info
Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
What the Hell Happened to Alicia Silverstone?
78 views
Skip to first unread message
TMC
Dec 4, 2012, 4:12:47 PM12/4/12
to
http://lebeauleblog.com/2011/06/23/what-the-hell-happened-to-alicia-silverstone/
Posted by lebeau.
If you ever read the comments section of these articles, you’ve
probably seen some discussion of “the Batman curse”. Despite the fact
that most of the Batman films have been successful, there does seem to
be a trend of Batman actors ending up in What the Hell Happened
articles.
Alicia Silverstone had a relatively short career that peaked in 1995
and came crashing down 2 years later in Batman and Robin. Just about
everyone associated with the franchise-ending Batfilm suffered some
kind of career setback.
But while Chris O’Donnell has finally gotten himself a steady gig on
TV and Arnold Scharzenegger retreated to politics, Silverstone’s
career has yet to bounce back.
Silverstone’s film career began with 1993′s The Crush. The Crush was
part of a trend in movies that became popular after 1987′s Fatal
Attraction. The general theme is that a normal guy (in this case,
Cary Elwes) meets a seemingly normal person who turns out to be a
homocidal lunatic/stalker.
In The Crush, Silverstone is a deranged teenager who takes her
vengence on Elwes after he spurns her advances. Movies like The Crush
are a dime a dozen, but Silverstone’s star power turned it into an
unlikely hit.
The following year, Silverstone won 2 MTV Movie Awards for her
performance (Best Villain and Best Breakthrough Performance). She was
actually nominated for Most Desirable Female, but lost to Janet
Jackson. Perhaps it was because Silverstone was underage or perhaps
it was that her character was batshit crazy.
The Crush lead to Silverstone appearing in a trio of Aerosmith videos.
Cryin’
Amazing
and the final installment in the underage trilogy, Crazy
I still marvel at the Crazy video. It’s one thing that the video
makes sex objects out of two teenage girls. But it’s another that one
of the two girls is the daughter of the lead singer of the band.
Crazy, indeed.
Silverstone’s time as “the Aerosmith chick” lead to her being cast as
Cher in Amy Heckerling’s Clueless in 1995. Clueless was a modern
retelling of Jane Austin’s Emma as a fizzy teenage comedy. It was
smarter and funnier than it had any right to be. Many lines became
catch-phrases of the 90′s and Silverstone became the “It” girl in
Hollywood.
Also in 1995, Silverstone appeared in The Babysitter, Hideaway and the
French film, The New World. None of these had the impact of Clueless,
but it does show just how in-demand Silverstone was in the wake of the
sexy Aerosmith videos.
Following Clueless, Silverston signed a three-picture deal with
Columbia Tri-Star worth 10 million dollars. As part of the deal,
Silverstone got her own production company, First Kiss Pictures. I
just want to stress just how powerful Silverstone was in Hollywood in
1995, because the fall is near.
This is where the Batman curse factors in. After Tim Burton’s Batman
Returns was deemed “too dark” by Warner Brothers, the studio hired
Joel Schumacher to direct 1995′s Batman Forever. Batman Forever was a
hit and Warner Brothers wanted a sequel from Schumacher as soon as
possible.
Schumacher raced to meet Warner Brothers’ demands that Batman and
Robin should be released in 1997 instead of the usual 3-year wait
time. And he packed the script with characters who could be made into
toys. This included the addition of yet another sidekick for Batman,
Batgirl.
Casting for Batman and Robin was a big deal. Headlines were made when
George Clooney replaced previous Batman Val Kilmer (who didn’t get
along with Schumacher or much of anyone else). At one point, Bruce
Willis was rumored to be cast as Mr. Freeze. But when Arnold
Schwarzenneger was cast instead, Schumacher explained that it was
because Arnold was the biggest star in Hollywood.
That kind of reasoning lead to Silverstone being cast as Batgirl. She
was the only actress of her generation with any kind of star power.
So naturally, Schumacher had her fitted for a nippled Batsuit.
Had Batman and Robin been a hit along the lines of Batman Forever, it
probably would have pushed Silverstone’s star even higher. And
really, there was no reason to think it would be anything but a smash
hit. But Batman and Robin was notoriously awful even by the low
standards of the Batman franchise at the time.
After Batman and Robin, George Clooney did public penance by
apologizing for his turn as Batman. He also changed his career path
by choosing edgier fare like Out of Sight. Schwarzenneger retreated
to Terminator 3 before finally retiring from movies to pursue a career
in politics.
Alas, the sidekicks took it hardest of all. O’Donnell and
Silverstone, both rising stars at the time, would never fully get
their careers back on track.
Later that summer, the first movie in Silverstone’s 3-picture deal
debuted. Excess Baggage was an “edgy” romantic comedy. You can tell
it’s edgy by the amount of eye make-up Silverstone wears.
Silverstone played a spoiled rich girl who faked her own kidnapping to
get her daddy’s attention. However, her plan goes astray when she is
accidentally kidnapped by a car theif played by Benecio del Toro.
Excess Baggage got caught up in the Batman backlash. Critics savagely
ripped it apart even though its really not that bad. Audiences
ignored it and not surprisingly it bombed.
