the films of the 2000s from Paul Proulx on Vimeo.
See, this is still kind of a movie blog!!!!
(I love that the default image you see before playing this movie is Lost in Translation. Yaaayyy)
Showing posts with label 2000s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2000s. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
this rules
See, this is still kind of a movie blog!!!!
(I love that the default image you see before playing this movie is Lost in Translation. Yaaayyy)
Sunday, December 27, 2009
since this is (supposedly) a movie blog
Not that Moviefone is great, but here's an interesting list.
TOP TEN SUPPORTING ACTOR PERFORMANCES
10. Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
I thought he was hilarious. He didn't deserve the Oscar exactly, but he was basically the only reason to watch that movie after the first hour or so.
9. John Travolta, Hairspray
GOD NO. He was really awful. And terrifying.
8. Rip Torn, Dodgeball
Heh, I love this movie, and he's hilarious, but there are a number of other, better choices for this spot.
7. Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
I'm not so sure I would put him this high but sure. He was terrific.
6. Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
There was something about this performance I wasn't crazy about, if I'm remembering correctly. But again, it's not a bad choice.
5. Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Hell yes. This movie is what, two years old?, and this performance already became iconic.
4. Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast
Again, hell yes. I'm glad people are acknowledging this performance, as it's absolutely terrific but in a small movie that not many people saw from the beginning of the decade.
3. Thomas Haden Church, Sideways
Yup. The acting was really superlative in this movie.
2. Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
I'm not sure I'd put him this high, but he was great. Again, another movie with really awesome acting.
1. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Yup yup yup. Even if not for his tragic death, this would still be one of the best performances ever, really. He was so damn good.
TOP TEN SUPPORTING ACTRESS PERFORMANCES
10. Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Oh hey I thought everyone hated this performance now? I loved it. That girl can act with her voice like no other. Does that make sense? Eh.
9. Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
I'm not sure I'd put her so high, but I really liked her. It's also funny to see her on The Office after this.
8. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago
YES. I LOVE HER HERE. She'd probably be in my top five supporting actress performances this decade. It was just a balls-out performance. Uh, figuratively speaking, of course.
7. Leslie Mann, Knocked Up
I've come full circle on this movie because now, I totally love it, and I love her in it. There's one line that she delivers that is PRICELESS but I can't think of it now. Grrrr.
6. Mo'Nique, Precious
Haven't seen it.
5. Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Y'all know I think she's crazy overrated but I liked her a lot in this movie.
4. Sophie Okenedo, Hotel Rwanda
I liked her a lot in this movie, but she's way too high here. She wasn't that great, though she was very good.
3. Adriana Barraza, Babel
Yay. She was terrific and Rinko Kikuchi sucked. Hey, remember when Babel was gonna make these two BREAKOUT STARS? And then they were never heard from again? Awesome
2. Frances McDormand, Almost Famous
???? She should not be this high. She was good and all, but I don't even remember her in it.
1. Catherine O'Hara, For Your Consideration
??!?!?!?!? Yeah, she was hilarious, but this is a no for #1. And GOD this movie was so, so bad. Christopher Guest, I am severely disappointed.
TOP TEN LEAD ACTRESS PERFORMANCES
10. Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
She was insanely good in this, yup.
9. Ellen Page, Juno
I'm not sure if she'd be in my top ten, but she really was awesome. I don't think this was an easy role to pull off without coming off as ridiculous, but she did it. She was the heart and soul of this movie and the main reason why it ultimately succeeded.
8. Sienna Miller, Interview
Oh God I love you for including her here. SO GREAT and nobody saw it.
7. Nicole Kidman, Dogville
Ditto.
6. Penelope Cruz, Volver
This performance is really overrated. Good, not great.
5. Charlize Theron, Monster
I'm not sure I would have her SO high on this list, but she was excellent.
4. Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Abso-friggin'-lutely.
3. Samantha Morton, Minority Report
I love this guy for including Samantha Morton in anything, but this was a supporting role. And she was even better in Morvern Callar the same year as this movie.
2. Julie Christie, Away from Her
I'm not sure she should be this high but at least it's not Marion Cotillard.
1. Diane Lane, Unfaithful
She's way too high, but this performance was just awesome.
TOP TEN LEAD ACTOR PERFORMANCES
10. Denzel Washington, Training Day
He was so awesome in this, and totally against character. He's really the only reason to watch this movie.
9. Jim Carrey, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
I wouldn't put him this high but I fully approve any support of ESotSM, woot.
8. Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
I don't even remember if I saw Gran Torino or not. It didn't look very good. And heh, if I did see it, I obviously don't remember it.
7. Sean Penn, Mystic River
He was awesome, but he was in no way better than Bill Murray that year. Who does not appear on this list. Boooooo
6. Benicio del Toro, Things We Lost in the Fire
Didn't see it, but I appreciate that whoever did this list is going for some more obscure performances that were really good (Miller, Kidman).
5. Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Yes. So so so good.
4. Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean
Sigh. No.
3. Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Remember that naked wrestling scene? That was awesome. So was he (though I liked him better in A History of Violence).
2. Forest Whitaker, Last King of Scotland
He was awesome here. #2 of the decade, I dunno, but he was just so great.
1. George Clooney, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
#1? Uhhh that'd be a no. But I love the Cloons.
I may do my own list of these, keeping in mind that I feel like I haven't seen bupkiss from the past two years.
TOP TEN SUPPORTING ACTOR PERFORMANCES
10. Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
I thought he was hilarious. He didn't deserve the Oscar exactly, but he was basically the only reason to watch that movie after the first hour or so.
9. John Travolta, Hairspray
GOD NO. He was really awful. And terrifying.
8. Rip Torn, Dodgeball
Heh, I love this movie, and he's hilarious, but there are a number of other, better choices for this spot.
7. Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
I'm not so sure I would put him this high but sure. He was terrific.
6. Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
There was something about this performance I wasn't crazy about, if I'm remembering correctly. But again, it's not a bad choice.
5. Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Hell yes. This movie is what, two years old?, and this performance already became iconic.
4. Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast
Again, hell yes. I'm glad people are acknowledging this performance, as it's absolutely terrific but in a small movie that not many people saw from the beginning of the decade.
3. Thomas Haden Church, Sideways
Yup. The acting was really superlative in this movie.
2. Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
I'm not sure I'd put him this high, but he was great. Again, another movie with really awesome acting.
1. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Yup yup yup. Even if not for his tragic death, this would still be one of the best performances ever, really. He was so damn good.
TOP TEN SUPPORTING ACTRESS PERFORMANCES
10. Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Oh hey I thought everyone hated this performance now? I loved it. That girl can act with her voice like no other. Does that make sense? Eh.
9. Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
I'm not sure I'd put her so high, but I really liked her. It's also funny to see her on The Office after this.
8. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago
YES. I LOVE HER HERE. She'd probably be in my top five supporting actress performances this decade. It was just a balls-out performance. Uh, figuratively speaking, of course.
7. Leslie Mann, Knocked Up
I've come full circle on this movie because now, I totally love it, and I love her in it. There's one line that she delivers that is PRICELESS but I can't think of it now. Grrrr.
6. Mo'Nique, Precious
Haven't seen it.
5. Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Y'all know I think she's crazy overrated but I liked her a lot in this movie.
4. Sophie Okenedo, Hotel Rwanda
I liked her a lot in this movie, but she's way too high here. She wasn't that great, though she was very good.
3. Adriana Barraza, Babel
Yay. She was terrific and Rinko Kikuchi sucked. Hey, remember when Babel was gonna make these two BREAKOUT STARS? And then they were never heard from again? Awesome
2. Frances McDormand, Almost Famous
???? She should not be this high. She was good and all, but I don't even remember her in it.
1. Catherine O'Hara, For Your Consideration
??!?!?!?!? Yeah, she was hilarious, but this is a no for #1. And GOD this movie was so, so bad. Christopher Guest, I am severely disappointed.
TOP TEN LEAD ACTRESS PERFORMANCES
10. Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
She was insanely good in this, yup.
9. Ellen Page, Juno
I'm not sure if she'd be in my top ten, but she really was awesome. I don't think this was an easy role to pull off without coming off as ridiculous, but she did it. She was the heart and soul of this movie and the main reason why it ultimately succeeded.
8. Sienna Miller, Interview
Oh God I love you for including her here. SO GREAT and nobody saw it.
7. Nicole Kidman, Dogville
Ditto.
6. Penelope Cruz, Volver
This performance is really overrated. Good, not great.
5. Charlize Theron, Monster
I'm not sure I would have her SO high on this list, but she was excellent.
4. Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Abso-friggin'-lutely.
3. Samantha Morton, Minority Report
I love this guy for including Samantha Morton in anything, but this was a supporting role. And she was even better in Morvern Callar the same year as this movie.
2. Julie Christie, Away from Her
I'm not sure she should be this high but at least it's not Marion Cotillard.
1. Diane Lane, Unfaithful
She's way too high, but this performance was just awesome.
TOP TEN LEAD ACTOR PERFORMANCES
10. Denzel Washington, Training Day
He was so awesome in this, and totally against character. He's really the only reason to watch this movie.
9. Jim Carrey, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
I wouldn't put him this high but I fully approve any support of ESotSM, woot.
8. Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
I don't even remember if I saw Gran Torino or not. It didn't look very good. And heh, if I did see it, I obviously don't remember it.
7. Sean Penn, Mystic River
He was awesome, but he was in no way better than Bill Murray that year. Who does not appear on this list. Boooooo
6. Benicio del Toro, Things We Lost in the Fire
Didn't see it, but I appreciate that whoever did this list is going for some more obscure performances that were really good (Miller, Kidman).
5. Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Yes. So so so good.
4. Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean
Sigh. No.
3. Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Remember that naked wrestling scene? That was awesome. So was he (though I liked him better in A History of Violence).
2. Forest Whitaker, Last King of Scotland
He was awesome here. #2 of the decade, I dunno, but he was just so great.
1. George Clooney, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
#1? Uhhh that'd be a no. But I love the Cloons.
I may do my own list of these, keeping in mind that I feel like I haven't seen bupkiss from the past two years.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Remember when I used to do random movie posts?
Yeah! So I'm gonna do that again. Here are the most overrated and underrated movies since 2000.
OVERRATED
2000: Almost Famous
2001: Ghost World
2002: The Hours
2003: Pirates of the Caribbean: Whatever
2004: Finding Neverland
2005: Brokeback Mountain
2006: Babel
2007: Once
2008: Rachel Getting Married (of what I've seen so far)
UNDERRATED
2000: George Washington
2001: Lantana
2002: Morvern Callar
2003: Love Actually
2004: Kinsey
2005: Jarhead
2006: Scoop
2007: Lust, Caution
2008: Iron Man (again, of what I've seen)
OVERRATED
2000: Almost Famous
2001: Ghost World
2002: The Hours
2003: Pirates of the Caribbean: Whatever
2004: Finding Neverland
2005: Brokeback Mountain
2006: Babel
2007: Once
2008: Rachel Getting Married (of what I've seen so far)
UNDERRATED
2000: George Washington
2001: Lantana
2002: Morvern Callar
2003: Love Actually
2004: Kinsey
2005: Jarhead
2006: Scoop
2007: Lust, Caution
2008: Iron Man (again, of what I've seen)
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
And, why not. Best Actress 1990-2007.
