The safety of objects

Women. They are gorgeous, certainly. But just as gorgeous can be their capacity for good. And when they bring their gorgeousness and their goodness together for one project, well, that’s when you have to sit back and admire the view. Now right now I bet you’re looking for a for instance. And boy do I ever have one. The amazing Emma Thompson has proven even more amazing by launching the new website Safe for her upcoming book by the same name. The project shows famous, and in the future unfamous, women photographed in the places they feel most safe. It is a benefit for the Helen Bamber Foundation, a UK human rights group dedicated to helping victims and survivors of human trafficking. Emma has long been an advocate for the group and spoken out against sex trafficking. All sales of the book will go toward the foundation and, as Emma writes, “will help those for whom no safe place exists.”

The pictures are pretty, but the purpose is beautiful. A sneak peek.

The preview also features Vanessa Paradis, Keira Knightley, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Uma Thurman, Julie Christie, Sharon Stone, Minnie Driver, Emily Blunt, Charlotte Rampling, Rosamund Pike, Demi Moore and the entire Richardson clan (including, touchingly, Natasha). Also included in the book will be such heavy hitters as Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Oprah, Catherine Deneuve, Gong Li, Tilda Swinton, Queen Latifah…I could go on and on (check the “see who else is invited” link in the credits). And she wants you. The site solicits submissions from us about the places we feel the safest. To make it into the book, which publishes in the spring, they must be sent by October.

Really, you should just click through the preview and experience it yourself. It is lovely, moving, brilliant. Just be sure to click all the way through past the end of the credits. There’s one last surprise that, while NSFW, is well worth the wait. Now that’s a grand finale. Like I was saying, gorgeous.

UPDATE: The site appears to be temporarily down. So be sure to check back later. (OK, I think it is back up, but if it goes down again, patience. It is worth it.)

My Weekend Crush

I always wonder why Thandie Newton isn't a bigger star. Make no mistake, she is gorgeous. The kind of gorgeous that serves as a constant reminder that movie stars are in fact an entirely different species from us mere mortals. She is so exquisite that her diaphanous features seem almost sculpted. All that and she is immensely talented to boot. Watch “Beloved.” Watch “Crash.” Fine, don't watch “Mission: Impossible II.” Sadly her talents have too often been squandered in things like that horrid fat-suit movie at rhymes with “sherbet.” Still I'm intrigued to see how she portrays Condoleezza Rice in the upcoming “W.” And I'm more intrigued by her recent interview discussion of a teenage romance with one of her closest girlfriends where she said “I think falling in love is actually more about falling in love with an individual. We’re all potentially bisexual....I could’ve easily fallen in love with a woman over a man. My husband Ol’s kind of a man-woman. Look, I once loved Tim Curry, so there you go.” Well, who wasn't in love with Tim Curry? Particularly in lingerie. Happy weekend, all.