So I have BET on in the background and they do an extended segment on Beckinsale's new cinematic vehicle, "Underworld"...

My reaction - WTF - the continuing saga of a once-promising actress (who went up to Oxford to read French and Russian Literature before leaving to focus on her acting career) stuck in the vapid assembly line production of Hollywood...

Now, having first seen her in the John Schlesinger-directed "Cold Comfort Farm" and in Branagh's "Much Ado About Nothing," I thought that she'd carry on in the vaunted tradition of smart British actresses (reference Helen Mirren and Charlotte Rampling)... Instead, she's become moreso like Elizabeth Hurley... You'd think that the Oxford experience would've given her pause to be selective about scripts... Apparently not, from "Pearl Harbor" ('nuff said) to the insipid "Brokedown Palace," her lone somewhat memorable performance since those aforementioned early roles was in Stillman's "The Last Days of Disco," which I tend to ascribe to Stillman's talent rather than hers at this juncture...

The question here is - is Hollywood's siren song so seductive that people w/ ability are willing to take on dumb and dumber roles? Monica Belluci balances out tripe like "Tears of the Sun" w/ roles such as "Irreversible" - regardless of how gratuitous that film was, it was at least food for thought and unsettling and sure to inspire both derision and praise into the future...

There are enough hacks such as Charlize Theron who survive strictly on looks alone (and there's definitely a place at the table for this) - Beckinsale wasn't one of 'em when she started, but she sure looks to be part of that legion now... And to become just another footnote in a long line of undistinguished actors and actresses w/ less-than-stellar credits to his/her name...