One-hit wonders

Despite their Academy Award wins some actors just go off the radar. Here are some we remember:

Cuba Gooding Jr.

Glory days: His performance as an egotistical, adrenaline-pumped football star in Jerry Maguire (1996) upstaged lead Tom Cruise and earned him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Fall from grace: Here is what he's turned in post-Oscar: Instinct, Chill Factor, Rat Race, Boat Trip, Snow Dogs, The Fighting Temptations, Norbit, Daddy Day Camp. We don't know what to say…

What he's doing now: He just doesn't give up. Good thing too as we liked him in American Gangster. The upcoming Linewatch (in which Cuba plays a straight-and-narrow border patrol agent who must contend with his gangster past) looks promising.

Recovery: Swearing off kiddie flicks is a good start. But don't follow Linewatch with three more war movies or you'll stick yourself in a rut. Not a single A-list actor could hold a successful war movie in 2007 and that is not likely to change any time soon.

Mira Sorvino

Glory days: Playing a helium-pitched voice in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995).

Fall from grace: Playing a ditz in Aphrodite and then again in Beautiful Girls, Wise Girls and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. The fact that she went to Harvard and speaks Mandarin Chinese fluently makes us wonder why all these typecast dummy roles?

What she's doing now: She married a much younger waiter and had a child. And she has two films in the bag — Karma, a comedy about a guy who dies and comes back as a bunch of animals, and Leningrad, a WWII love story — still to be released.

Recovery: Truth is, we can't really help her. It may seem near impossible to leave those chick buddy roles she likes so much and they're bound to fade sooner than later.

Marisa Tomei

Glory days: Playing a whiny 'New Yawker' opposite Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny.

Fall from grace: We'll give Marisa a pass for doing a great job in 2001's In the Bedroom. But that powerful indie didn't come till nine years after Vinny. Then she went right back to playing more "supportive girl" roles in Alfie, Loverboy and Wild Hogs.

What she's doing now: She smartly paired with fellow Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman in 2007's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, and next up she's got a thriller with Ray Liotta.

Recovery: Keep teaming with Hollywood's hottest actors.

Anna Paquin

Glory days: Playing the girl with spine opposite Holly Hunter in 1993's The Piano.

Fall from grace: Her bit with Cameron Crowe in Almost Famous was interesting and it was a smart move on her part to cash in on the X-Men franchise.

What she's doing now: In the thriller Margaret, she plays a nervous crime witness who helps solve the case. She is also appearing in the Halloween spoof Trick 'r Treat?

Recovery: Two career paths are open to her. Keep up the mindless teen comedies, or make like Natalie Portman and choose quality roles that demand the use of your talent. Take an indie role or two and smart thrillers are always guaranteed. We'll be waiting for your call next Oscar season.

— Source: www.moviesgo.com

Review: Cloverfield
Director: Matt Reeves
Cast: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller

From the entrepreneurial mind of producer JJ Abrams (TV hits Lost and Alias) is a buzz of virtual reality to the tune of The Blair Witch Project, being sold to the YouTube generation in the style of Godzilla in Manhattan.

With no time to contemplate the narrative, we are thrown right into the film as five New York friends celebrate Rob's (Michael Stahl —David) new job in Japan, thrown in his brother Jason's (Mike Vogel) apartment.

Moments after Rob's best friend Hud (T. J. Miller) begins to film the gathering tribute, the apartment building is rocked by what feels like an earthquake. But what kind of earthquake throws out fireballs at skyscrapers?

And so the race begins as the friends hit the panicking, exploding streets of New York.

This is a novelty that won't wear thin with a horror-loving pack of teenagers because the thrill is certainly there!

Despite their Academy Award wins some actors just go off the radar. Here are some we remember: