IF there was an affair involved, it apparently was with Helena Bonham-Carter, who he costarred with in "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein".

Intersting commentary on Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson, considering that Kenneth Branagh left his wife Emma for the much younger Kate after Hamlet.

"Coming back to New Orleans mid-October, 2005, when there were approximately 30 male construction workers for every woman in the city, I got more than my fair share of exhortations to smile. My solution was to smile tragically, look like I was about to cry, and say softly, "My mother just died."

Shut them up every time."

Yes, they certainly deserved that. A bunch of guys(the patriarchy!!) working their asses off to clean up and rebuild your city certainly have no right to address you and should be required to avert their eyes, Ms. Scarlett.

F*cking. Ingrate.

Say hello to your mom for me. I'm sure she would be so proud of her little brat.

As if we needed proof of your hack credentials.

The Fund For Women Artists [womenarts.org] is presently in the middle of the Push The Envelope Campaign [womenarts.org/push/index.htm] - a multi-part awareness, education, and funding campaign linked to the Academy Awards and designed to make it possible for more women in film to get the access they need to thrive. Please, take the money you would have spent seeing Illegal Exposure 3 and send it to them, so we can have something else to watch for a change.

(full disclosure: FWA is my 501(c)3 sponsor, as a theater artist - I do not benefit in any way from this film campaign, except as someone who is invested in women making art, entertainment, and money.)

Coming back to New Orleans mid-October, 2005, when there were approximately 30 male construction workers for every woman in the city, I got more than my fair share of exhortations to smile. My solution was to smile tragically, look like I was about to cry, and say softly, "My mother just died."

Shut them up every time.

It has been known for a long time that the place for women (of all ages and sizes) to succeed is on television. Actresses, writers, directors, etc are making megabucks and exerting alot of influence on TV (broadcast, cable, etc). The focus on Hollywood movies is short-sighted.

...they're not from Hollywood or, more precisely, the Hollywood mindset of how actors/actresses should look. Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Helen Mirren are all English and began their careers in the UK, where it seems a more accepting mindset reigns regarding how thin, etc. a woman should be.

These are, by the way, three of my favorite actors to watch. Kate Burton and Blythe Danner, among others, are up there, too. They are smart, witty, thoughtful individuals who happen to be excellent at a broad range of acting roles to boot. They believe in honing their craft...not in relying on which club they should be seen at on which night, etc. to land plum roles. And that makes them incredibly sexy and beautiful as well as being Oscar-caliber performers.

1. I'm a male and I don't know how many times I've been instructed to 'SMILE!' by some random person. It has usually been a woman, but not always.

2. Quite a few women have been running movie studios in recent years. The notion that these women are discriminating against other women is preposterous. [It's also preposterous that male studio execs would decide money from women is of no interest, but since I realize quite a few women actually do believe that, I brought up the female exec example.] Women now have quite a bit decision-making power in movies and television. Movie execs might be making bad decisions about what movies to produce, but they're not making those decisions for reasons of sexism. They're making those decisions for reasons of commerce.

Honestly, some people act like it's still 1975 or something. Women are being hired as studio execs for the same reason men are being hired as studio execs. And they're being fired for the same reasons, too. Why is it that when someone can't find a movie they want to watch the only explanation that seems plausible to them is oppression.

Use your brains.

I find the assertion that Hollywood ignores women as an audience to be patently absurd. It's not men patronizing all those chick flicks - at least, not men who aren't being dragged there, by-and-large.

I'm male and on too many occasion's I've had women, usually older women, come up to me and offer unsolicited exhortations to smile or cheer up or hold myself better. It never works. Mind your own damn business!