This pic of the phenomenal Helen Mirren has been flying all over the internets, and I am going to be the 5 millionth woman to say that I hope I look half as good as she does when I'm 50, much less when I'm 63.

She's without makeup, vibrant, voluptuous -- she's gorgeous! And I love that it looks like she hasn't had any work done. But it's also important to note, for fairness' sake, that she's had no children. In fact, she's said she "[has] no maternal instinct whatsoever." You go girl! Women like this can start a revolution.

Helen Mirren is the embodiment of what I hope for in my golden years.

Can't wait for The Last Station, where she plays Leo Tolstoy's wife, Sofya, alongside Paul Giamatti, Christopher Plummer, Anne-Marie Duff, and James McAvoy.

Anne-Marie Duff, nominated for Best Actress for Saint Joan, at last night's 2008 Lawrence Olivier Awards in London.



























Oi, Anne-Marie Duff -- isn't she something else? Forget about her merely being a magnificent actress just for a moment. She's also cute like a pixie, dressed like a dream (WANT this dress!), and, lest we forget, married to sex on a stick. Would want to be her if I didn't already have the best one out of three of these things myself.

(For those keeping score at home, I'm fierce like an Amazon and dressed like Saturday afternoon softball and beer.)

:)

Marion Cotillard, you are so deserving of the Best Actress Academy Award for La Vie En Rose, and you were also the best thing about the Oscars last night.



























Okay, maybe the second-best thing, next to a swoon-inducing Javier Bardem (in a beautiful four-button suit) picking up Best Supporting Actor and thanking his mother -- who he brought as his date to the Oscars -- in Spanish. All of the women present in the room I was in swooned in unison. Take note, boys.

Anyway, love Marion's Gaultier dress. Love her old-school Hollywood glamour and her humility. Love her!

Also, I squee madly at this sweetness:



























James McAvoy is truly sex on a stick, but he and his wife Anne-Marie Duff are so lovey and cute and modest and solid that one feels downright filthy for ogling him so.

So, I'll end this with the fact that he was absolutely robbed of a Best Actor Oscar nom (not win, but nom) for Atonement. That's the brain talking, swear! :)

Sorry, just slightly obsessed with this couple at the moment...

The Modest Heartthrob: Atonement Star James McAvoy's Tiny Flat and £1,000 Nissan Micra.












What happens when talented but relatively small-time actors, living somewhat normal lives, become crazy famous? Usually the opposite of this. Oooh, the irony of my admiration: I hate to contribute even more to the jibber-jabber around their lives, but it is worth noting, and applauding -- this is how you keep your sanity, by staying down to earth.

I've read that McAvoy and his wife, actress Anne-Marie Duff, are very much about living a simple and private life away from all the parties and exposure. Sure, I'll bet things around the car and flat may change -- may be inevitable at least for privacy's sake -- but if they continue to keep their heads about them and, as Duff says, their hearts "not up for public consumption" (and stay in the UK), I doubt they'll change much else and be able to keep their simple life. Hard to do when under constant scrutiny, but they seem to be approaching fame with a grain of salt, and they also seem so in love (Yes, I am a sop). If any couple is going to make it in the over-the-top world of international celebrity, I predict it will be this one. Respect.