It's officially been one of the shittiest summers in recent memory - cinematically speaking - so let's salvage what we can and examine Mila Kunis, specifically how she is the next generation's Angelina Jolie and we can therefore chart her career to learn more about the "kids these days."
The awesome thing is that Mila played "Young Gia" in 1998's Gia, which is one of Angelina's standout films, noteworthy for Angie's commitment to a risky role as well as the nudity and lesbianism. Only 23, Ms Jolie got an Emmy nomination for Gia but she'd already hit big with movie lovers (and lovers of lips) by stealing the show in the young-love, computer-crime thriller Hackers ( which easily predicted an era when renegade computer nerds would ANONYMOUSLY hack into governments, banks and big businesses to steal and peruse data.)
Mila Kunis didn't hit her naked-lesbian-movie phase until age 27 with last years Oscar-winning Black Swan. The kids these days are less rambunctious, 27 is the new 23, but our culture is pushing them into showbiz earlier- Mila started TV's That '70s Show when she was just 15. Angelina was modeling at that age but didn't start seriously in film for another two years.
Angie followed Gia by winning an Oscar ( Girl, Interrupted) then doing a bunch of flicks with great nudity and sex scenes. 2001's Original Sin saw her in various compromising positions with sex-symbol du jour Antonio Banderas - Angie was 26. Mila just completed the new version of celebrity sexy, a flick with Justin Timberlake called Friends with Benefits - she's 28.
The funny thing about Friends with Benefits (other than the supporting cast) is that while it doesn't show any real true nudity, it is chock full of Mila pulling on or off her pants and all the sex jokes are about things like cunnilingus, genital grooming and anal sex. Images are not taboo to a generation raised on easy-access Google nude pics. Actions are taboo now- "weird" sex acts and voyeuristic undressing whereas in the old days a good look at some bouncing titties or heavy thrusting would suffice. No longer; the kids have evolved.
Angie, of course, moved away from the sex (not counting Taking Lives) after she became a megastar with Lara Croft and shifted into overdrive - becoming a UN Ambassador, adopting/having kids, doing voice-over work for cartoons ( Shark Tale , Kung Fu Panda ) still getting Oscar Nominations ( The Changeling, A Mighty Heart) and marrying Brad Pitt.
Also no stranger to voice work (Meg in The Family Guy) we'll see what Mila has up her sleeve for her post-lesbo phase. You can bet her career/life path will be less full-on than Angelina (the kids are less motivated nowadays - rather than find this generation's Brad Pitt Mila had apparently been dating Macaulay Culkin). There is, however, no denying Mila's talent, beauty or drive (two cunnilingus movies in two years) so she'll do just fine, banking on her comedy chops for a few films before finding that action picture that spirals her into the big time.
Speaking of the future, there's a historical spaceman movie opening. Apollo 18 is a PG-13 horror-sci-fi about back-in-the-day American astronauts re-visiting the moon for a secret mission. And then they find giant Transformers - just kidding! Actually there were no previews (not usually a good sign but for a horror it's actually better this way) so all I know is Apollo 18 looks to be shot entirely on in-narrative security cameras and has a real Paranormal Activity vibe going. Also, even though the flick drops Friday there's already an Apollo 18 video game/puzzle that you can download and play on Facebook. Kids these days...
