Salon selectives: Highlights from hairdressing at the movies
Movie: "Shampoo" (1975)
Hair genre: Salon farce
Location: Los Angeles
Beautician: George Roundy (Warren Beatty)
Atmosphere: A Watergate-era funk
Clientele: Horny Hollywood wives and mistresses, including Julie Christie, Lee Grant, and Goldie Hawn
Lesson you'll learn: That no American has made a better sex comedy since.
Movie: "School Daze" (1988)
Hair genre: Good and bad
Location: Madame Re-Re's Beauty Salon
Rivals: Natural vs. processed
Atmosphere: Intra-racial jazziness
Clientele: Singing, dancing, and irritated black college women
Lesson you'll learn: Spike Lee should just make a full-blown musical
Movie: "Steel Magnolias" (1989)
Shop owner: Truvy (Dolly Parton)
Location: Modest Louisiana house
Beautician: Daryl Hannah
Atmosphere: Bunch of Southern ladies sittin' around talkin'
Clientele: The same four gossipy friends
Lesson you'll learn: "Time marches on and sooner or later you realize it is marchin' across your face," says Parton.
Movie: "The Big Tease" (1999)
Hair genre: Competitive stylist battle
Location: The World Freestyle Hairdressing Championship
Rivals: Craig Ferguson vs. David Rasche
Atmosphere: Queer as folk
Clientele: See above
Lesson you'll learn: "I prefer my women with a penis," says Ferguson.
Movie: "Blow Dry" (2001)
Hair genre: Competitive salon battle
Location: Small-town England
Rivals: Alan Rickman vs. Bill Nighy
Atmosphere: Warmed-over sitcom yuks
Clientele: On one occasion, sheep
Lesson you'll learn: Nothing can shame Alan Rickman. Nothing.
Movie: "Hair Show" (2004)
Hair genre: Competitive salon battle
Location: Baltimore
Rivals: Mo'Nique vs. Gina Torres
Atmosphere: Keepin' it real (real dumb)
Clientele: The same people who flew on "Soul Plane"
Lesson you'll learn: Some clients will always pick a sister who sounds like she's from Beverly Hills over one who seems ghetto-fabulous
Movie: "Beauty Shop" (2005)
Hair genre: Neighborhoody
Shop owner: Gina (Queen Latifah)
Location: Atlanta
Beauticians: Alfre Woodard, Sherri Shepherd, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Alicia Silverstone, Golden Brooks
Atmosphere: Sassy, sassy, and sassy
Clientele: Matrons, divas, and upscale Southern white women
Lesson you'll learn: "You could be black, white, ghetto past, no ghetto past. Ain't nobody using the N word up in here," says Latifah.
Movie: "The Beauty Academy of Kabul" (2004)
Hair genre: Self-improvement (inside and out)
Location: War torn Afghanistan
Beauticians: Local women learning from Americans to be top-notch stylists
Atmosphere: You go, girl!
Clientele: Anyone looking for something sleek and Western to wear under her burka
Lesson you'll learn: Don't embarrass yourself by coming to class with no makeup - unless you want the Americans to yell at you.
