ElizabethTaylor Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Like most people on the internet, we at Cinematical love lists. I love them so much that I wish I could write about everyone I read, but unfortunately there are too many geeks out there making up too many lists, and not enough love to go round (can't you see this is the land of confusion .... ). But since another thing we love around here is Star Wars -- not just the movies but also the fans, the debates, the complaints, etc. -- I figured that these four lists were worth sharing. Because they all mention something related to George Lucas' popular universe. Three of the lists also reference a lot of Star Trek, but with J.J. Abrams rebooting the franchise and all, I think Trekkies have enough love right now. Meanwhile, the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars occurred this year, and we still had to read about things like the Harry Potter franchise out-grossing the Star Wars series and Serenity beating out Star Wars as a best sci-fi film poll. So, thanks to the people at Fark.com, who love lists even more than we do, here are four movie-related lists that give some appropriate props:

• First we have the Times' countdown of the 40 most memorable aliens. Unfortunately, the only Star Wars aliens listed are at #32 and #26, and they're the Ewoks and Max Rebo, respectively. Considering most of the characters in the series can be considered aliens, this is harsh, but since I'm one of the few Ewok fans out there, I appreciate the gesture. Even if ALF is higher up on the list than they are. At least they're still better than the Coneheads. Anyway the top ten here is full of other significant movie aliens, including the arachnids of Starship Troopers, E.T., the Transformers, Superman, The Blob, The Thing and, at the top spot, God.
  
• Next there's Kunochan.com's countdown of the top twenty starship captains. Once again, Star Wars doesn't get the #1, but it's understandable that Star Trek's most famous captains get the first two slots. At #3, though, is Han Solo. However, the list's author does point out that he had to put a Star Wars character in the top five to avoid having his house firebombed. I don't mind the disingenuous comment; Solo deserves to be higher up than Captain Janeway and the dude from Firefly/Serenity. Down the line at #11 we've also got Grand Moff Tarkin.

The 1963 epic Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor in the title role, is often mistaken for being a financial flop. But it was actually one of the highest grossing pictures of its year. It couldn't turn a profit right away because its cost was just too high and so it may have seemed like a disaster originally, but after so many years it eventually made money. If the film were made today for an equivalent cost, it might not be as successful. Its budget would be close to $300 million. Judging from the grosses of other recent epics of this kind, it probably wouldn't come close -- even with international box office -- to making its money back, let alone the original's inflation-adjusted earnings of $442 million.

So, producer Scott Rudin will have to be tighter with the cash when he goes into production on a new Cleopatra film, which will be based on a book by Pulitzer-Prize winner Stacy Schiff due in 2009. Columbia Pictures bought the rights to this unfinished book based on a 10-page proposal for a reported seven figures (that's at least a million bucks, so already the budget is rising). It is expected to spotlight the Egyptian queen's strengths as a ruler as opposed to her reputation as a lover. Hopefully she will be played by someone closer in appearance than Taylor, though I would like to see Taylor have some sort of cameo.

According to Bottlegreen Drinks Co., the most beautiful British woman of all-time is Gone with the Wind star Vivien Leigh. Okay, I imagine you American readers are now wondering, "What is Bottlegreen Drinks Co. and what do they have to do with the movies?" Unfortunately, I can't really give any answers. I'd never heard of Bottlegreen before this news, either, and a quick glance at their website doesn't have me going, "ooooooh, they make _____." As for their expertise on surveys about British celebrity, I can't find a thing.

Nonetheless, the company apparently polled 1,000 men and women, and Leigh, who died nearly forty years ago, topped the list of British beauties. And what about the most handsome British man, you ask? Well, that would be Cary Grant, whose popularity still astounds me (even though he's grown on me, if only because he appears in so many great films), particularly in the looks department (that hair and butt-chin are awful!). If women aren't ignoring his voice when they claim the attraction, then I give up trying to figure out what women want. Unfortunately, the reports of this news don't include a full list of the male runners-up. As for the other nine ladies who followed in the top ten, you can check them out after the jump.

Martha asked me yesterday if I would find and post a photo of Elizabeth Taylor, preferably from A Place in the Sun, to celebrate Taylor's birthday on Feb. 27. I had already posted a Vintage Image of the Day, so I promised I would find and post an appropriate photo today.

George Stevens won a Best Director Oscar for A Place in the Sun, the 1951 drama based loosely on Theodore Dreiser's novel An American Tragedy. Stevens would direct Taylor again later in Giant (and would again win Best Director). Montgomery Clift (above) was nominated for Best Actor, but lost to Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen. Taylor was not nominated, but her role in A Place in the Sun was perhaps the first time critics took her seriously as a grown-up actress.