Top 10 Hollywood Hunks
Monday, March 28, 2011
1. Mark Wahlberg 
Wahlberg and his Funky Bunch first came to the attention of females everywhere in the crotch-grabbing Calvin Klein ads of the nineties. Although he's gone on to become an acclaimed actor and producer, his shirtless turn as a boxer in The Fighter proves that even as a 39-year-old Marky Mark still brings those Good Vibrations.
2. Ryan Gosling 
"If you're a bird, I'm a bird.'' Gosling might have won us over with his turn as a hopeless romantic in The Notebook, but it's his charisma commitment to his craft that has seen audiences fall in love him over and over again in films such as Half Nelson, Lars and The Real Girl and Blue Valentine. Plus, he makes beautiful, beautiful music with his haunting indie outfit Dead Man's Bones.
3. Eli Roth 
Best known for his role behind the camera directing horror flicks such as Cabin Fever and the Hostel series, Roth had his time in the spotlight as The Bear Jew in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. He dispelled the notion that film directors are bearded, smelly and at least 50 pounds overweight. Some, as it turns out, are very sexy and very Jewish.
4. Joseph Gordon Levitt 
The thinking woman's hunk. Gordon Levitt has made a career in the indie film circuit playing intelligent and quirky characters. But it was his dapper turn in Christopher Nolan's Inception that reminded ladies he looks damn fine in a suit. His mainstream crossover will continue when he stars in Nolan's last Batman film The Dark Knight Rises.
5. Adrien Brody 
Better known for his acting chops, Brody proved he could compete with the best action heroes in his macho and very shirtless turn in Predators. Seriously, did you see those abs?
Better known for his acting chops, Brody proved he could compete with the best action heroes in his macho and very shirtless turn in Predators. Seriously, did you see those abs? 6. Marc-Andre Grondin
The sexiest French man that ever lived. Except, well, he’s actually Canadian. Marc first came to the attention of international cinema lovers with his powerful turn in under seen French gem C.R.A.Z.Y. From there he’s made a career of starring in art house French flicks, with the exception of Che: Part 2, and he will make his mainstream debut in Goon alongside Jay Baruchel, Liev Schreiber and Allison Pill.
The sexiest French man that ever lived. Except, well, he’s actually Canadian. Marc first came to the attention of international cinema lovers with his powerful turn in under seen French gem C.R.A.Z.Y. From there he’s made a career of starring in art house French flicks, with the exception of Che: Part 2, and he will make his mainstream debut in Goon alongside Jay Baruchel, Liev Schreiber and Allison Pill. 7. Idris Elba 
Salt N Pepa once described their perfect man as having "A body like Arnold with a Denzel face''. Meet Idris Elba, who more than fulfils that criteria with his huge physique, smooth intellect, street cred and roles in everything from The Wire (hello Stringer) to RocknRolla. Oh, and he’ll be swinging his hammer in Thor later this year so keep an eye out.
8. Colin Firth 
He may have won over the critics with his Oscar-winning turn in The King's Speech, but for the ladies out there he won over our hearts as Mr Darcy in the BBC's production of Pride and Prejudice.
9. Taylor Kitsch 
As the breakout star of football drama Friday Night Lights, Taylor Kitsch is one of the few Hollywood actors who's prettier than his female co-stars. With his model good looks and Prince Charming hair, Kitsch achieved a rare feat in X-Men Origins: Wolverine; he drew attention away from a ripped Hugh Jackman. Plus he's really pretty. Did we mention that?
10. Tom Hardy 
Every gal loves a bad boy and Tom Hardy encompasses the guy your parents would frown upon. The cheeky Brit's Hollywood popularity stems from his man's man appeal in films such as Bronson and Inception.
Every gal loves a bad boy and Tom Hardy encompasses the guy your parents would frown upon. The cheeky Brit's Hollywood popularity stems from his man's man appeal in films such as Bronson and Inception.
With the hysteria of the Golden Globes starting to die down, the attention now turns to the Ben Hur of Hollywood awards ceremonies - the Oscars. On Wednesday, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce this year's nominees and, if the combined results of the Globes and Critics Choice Awards are anything to go by, The Social Network will lead the charge. It will most definitely get nominations across the board in the best film, best director, best original screenplay, and best actor/supporting actor categories. But history has shown us several best picture favourites have fallen on their own sword in past Oscars upsets.
Boxing films have proved to be big winners at the Oscars, which could both work for and against The Fighter. Academy voters are less likely to be confronted by the conceptually challenging themes, like they will with Inception, and The Fighter is a superbly acted underdog tale that is benefited by the indie leanings of director David O.Russell. But where Rocky and Million Dollar Baby have concurred, boxing flicks like Raging Bull and The Hurricane have been knocked out, so it could go either way for Mark Wahlberg's passion project.
Firth is certainly the favourite for the career Oscar and his superb turn in The King's Speech is likely to be unshakable. But two-time Oscar nominee M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs) thinks The Social Network's Jesse Eisenberg is in with a shot.
His wife has dragged him along to every speech therapist and doctor to no avail, that is, until she comes across the talents of unorthodox Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush, above). Reluctantly, Bertie begins sessions with Logue which include peculiar exercises, outbursts of swearing, psychological tricks and what soon develops into an unlikely friendship between the pair. But after the death of his father the King (Michael Gambon), his older brother King Edward (Guy Pearce) is more interested in chasing American tale than fulfilling his duties as King, while across the way Hitler is gaining power and momentum. Bertie's speech improvement and newfound confidence is going to be put to the test in a time when the nation needs him more than ever.
The sets shy away from the overly-Royal sentiment that so often drowns period pieces. Instead it truly captures the grim and depressing sentiment of a nation on the brink of another war. And although the ingredients are right, The King's Speech can't help but become boring in patches. Between the fantastic montages of Bertie and Logue practising colourful speech techniques come tedious scenes, heavy in dialogue and little else. It's a shame, because director Tom Hooper has gone to such effort to make this period-piece as detailed and revealing as possible, which it is. However, in the end the stuffy British-ness tends to weigh the film down.
The God of Thunder or King George VI with a stammer? That was what it came down to for director Tom Hooper who was tossing up between comic-book movie Thor and period drama The King's Speech as his next project. But with The King's Speech headed for Oscars glory, Hooper definitely made the right decision.
Which makes sense, considering Geoffrey Rush plays an unconventional Australian speech therapist who's called in to help fix the debilitating stammer of King George VI, played by Colin Firth. Hooper himself is half-Australian and says it was his Australian mother who first introduced him to The King's Speech via an underground version on the London theatre scene. The film has come a long way from theatre origins to industry insiders touting it as a red-hot Oscars favourite, with nominations likely across several major categories
But the filmmaker is more enthusiastic about Firth and Rush's chances of winning at the awards, with Helena Bonham Carter even an outside chance for best supporting actress.