Of course, subject to change.
1990
Kathy Bates - Misery
Anjelica Houston - The Grifters
* Helen Mirren - The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover *
Meryl Streep - Postcards from the Edge
Joanne Woodward - Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
1991
Juliette Binoche - Lovers on the Bridge
Geena Davis - Thelma & Louise
* Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs *
Susan Sarandon - Thelma & Louise
Reese Witherspoon - Man on the Moon
1992
Catherine Deneuve - Indochine
* Sheryl Lee - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me *
Gong Li - Raise the Red Lantern
Kyra Sedgwick - Singles
Emma Thompson - Howards End
1993
Angela Bassett - What's Love Got to Do with It
Juliette Binoche - Three Colors: Blue
* Holly Hunter - The Piano *
Diane Keaton - Manhattan Murder Mystery
Emma Thompson - The Remains of the Day
1994
Isabelle Adjani - La reine Margot
* Linda Fiorentino - The Last Seduction *
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Gong Li - To Live
Kate Winslet - Heavenly Creatures
1995
Toni Collette - Muriel's Wedding
Nicole Kidman - To Die For
Julianne Moore - Safe
***** ELISABETH SHUE - LEAVING LAS VEGAS *****
Meryl Streep - The Bridges of Madison County
1996
Brenda Blethyn - Secrets and Lies
Laura Dern - Citizen Ruth
Gwyneth Paltrow - Emma
* Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves *
Reese Witherspoon - Freeway
I cheat and have McDormand in Supporting...
1997
Julie Christie - Afterglow
Judi Dench - Mrs. Brown
* Jodie Foster - Contact *
Pam Grier - Jackie Brown
Victoire Thivisol - Ponette
I'm the biggest Kate Winslet fangirl ever, but anyone that says she was robbed this year is pretty insane.
1998
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth
Samantha Morton - Under the Skin
Gwyneth Paltrow - Shakespeare in Love
* Christina Ricci - Buffalo '66 *
Emily Watson - Hilary and Jackie
If TV movies count, boot Blanchett and the win goes to Angelina Jolie, amazing in Gia.
1999
Julianne Moore - The End of the Affair
Cecilia Roth - All About My Mother
* Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry *
Kate Winslet - Holy Smoke!
Reese Witherspoon - Election
2000
Cate Blanchett - The Gift
Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream
* Laura Linney - You Can Count on Me *
Renee Zellweger - Nurse Betty
Ziyi Zhang - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2001
Maggie Cheung - In the Mood for Love
Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge! (and The Others)
Charlotte Rampling - Under the Sand
* Naomi Watts - Mulholland Dr. *
Renee Zellweger - Bridget Jones' Diary
If TV nominees are allowed, I'd boot Cheung and Rampling for Emma Thompson in Wit and Judy Davis in Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.
2002
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Secretary
Isabelle Huppert - The Piano Teacher
Diane Lane - Unfaithful
Julianne Moore - Far from Heaven
* Samantha Morton - Morvern Callar *
If TV movies were allowed, I'd boot Huppert for Uma Thurman in Hysterical Blindness. Or maybe not. But she'd be a close sixth, since the year falls off fast after those six.
2003
Zooey Deschanel - All the Real Girls
* Scarlett Johansson - Lost in Translation *
Charlize Theron - Monster
Uma Thurman - Kill Bill, Vol. 1
Evan Rachel Wood - thirteen
This skews young, blonde, and pretty, doesn't it? Hmmm.
2004
Nicole Kidman - Dogville (and Birth)
Laura Linney - P.S...
Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake
Uma Thurman - Kill Bill, Vol. 2
* Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind *
2005
Q'Orianka Kilcher - The New World
Yeong-ae Lee - Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Gwyneth Paltrow - Proof
Sarah Polley - The Secret Life of Words
* Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener *
2006
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Laura Dern - Inland Empire
Kirsten Dunst - Marie-Antoinette
* Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada *
Naomi Watts - The Painted Veil
2007
* Amy Adams - Enchanted *
Nicole Kidman - Margot at the Wedding
Laura Linney - The Savages
Sienna Miller - Interview
Tang Wei - Lust, Caution
Pardon me, I am in post-Oscar-but-pre-good-movie-hype mode. I tend to post a lot of things like this then look back in like two years and say "WHAT WAS I THINKING???!!!"
1990
Kathy Bates - Misery
Anjelica Houston - The Grifters
* Helen Mirren - The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover *
Meryl Streep - Postcards from the Edge
Joanne Woodward - Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
1991
Juliette Binoche - Lovers on the Bridge
Geena Davis - Thelma & Louise
* Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs *
Susan Sarandon - Thelma & Louise
Reese Witherspoon - Man on the Moon
1992
Catherine Deneuve - Indochine
* Sheryl Lee - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me *
Gong Li - Raise the Red Lantern
Kyra Sedgwick - Singles
Emma Thompson - Howards End
1993
Angela Bassett - What's Love Got to Do with It
Juliette Binoche - Three Colors: Blue
* Holly Hunter - The Piano *
Diane Keaton - Manhattan Murder Mystery
Emma Thompson - The Remains of the Day
1994
Isabelle Adjani - La reine Margot
* Linda Fiorentino - The Last Seduction *
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Gong Li - To Live
Kate Winslet - Heavenly Creatures
1995
Toni Collette - Muriel's Wedding
Nicole Kidman - To Die For
Julianne Moore - Safe
***** ELISABETH SHUE - LEAVING LAS VEGAS *****
Meryl Streep - The Bridges of Madison County
1996
Brenda Blethyn - Secrets and Lies
Laura Dern - Citizen Ruth
Gwyneth Paltrow - Emma
* Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves *
Reese Witherspoon - Freeway
I cheat and have McDormand in Supporting...
