Scoop

Remember a few columns back when I reported on SELA WARD's new longer "Once and Again" 'do?  In the course of my comments, I mentioned the fact that in virtually every episode, Sela had the serious hair toss thing going.  Well, apparently I wasn't the only one to notice.  According to an article in USA Today,...

As I said before, though I still don't think this is the best style for Sela, she works it well on the show.  Hopefully, she won't tone it down TOO much. Plus, I have to admit that it looks great in her new Sprint commercial.

Once again, thanks to Dan P. and his alert video capturing, I have an interesting little tidbit on KATIE COURIC.  This isn't really a Scoop, but it doesn't exactly fall neatly under The Latest either, so I decided to stick it here.  What am I babbling about?  Well, on a recent "TODAY" show they were doing a segment on the latest hair accessories.  When I first tuned in, for at least a minute, I couldn't identify the woman with the long bronze colored hair talking to the woman with the long blonde hair.  Imagine my shock when I realized it was Katie Couric wearing a fall that fell in big curls 6-8 inches below her shoulders.  She was not only virtually unrecognizable, but looked several years younger.  Needless to say it looked great, as the other woman repeatedly told her. 

The segment ended with the woman telling Katie that she loved the long hair on her.  Katie then asked if short hair was really out.  The woman said, that based on what had appeared on the runways for the spring shows, that long hair was still very in (though, I personally have heard that the center-parted stick straight look was out on the runways and some semblence of an actual hairstyle was in).  Katie then lamented that by the time she grew her short hair out it wouldn't be in style anymore (an excellent point, by the way).  She also said that wearing the extension certainly made her feel different and with that, she tossed her long fake locks over her shoulder and threw it to commercial.

Having only seen Katie with long hair in VERY old photos, I had no idea how it would look if she still had it today.  If this was any indication (which it obviously should be), she'd wear it extremely well.

If you remember from last column, I asked you to vote on the next Fleature, giving you the choice between "Bad Movie Hair Moments", "Big Hair on the Big Screen", and the "Museum of Madonna".  In very close voting, the winner was a combination of Big and Bad Hair in the Movies.  Don't worry, I'll still do the "Museum of Madonna" in an upcoming column (probably in a couple of months).  And, if you're grumbling that I didn't chose your preference, I would point out that I received almost 200 entries into the contest and only 25 votes on the Fleature.  Ah, voter apathy in action. =)

So, what actresses and movies that had memorably bad or big hair that wasn't meant to be (unlike, say, the movie "Hairspray") did I come up with?  Well...

Big: SISSY SPACEK's gigantic Loretta Lynn wig in "Coal Miner's Daughter".  Much like Loretta's hair of that era, it was as large as she was.  I'm sure she had to avoid high winds to prevent going airborne.

	Big: KELLY LeBROCK and her monstrously teased 'do in "Weird Science" in the scene where she visits Gary's (Anthony Michael Hall's) parents.  Even for 80s this was huge.  There had to be a line item in the budget just for the case of hairspray it took to hold that thing up.

Big: The definitive big hair movie moment: "The Witches of Eastwick".  Apparently, Pantene has nothing on sex with a demon for adding volume to your style.  There was so much red, blonde, and brunette curly hair on SUSAN SARANDON, MICHELLE PFEIFFER, and CHER by the end of that movie, it deserved 5th billing or at least it's own trailer. 

In watching the scroll at the end, I kept expecting a credit for "hair wrangler"

Big/Bad: LINDA FIORENTINO's super fluffy poodle perm in "VisionQuest".  The quintessential early 80s style.  How could Matthew Modine resist her?

	Bad: On the subject of perms, let's not forget GLENN CLOSE in "Fatal Attraction".  Never since has Glenn achieved the out of control glory of that scary mass of curls.  Made it even more inexplicable that Michael Douglas would dump Ann Archer for her.

Bad: Speaking of hair sticking up, how about, HELEN SLATER in "The Legend of Billie Jean"?  She hacked off her long blonde "Supergirl" hair in into that weird punk cut.  Looked like she had lost a fight with a Flowbee.

	Bad: LINDA HAMILTON's center parted, badly permed, feathered mane in the original "Terminator".  Linda's style was one of the last remaining big screen tributes Farrah's wings, though, I must admit, it was still being worn by half the girls in my high school.

Bad:GWYNETH PALTROW toward the end of "Hush".  She must have had to go back for reshoots after cutting her hair for "Sliding Doors" because it is painfully obvious she is wearing a wig.  Helpfully, the wig was even a different color blonde from her hair, making it easier to pick out.  Thanks to the  folks in the makeup department for that.  Speaking of "Sliding Doors", I'm not sure they could have found a more fake looking mousy brown wig for her.  

The "Hush" example actually falls into a different rather picky category:  lack of continuity.  This usually occurs when the actress has short hair, but for some reason, they don't feel the need to make sure the style stays the same length...even if the movie timeline occurs over just a few days.   The two worst offenders that come to mind:

SIGOURNEY WEAVER in "Dave".  She has a short haircut that halfway through the movie that miraculously grows about an inch...yet Kevin Kline's hair remains exactly the same.  Maybe the scenes she wasn't in were filmed at the speed of light, thus causing her to age a couple of months more than the rest of the cast.

	Another would be MARY MCDONNELL in "Sneakers".  As opposed to Sigourney, who's hair growth is at least chronologically correct, Mary's hair grows and shrinks several times over the course of the movie.  There has to be a range of growth of at least 2 inches.  How can someone overlook something THAT obvious?

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And now for a few suggestions from the readers that voted:

Big/Bad: ...don't forget MICHELLE PFEIFFER in "Married to the Mob"
- Dalene G.

Big: Two words: "Steel Magnolias".  Sure, it was about Southern women and their thoughts, feelings, and emotions were shared against the backdrop of a hair salon.  But, I'm Southern and I don't enjoy big hair.

And don't even get me started on the accents!  And JULIA ROBERTS is a Georgia girl!  She knows we don't talk like that! - Shannon M.

Bad:There have been some real on screen duds - the time they put a long blonde wig on SINEAD O'CONNER (in "The Butcher Boy") seems to be coming to mind...'course that red wig that stuck on ANNIE LENNOX in "Revolution" was pretty awful too. Hey, and don't forget TINA TURNER's blonde semi-mohawk in "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome"... - Erin

Bad: JADA PINKETT's wig in "The Nutty Professor" ...and all of WHITNEY HOUSTON's wigs/extensions in "The Bodyguard". - Jocelyn B.

I would go along with most of these, though I kind of like both Annie Lennox's and Jada Pinkett's hair.  And being from the South, I guess I have a genetic soft spot for big hair. =)

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Disagree with me or the readers?  Thought of some I left out?  Click here and let me know. or send an email to [email protected] with "Bad Hair/Big Hair in the Movies"  in the subject line.  

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Future Fleature: 3rd Annual Best Hair on TV

Yup, we're approaching that time of year again, where I choose the top 10 heads of hair on TV. In case you are wondering , I do TV and not music or movies because there aren't enough folks in music that actually care about their hair and actresses in the movies have to change their hair for roles so often it becomes pointless to choose based on a given style.

Anyway, take a look at last year's list and then click here (or send an email to [email protected] with "Best Hair on TV 3" in the subject line) to give me your suggestions for this year's list. Remember, they have to be on TV by the end of the season!

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