>think of it this way. you do a couple two three movies
>(Cold Comfort Farm, The Last Days of Disco) , all of a
>sudden you are a Hollywood It girl. you're making some
>cash. you have to strike while the iron is hot. you do a
>standard romantic comedy (Serendipity) and a big budget
>blockbuster (Pearl Harbor) because you have to do those
>movies if you're offered them. they stink and you get no
>heat from them. so, you come back with a smaller, artier
>movie like Laurel Canyon (which was totally indie and
>"adult" even though i thought it was pretty blah. Francis
>McDormand was great, but what else is new?) and that doesn't
>really get you any heat either. so now you get a chance to
>be the star of a cool, action movie where you get to wear
>Matrix outfits, do stunts and shoot werewolves. oh, and the
>writer/director is your fiance.
>who's gonna say no to that?

She and Wiseman became romantically involved DURING the filming of "Underworld," NOT before so she took on the project w/o any personal factors coming into play... "Laurel Canyon" is what you do when your last couple of vehicles tank - not necessarily in a fiscal manner, but on a critical level...

>her next movie, Tiptoes, has Gary Oldman in it, so it
>automatically gets the benefit of the doubt from me. and
>she's currently filming a Scorsese movie about Howard Hughes
>with Leo, Cate Blanchett, and Gwen Stefani.
>looks like she's doing alright to me.

Here's why I think this is suspect - both Oldman and Blanchett remind me of Dietrich in that they don't mail in performances, BUT do feature in movies that are subpar - who's to say that Beckinsale can deliver despite lackluster material? I'm not so sure - Stefani's not a ringing endorsement w/ regards to producing a standard of excellence from my vantage point...

"other than some of cann ox, el-p's beats sound like somebody molesting a household pet"
- soundsop