Of course, yesterday I made a list of my favourite actors. Today, as promised, I am going to list my favourite actresses. So, without further ado (I don't even know what that means), here is my list of favourite women in the movies:
Honorable mentions: Kate Winslet, Carey Mulligan, Zooey Deschanel, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Williams, Meryl Streep, Chloe Moretz, Carrie-Anne Moss, Michelle Monaghan, Abbie Cornish, Ellen Page, Saoirse Ronan.
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| 10. Rachel McAdams (in Morning Glory) |
Probably not the most predictable choice, but I have been a long time fan of the lovely
Rachel McAdams. She totally owned as high school bitch-of-all-bitches Regina George in
Mean Girls, even though she was in her late 20s when she took the role. And no, she's not just my favourite actress coz she's in that really 'sweet' movie
The Notebook. As time has gone on, Rachel has been outstanding in such films as
The Time Traveller's Wife, Morning Glory, Sherlock Holmes, Red Eye, State of Play and
Wedding Crashers. By the looks of her upcoming films, she's going to hit it really big in the future.
Favourite performance: Mean Girls
Favourite film: Mean Girls
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| 9. Emma Stone (in Zombieland) |
She's still a star on the rise, but
Emma Stone has never failed to amaze me. Before her star turn in
Easy A, she was the best thing about bad movies, like
The House Bunny and
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. In 2009, she managed to star in a couple of good movies -
Paper Man and
Zombieland - and be completely astounding. But hey, it all comes down to her first lead role in
Easy A, where she makes that movie even better than it is. I can't wait to see her dramatic turn in
The Help and her with
Andrew Garfield in
The Amazing Spider-Man.
Favourite performance: Easy A
Favourite film: Zombieland
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| 8. Marion Cotillard (in Public Enemies) |
Whoever has seen
La Vie En Rose will probably agree...
Marion Cotillard is one damn good actress. I don't know how she did it, but role just fit her like a glove. Since that star turn she's been taking many supporting roles, all of which she has been scene-stealing in. She was perfect in
Public Enemies as
Johnny Depp's girlfriend. I don't even know how
Penelope Cruz got nominated for an Oscar for
Nine, Marion was no doubt the stand out in that. And in
Inception, Marion performed probably the best out of that amazing ensemble cast. Anything she does, I'll be there.
Favourite performance: La Vie En Rose
Favourite film: Inception
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| 7. Olivia Williams (in The Ghost Writer) |
Olivia Williams is quite a new entry, but ever since I saw her performance in
The Ghost Writer, I've become more and more interested in her body of work. British actresses always seem to do amazing things on screen, and none of them more so than Olivia. She seems effortlessly resigned to her work, and the fact that she is largely underrated makes me like her even more, too.
Favourite performance: The Ghost Writer
Favourite film: An Education
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| 6. Julianne Moore (in The Hours) |
Who doesn't love
Julianne Moore? She seems like such a cool person. And she's a fantastic actress. Her resume is proof of that. But how is it that she can keep starring in all these great films with great performances and not getting an Oscar for it? It's beyond me. Her appearances in the recent
A Single Man and
The Kids Are All Right should have gotten her an Oscar nomination, but sadly not so. However, I will always remember her for her beautiful performance in
The Hours.
Favourite performance: The Hours
Favourite film: A Single Man
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| 5. Anne Hathaway (in The Devil Wears Prada) |
Ever since I first saw
Brokeback Mountain, I've been in love with
Anne Hathaway, and have worked my way through her entire resume. She's had her highs and her lows (during that princess phase of hers), but since she's all grown up she's really come into her own; she's feisty, sweet and courageous. If her Oscar nominated performance in
Rachel Getting Married is anything to go by, Anne may just become one of the greater actresses of our future. Well, at least I hope she does.
Favourite performance: Rachel Getting Married
Favourite film: The Devil Wears Prada
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| 4. Cate Blanchett (in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) |
Again, who doesn't love
Cate Blanchett? Coz if you don't, you ought to leave. Now. She's so brilliant. Every movie she is in, even if it is as dull as
Robin Hood, she is amazing in. You know if you're going to watch a Cate film there is a large chance that it will be great. Many of my favourite memories of Cate come from her luminous beauty on display in
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and
The Aviator, the later getting her a much deserved Oscar. How is it that she is so great? I will never know.
Favourite performance: The Aviator
Favourite film: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
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| 3. Rebecca Hall (in The Town) |
If you've never heard of
Rebecca Hall, then shame on you. But I can understand if you haven't. She just fades into the background for most people. However, every time I see a movie with her in it, I am so impressed. She is such a great actress. Greater than people give her credit for. She did some amazing stuff in the lacklustre
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (which earned her a Golden Globe nomination),
The Prestige for
Master Nolan, and recently
The Town, where she brings a fresh take on an otherwise flat love interest.
Rebecca Hall is just awesome. And really pretty, too.
