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Michelle Pfeiffer

Comeback vehicle: “Hairspray” (July), “Stardust” (August)

When we saw her last: For most of her career Pfeiffer kept up a busy work schedule, filming at least a movie a year since the late ‘70s (Jobina in “CHiPs” and Athena in “Fantasy Island” ring any bells?). But the last time we saw her on the big screen, she was starring as murder mom Ingrid Magnussen in 2002’s “White Oleander.”

Are we glad she’s back: Oh, yeah. While her performances as Velma von Tussle (“Hairspray”) and the evil witch Lamia (“Stardust”) were more solid than scene-stealing, nobody illuminates a red carpet like Pfeiffer. On the verge of 50 (she hits the half-century mark in April), she looks better than ever, and her back-to-back turns as evil wenches reminded us of just how great she was in George Miller’s “The Witches of Eastwick.”

Comeback rating: 8

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FOR THE RECORD: A previous version of this caption misidentified Michelle Pfeiffer’s “White Oleander” character as frigid foster mom Ingrid Magnussen. Pfeiffer played Ingrid Magnussen, the birth mother of protagonist Astrid.

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  (Chris Jackson / Getty Images)