Sara Vilkomerson

Let it snow! For the next few days, Observer snow bunnies Spencer Morgan and Sara Vilkomerson will be reporting from Sundance—and sending pictures! Look for the coded message in the picture below ...

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"It used to be that starlets opened movies, but those days are over.... Besides Walk the Line, projects with mainstream A-list actresses mostly landed with a resounding thud—or not at all—in 2005.... After the disaster that was 2005 for women, selling the world the next Julia Roberts might be even trickier. The franchise films will continue to sell big—and how many Narnias and X-Men do we have to look forward to?—while the romantic comedy genre languishes without a go-to leading lady, for now. Will it be Rachel? Will it be Reese? Or Keira? Will Dakota Fanning please report to puberty, stat?

"In 2005, there was not a single female-driven drama that was a financial blockbuster.... Even romantic comedies, long a showcase for actresses, are being replaced by male-driven comedies like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Wedding Crashers."

In one study....[l]ooking across a sample of more than 2,000 movies exhibited between 1985 and 1996, they found that only seven actors and actresses—Tom Hanks, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jodie Foster, Jim Carrey, Barbra Streisand and Robin Williams—had a positive impact on the box office, mostly in the first few weeks of a film's release.

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To the Editor:  read more »

To the Editor:  read more »