1997
Julie Christie - Afterglow
Judi Dench - Mrs. Brown
* Jodie Foster - Contact *
Pam Grier - Jackie Brown
Victoire Thivisol - Ponette
I'm the biggest Kate Winslet fangirl ever, but anyone that says she was robbed this year is pretty insane.
1998
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth
Samantha Morton - Under the Skin
Gwyneth Paltrow - Shakespeare in Love
* Christina Ricci - Buffalo '66 *
Emily Watson - Hilary and Jackie
If TV movies count, boot Blanchett and the win goes to Angelina Jolie, amazing in Gia.
1999
Julianne Moore - The End of the Affair
Cecilia Roth - All About My Mother
* Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry *
Kate Winslet - Holy Smoke!
Reese Witherspoon - Election
2000
Cate Blanchett - The Gift
Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream
* Laura Linney - You Can Count on Me *
Renee Zellweger - Nurse Betty
Ziyi Zhang - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2001
Maggie Cheung - In the Mood for Love
Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge! (and The Others)
Charlotte Rampling - Under the Sand
* Naomi Watts - Mulholland Dr. *
Renee Zellweger - Bridget Jones' Diary
If TV nominees are allowed, I'd boot Cheung and Rampling for Emma Thompson in Wit and Judy Davis in Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.
2002
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Secretary
Isabelle Huppert - The Piano Teacher
Diane Lane - Unfaithful
Julianne Moore - Far from Heaven
* Samantha Morton - Morvern Callar *
If TV movies were allowed, I'd boot Huppert for Uma Thurman in Hysterical Blindness. Or maybe not. But she'd be a close sixth, since the year falls off fast after those six.
2003
Zooey Deschanel - All the Real Girls
* Scarlett Johansson - Lost in Translation *
Charlize Theron - Monster
Uma Thurman - Kill Bill, Vol. 1
Evan Rachel Wood - thirteen
This skews young, blonde, and pretty, doesn't it? Hmmm.
2004
Nicole Kidman - Dogville (and Birth)
Laura Linney - P.S...
Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake
Uma Thurman - Kill Bill, Vol. 2
* Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind *
2005
Q'Orianka Kilcher - The New World
Yeong-ae Lee - Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Gwyneth Paltrow - Proof
Sarah Polley - The Secret Life of Words
* Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener *
2006
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Laura Dern - Inland Empire
Kirsten Dunst - Marie-Antoinette
* Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada *
Naomi Watts - The Painted Veil
2007
* Amy Adams - Enchanted *
Nicole Kidman - Margot at the Wedding
Laura Linney - The Savages
Sienna Miller - Interview
Tang Wei - Lust, Caution
Pardon me, I am in post-Oscar-but-pre-good-movie-hype mode. I tend to post a lot of things like this then look back in like two years and say "WHAT WAS I THINKING???!!!"
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Best Actor since 1990.
There's probably a lot of awesome 90s stuff that I haven't seen.
1990
Gerard Depardieu - Cyrano de Bergerac
Danny Glover - To Sleep With Danger
* Jeremy Irons - Reversal of Fortune *
Ray Liotta - Goodfellas
Tim Robbins - Jacob's Ladder
1991
Robert De Niro - Cape Fear
Viggo Mortensen - The Indian Runner
Bill Murray - What About Bob?
* River Phoenix - My Own Private Idaho *
Alan Rickman - Truly Madly Deeply
Anthony Hopkins is supporting in my world.
1992
Robert Downey Jr. - Chaplin
Harvey Keitel - Bad Lieutenant
Stephen Rea - The Crying Game
Tim Robbins - The Player
* Denzel Washington - Malcolm X *
1993
Daniel Day-Lewis - In the Name of the Father
Anthony Hopkins - The Remains of the Day
Bill Murray - Groundhog Day
* Liam Neeson - Schindler's List *
David Thewlis - Naked
1994
Johnny Depp - Ed Wood
Morgan Freeman - The Shawshank Redemption
Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump
* Paul Newman - Nobody's Fool *
Tim Robbins - The Shawshank Redemption
Johnny Depp is so good in Ed Wood that I recently booted Travolta off my lineup for him. That's right. I booted off John Travolta - in, you know, Pulp Fiction - for Johnny Depp. That's how awesome he is in that movie.
1995
* Nicolas Cage - Leaving Las Vegas *
Robert De Niro - Heat
Ian McKellen - Richard III
Al Pacino - Heat
Sean Penn - Dead Man Walking
1996
Ralph Fiennes - The English Patient
Philip Baker Hall - Hard Eight
William H. Macy - Fargo
Liam Neeson - Michael Collins
* Jeffrey Wright - Basquiat *
1997
Russell Crowe - L.A. Confidential
Aaron Eckhart - In the Company of Men
* Ian Holm - The Sweet Hereafter *
Clive Owen - Bent
Mark Wahlberg - Boogie Nights
1998
Javier Bardem - Live Flesh
Jeff Bridges - The Big Lebowski
George Clooney - Out of Sight
* Ian McKellen - Gods and Monsters *
Edward Norton - American History X
1999
Russell Crowe - The Insider
Matt Damon - The Talented Mr. Ripley
Richard Farnsworth - The Straight Story
Haley Joel Osment - The Sixth Sense
* Kevin Spacey - American Beauty *
2000
* Christian Bale - American Psycho *
Russell Crowe - Gladiator
Billy Crudup - Jesus' Son
Tom Hanks - Cast Away
Clive Owen - Croupier
2001
Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind
Ewan McGregor - Moulin Rouge!
Haley Joel Osment - AI: Artificial Intelligence
Denzel Washington - Training Day
* Tom Wilkinson - In the Bedroom *
2002
Nicolas Cage - Adaptation.
