A golden age of hot British actors?

Ladies, it's time to slap on the water wings and adjust the snorkel because we're diving into the shallow end of the pool today. Gentlemen, you may wish to avert your eyes or pick up your Maxim because there's going to be talk of sexy men shortly...and it's not going to be pretty.

Data has been piling up lately. You've seen it on your televisions and in your movie theaters and tucked away in the pages of your People magazines and US Weeklies. The question is out there, just waiting to be answered. And I believe we're the ones best qualified to tackle this difficult subject:

Are British male actors getting hotter or is my eyesight just getting better?

Let's look at the evidence chronologically. In the 1930s and 1940s, we had Cary Grant, the standard bearer of British male pulchritude:

In the 1960s, we had Sean Connery and Michael Caine -- and let's face it, the standards got a little bit lower:


In the 1980s, we started doing a bit better with Julian Sands:

Things started rolling nicely in the 1990s with the likes of Hugh Grant and Liam Neeson:


And then, holy hell, the new millennium dawns, the dam of British hotness breaks and suddenly they're everywhere! There's Daniel Craig...

and Orlando Bloom...

and Gerard Butler...

and Henry Ian Cusick...

and David Tennent...

And dozens more. Besides the actors, even that old "unattractive inbred royalty" thing has been busted:

In fact, hot British men have become so ubiquitous, we even have them filling in as hot American men. To wit, there's him:

...and him

...and him

Ladies, this is but a small sampling -- and I'm not even bringing Australians into the equation!* I'm no kind of scientist, but I'd say the facts -- and the photographic evidence -- speak for themselves.

What do you think? Are we in the Golden Age of Hot British Actors? And if so, what did we do to deserve this and can we do it again, please?

* ETA: Except I did, just there, with Simon Baker who I totally didn't realize was Australian. Oops. He's too cute to dock from the list though....

Girl Nerds in History: Katharine Hepburn

There are Girl Nerds in History and then there are Kick-Ass, Awe-Inspiring, Culture-Changing Girl Nerds in History. Katharine Hepburn is one of the latter. And for the next several days, Turner Classic Movies will be celebrating what would have been Kate's 100th birthday on Saturday with a selection of some of her finest films.

Kate Hepburn earns one of the top spots in the Girl Nerd Pantheon for one simple reason: she never, ever cared what anyone else thought about her. Literate, cheeky, bold, talented and mightily intimidating, Hepburn acted the pants off of everyone else around her -- and then proceeded to wear those pants in an early act of feminism that was both subtle and effective. By wearing trousers when few other women would, she managed to tell the world to piss off -- and as an added bonus, never had to worry about getting a snag in her hosiery. No one could tell her what to do. Except Spencer Tracy, but seriously, who could blame her? One look from that guy and I'd have buckled too. He had that voice, that stare. Margaret Thatcher would've been bringing him his tea and slippers every afternoon.

If you aren't that familiar with Hepburn's work or are convinced that she and Cate Blanchett are the same person, then be sure to check out Turner Classic Movies tonight, tomorrow and Saturday. If you can only fit in one or two of her films, then please carve out time for Holiday and The Philadelphia Story. The latter, co-starring James Stewart and Cary Grant, showcases all the reasons why he was the perfect foil for Hepburn, even more so than Tracy. He managed to bring out her humor and elicit a softness that few other actors ever could.

Now go buy some Ben and Jerry's, dig out the comfy jammies and get ready for a quality movie-watching weekend. If you don't, Spencer Tracy will kick a puppy.