Julia Roberts, where you been girl?! For a while, you were the hottest mama in Hollywood. Your megawatt smile, great acting chops and beachy waves won us over (and also made us intensely jealous), then out of nowhere, you disappeared. Poof! You had to go get married and have babies…twins and all. We had to salvage what we can and pretend we were happy for you. But thank god you’re back. We’ve really missed you.

In honor of your return to the silver screen as Elizabeth Gilbert in the movie adaptation of the book, “Eat Pray Love” (which is, BTW, honestly the best soul-searching summer read ever), we here at CollegeCandy like to pay homage to your top 5 roles. No matter who or what you played, from a classy (relatively speaking, of course) hooker to a mastermind thief’s wife, we can’t help but love you.

1) Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman

Seriously. I don’t know a single person who doesn’t love this movie. Not only does Julia Roberts make the transformation from ugly duckling to beautiful swan, she gets to do the sexy with Richard Gere. Yes, freaken Richard Gere. He’s ancient but still hot. She was every hooker’s idol. Go Julia!

2) Tinkerbell in Hook

Deviating from her usual rom-coms, Julia took up the role of Tinkerbell in a new adaptation of the much beloved story, Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Julia was funny and witty and actually looked good in green (unlike the rest of the human race). Of course, when she sprinkled pixie dust and flashed her Hollywood smile, we all melted.

3) Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich

The role of a lifetime, Julia Roberts played Erin Brockovich, a real-life, cut-the-crap, no-nonsense single mother of three who managed to uncover a secret about a major corporation. Not only did Julia win Best Actress for her portrayal and solidified her career as a serious actress, but the dress she wore (by Valentino) to the Academy Awards is still ranked as one of the best dresses ever worn. Yowza.

4) Tess Ocean in Ocean’s 11 and Ocean’s 12

So who do you cast when you need an actress to play the wife of a mastermind thief? You cast Julia Roberts, duh. Not only was she witty and smart, Julia was the perfect foil to her street-smart George Clooney husband. I’m starting to see a trend with casting her and insanely famous and sexy men. I want to hate her, but I just can’t.

5) Anna Scott in Notting Hill

Probably one of my favorite movies starring Julia, the actress played, well, an actress, in the romantic comedy co-starring Hugh Grant. Probably because I was always insanely jealous that she got to make out and “whoopsie daisy” Hugh Grant, the whole movie was just a 2-hour feel good session that made me want to become an insanely famous actress who falls in love with a normal British man. I mean, it can still happen right?

Do you have any other favorites of Julia that you loved? Share them below!

Although I am in sad lack of it, patience is a virtue that is greatly rewarded.  If you have patience with wine, it improves.  If you wait a bit with cheese, it tastes amazing (just not too long – that could get dangerous).  Even if you are patient with people, they usually get better. Well, some people. Not my ex-boyfriend.

The last is especially true with some child celebrities.   Sure, most child stars end up passed out in a gutter surrounded by VHS tapes of their glory days, but some – especially some pretty choice boy toys – turn out just right. Let’s take a look at some of our favorite young hotties who grew up, aged like a fine bottle of Boones Farm, and suddenly got super hot.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Yeah, I watched Third Rock From the Sun and was therefore super excited to see JGL starring in that am-AZING classic, 10 Things I Hate About You.  What a cutie, right?  Well, Joey totes grew up and I love him way more than my Skechers (…’cause I don’t have a Prada backpack).

Bow Wow (formerly Lil’ Bow Wow)

To a pre-teen white girl from the Midwest, Lil’ Bow Wow was as hood as it got.  My friends and I used to throw on his CD and pretend we were cooler than we actually were.  Fast forward a decade or so and we’re still doing that…but with iTunes.  And Lil’ Bow Wow has ditched the Lil and replaced it with some serious hotnessss.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leo was the adorable kid next door (or homeless boy without a family) when he entered our lives via Growing Pains. We didn’t think he could get any hotter than his Titanic days, but it looks like someone just keeps getting better. And better. And better. Leo’s age has done wonders for him – he’s more brooding and handsome than ever. We can only imagine how smokin’ he’ll be when he hits the big 4-0.

Dante Basco

Almost the entire reason for watching Hook a thousand times over was for Rufio in his tights and cropped tank (it was Never Never Land, okay?!?).  Thank goodness Dante left the Land of Lost Boys and joined the World of the SMOKIN’ Hot Men. Seriously, who saw that coming?