Favourite performance: The Town
Favourite film: The Prestige
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| 2. Vera Farmiga (in Up in the Air) |
Anything that says
Vera Farmiga and I'm in. She's such a chill person. And such a marvellous actress. Sure, she's had her highs and lows, but her resume shows diversity and a particular love towards those indie films. I'm a sucker for them. She's probably best known for her Oscar nominated turn in
Up in the Air, and that's fair enough. She's absolutely amazing in that. Hell, she was even good in
Orphan, which was hated by everyone else but me (hey, don't judge, I thought it was clever). I can't wait to see her directorial debut in
Higher Ground. I hope she can direct as well as she can act.
Favourite performance: Up in the Air
Favourite film: The Departed
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| 1. Amy Adams (in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) |
Amy Adams must be the sweetest person alive. Every time I see her all I can picture are unicorns dancing over rainbows made out of marshmallows...in short, she makes me really happy. Not to mention she's been nominated for an Oscar three times. And she could have gotten a fourth nomination for playing a princess in a Disney movie. I kid you not, her performance in
Enchanted is one of the best I have ever seen. In fact, any performance of hers is great. I personally think she was better than
Melissa Leo in
The Fighter. And at least she wouldn't have said a naughty word in her acceptance speech.
Favourite performance: Enchanted
Favour
ite film: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Righty-ho...next week I'm gonna go all old-school on you and reveal my ten favourite actors and actresses from the classics. Any objections to this list?
oooh...this is very hard. I left out people yesterday. Okay I love your list. Here's mine:
ReplyDelete1)Kate Winslet
2)Meryl Streep
3)Cate Blanchett
4)Amy Adams
5)Julianne Moore
6)Diane Keaton
7)Julia Roberts (fr the old stuff)
8)Annette Bening
9)Anne Hathaway
10)Audrey Tautou/ Carey Mulligan
The weird thing is, it takes a lot for me to be blown away by any actors. The only person, (male or female), that has swept me up in their glory is Tahar Rahim, and that is a once-in-a-full-moon performance right there.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do love Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling more so thanks to Blue Valentine, (which I can honestly say without it sounding dickish, no one loves as much as me). It has quickly become an obsession of mine and I urge you to hurry up and see it now!!! Or whenever you can. But soon.
I do have a soft spot for Thora Birch and Michelle Gellar (but only in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, since the girl has been offered really shitty films - and has always been the best part about them).
Apart from that, I've never been someone who loves any actors, really. I can appreciate great performances, sure, but I've never had any favourites.
Though, I can say, hand on heart, that James Dean is fucking amazing. Same goes for Marlon Brando.
Looking forward to reading your old-school actors/actresses list!
My modern actresses list includes:
ReplyDeleteMeryl Streep
Julianne Moore
Cate Blanchett
Frances McDormand
Laura Linney
Gwyneth Paltrow
Faye Dunaway
Jane Fonda
Susan Sarandon
Nicole Kidman
Marisa Tomei
Nice to see a shoutout for Olivia Williams. I haven't seen her in much, but she's almost always the best performer in everything I've seen her in.
ReplyDeleteNice list! You might hate me for saying this, but I'm not too crazy about Emma Stone or Rachel McAdams...
ReplyDeleteWell, here's my own list (in no particular order):
Marion Cotillard
Helena Bonham Carter
Kate Winslet
Jennifer Connelly
Michelle Williams
Saoirse Ronan
Angelina Jolie
Anne Hathaway
Penelope Cruz
Julianne Moore
Nice list! Love Rachel McAdams, she is so versatile, a technically precise actress who always manages to ground her characters emotionally. She is still looking for that "Junebug" breakout role but she will get there eventually.
ReplyDeleteEmma Stone is a really good comedian as shown in Easy A. She was really charming in that movie. Not sure if she has any dramatic chops but Hollywood always has a place for a gifted comedian.
Amy Adams is awesome! Really happy to see her at the top of the game after so many years of going through the trenches. Remember how no one would give her much of an opportunity before she did Junebug and now she is a three-time Oscar-nominated actress.
Nice list[: And I liked your mention of Ghost Writer. That is one of my favorites from 2010. Also, I liked the style of the list, with the actress' name and ranking in the picture's caption. I may try that on my next list. Thirdly, I think Natalie Portman will be one of the greats, in time of course.
ReplyDelete*Olivia Williams High Five*
ReplyDeleteNikhat - That is one great list. I like your picks a lot.
ReplyDeleteCherokee - Tahar Rahim is a good looking young fellow.
Uh, well...Blue Valentine. Age restrictions restrict me. But I've waited for it so long that I might...no, I shouldn't go there. Should I? I really want to see it!
James Dean and Marlon Brando were amazing. So was Paul Newman. I should start thinking about this list...it's been a while since my classic film obsession.
Anna - Laura Linney and Marisa Tomei are brilliant! Fantastic list.
James - Exactly what I thought. Her performance in The Ghost Writer was probably one of the best I had seen last year.
