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Look closely at those lips and you’ll recognize the pout of actor Jude Law, who stars as “mysterious supermodel” Minx in the upcoming film Rage. The movie is a murder mystery written and directed by Sally Potter, whose films include Orlando and The Man Who Cried. Rage features a stellar cast, with Dame Judi Dench, Steve Buscemi, and Eddie Izzard, who, as you may know, is himself partial to drag. Says Potter of Law, “Strangely, the more he became a ’she’, coiffed and made-up - the more naked was his performance. There was great strength in his willingness to make himself vulnerable. It was an extraordinarily intense part of the shoot.” It’s certainly a different turn from Law’s other upcoming film role as Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes.

I’ve missed Cate Blanchett. There were a few months there where she wasn’t in anything and didn’t have any movie premiers to attend. She was probably having babies, which as a rule is what she does during her down time. Now she’s back on the scene, promoting her new film with Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Thank heavens! Here’s an outfit that landed her on Go Fug Yourself:

Not so surprising really; we all know the woman LOVES metallics. Looks a little like a Christmas ornament. The flesh-tone nylon peeking out kind of bugs me, but without it the dress might be painful. It appears to be a mosaic, and as we all learned in Art History 101, mosaics are made of broken glass pieces. So who knows if she can even sit down?  

Next Blanchett donned a pleated aluminum foil flapper dress (or is it fish scales?), also garnering her a place on Go Fug. I don’t think this is terrible or fabulous, maybe a tad unflattering in the shin area. Let’s hope that for her next event, Cate goes wild and wears a color. Shiny’s great once in awhile, but it’s time for a new fashion infatuation.

These tough economic times are taking their toll on every industry, including the movie biz. Empire has just released a helpful feature titled “Credit Crunch Casting,” which lists cheap replacements for A-list actors. For example, Johnny Depp in the role of Captain Jack Sparrow could command up to $56 million. Movie studios on a budget might want to consider “swagger-meister” Russell Brand instead. Brand already looks the part too, so less hair and makeup necessary. 

If you’re looking for a sexy but substantive, intelligent female lead, you might think of Natalie Portman. But as Empire points out, Anna Friel provides smarts and dark-haired beauty at a sweet discount. Casting a role for a sweet-faced young brunette? Look past It Girl Anne Hathaway to former almost-It Girl Emmy Rossum, who hasn’t worked since Phantom of the Opera.  Angelina Jolie is pretty pricey these days, so how about giving the similarly sexy, dangerous, and intense Shannyn Sossaman’s career a boost? The list goes on, with 18 alternatives to big name stars. Check out other suggestions here.

Actress Kristen Stewart, who played vampire-loving Bella in the box office smash Twilight, is rumored to be starring as Joan Jett in the upcoming rock biopic The Runaways. The film chronicles the rise and fall of the Runaways, the first successful all-girl hard rock band. The group formed in 1975, assembled as a sex kittens-on-guitar novelty act. The members, including guitarists Jett and Lita Ford, and singer-keyboardist Cherie Currie, weren’t in the band for easy fame, however, and have since been recognized as serious and talented musicians. The film will focus on Jett and Currie, following the rags-to-riches-to-disillusionment formula we all grew to love on shows like VH1’s Behind the Music.

Some, like the always opinionated Perez Hilton, have expressed doubt over whether Stewart can put enough sexy swagger into her performance. Hilton accuses the actress of pouting her way through Twilight, and believes she’ll make a “stiff” Jett. Sure, she was overshadowed by Robert Pattinson in the vampire love story, but I wouldn’t discount her abilities just yet. Check out some of her rocker poses below.

Thirty-four year-old actor Joaquin Phoenix recently announced his retirement from Hollywood.  He said he plans instead to focus on his music career. What music career, you ask? Well, he played Johnny Cash in a movie, so I guess that makes him part-musician. Now it seems Phoenix is making a documentary of his transition from actor to musician.

Hmmm, smells like a ruse to me. The former actor did an impromptu rap performance in Culver City, CA, which was filmed by his buddy (and partner in crime?), Casey Affleck. Click here to see it. Defamer is calling the whole retirement thing “bullshit” and Phoenix’s scruffy bluesman get-up looks like it’s for a role. Maybe he and Affleck got sick of reading scripts and decided to make their own movie? Way to be proactive, boys!