Daniel Day-Lewis - Gangs of New York
* Jack Nicholson - About Schmidt *
Edward Norton - 25th Hour
Campbell Scott - Roger Dodger
2003
Hayden Christensen - Shattered Glass
Jude Law - Cold Mountain
* Bill Murray - Lost in Translation *
Sean Penn - Mystic River
Kevin Spacey - The Life of David Gale
2004
Kevin Bacon - The Woodsman
Jeff Bridges - The Door in the Floor
Don Cheadle - Hotel Rwanda
Paul Giamatti - Sideways
* Clive Owen - Closer *
If TV movies were allowed, Geoffrey Rush in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and Alan Rickman and Mos Def in Something the Lord Made would be in here in place of Bacon, Bridges, and Cheadle.
2005
Ralph Fiennes - The Constant Gardener
Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain
* Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain *
Viggo Mortensen - A History of Violence
David Strathairn - Good Night, and Good Luck.
2006
Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat
Matt Damon & Leonardo DiCaprio - The Departed
* Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson *
Hugh Jackman - The Fountain
Forest Whitaker - Last King of Scotland
Don't ask me to separate Damon and DiCaprio.........
2007
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Christian Bale - Rescue Dawn
* Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood *
Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
1990
Gerard Depardieu - Cyrano de Bergerac
Danny Glover - To Sleep With Danger
* Jeremy Irons - Reversal of Fortune *
Ray Liotta - Goodfellas
Tim Robbins - Jacob's Ladder
1991
Robert De Niro - Cape Fear
Viggo Mortensen - The Indian Runner
Bill Murray - What About Bob?
* River Phoenix - My Own Private Idaho *
Alan Rickman - Truly Madly Deeply
Anthony Hopkins is supporting in my world.
1992
Robert Downey Jr. - Chaplin
Harvey Keitel - Bad Lieutenant
Stephen Rea - The Crying Game
Tim Robbins - The Player
* Denzel Washington - Malcolm X *
1993
Daniel Day-Lewis - In the Name of the Father
Anthony Hopkins - The Remains of the Day
Bill Murray - Groundhog Day
* Liam Neeson - Schindler's List *
David Thewlis - Naked
1994
Johnny Depp - Ed Wood
Morgan Freeman - The Shawshank Redemption
Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump
* Paul Newman - Nobody's Fool *
Tim Robbins - The Shawshank Redemption
Johnny Depp is so good in Ed Wood that I recently booted Travolta off my lineup for him. That's right. I booted off John Travolta - in, you know, Pulp Fiction - for Johnny Depp. That's how awesome he is in that movie.
1995
* Nicolas Cage - Leaving Las Vegas *
Robert De Niro - Heat
Ian McKellen - Richard III
Al Pacino - Heat
Sean Penn - Dead Man Walking
1996
Ralph Fiennes - The English Patient
Philip Baker Hall - Hard Eight
William H. Macy - Fargo
Liam Neeson - Michael Collins
* Jeffrey Wright - Basquiat *
1997
Russell Crowe - L.A. Confidential
Aaron Eckhart - In the Company of Men
* Ian Holm - The Sweet Hereafter *
Clive Owen - Bent
Mark Wahlberg - Boogie Nights
1998
Javier Bardem - Live Flesh
Jeff Bridges - The Big Lebowski
George Clooney - Out of Sight
* Ian McKellen - Gods and Monsters *
Edward Norton - American History X
1999
Russell Crowe - The Insider
Matt Damon - The Talented Mr. Ripley
Richard Farnsworth - The Straight Story
Haley Joel Osment - The Sixth Sense
* Kevin Spacey - American Beauty *
2000
* Christian Bale - American Psycho *
Russell Crowe - Gladiator
Billy Crudup - Jesus' Son
Tom Hanks - Cast Away
Clive Owen - Croupier
2001
Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind
Ewan McGregor - Moulin Rouge!
Haley Joel Osment - AI: Artificial Intelligence
Denzel Washington - Training Day
* Tom Wilkinson - In the Bedroom *
2002
Nicolas Cage - Adaptation.
Daniel Day-Lewis - Gangs of New York
* Jack Nicholson - About Schmidt *
Edward Norton - 25th Hour
Campbell Scott - Roger Dodger
2003
Hayden Christensen - Shattered Glass
Jude Law - Cold Mountain
* Bill Murray - Lost in Translation *
Sean Penn - Mystic River
Kevin Spacey - The Life of David Gale
2004
Kevin Bacon - The Woodsman
Jeff Bridges - The Door in the Floor
Don Cheadle - Hotel Rwanda
Paul Giamatti - Sideways
* Clive Owen - Closer *
If TV movies were allowed, Geoffrey Rush in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and Alan Rickman and Mos Def in Something the Lord Made would be in here in place of Bacon, Bridges, and Cheadle.
2005
Ralph Fiennes - The Constant Gardener
Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain
* Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain *
Viggo Mortensen - A History of Violence
David Strathairn - Good Night, and Good Luck.
2006
Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat
Matt Damon & Leonardo DiCaprio - The Departed
* Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson *
Hugh Jackman - The Fountain
Forest Whitaker - Last King of Scotland
Don't ask me to separate Damon and DiCaprio.........
2007
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Christian Bale - Rescue Dawn
* Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood *
Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
Thursday, March 27, 2008
So, yeah.
To avoid writing my paper, in the midst of verrrry little sleep, I came up with my "official" list of the top 50 performances of the 2000s. It is very far from perfect. There were performances it just killed me to leave off, of course, and there were performances that are wayyyy too low, but... overall it's pretty satisfying. I might post it eventually. The top two should be obvious if you read this regularly (one of you has to exist out there right?), but I think the rest of it might be interesting. Or I might just leave it at this and torture you forever ;)
Friday, March 21, 2008
The Top 15 Most Overrated Performances of the 2000s.
