So a random post on IMDb asked to rank these actresses:
Jennifer Connelly
Nicole Kidman
Naomi Watts
Kate Winslet
Rachel Weisz
Reese Witherspoon
Winona Ryder
Halle Berry
Uma Thurman
Cate Blanchett
Toni Collette
Samantha Morton
Jodie Foster
Julianne Moore
Hilary Swank
Emily Watson
Audrey Tautou
Juliette Binoche
Helena Bonham Carter
(whew)
And well, who am I to say no?:
1. Kate Winslet (one of the best actresses ever. I cannot control my fangirly glee.)
2. Nicole Kidman (makes missteps but I still love her. Hard to ignore that run from like 01-04.)
3. Jodie Foster (despite 2 Oscars, still ridiculously underrated)
4. Julianne Moore (though not God as some will say, and makes missteps, but still brilliant)
5. Toni Collette (just brilliant; doesn't get the work she should because she's not beautiful)
6. Emily Watson (hasn't done enough for my liking but is often earth-shatteringly good, and never any less than great)
7. Samantha Morton (incredibly underrated. Check out Morvern Callar, please.)
8. Cate Blanchett (uncle! She's great, if too cold)
9. Reese Witherspoon (often does work that is below her but comedic genius. Quite good at drama too)
10. Uma Thurman (only Quentin knows what the fuck to do with her, basically, but when he's got her...watch out)
11. Juliette Binoche (Always quite good, never really earth-shattering)
12. Hilary Swank (not brilliant except in Boys Don't Cry but fuck the haters. Far from awful either.)
13. Rachel Weisz (she's good in crap like The Mummy and The Shape of Things, and her performance in The Constant Gardener is stunning, to say the least, but she does spend too much of her time in said crap.)
14. Naomi Watts (love her in Mulholland, Huckabees, and Veil, thought she was okay but far from brilliant/great in The Ring and We Don't Live..., despise her in everything else)
15. Jennifer Connelly (I'm still mad at her for that Oscar win in '01 when all the other nominees were ludicrously better... but hers in Requiem for a Dream is one of the finest performances ever. That said, other than that and House of Sand and Fog she is bland [I still need to see Dark Water; I've heard great things])
16. Halle Berry (undeserving of the bashing she constantly gets [I don't understand how she's that bad in the X-Men movies except for that one line about the toad in the original, but I doubt Daniel Day-Lewis could sell that dialogue], but still not terribly great in anything)
17. Helena Bonham Carter (her screen presence tends to irk me...but I guess that's what happens when you're married/engaged/whatevered to Tim Burton)
18. Winona Ryder (never much more than bland and my viewing of Heathers last night did nothing to endear her to me)
19. Audrey Tautou (ugh, useless, Amelie blows)