Variety is running a piece in which A-list actors like Kevin Spacey, Natalie Portman, Blythe Danner and James Franco pick their must-see performances of 2008. It’d be catty fun to read them tearing apart their fellow-actors’ work, but no, this is a classy affair. Spacey praises Jeff Goldblum’s portrayal of a Holocaust survivor in Adam Resurrected, while Blythe Danner describes Richard Jenkins’ performance in The Visitor as “mesmerizing.”

Harvard grad Natalie Portman turned in a passionate piece about Sean Penn in Milk. She scores extra points for tying in current events, concluding, “Sean Penn so inhabits Harvey Milk that I left the theater feeling the need to march against our frighteningly similar Prop. 8 to honor this man I now know.”

James Franco, who’s in his first semester of a writing MFA in Columbia, took a more casual approach to the assignment. His first line, “Heath in “‘The Dark Knight’” was great,” doesn’t exactly pull you in. But hey, a student’s gotta prioritize. Check out the essays here.

Mickey Rourke, of the much-battered face and career, is generating Oscar buzz for his performance in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler. Rourke stars in a role made for him, as a WWE-style wrestler decades past his prime. The movie recently showed at the Toronto Film Festival, and critics are hailing Rourke’s performance as soulful and career-reviving. The Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Farber deems it, “a career-best performance,” while Variety’s Todd McCarthy writes that Rourke’s portrayal ”instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances.” Nice!

The movie also stars Evan Rachel Wood as Rourke’s estranged daughter, and Marisa Tomei as a stripper pal. Judging from the pic above, Rourke’s character comes out of retirement a la Rocky Balboa to show a little mohawked punk who’s boss. Looks like the phrase ”it ain’t over til it’s over” applies to Rourke’s career as well.

The comedy Hamlet 2 is coming out in wide release on Friday, August 27th. The movie stars British comedian Steve Coogan as a high school drama teacher who has the worst idea ever to save his theater department: create a musical sequel to Shakespeare’s play. In his play, the melancholy Dane survives that nasty little sword fight, and discovers that what he really wants to do is dance dance dance! The play even features a closing number called “Rock Me, Sexy Jesus.”

In a NY Times interview with Coogan, the film’s director, Andrew Fleming, says that he initially thought Coogan’s character would be British. However, says Fleming, “Steve kept resisting, and finally he explained that this kind of unbridled enthusiasm without any intelligence behind it just doesn’t exist in England.” The film also stars Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler, David Arquette and Elisabeth Shue.

No, it’s not for Robert Downey Jr. donning black face, and it’s not for Tom Cruise’s rumored cameo as a big fat Jewish stereotype. Apparently Ben Stiller’s character in the film is bitter about not scoring an Oscar for his lead performance as a “retard” in Simple Jack. Now chairman of the Special Olympics Timothy P. Shriver is calling for a boycott of the movie, and appealing to members of Congress for support. As Gawker’s Ian Spiegelman writes, “It’s fine for actors to cynically go bobbing for Academy apples every year by playing a special character, but it’s not okay for a comic actor to make fun of them for doing so.”  

I recently saw a preview for Tropic Thunder, a Ben Stiller-directed action comedy starring Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. The thing that stood out was that Downey was in black face. The film is about three pain-in-the-ass actors who are filming a movie about the Vietnam War, when their pissed-off director drops them in the middle of a real war. Which makes one wonder even more, what’s the point of the black face?

Apparently Downey actually plays a white Australian method actor who’s playing a black man in the movie within a movie. Since he’s a method actor, he’s in character all the time. The idea is to poke fun at method actors who go to extreme lengths to play a character. You’ve heard the stories: so-and-so eats trays of lard-glazed Krispy Kremes for a month to put on weight for a role; what’s-her-face learns how to play the oboe for her role as a music teacher. It’s ridiculous and sometimes unhealthy, but the stars are just that committed to their craft (or more likely the possibility of an Oscar.) 

Says Downey of the role: “At the end of the day, it’s always about how well you commit to the character. If I didn’t feel it was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I’m just C. Thomas Howell [in Soul Man], I would’ve stayed home.” His character, Kirk Lazarus, even has his own faux website: http://www.kirklazarus.com/. It’s kind of funny, mainly for Downey’s “serious actor” facial expressions.