Taking into consideration that "overrated" is overrated. ;) I tried not to rank them in order of how good they were, but rather in order of how overrated they were. Also, yes, I kept it to one Cate Blanchett and one Johnny Depp performance each. ;)
15. Salma Hayek - Frida
I just read in, I think, Glamour magazine, where they were talking about Frida, and they said, of course, "Salma becomes Frida." GOD, I AM SO TIRED OF THIS. Makeup makes a lot of these biopic performances what they are. Salma seems all "oh my God I am in a prestige picture and I need to ACT!!!" throughout the whole movie, and thus loses all the joy and vitality she could possibly have. Not totally overrated because she almost never wins in 2002 due to the combination of The Hours ladies and Julianne Moore. But even a nomination is very very undeserved.
14. Leonardo DiCaprio - The Aviator
Not at all a bad performance. In fact, it's pretty good. But when I hear people calling this the greatest male performance of the new millennium, or even of all time, I do cringe a little. The performance doesn't seem to have a lot of sublety, though Leo has absolutely explosive screen presence and is absolutely natural. Like I said, it's good, it's just drastically overrated. He didn't deserve his nomination... but then again, very few of his fellow nominees did (2004 was such a terrific year for movies, and such a terrible year for the Oscars...).
13. Sean Penn - I Am Sam
Awful. Just awful. Hammy and horrendous and without a note of sublety. He doesn't even look interested to be there. This would be higher, but there are definitely those that agree with me.
12. Adrien Brody - The Pianist
I'm a really big lover of sublety and naturalism, as has probably become clear from this entry where I say "sublety" about 204860486 times. But Adrien was just too subtle. He was boring, and is one of few actors I would say just can't hold a movie in lead. I'm a huge sap and cry over everything (Crash or a movie that can be better-compared to this one, Schindler's List, pretty much destroyed me the first time I saw it), but I hardly cared about this guy.
11. Joan Allen - The Upside of Anger
Should probably be higher on this list. Wow, she was terrible. Like, Razzie-worthy. I thought she was just a horrible shrieking harpy that could not possibly be mistaken for any actual living human being. I didn't find her funny. Her attempts at being sexy are just laughable and bring her performance down even more (and no, I'm not being one of those "OMG WOMEN OVER 40 SHOULD NOT BE PLAYING SEXY" people. She was just laughable at it. Honestly, Helen Mirren was sexier in The Queen. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But still.). I hated every minute of this movie and her performance and I don't understand why people liked it.
10. Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada
I know, frequent readers of this blog (if there are any of you........) are probably shocked! shocked! that she is not #1. But there are performances that are way worse that are way more praised, so I'm not going to overstate my case. Emily was fine. However, she was in no way award-worthy or even close to award-worthy. She was pretty funny, which is nothing a million other actors and actresses haven't done in the past, and she stole scenes from Anne Hathaway, which is really not hard. Her character was badly written and I think she made more of it than was on the page, but I never felt sympathy for her, like I did with Meryl Streep's. Most importantly, I never felt like she was an actual human being, unlike, again, Meryl Streep. She was just a quip machine.
9. Rinko Kikuchi - Babel
I really hate to oversimplify performances like this, but: she showed her vagina a lot and made weird faces. She didn't ever express her pain to me. She has one brilliant second in the club where she sees the guy she likes kissing another girl and her face just falls, but it's literally a second. The rest of her performance is terrible and desperate for attention.
8. Felicity Huffman - Transamerica
Another "wow, terrible, how could anyone like this?" performance. SO HAMMY AND UNREAL AND ACTING!!!!!!. I can't stand Desperate Housewives, but from the little of it I saw, Felicity was just great there. I still find her likeable, but I don't know why she's so terrible in movies. I'm so thrilled Reese got that Oscar!
7. Julianne Moore - The Hours
All the ladies in The Hours are fairly overrated. None of them even deserved a nomination (except for, oddly enough, Toni Collette), and it's nowhere near the best work of any of their careers. But seeing as Julianne Moore was the worst of the three by far, I included her here. It's not a horrible performance; she definitely makes you feel something. But that's probably just her role and all the crying and menstruation (;) I like The Hours, I do) it involves. Moore is always stylized, sometimes a little too much for me. This is one of those times. Her performance just seems like a bunch of weepy scenes with little connective tissue.
6. Joaquin Phoenix - Gladiator
Bad. Hammy. Prancy. Yuck.
5. Naomi Watts - 21 Grams
This is partially her awful movie's fault. By fucking with the time so much, it eliminated any possibility of a real "thread" going through her performance. So...it comes off as a lot of screaming and howling and histrionics, which I despise. It's like she took that breakdown part in Mulholland Dr. and just acted that the whole movie, and it is way too much. Terrible, terrible, terrible. But at least some people agree with me.
4. Cate Blanchett - The Aviator
From the first time I saw this film, I've never seen what anyone else saw in her. I didn't think she was magical or that she lit up the screen at all. What I saw was a well-accented but emotionally dead and somehow creepy performance. Worst of all, I can always, always see the wheels turning when I watch Cate here, something you never saw with Katharine Hepburn. I think that is the biggest insult to Kate of all.
3. Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean
I'm pretty surprised this isn't #1 myself. But yeah, what can I say, I am running out of steam. I didn't think he was funny, and I didn't think he created any sort of real character. We don't know who Captain Jack is, despite all the hoopla about him. And that's a real crime, and it's purely Johnny's fault. Awful. With stuff like Ed Wood, it's pretty gross that this is what finally got him attention.
