, it takes a certain kind of confident man to squire a lady around town who can probably take you in a throwdown. But here at MFL we think keeping company with a stunner like Gina is a no-brainer and we can check our macho at the door for the privilege. Besides, when it comes to the ladies, we’re lovers not fighters.

Gorgeous lady of the week — Gemma Arterton

After bursting onto the scene as Strawberry Fields, the sexy spy destined to die drowned in oil in 2008’s underrated Bond entry Quantum of Solace, the dark and lovely Gemma Arterton found herself in great demand in Hollywood. And no wonder: with her curvy figure and expressive deep brown eyes, Gemma is one of the sexiest British imports since the Astin Martin Vanquish.

Trained at RADA, the talented chestnut-haired ingenue has appeared at the Globe in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost and on BBC TV in the title role of Tess of the D’Urbervilles. But her quick wit and stunning good looks have also made her a hot property in high concept Hollywood blockbusters such as Prince of Persia, Clash of the Titans and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.

With several smaller scale projects either shooting or in post production, it should be interesting to see if the lovely 27-year-old Ms. Arterton can find material that will help evolve into a consummate actress as opposed to simply a super sexy super heroine. Then again, whatever roles she chooses, she’s probably always going to be super sexy. The girl can’t help it.

Gorgeous lady of the week — Rachel Weisz

The lovely Rachel Weisz is no mere pretty face… but what a face it is. A Cambridge graduate, Weisz has been a hard working theater professional as much as a glamorous Hollywood ingenue, earning critical praise for her acting on stage in major works by Noel Coward, Neil Labute and Tennessee Williams, including the hyper-demanding role of Blanche DuBois.

With her long dark brown hair and glittering hazel eyes, as well as readily apparent wit and intelligence, Weisz first came to wide popular attention with her role in 1999’s special effects blockbuster The Mummy alongside Brendan Fraser. But she soon moved on from such popcorn fare to more demanding roles in Beautiful Creatures and, most impressively, as the impassioned activist and wife of Ralph Fiennes’ diplomat facing danger from a rogue pharmaceutical company in the splendid le Carré adaptation, The Constant Gardener. Her complex and fiery portrayal of Tessa Quayle won her the 2005 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award and announced that a major talent had arrived.

After living with indie director Darren Aronofsky (Pi, The Wrestler) for about a decade the couple split and Ms. Weisz began dating Daniel Craig. The two were married in a quiet ceremony in 2011 and reside in New York City and London. So dream on, fellas–it’s going to be pretty hard to tempt this extraordinarily lovely and talented lady away from James Bond himself. But who doesn’t like a challenge?

Gorgeous Lady of the Week – Charlize Theron

Women simply don’t get much more gorgeouser than Ms. Theron.

The South African-born goddess is one of the few modern actresses who could conceivably hold her own with the sexy and talented leading ladies of the past like Faye Dunaway, Julie Christie and Grace Kelly, as her Best actress Oscar from her startling performance in Monster attests. But more characteristic of her screen persona and less flashy than that homely and chilling portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornous are the scheming sci-fi ice queen Meredith Vickers in Prometheus and the hilariously messed up and self-centered Mavis Gary in Young Adult.

Aside from her statuesque beauty, Charlize radiates athleticism, class and a sharp intelligence. She also displays an attractive tomboyish competitiveness worthy of a Howard Hawks’ leading lady, fully on display in the “Driving School” feature from the DVD of 2003’s successful remake of the Italian Job:

Continue reading →

Gorgeous Lady of the Week- Olivia Wilde

Not only does 29-year-old actress Olivia Wilde possess the sexiest cat eyes in Hollywood and a killer smile, but the native New Yorker is damn funny as well. Just check out The Incredible Burt Wonderstone to watch Olivia easily holding her own with the likes of Steve Carell & Steve Buscemi.

While this accomplished actress really broke through with big budget high concept wannabe blockbusters like Tron: Legacy and Cowboys & Aliens, one can easily see her moving towards more substantial work. This lovely lady has the complete package: brains, beauty and a winning personality. If she keeps working hard at her craft and doesn’t coast on her looks alone, we foresee her as one of the best in the game one day soon.

Unfortunately for us other fellows, Ms. Wilde is currently engaged to funny man Jason Sedeikis. Which proves that sometimes you can get pretty far with the ladies if you can make them laugh. Now where do I sign up for that improv class at UCB again?

Olivia’s Wikipedia page is here and her IMDb profile is here.

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