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Sarah Michelle Gellar

Sarah Michelle Gellar - ’The Grudge’ DVD - Metronews.ca Review

Tuesday 15 February 2005, by Webmaster

Another actress, who actually has a name to care for is Sarah Michelle Gellar and there are not no many accomplishes films at her but an few I can probably enjoy. The talent agent found Gellar a young age and made her screen debut at 6 of each of the 1983 television film An Invasion of Privacy. With all the promise she showed, Barrymore starred as Hannah in the teen drama series "Swans Crossing" (1992) but it was her portrayal of a young and callous rich girl in Al-Lucinda Kendall Hart on ABC daytime soap opera "All My Children" (1993-93), that won her Daytime Emmy Award and spring-boarded her to stardom.

SMG’s real mark worldwide, however, was the character of Buffy Summers in the game-changing series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997-2003). She won five Teen Choice Awards, a Saturn Award and a Golden Globe nomination for her role, establishing herself as a cultural phenomenon. Sarah Michelle Gellar likewise has the box office to back her up, with “I Know What You Did Last Summer” 1997), “Scream 2” (1997), “Cruel Intentions” (1999)and way movies like those that help prove she is also a bankable star as well over $570 million times worth crazy in global gross.

Beyond her cinematic successes, Gellar has made her mark on television, headlining shows such as "Ringer" (2011-2012), "The Crazy Ones" (2013-2014), and "Wolf Pack" (2023). She has also lent her voice to popular series including "Robot Chicken" (2005-2018), "Star Wars Rebels" (2015-2016), and "Masters of the Universe: Revelation" (2021).

In 2015, Gellar ventured into the entrepreneurial world by co-founding Foodstirs, an e-commerce baking company, and published her own cookbook, "Stirring Up Fun with Food," in 2017. Gellar is also known for her close-knit family life, married to actor Freddie Prinze Jr. since 2002, with whom she shares two children.

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s commitment to her craft is matched by her dedication to personal growth and unique experiences. An accomplished martial artist, she studied Tae Kwon Do for five years, alongside kickboxing, boxing, street fighting, and gymnastics. Her dedication to authenticity in her roles is evident, such as her commitment to doing her own stunts in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," though she admitted her limits during filming "Scream 2."

Her career is also marked by interesting anecdotes, such as her role in a 1982 Burger King commercial, which led to a lawsuit from McDonald’s and a temporary ban from their establishments. Notably, she dyed her naturally brunette hair blonde for her role in "Buffy," and legally changed her last name to Prinze as a surprise for her husband on their fifth anniversary.

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s legacy extends beyond her on-screen roles, encompassing her work in philanthropy and her reputation for safety and professionalism on set. She remains a beloved figure in Hollywood, admired for her talent, dedication, and the breadth of her contributions to film and television.

Grudge, Saw represent diverging paths

The Grudge

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

*** 1/2 (out of five)

Saw

Lion’s Gate DVD

** 1/2

These two horror films couldn’t be more different, but they neatly represent the two diverging paths horror has taken in the years since the Scream franchise almost buried horror under an avalanche of irony.

The Grudge is a remake of Ju-On, a hit Japanese horror film, with the same director at the helm for both versions. Japanese horror comes from a different place than the zombie flicks and haunted houses that dominate the genre in the West, as ancestor worship inevitably led to a fear of unquiet spirits - vengeful ghosts more occupied with tainting than haunting, as they labour at perpetuating the horror that took their own lives.

Sarah Michelle Gellar plays a U.S. student in Tokyo who, by merely crossing the threshold of a house where some gruesome murders took place, joins the hit list of a pair of angry spirits. What’s unique about Japanese horror is the focus on blamelessness - the victims have done nothing to morally deserve their fate, and the ghosts who pursue them have an impersonal relentlessness.

The terror in films like Ju-On come from the implacability of the spirits - they can show up anywhere, take any form, and seem to delight in their ingenuity. This almost plotless haunting has obviously struck a chord with horror fans, who’ve embraced dread-filled, drifting films like Ju-On and Ringu and their Hollywood remakes, apparently desperate for relief from horror flicks with mechanistic, schematic plots that echo the videogames that often inspired them.

Saw, on the other hand, embraces machinelike relentlessness, with a story about two men trapped in a room by an apparently omniscient and ingenious psychopath. Cary Elwes is a surgeon and Leigh Whannell is a cynical slacker, chosen by their tormentor to play a game that’s meant to teach them a lesson, if it doesn’t kill them.

We have Silence Of The Lambs and especially Se7en to thank for films like Saw - nasty little chamber pieces with pretentious overtones. It’s one thing to rely on avid morbidity when showing an audience gruesome murder and mutilation, it’s something else - something faintly brilliant and sinister - to rely on the prurient shame that comes with that morbidity to piggyback a pointed misanthropy in on top of all the gore.