2. Marion Cotillard - La vie en rose
My hatred for this film and performance is still so fresh in my mind. She's in the Naomi Watts camp - any way her performance could have been good was destroyed by the filmmakers, making it look like all she does is scream and howl and overemote. She's way worse than Naomi, though. Marion creates a thing of nightmares and does an incredible disservice to Edith Piaf by not playing her, but by creating an empty shell of hysterics and makeup. Just terrible.
1. Jennifer Connelly - A Beautiful Mind
Jennifer Connelly's performance in Requiem for a Dream is the second best performance of the 2000s. Until 2007, it was THE best. Unfortunately, her performance in A Beautiful Mind is one of the worst. Period. She's got my Razzie for it. She literally does nothing. She doesn't play it quiet and bring emotion and sublety and make you feel for her, but I don't really think sublety is Connelly's thing. That's fine. She's not terrifically subtle in Requiem for a Dream and that performance is fucking amazing. And yet, here, she doesn't go over-the-top, yet explode with fire and passion and light up the screen. She just looks bored the entire running time, like she knew she was going to get an Oscar for playing the supportive girlfriend/wife in a prestige movie made to appeal directly to AMPAS. Actors that are natural get a ton of credit for me, and actors that look like they'd rather be doing anything else get major shit points from me. This, my friend, is where shit points might as well originate. Yuck. 7 years later, I'm still complaining about her Oscar win over 4 great performances.
Also overrated (not in any particular order other than the one I remember them in): Bjork - Dancer in the Dark (duh. I just thought of this. I don't feel like writing up a new writeup, but suffice it to say she would be really high.), Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal (would be on the list if not for the "one Cate Blanchett performance" rule), Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd, Helena Bonham Carter - Sweeney Todd, Audrey Tautou - Amelie, Amy Adams - Junebug (sorry, Jesus), Kate Hudson - Almost Famous, Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age (a lot of critics loved her), Patricia Clarkson - Dogville, Patricia Clarkson - Far from Heaven, Patricia Clarkson - Pieces of April (Clarkson is soooo notttt the "supporting actress godsend" that most portray her as. She's usually good, but not award-worthy.), Ryan Gosling - Lars and the Real Girl, James McAvoy - Last King of Scotland, Annette Bening - Being Julia (this would be on the list, except nobody online seems to like her here thank God), Judi Dench - Iris (people saying she was better than Julie at the whole Alzheimer's thing makes me crack the shit up), Diane Keaton - Something's Gotta Give, Jim Broadbent - Iris, Matt Dillon - Crash, Thomas Haden Church - Sideways, Jackie Earle Haley - Little Children, Natalie Portman - Closer, Shohreh Aghdashloo - House of Sand and Fog, Thora Birch - Ghost World, Gael Garcia Bernal - kind of everything, Ed Harris - The Hours, Adam Sandler - Punch-Drunk Love, Naomi Watts - King Kong, Ziyi Zhang - Memoirs of a Geisha (this one's not so loved on the internet, though, thank God), Eva Green - The Dreamers, Ellen Page - Hard Candy
Yeah, they're great to spectacular, but calm down people: Nicole Kidman - The Hours, Meryl Streep - The Hours, Julianne Moore - Far from Heaven, Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake, Helen Mirren - The Queen, Isabelle Huppert - The Piano Teacher, Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line, Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote, Penelope Cruz - Volver, Gael Garcia Bernal - Bad Education, Kate Winslet - Little Children (not so much now, but when it came out people were FLIPPING OUT!!!!), Ziyi Zhang - 2046, Mark Wahlberg - The Departed, Jack Nicholson - The Departed, Saoirse Ronan - Atonement, Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton (the way the blogosphere talks about it, you'd think God got an Oscar), Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Maggie Gyllenhaal - Sherrybaby, Cate Blanchett - Heaven, Parker Posey - Best in Show, Jake Gyllenhaal - Donnie Darko, Daniel Day-Lewis - Gangs of New York, Bruno Ganz - Downfall
And just to get the warm fuzzies out there, here are tons of sadly underrated performances (I don't nominate nearly all of them, and if they all got a ton of attention a bunch of them would probably be pretty overrated, but most of these get almost no attention, which is sad as they are great): Clive Owen - Croupier, Forest Whitaker - Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, Cate Blanchett - The Gift, Jeffrey Wright - Shaft, Philip Seymour Hoffman - Almost Famous, Jack Black - High Fidelity, Gary Lewis - Billy Elliot, Samantha Morton - Jesus' Son, Kirsten Dunst - The Virgin Suicides, Goya Toledo - Amores perros, Anthony LaPaglia - Lantana, William H. Macy - Panic, Ray Winstone - Sexy Beast, Brian Cox - L.I.E., Will Ferrell - Zoolander, Kerry Armstrong - Lantana, Uma Thurman - Tape, Tom Cruise - Minority Report, Sam Rockwell - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Greg Kinnear - Auto Focus, Samantha Morton - Morvern Callar, Jodie Foster - Panic Room, Catherine Keener - Lovely and Amazing, Maura Tierney - Scotland, PA, Philip Seymour Hoffman - Punch-Drunk Love, Ray Liotta - Narc, Brian Cox - 25th Hour, Edie Falco - Sunshine State, Emily Mortimer - Lovely and Amazing, Bebe Neuwirth - Tadpole, Kathleen McDermott - Morvern Callar, Hayden Christensen - Shattered Glass (never have I seen a great performance so dismissed by the "he can't act!" belief), Kevin Spacey - The Life of David Gale, Chiwetel Ejiofor - Dirty Pretty Things, Robert Downey Jr. - The Singing Detective, Paul Giamatti - American Splendor, Jack