A Tale of Two Cities

No, not Dickens, just two cities that feature prominently at the moment.

The first of these is the beautiful city of Venice, which I would very much love to visit some time. As you probably know, the Venice Film Festival kicked off a couple of days ago and is currently on-going. The festival is showcasing some Oscar hopefuls, the biggest of which is George Clooney's 2nd Directorial Achievement, 'Goodnight and Good Luck'. Other projects hoping for some kudos to build their Oscar campaigns are Ang Lee's gay cowboy drama 'Brokeback Mountain' and what is looking like Paltrow's big-time comeback, John Madden's screen adaptation of the play 'Proof'.

The other city in question is one of the most high-profile celebrities around at the moment, Sienna Miller. OK maybe that's cheating but what the hell. Anyway, so Sienna, who's had a very intense few weeks -- and I'm telling you now you won't find a tabloid in August with her absence -- made an appearance at the Venice FF for the showing of her film, 'Casanova'. After uttering the words "I've met a few Casanova's" it seems the media have started up again, suggesting that she has dumped Jude. Now I'm sick of this as much as everyone else with half a nerve, but Sienna, for gods sake, DUMP THE NO GOOD SLEAZY CHEAT. There. I've said it. Let's move on.

Indeed, it's difficult to see the press making quite as much fuss over Casanova if the whole 'Jude and the Nanny' thing didn't happen, which begs the question: Will Sienna's career flourish in Life After Jude? It worked for Nicole Kidman, at least to some degree, she clearly always had exceptional talent. But a high profile gives you juicy roles, roles that got Kidman noticed in a way she had been overlooked (e.g. in To Die For) before. I do not think for one second that Miller has even half the acting ability of La Kidman, but what she does have is possibly the most physical attraction of any actress around at the moment. In fact, for natural beauty, there's basically her on one level, and the rest on another. Because everyone knows her name (gettin' a Cheers moment right her), I think we're gonna find Miss (or Mrs?!) Miller gets a lot of Hollywood attention. Watch out Jude. You could be upstaged.