• Daniel Day-Lewis
• Penelope Cruz
• Marion Cotillard
• Nicole Kidman
• Judi Dench
• Kate Hudson
• Fergie (Stacy Ferguson)
• Sophia Loren

There’s something provocative about movie stars falling in love while making a movie. What follows is a list of cuddly movie co-stars, some contemporary, some from days of yore.

You may wonder why Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson or Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward or Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh didn’t make the list. It’s because Cupid struck them during the production of a stageplay, not a movie. After all, we aim for total accuracy.

And now, the list, beginning with some golden oldies:

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Bad luck and poor choices are a big part of Hollywood lore. Careers have been made or broken based on an actor’s inability to look at a part and envision the possibilities, or by scheduling issues that prevented a thespian from taking on a juicy role.

Some films would have been quite different had the original choice not declined, been forced out by a prior commitment, or fallen victim to a director’s change of heart.

Of course, one performer’s misfortune is another’s opportunity. Forbes has put together a list of “10 Career-Changing Roles That Almost Weren’t.” It’s some interesting stuff, to say the least.

Here are some famous films, and the actor or actress who turned down or didn’t get the chance to shine:

1. Titanic: Gwyneth Paltrow

2. Knocked Up: Anne Hathaway

3. The Godfather: Ernest Borgnine

4. Forrest Gump: John Travolta

5. Pretty Woman: Molly Ringwald

6. The Reader: Nicole Kidman

7. The Graduate: Robert Redford

8. Brokeback Mountain: Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix

9. Casablanca: George Raft

10. Raiders of the Lost Ark: Tom Selleck

To read more about these matchups that didn’t happen, and to see a slideshow, visit Forbes.

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The curse of the Oscar jinx started with poor Luise, who won two consecutive Best Actress trophies for playing wronged wives in 1936’s The Great Ziegfeld and 1937’s The Good Earth. By 1939, she was washed-up, moviegoers and critics having wearied of her ongoing parade of sad-eyed helpmates. One critic asserted that she registered so much self-pity that audience sympathy seemed superfluous.

But if Luise is forgotten, the Oscar Jinx rumor remains, the fear being that after winning the award, your best work is behind you. Some recent Oscar winners may be heading for the Rainer route.

Among the possibilities:

Some, you’ll remember fondly. A few, you may barely remember at all.

Ready to revisit some blasts from the past? Here goes:

2007: J.K. Rowling

2006: Cast of Grey’s Anatomy

2005: Cast of Lost

2004: Jon Stewart

2003: Cast of The Lord of the Rings

2002: Denzel Washington

2001: Nicole Kidman

2000: Russell Crowe

1999: Ricky Martin

1998: Leonardo DiCaprio

1997: Ellen DeGeneres

1996: Rosie O’Donnell

1995: Cast of Friends

1994: Tom Hanks

1993: Steven Spielberg

1992: Cast of Saturday Night Live

1991: Jodie Foster

1990: Bart Simpson

To read more about all these, and to see a slideshow, visit Entertainment Weekly.

Forbes took a look at some of Tinseltown’s best-paid stars and weighed their paychecks against box office earnings. A few old favorites may have a harder time negotiating that next big contract.

Here’s the list of Hollywood’s Most Overpaid Movie Stars. The second number indicates how much the performer’s last three films grossed per dollar he or she was paid.

Nicole Kidman: $1-$1
Jennifer Garner: $1-$3.60
Tom Cruise: $1-$4
Cameron Diaz: $1-$4
Jennifer Lopez: $1-$4.10
Jim Carrey: $1-$4.11
Nicolas Cage: $1-$4.16
Drew Barrymore: $1-$4.38
Will Ferrell: $1-$4.67
Cate Blanchett: $1-$4.97

To read more about these, and to see a slideshow, visit Forbes.

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Gonzo: The Life and Works of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, currently navigating the art theater route, delightfully relates the misadventures of the maverick journalist whose Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ranks as a classic. The fall movie line-up will bring us Chris & Don: A Love Story, which explores the longtime relationship between portrait painter Don Bachardy and writer Christopher Isherwood. Isherwood’s most famous work, arguably, is Berlin Stories, which inspired the musical Cabaret.

Both these films are documentaries, but through the years, feature films have explored the writing ritual and its  colorful inspirations. Recently, both Philip Seymour Hoffman and Nicole Kidman won Oscars for playing writers. Among the many efforts to capture the literati onscreen:

• Hunter Thompson was anointed on film before Gonzo hit the screen. Bill Murray, whose glib exterior hides a literary bent, played Thompson as an agreeably outrageous charmer in Where the Buffalo Roam, while Johnny Depp, who narrates the current documentary, presented an earthier portrait in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

• On a more genteel level, Depp won an Oscar nomination as Sir James M. Barrie, wistful author of Peter Pan, in Finding Neverland. The well-mannered film softened the tragic aspects of the family that inspired Barrie’s famous work.

• Another seemingly discreet Brit, Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, was brought to haunting life by Ian Holm in 1985’s shamefully neglected Dreamchild, which explored the obsessive relationship between Carroll and the real Alice.

Their new arrivals are christened Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon. You can bet that even the most intimate chums won’t lean over the crib and say, “Hi, Viv!,” particularly with the French spelling. Marcheline was the name of Angelina’s mother, who died in January 2007 after a long battle with ovarian cancer.

Knox Leon (Leon pronounced with a long “o”) was so named because dad Brad is a fan of artist Archibald Knox and has collected several of the late artist’s works. The day after Angelina gave birth, the Archibald Knox Web site reportedly received over 2,000 hits.

Celebrities are different from us ordinary mortals. Among those differences is their practice of giving offspring unusual names. What follows is a list of celebrity baby names, and there’s not a Dick or Jane among them.

Matthew McConaughey’s new arrival is Levi, but he’s not named for the jeans that Matthew occasionally bothers to put on. The spiritual star explains that Levi is another name for the Biblical apostle Matthew. Early tabloid reports predicted that the bouncing baby boy would be named Budweiser, after his pop’s favorite beer. After all, Matthew’s big brother Rooster named his son Miller Lyte.

Julia Roberts named her twins Hazel and Phinnaeus. Nothing wrong with Hazel other than its vintage seems to be several generations ago. But Phinnaeus??? It’s a family name, says Julia. But try explaining that to the kids at school.

Also on the previous-generations name register is Matilda, daughter of Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams. Possibly she was named for the Aussie folk song “Waltzing Matilda.” FYI, Jake Gyllenhaal was her godfather.

Britney Spears and Kevin Federline

Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards

Liz Taylor and Larry Fortensky

Jack Welch and Jane Beasley Welch

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (pictured)

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

Rosanne Barr and Tom Arnold

For details about each couple’s agreements, see the full article at MyWedding.com.

People

Mother/daughter actresses Demi Moore and Rumer Willis

Comedian/Jimmy Kimmel arm candy Sarah Silverman

2004 Olympic pool darling/gold medalist Amanda Beard

The Gossip Girl cast (big surprise, that!)

Country songbird Taylor Swift

Teen queen/photo victim Miley Cyrus

Celebri-moms Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Garner, Salma Hayek and Jessica Alba (among many others)

Hall-of-Famers Nicole Kidman (her ninth time on the list) and Halle Berry (her 12th)

Miami Dolphin defensive end/Dancing with the Stars alum Jason Taylor

Leo (as in DiCaprio)

Brangelina (but of course!)

Actress Eva Longoria and San Antonio Spur Tony Parker (so would they be “Evany” or just “Longer”?)

That’s not the whole 100, but you get the drift. For more, visit People’s sneak peek gallery.

Source: People magazine