Silverstone took a little time to lick her wounds after the one-two
punch of Batman and Robin and Excess Baggage. Her next film was
1999′s Cold War-themed romantic comedy, Blast From the Past. The film
starred Brendan Fraser as a boy who grew up in a nuclear fallout
shelter after the Cuban Missle Crisis.
Blast From the Past failed to impress critics or audiences. It became
just another mediocre romantic comedy. Meanwhile, actresses like Kate
Hudson and Reese Witherspoon were rising up to take her place as the
stars of Silverstone’s generation.
Following Blast From the Past, Silverstone made a series of off-beat
films that didn’t create any waves. In 2000, she made Kenneth
Branagh’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. In 2002, she appeared in Global
Heresy. And in 2003, she starred in Scorched.
In 2004, Silverstone started making moves to get back into the
spotlight. First she took a small role in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters
Unleashed as a reporter. Unfortunately for Silverstone, audiences
felt burned by the first craptastic Scooby Doo movie and avoided the
sequel. So they missed her comeback.
Silverstone continued trying to stage a comeback with 2005′s Beauty
Shop. The Barbershop spin-off also co-starred the inspiration for
this entire column, Mena Suvari. Beauty Shop got mixed reviews and
did so-so box office. Neither Silverstone nor Suvari benefitted much
from appearing in it.
Despite no longer being a box office star, Silverstone has kept busy.
She’s been doing quite a bit of stagework. She had a short-lived TV
series in 2003 with Miss Match. In 2005 and 2006, she also made TV
pilots that were never picked up.
She’s also found success with a vegan diet book called The Kind Diet.
The Kind Diet was a New York Times Best Seller.
Silverstone has a few movies in the pipeline. Whether or not any of
them will be showing at a theater near you is uncertain. But if I
were going to bet on any of the stars featured in this column so far
to stage a comeback, I’d bet on Silverstone. All she needs is the
right TV show to make use of her talents.
Posted by lebeau.
If you ever read the comments section of these articles, you’ve
probably seen some discussion of “the Batman curse”. Despite the fact
that most of the Batman films have been successful, there does seem to
be a trend of Batman actors ending up in What the Hell Happened
articles.
Alicia Silverstone had a relatively short career that peaked in 1995
and came crashing down 2 years later in Batman and Robin. Just about
everyone associated with the franchise-ending Batfilm suffered some
kind of career setback.
But while Chris O’Donnell has finally gotten himself a steady gig on
TV and Arnold Scharzenegger retreated to politics, Silverstone’s
career has yet to bounce back.
Silverstone’s film career began with 1993′s The Crush. The Crush was
part of a trend in movies that became popular after 1987′s Fatal
Attraction. The general theme is that a normal guy (in this case,
Cary Elwes) meets a seemingly normal person who turns out to be a
homocidal lunatic/stalker.
In The Crush, Silverstone is a deranged teenager who takes her
vengence on Elwes after he spurns her advances. Movies like The Crush
are a dime a dozen, but Silverstone’s star power turned it into an
unlikely hit.
The following year, Silverstone won 2 MTV Movie Awards for her
performance (Best Villain and Best Breakthrough Performance). She was
actually nominated for Most Desirable Female, but lost to Janet
Jackson. Perhaps it was because Silverstone was underage or perhaps
it was that her character was batshit crazy.
The Crush lead to Silverstone appearing in a trio of Aerosmith videos.
Cryin’
Amazing
and the final installment in the underage trilogy, Crazy
I still marvel at the Crazy video. It’s one thing that the video
makes sex objects out of two teenage girls. But it’s another that one
of the two girls is the daughter of the lead singer of the band.
Crazy, indeed.
Silverstone’s time as “the Aerosmith chick” lead to her being cast as
Cher in Amy Heckerling’s Clueless in 1995. Clueless was a modern
retelling of Jane Austin’s Emma as a fizzy teenage comedy. It was
smarter and funnier than it had any right to be. Many lines became
catch-phrases of the 90′s and Silverstone became the “It” girl in
Hollywood.
Also in 1995, Silverstone appeared in The Babysitter, Hideaway and the
French film, The New World. None of these had the impact of Clueless,
but it does show just how in-demand Silverstone was in the wake of the
sexy Aerosmith videos.
Following Clueless, Silverston signed a three-picture deal with
Columbia Tri-Star worth 10 million dollars. As part of the deal,
Silverstone got her own production company, First Kiss Pictures. I
just want to stress just how powerful Silverstone was in Hollywood in
1995, because the fall is near.
This is where the Batman curse factors in. After Tim Burton’s Batman
Returns was deemed “too dark” by Warner Brothers, the studio hired
Joel Schumacher to direct 1995′s Batman Forever. Batman Forever was a
hit and Warner Brothers wanted a sequel from Schumacher as soon as
possible.
Schumacher raced to meet Warner Brothers’ demands that Batman and
Robin should be released in 1997 instead of the usual 3-year wait
time. And he packed the script with characters who could be made into
toys. This included the addition of yet another sidekick for Batman,
Batgirl.
