And so Movieline concludes today’s birthday-celebration marathon — previously spotlighting the finest film work of both Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Mick Jagger — as any self-respecting movie site would: By commemorating the day 83 years ago when the world welcomed one Stanley Kubrick into existence. This would change everything .
On July 26, 1945, Helen Lydia Mironoff was born in a London hospital to parents Vasiliy and Kathleen Mironoff (or Mironov depending on the spelling). During the 1950s, Vasily changed the family last name to “Mirren,” and for his young daughter, the rest is history. From her breakout role in Michael Powell’s Age of Consent to her Oscar-winning turn as Queen Elizabeth in The Queen , Mirren has been one of Hollywood’s greatest — and seemingly ageless — actresses for five decades. As Liz Lemon once said in reaction to one of Mirren’s famous bikini pics, “Is she a wizard?”
There’s been a whole lot of talk about Helen Mirren recently, with the Caligula(1979) , Excalibur(1981) and Calendar Girls(2003) star leaving her mark in the cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, co-starring with Russell Brand in the remake of Arthur , and even revealing her love of hooker heels . This weekend she added to the buzz by hosting Saturday Night Live , where she confirmed what admirers of her anatomy have known since Age of Consent (1969) – that the fastest route to heaven is through Helen Mirren ‘s outstanding (and all-natural!) rack. Your ticket to paradise awaits- we’ve got four decades of nudity from Helen Mirren right here on MrSkin.com!
Kind of . This weekend’s Saturday Night Live guest host is making the rounds in a pair of new promos featuring the Oscar-winner in various states of comic congress with Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg and Foo Fighters. The move-busting is positively mythical. Watch after the jump.
‘If he came into a party I was in, I would be out of that party so fast,’ Helen Mirren laughs to MTV News about Russell Brand’s character. By Kara Warner Helen Mirren and Russell Brand in “Arthur” Photo: Barry Wetcher/Warner Bros. For some people, the idea of meeting and hanging out with a hapless, immature and perpetually drunk billionaire sounds like a great time. For others, not so much. Such is the case with the leading ladies of “Arthur,” in which Russell Brand stars as the aforementioned reckless billionaire, with Helen Mirren playing his very patient nanny, Hobson, and Greta Gerwig his love interest, Naomi. When MTV News caught up with Mirren and Gerwig recently, we asked them how they would react to meeting Arthur in real life. “Oh, [I would] fall in love with him,” Gerwig enthused. “He’s so funny! I don’t know, it’s hard to separate [Brand from his character, but Arthur] is so funny and charming and crazy, who wouldn’t?” she reasoned. “I think that’s the point of the movie.” Mirren, on the other hand, didn’t think meeting Arthur would be quite as much fun. “I think if I met Arthur, I just would have no time for him whatsoever,” she said. “If he came into a party I was in, I would be out of that party so fast,” she said with a chuckle. “But, maybe I’d bump into him somewhere and be charmed by him, but I would certainly never find myself in a position of looking after him.” Speaking to the idea of employing the esteemed Oscar-winner as a nanny , Brand, naturally, was very keen on the concept.” Helen Mirren, who plays Hobson, my nanny, in this lovely, fun-filled film ‘Arthur,’ would be a bloody good nanny,” Brand told us. “She’s fantastic at looking after you; she has authority and sensitivity.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Arthur.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: Russell Brand And ‘Arthur’
‘She has authority and sensitivity,’ Brand says of Oscar-winner. By Kara Warner, with reporting by Ryan Downey Russell Brand Photo: MTV News For those familiar with the trailers and TV spots for “Arthur” — the Russell Brand-starring remake of the ’80s classic in which a hapless, immature billionaire is faced with losing his inheritance if he marries the wrong woman — the biggest surprise isn’t necessarily the fact that the Hobson character is now a female nanny instead of a butler, but the fact that Oscar-winner Helen Mirren plays the part. When MTV News caught up with the predictably unpredictable Brand and Mirren during the press day for the film, we asked them what the esteemed Dame would be like as a nanny.
Looks like the lady really is a tramp, at least when it comes to footwear. Helen Mirren , known in her younger days as “Shakespeare’s slut” for her knack for combining classical theater with bare beaver, says that on the red carpet, she’ll take clear plastic over Italian leather any day: “I often buy my shoes on Hollywood Boulevard at these places that sell them to pole dancers- because they’re really high,” she said. “I’m only five feet four (inches), so I put those little babies on and I can strut my stuff beside Nicole Kidman anytime.” Dame Helen declined to say where she developed her love for stripper shoes- perhaps on the set of Hussy(1980) ? Helen Mirren joined other Hollywood immortals last week when she put her hand prints in the cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Los Angeles- located, conveniently enough, on Hollywood Boulevard. No reports on whether she went shoe shopping afterwards.
What do you say about the film that says it all? How can words add anything to this towering cinematic fortress of prestige? Is it wrong to “describe” senselessness? I’m a valiant first-time viewer of Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 dada vortex, and I’m going to attempt to convey the whimsical hemorrhage I just experienced. Spoiler: I ain’t Jill Bolte Taylor , and I won’t succeed at this feat. Here’s to a good effort.
It’s a very busy time in the life of Vera Farmiga — and that’s even before you factor in the amount of press she’s been doing lately for back-to-back releases Source Code and now Henry’s Crime . Consider the growing family, the directorial debut ( Higher Ground ) and the Oscar-nominated actress’s natural, insatiable curiosity for what’s next . But one thing at a time.
As Billy Crystal teased on The Daily Show earlier this week, his latest project is actually a trip back to one of his most beloved past projects. Nope, not Monsters University ; When Harry Met Sally 2 ! Before you curl up into the fetal position and start to weep however, note that When Harry Met Sally 2 is nothing more than a four-minute Funny or Die spoof. And a great one at that. Click ahead to watch the NSFW fun.