Some examples:

Sidney Poitier got the transition off to a stunning start. He was the first African-American mega-star Oscar-winner, and virtually all of today’s black actors acknowledge the debt they owe him. In In the Heat of the Night, when he shouted, “They call me MISTER Tibbs!,” it was a voice heard ’round the world. At the time, he was criticized for playing too many saintly roles. In retrospect, that seems a necessary part of the transition.

Oprah Winfrey made her feature debut in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 version of The Color Purple — and who would’ve guessed that one day she’d be more powerful than he? In the Presidential campaign, some disapproved of her going public with her Obama endorsement. But silence on her part might have been misinterpreted as a lack of support.

Bill Cosby never enjoyed the same success on the big screen as he did on television. But his TV roles reflect the ascent of the African-American actor. In I Spy, he mostly served as sidekick to smug Robert Culp. He was to I Spy what Sammy Davis Jr. was to Sinatra’s Rat Pack. But in The Cosby Show, the Huxtables avoided racial stereotypes and won a warm place in America’s living rooms. Cosby was preceded by Diahann Carroll, whose TV sitcom Julia was similarly embraced for transcending racial cliches.

Will Smith still reigns as box-office king despite the disappointment of the recent Seven Pounds. He’s bigger with ticket-buyers than Cruise, Hanks, Pitt or Sandler. He knows how to play the game, and he plays it smoothly.

Richard Pryor gained wide acceptance as a major movie star and opened the gate for such later titans as Eddie Murphy. Pryor’s personal tragedy sometimes obscures the fact that his talent frequently elevated mediocre movie scripts.

Jennifer Hudson didn’t win the American Idol contest, but she won a more important trophy — the Oscar for Dreamgirls. She also won the public’s respect for her dignity during her recent family tragedy.

Denzel Washington is today’s Sidney Poitier, a handsome, talented actor at home in a variety of roles. He’s the only African-American to win Oscars in both supporting and lead actor categories, and his two Oscars reflect his range. He was a martyred soldier in Glory and a sneering, smirking and deadly corrupt cop in Training Day.

Frank Langella stars as another controversial president in Frost/Nixon, directed by Ron Howard. And in 2010, Steven Spielberg will deliver his long-promised biopic of Abraham Lincoln, with Liam Neeson as the doomed leader.

Political movies never have been box-office giants, but the lure of playing presidents, either fictional or authentic, draws interesting candidates. Among them: Josh Brolin, as mentioned, plays George W. Bush in W. In late December, he’ll be seen in Milk as Dan White, bigoted assassin of San Francisco’s first openly gay city official Harvey Milk, played by Sean Penn. Interesting dual roles for this election year.

James Cromwell plays the senior George Bush in W. , and the film focuses on their father-son conflicts. Cromwell, once known mainly as Babe’s farmer, played another stately figure as Prince Philip opposite Helen Mirren in The Queen. What’s intriguing, though, is that Cromwell is an outspoken liberal, as was his father, director John Cromwell. In fact, the elder Cromwell was blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. Among his credits: the super-patriotic 1944 homefront valentine Since You Went Away, frequently shown on Turner Classics and starring such non-radicals as Claudette Colbert and Shirley Temple.

Frank Langella repeats his stage success as Richard Nixon in the upcoming Frost/Nixon. His most famous previous role? The blood-sucking Dracula, which he also played onstage.

Morgan Freeman played a worried American president dealing with a fast-approaching comet in Deep Impact. This was in 1998, before Barack Obama rose to national prominence. But it was good practice for Freeman, who would play an even more powerful role as God in both Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty. These almighty figures definitely elevated him from driving Miss Daisy.

Katie Holmes earned solid notices in the current revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, with Tom Cruise inevitably leading the opening-night applause. It was an example of smart planning on all corners. The 1947 play’s plot, in which a tycoon’s ill-gotten fortune comes from selling the Army faulty wartime artillery, is still topical. Katie’s role, while prominent, does not carry the action. Still, she held her own with footlights heavyweights John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest.

Daniel Radcliffe understandably seeks a change from the Harry Potter franchise. And his turn as Equus’s tormented stableboy undergoing extensive therapy is just what the doctor ordered. He won raves first on London’s West End and now on the Great White Way. The publicity generated by his nude scene didn’t hurt.

Debra Winger has announced plans to star in a Broadway version of the Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn/Sidney Poitier flick Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Barack Obama’s political ascent makes the storyline freshly topical, and Winger’s waning star power has risen with her performance as Anne Hathaway’s mother in Rachel Getting Married. Rumors that her An Officer and a Gentleman star Richard Gere would play the Tracy role have been denied by the Gere camp. Perhaps someone remembered that they were not on speaking terms when Officer and Gentleman finished filming.

Morgan Freeman and Frances McDormand barely made a dent with last summer’s revival of Clifford Odets’ The Country Girl. The play remains best known for the movie version starring Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly as the unhappily married couple. Obviously, the producers wanted to steer as far away as possible from the Crosby/Kelly prototypes, but no dialogue was added regarding the revival’s fresh inter-racial element. But both Morgan and McDormand continue to be swamped with character roles in movies.

The list includes:
– Barbra Streisand
– Morgan Freeman
– George Jones
– Twyla Tharp
– Pete Townshend
– Roger Daltrey

Each will be honored on Dec. 7 at an event that will air later on CBS.

Source: Associated Press

Usually, it’s a film that bombs in initial release, only to find an audience on cable, satellite, or DVD. In many cases, that cineplex misfire turns into quite the cash cow in its second life.

Entertainment Weekly set out to establish a list of the “Top 10 Cult Movies.” It’s pretty subjective, and contains a few really off-the-wall choices, but, hey, that’s the list business.

Here’s a sampling:

The Shawshank Redemption

Blade Runner

Scarface

Repo Man

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Pink Flamingos

To see more about these, plus the rest of the list, check out Entertainment Weekly.

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