Casting for Batman and Robin was a big deal. Headlines were made when
George Clooney replaced previous Batman Val Kilmer (who didn’t get
along with Schumacher or much of anyone else). At one point, Bruce
Willis was rumored to be cast as Mr. Freeze. But when Arnold
Schwarzenneger was cast instead, Schumacher explained that it was
because Arnold was the biggest star in Hollywood.
That kind of reasoning lead to Silverstone being cast as Batgirl. She
was the only actress of her generation with any kind of star power.
So naturally, Schumacher had her fitted for a nippled Batsuit.
Had Batman and Robin been a hit along the lines of Batman Forever, it
probably would have pushed Silverstone’s star even higher. And
really, there was no reason to think it would be anything but a smash
hit. But Batman and Robin was notoriously awful even by the low
standards of the Batman franchise at the time.
After Batman and Robin, George Clooney did public penance by
apologizing for his turn as Batman. He also changed his career path
by choosing edgier fare like Out of Sight. Schwarzenneger retreated
to Terminator 3 before finally retiring from movies to pursue a career
in politics.
Alas, the sidekicks took it hardest of all. O’Donnell and
Silverstone, both rising stars at the time, would never fully get
their careers back on track.
Later that summer, the first movie in Silverstone’s 3-picture deal
debuted. Excess Baggage was an “edgy” romantic comedy. You can tell
it’s edgy by the amount of eye make-up Silverstone wears.
Silverstone played a spoiled rich girl who faked her own kidnapping to
get her daddy’s attention. However, her plan goes astray when she is
accidentally kidnapped by a car theif played by Benecio del Toro.
Excess Baggage got caught up in the Batman backlash. Critics savagely
ripped it apart even though its really not that bad. Audiences
ignored it and not surprisingly it bombed.
Silverstone took a little time to lick her wounds after the one-two
punch of Batman and Robin and Excess Baggage. Her next film was
1999′s Cold War-themed romantic comedy, Blast From the Past. The film
starred Brendan Fraser as a boy who grew up in a nuclear fallout
shelter after the Cuban Missle Crisis.
Blast From the Past failed to impress critics or audiences. It became
just another mediocre romantic comedy. Meanwhile, actresses like Kate
Hudson and Reese Witherspoon were rising up to take her place as the
stars of Silverstone’s generation.
Following Blast From the Past, Silverstone made a series of off-beat
films that didn’t create any waves. In 2000, she made Kenneth
Branagh’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. In 2002, she appeared in Global
Heresy. And in 2003, she starred in Scorched.
In 2004, Silverstone started making moves to get back into the
spotlight. First she took a small role in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters
Unleashed as a reporter. Unfortunately for Silverstone, audiences
felt burned by the first craptastic Scooby Doo movie and avoided the
sequel. So they missed her comeback.
Silverstone continued trying to stage a comeback with 2005′s Beauty
Shop. The Barbershop spin-off also co-starred the inspiration for
this entire column, Mena Suvari. Beauty Shop got mixed reviews and
did so-so box office. Neither Silverstone nor Suvari benefitted much
from appearing in it.
Despite no longer being a box office star, Silverstone has kept busy.
She’s been doing quite a bit of stagework. She had a short-lived TV
series in 2003 with Miss Match. In 2005 and 2006, she also made TV
pilots that were never picked up.
She’s also found success with a vegan diet book called The Kind Diet.
The Kind Diet was a New York Times Best Seller.
Silverstone has a few movies in the pipeline. Whether or not any of
them will be showing at a theater near you is uncertain. But if I
were going to bet on any of the stars featured in this column so far
to stage a comeback, I’d bet on Silverstone. All she needs is the
right TV show to make use of her talents.
Mack A. Damia
Dec 4, 2012, 5:32:58 PM12/4/12
to
On Tue, 4 Dec 2012 13:12:47 -0800 (PST), TMC <tmc...@gmail.com>
wrote:
>She’s also found success with a vegan diet book called The Kind Diet.
>The Kind Diet was a New York Times Best Seller.
http://www.ecouterre.com/alicia-silverstone-juice-beauty-launch-vegan-organic-cosmetics-line/
Not my idea of beauty. Dreadful looking mouth.
Reminds me of the arch in St. Louis.
http://www.fansshare.com/media/content/570_alicia-silverstone-talks-about-clueless-and-having-crushes-on-gay-guys-1461.jpg
--
wrote:
>She’s also found success with a vegan diet book called The Kind Diet.
>The Kind Diet was a New York Times Best Seller.
Not my idea of beauty. Dreadful looking mouth.
Reminds me of the arch in St. Louis.
http://www.fansshare.com/media/content/570_alicia-silverstone-talks-about-clueless-and-having-crushes-on-gay-guys-1461.jpg
--
Tristan daCunha
Dec 4, 2012, 6:35:06 PM12/4/12
to
Mebbe she's strung out on something.
That's the Hollyweird trend!!
That's the Hollyweird trend!!
Tristan daCunha
Dec 11, 2012, 11:19:46 PM12/11/12
to
Mack; Word is that she gives killer knob!
0 new messages