Rachel - No hate! You're entitiled to your opinion. I like your list a lot. I think I should have put Saoirse Ronan in the actual list. Once I see her in Hanna, I probably will.
Castor - Thank you! I agree with you about those three. Emma Stone did show some dramatic chops in Paper Man, and she was surprisingly good. But I like her better as a comedienne.
Jordan - Thanks! The Ghost Writer is superb. I tried something different with this list, and I think it looks a lot better than what I was previously doing. I'm sure Natalie Portman will be one of the greats. This list was so hard to put together. I feel really guilty for leaving her out!
Simon - Olivia Williams seems to be really popular around here! Woohoo!
Jeez, thanks for all the comments, guys! Really appreciate it.
My list as follows:
ReplyDelete1) Meryl Streep
2) Cate Blanchett
3) Amy Adams (was pleasantly surprised when saw her on the #1 spot in your list)
4) Kate Winslet
5) Nicole Kidman
6) Julianne Moore
7) Angelina Jolie
8) Anne Hathaway
And as usually, I can't complete the list :)
Bite the bullet man! If it's still out in a cinema near you, just try and sneak in or something. Take someone older, or a parent, as that's usually a good getaway without anyone asking your age.
ReplyDeleteThe online versions are really shitty, too pixel'e. I looked at them briefly, not because I wanted to put myself through the pain again, and if I did, I would have gone to see it in the cinema again, which hardly every happens these days, but someone else wanted to watch it, and all the online shit is bad.
Like most, and probably to an extent shitty films, it's all worth paying for.
Unfortunately, I look my age, so I can't even pass for seeing 18s :/ (in the future, I will thank youth for resting on my face while everyone runs around with wrinkles >D)
You should get back into your classic film obsession! Since I am not too great on having seen classics, it'd be good if your reviews could point me into directions of certain films as there aren't too many blogs that deal with classic films either, which is a shame.
Speaking of Brando, I came to the conclusion yesterday, which was funnily enough his birthday too, that his face has been carved by the angels themselves, and that he is the best looking person to have ever walked this planet.
Yes, as you can see, I am obviously in love with Brando. Time to compete with every other man and woman on the planet.
Lesya - I like your list! Ha, you're the opposite to me...I had too many!
ReplyDeleteCherokee - Ha, well, it's not really in a cinema near me. Well, it is playing at the fancy cinema that costs like $30 per person so I ain't going there. And I think they were only playing it for a week. I think I might just wait until it comes out on DVD. I don't even know what age I look like. But at a cinema I went to while I was on holiday they tried to charge me adult prices even though I'm a child. When I'm older, I'll be thankful for my youth too ;)
I might just go through my DVD collection again. It's been such a long time since I've seen all those classics, and I don't even remember most of them. I love Marlon Brando, ever since I saw A Streetcar Named Desire. That was one hot performance there ;)
Oh man $30 is a lot. That's like about £16, £15 here. The worst ticket price I have paid so far is £12.50 to see Blue Valentine, Peeping Tom and Norwegian Wood. They were all worth it though, especially seeing them in the cinema I did, (the Curzon). Even to an extent Norwegian Wood was worth it.
ReplyDeleteI am terrible with guessing peoples ages. I never get it right, ever. I usually think they're way younger than they are, or way older. I was going to say that's why I'll never be a [insert job here] but I couldn't think of a job where I'd need to know peoples ages. Maybe working in a DVD shop or cinema or something where you'd ID people, but I don't think I'd do that just because I genuinely think that films aren't THAT affective on your life when it comes to 'I MUST GO AND KILL THINGS AFTER I SAW [film]', unless you're crazy.
You should go through your dvd collection! I bet it's like a labyrinth or something hahah. I have so much crap to watch and still I go and buy/rent more films. I really should stop doing that, actually.
In the great scheme of things, it would be a CRIME to not love Brando, (well onscreen Brando, dunno 'bout real-life Brando.)
Also, a side note here, congrats on your rising followers!
The cinema prices here are ridiculous. But I got given 10 free passes to a certain chain of cinemas for Christmas, so that does save a little bit of money. I'd never go to the fancy cinema though. It looks too comfortable, and there's only like 12 seats in each cinema. And there isn't any popcorn. I like my cinema popcorn when I go to the movies (i.e hardly ever)
ReplyDeleteIt's good working at a DVD store because most of the underage people who try and sneak movies go to my school so I know how old they actually are. If I worked anywhere else though, I'd definitely have problems. I don't even get the rating system, anyway. I mean, sure, I wouldn't want anyone under 12 watching a movie filled with violence and sex and stuff, but I've been watching those kinds of movies since I was around 12 and it hasn't affected me. I think there should just be a caution or something, instead of a huge restriction. But I don't have to worry about that for much longer...
Ha, I'm like you. I still have DVDs that I bought a year ago and I still haven't watched, but I've probably watched like 200 movies since then. I still can't be bothered watching them, either ;)
I know right! Brando was the man! Definitely one of the greatest actors that ever lived.
And thanks! I'm really happy about that!