Shia LeBeouf

Shia put the “geek” in “totally geeky” back in his Even Stevens days, but he was a master of the physical comedy, so I watched anyway.  Luckily, he grew into that face of his and now he’s playing the lead role in my Transformers-themed sexual fantasies. He is total hotness and has proved that it’s 100% possible to come out of an (long ass) awkward phase.

The guy was definitely nuts, but as much as I hate to say it, he did have a point.

What did you think when you saw the title of this piece? Captain Jack Sparrow? Hook? Tim Curry’s Long John Silver?

Don’t get me wrong, I love pirate movies and the whole pirate genre (so much so that I had my second tattoo done at a pirate themed parlor but that’s besides the point…). But unfortunately outside of Disneyland, the whole Yo Ho Yo Ho A Pirates Life for Me isn’t what piracy is all about.

Meet the Pirates of Somalia:

Instead of the Black Pearl, these pirates are cruising the seas in small fishing boats (known as ‘Volvos’ actually)…Gone are the cannons and cutlasses, replaced with deadlier automatic rifles and rocket propelled grenades…

On Friday, April 4th, 10 such pirates attacked the Le Ponant, a French luxury yacht in the Gulf of Aden. While no passengers were on board, 30 crewmembers are being held hostage.

This is an all too regular an occurrence in Somalia

Last month, the Danish company Svitzer Korsakov paid $700,000 in ransom for the return of its tugboat and crew of six.

In May 2007, pirates attempted to hijack a ship chartered by the UN food relief agency.

According to the BBC, in fact, within Somali coastal waters, pirates seized over 25 ships during 2007.

“Okay”, you might say, “So what? As long as I’m not taking a cruise in the Indian Ocean off Somalia why should I give a hoot?”

I’m glad you asked.

Think about Darfur; the war, the rapes, the poor economy, the horror. As my article a few weeks ago discussed, Somalia in many ways is . The country has been at war since 1991 and pirates are greatly exacerbating and perpetuating the situation.

Many international organizations that would like to donate food and medical supplies are prevented from doing so thanks to piracy. Following that incident in May 2007, aid was suspended for a time to Somalia due to the security risk.

Piracy also feeds the cycle of lawlessness—if most people aren’t following the law, it becomes financially/socially/etc. untenable to remain law-abiding even if you wanted to (i.e. giving bribes in many countries). This cycle perpetuates political dysfunction, preventing the country from attaining stability and peace.

So what can we do?

Help Somalis stop fighting. Once peace is established then the government will have a slightly better chance at fighting off the piracy.

Check out the Institute for Multi-track Diplomacy’s work on Somalia. They have some of the best credibility on the issue so if you’re interested in making a difference check them out first.

I could go on, but I think you get the gist: Robin Williams is ending his 19-year marriage to Marcia Garces Williams, the former nanny of his child with another wife, Valerie Valardi (holy baby mama drama, Batman!). REPORTS cite “irreconcilable differences.”

All I can say is: sad face.

Who cares if his volume of body hair exceeds that of any animal featured alongside him in Jumanji? Robin Williams is a wildly talented and totally hilarious mofo, with a pretty extensive acting range–he was behind the greatest story of forbidden love ever, FernGully, and then went on to win an Oscar for his role in Good Will Hunting.

So, in the wake of this devastating news, I’m going to go back in Robin Williams time and think about all the interesting movies he has done…

#5: Mrs. Doubtfire

Talk about character development! But more importantly, talk about how ADORABLE Matthew Lawrence is!! What’s he up to these days, anyway? Do you think he’s single?…Perhaps looking to mingle? Wait, where was I–Oh, right!

#4: RV

Did you even see it? Yeah, didn’t think so–then you wouldn’t know how AWESOME it actually wa–fine. I can’t do this. That movie really was awful. Can I try again?

#4: Flubber

Upgrade! It was nice to see Williams return to his science-fiction roots, which he hadn’t since his Mork and Mindy days.

#3: Jumanji

I didn’t already make the joke about him being hairy like the animals in the film, did I? I did? Crap. How about…there were…lots of…pretty…colors…?

#2: Aladdin

I think a fun drinking game would be a shot for every new voice and impression he ROCKS as the Genie. Or for every homo-erotic reference he, again, rocks as the Genie. If you like where I’m going with this, please see The Birdcage (which has received an Honorable Mention on this list, due to it oozing FIERCENESS!).

#1: Hook

Take a deep breath and just embrace it: this is the greatest movie. Of all time.

So stay strong, Robin Williams. The world loves and needs you in all of your improving, impersonating, intense-stream-of-consciousness glory.