“Maleficent” – A villain has never been so beautiful

We have been waiting for quite some time for this flick to be released since the casting and shooting has taken place. But with the sneak peak we’ve had from the trailer of “Maleficent”, the title lead played by Angelina Jolie, being released recently, we can safely say that a villain has never been so beautiful.

“Maleficent” is the untold story of one the stealthiest villains in Disney history from one of its most classic and loved fairy tales, Sleeping Beauty, and documents the experiences of Maleficent’s life which result in her turning into such a villain. Motivated by revenge, Maleficent viciously places a binding curse on the human king's newborn baby, Aurora. And as the child grows, she is caught in the middle of the conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her inheritance. Sounds familiar?

The movie is approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes long but that’s not too inconvenient as 38-year-old Angelina’s ethereal beauty – seeming almost like a fairy tale type of beauty that never ages – makes it worth it. The movie also stars Angelina’s daughter, Vivienne, as a young Aurora, and Elle Fanning in the older role. We’re also set to see South Africa’s own Sharlto Copley in a major role in the movie.

“Maleficent” is directed by Robert Stromberg, also known for “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End” (2007), “The Golden Compass” (2007) and “The Hunger Games” (2012). The trailer that has been released of the movie looks fantastical and magical with everything that is loved from a movie in this genre. The new trailer officially debuted during the 2014 Kid's Choice Awards on Saturday, March 29 and the movie will be released in theatres on May 30.

Lupita Nyong’o – Now everyone knows her name

The world has always had an appreciation and fascination with the striking features and exoticness of beauties with African roots. Supermodels Iman, Oluchi Onweagba, Liya Kebede and Alek Wek are some of the ethnic stunners who have made a name for themselves in Hollywood. And now its Lupita Nyong’o’s turn, who is already on her way to becoming a household name.

The 31-year-old actress born in Mexico City with Kenyan roots comes from an artistic background. She has starred in many minor theatre productions as well as having been on production teams for music videos and films. Lupita’s breakthrough role came in 2013, just before she graduated from Yale School of Drama with a Masters Degree, with her role in Steve McQueen’s multi Oscar-winner, “12 Years a Slave”, for which she also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Since her Oscar win, the world has been raving about Lupita, her beauty, her talent, and her fashion sense. Images of her have been spread across the Web like wildfire and she’s also being rumoured to appear in a lead role in the next Star Wars release. There have even been rumours that she’s also dating her “12 Years a Slave” co-star Michael Fassbender, who was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In Hollywood, the buzz of the rumour mill is equivalent to one having arrived as a star. So Lupita has definitely arrived.

Lupita Nyong’o is everything that Hollywood loves in a success story – a simple, hardworking but stunningly beautiful girl getting her big break and leaving the world dazzled. Even her life reads somewhat like a movie script and now everyone knows the name of this star.

Eva Green – From Bond girl to kickass warrior princess

It’s not easy for an actress to break away from the Bond girl mould and achieve longevity in Hollywood. There have only been a few actresses who have had the role of James Bond’s eye-candy and have achieved the feat. But now with the incredibly successful release of “300: Rise of an Empire” over the past weekend, with Eva Green formerly best-known as Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale in 2006 of the “007” franchise, one more actress might be able to boast of this achievement.

As of the 10^th of March, the latest “300” film has dominated the competition in the States, bagging an approximate $45.1 million domestically and $87.8 million from 58 other countries. This is pretty cool seeing as the film has mighty armies of blood-thirsty men being led by a dainty, albeit feisty, woman – one, Eva Green.

Eva plays the warrior queen, Atremisia, in the movie and is not only being praised by audiences for her physique and beauty but also by critics for her performance and screen presence. She is perhaps the best thing about the movie.

Eva, who is 33 years old, was born in Paris to an actress mother and a dentist father. She also has a non-identical twin sister, Joy, who was born minutes after her. Eva found acting as a passion as a teenager and went on to graduate from the American University of Paris and then to further study Drama in Paris and London. Much more than in Hollywood, she is an accomplished actress in France.

But now that we have had a taste of Eva in leather in sword-fighting mode, we know we’re going to love her in her next release, the also highly-anticipated "Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For". The movie also stars Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, and Jessica Alba. With a cast like this, and with Eva playing a temptress who enlists Josh Brolin’s character in an attempt to escape her ex-husband, “Sin City 2” is definitely going to be another movie worth waiting for this year. Eva Green is the new ultimate femme-fatale.

Eva Longoria – Maxim’s “Woman of the Year 2014”

It’s a little early in 2014 to name someone “Woman of the Year” but when that someone is Eva Longoria, there’s no explanation needed.

Eva is going to be 39 years old in March this year yet she somehow still has the body of an 18 year old, and that alone was reason enough for Maxim magazine to name her “Woman of the Year”. She’s worked hard to maintain her figure and even harder to make a name for herself in the acting industry.

She got her major breakthrough role in the daytime television serial The Young and the Restless in 2001 but she really became a household name in 2003 when she was cast as Gabrielle Solis in the infamous ABC series Desperate Housewives. For Eva, the “overnight” success that came with Desperate Housewives had actually taken her many years of perseverance to achieve. Her most major film role to date is The Sentinel released in 2006, in which she starred opposite Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland. Eva had come a long way from being crowned Miss Corpus Christi, USA in 1998 to Hollywood fame.

This is Eva’s first Maxim cover after eight years, having been on it in 2005 and 2006; but with her stunning wavy hair, the arresting black eyeliner, and a simple white tank top, Eva shows why she’s one of the ultimate cover girls. She’s graced the covers of international magazines like GQ, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, and Marie Claire and has become one of the most ubiquitous brand ambassadors of the 2000’s, having contracts with L’Oréal, Heineken, Magnum Ice-Cream, and Bebe Sport.

 Other than her acting abilities and possessing the body of a goddess, Eva has a brain too. She obtained a Masters Degree in Chicano Studies from the California State University in May 2013 and also has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Kinesiology. She’s also a business woman with a restaurant to her name in Hollywood, a philanthropist with a charity called “Eva’s Heroes” aimed at aiding developmentally disabled children, and an author with her first book published in 2011 titled “Eva's Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends”.

So it’s clear that since her days as one of the most iconic housewives in television history, Eva Longoria has been keeping herself pretty busy. It’s just a pity that we don’t get to see her as much as when she was on our television screens, but those Maxim images definitely make up for it.