Black - School of Rock, Peter Dinklage - The Station Agent, Patty Considine - In America, Zooey Deschanel - All the Real Girls, Sarah Polley - My Life Without Me, Renee Zellweger - Down with Love, Hugh Grant - Love Actually, Laura Linney - The Life of David Gale, Laura Linney - Love Actually, Sean Penn - The Assassination of Richard Nixon, Tobey Maguire - Spider-Man 2, Will Ferrell - Anchorman, Tom Hanks - The Terminal, Laura Linney - P.S..., Abbie Cornish - Somersault, Jennifer Garner - 13 Going on 30, Lindsay Lohan - Mean Girls, Kim Basinger - The Door in the Floor, Reese Witherspoon - Vanity Fair, Laura Dern - We Don't Live Here Anymore, Steve Carell - Anchorman, Liev Schreiber - The Manchurian Candidate, Topher Grace - In Good Company, Kyra Sedgwick - The Woodsman, Lacey Chabert - Mean Girls, Amanda Seyfried - Mean Girls, Marion Cotillard - A Very Long Engagement, Sandra Oh - Sideways, Tony Leung - 2046, Yeong-ae Lee - Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Embeth Davidtz - Junebug, Lisa Kudrow - Happy Endings, Joan Allen - Yes, Nathalie Press - My Summer of Love, Vince Vaughn - Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Jeffrey Wright - Broken Flowers, Paul Rudd - The 40-Year-Old Virgin, George Clooney - Good Night, and Good Luck., Edward Norton - Kingdom of Heaven, Liam Neeson - Breakfast on Pluto, Maggie Gyllenhaal - Happy Endings, Isla Fisher - Wedding Crashers, Emily Mortimer - Match Point, Patricia Clarkson - The Dying Gaul, Heath Ledger - Candy, Edward Norton - The Painted Veil, William H. Macy - Edmond, Joe Cross - Running with Scissors, Cate Blanchett - The Good German, Melinda Page Hamilton - Sleeping Dogs Lie, Scarlett Johansson - Scoop, Doug Jones - Pan's Labyrinth, Paul Giamatti - The Illusionist, Ian McKellen - The Da Vinci Code, Kevin Spacey - Superman Returns, Woody Allen - Scoop, Jodie Foster - Inside Man, Jessica Biel - The Illusionist, Edie Falco - Freedomland, Jill Clayburgh - Running with Scissors, Blythe Danner - The Last Kiss, Don Cheadle - Talk to Me, Steve Buscemi - Interview, Gabriel Bryne - Jindabyne, Russell Crowe - American Gangster, Michael Shannon - Bug, Sienna Miller - Interview, Belen Rueda - The Orphanage, Dakota Blue Richards - The Golden Compass, Dylan Freasier - There Will Be Blood, Morgan Freeman - Gone Baby Gone, Kerry Washington - I Think I Love My Wife, Martha MacIssac - Superbad. WHEWWWWWWW.
Of course, I am sure there are many I am forgetting. Ah, bitching. You are wonderful.
15. Salma Hayek - Frida
I just read in, I think, Glamour magazine, where they were talking about Frida, and they said, of course, "Salma becomes Frida." GOD, I AM SO TIRED OF THIS. Makeup makes a lot of these biopic performances what they are. Salma seems all "oh my God I am in a prestige picture and I need to ACT!!!" throughout the whole movie, and thus loses all the joy and vitality she could possibly have. Not totally overrated because she almost never wins in 2002 due to the combination of The Hours ladies and Julianne Moore. But even a nomination is very very undeserved.
14. Leonardo DiCaprio - The Aviator
Not at all a bad performance. In fact, it's pretty good. But when I hear people calling this the greatest male performance of the new millennium, or even of all time, I do cringe a little. The performance doesn't seem to have a lot of sublety, though Leo has absolutely explosive screen presence and is absolutely natural. Like I said, it's good, it's just drastically overrated. He didn't deserve his nomination... but then again, very few of his fellow nominees did (2004 was such a terrific year for movies, and such a terrible year for the Oscars...).
13. Sean Penn - I Am Sam
Awful. Just awful. Hammy and horrendous and without a note of sublety. He doesn't even look interested to be there. This would be higher, but there are definitely those that agree with me.
12. Adrien Brody - The Pianist
I'm a really big lover of sublety and naturalism, as has probably become clear from this entry where I say "sublety" about 204860486 times. But Adrien was just too subtle. He was boring, and is one of few actors I would say just can't hold a movie in lead. I'm a huge sap and cry over everything (Crash or a movie that can be better-compared to this one, Schindler's List, pretty much destroyed me the first time I saw it), but I hardly cared about this guy.
11. Joan Allen - The Upside of Anger
Should probably be higher on this list. Wow, she was terrible. Like, Razzie-worthy. I thought she was just a horrible shrieking harpy that could not possibly be mistaken for any actual living human being. I didn't find her funny. Her attempts at being sexy are just laughable and bring her performance down even more (and no, I'm not being one of those "OMG WOMEN OVER 40 SHOULD NOT BE PLAYING SEXY" people. She was just laughable at it. Honestly, Helen Mirren was sexier in The Queen. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But still.). I hated every minute of this movie and her performance and I don't understand why people liked it.
10. Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada
I know, frequent readers of this blog (if there are any of you........) are probably shocked! shocked! that she is not #1. But there are performances that are way worse that are way more praised, so I'm not going to overstate my case. Emily was fine. However, she was in no way award-worthy or even close to award-worthy. She was pretty funny, which is nothing a million other actors and actresses haven't done in the past, and she stole scenes from Anne Hathaway, which is really not hard. Her character was badly written and I think she made more of it than was on the page, but I never felt sympathy for her, like I did with Meryl Streep's. Most importantly, I never felt like she was an actual human being, unlike, again, Meryl Streep. She was just a quip machine.
9. Rinko Kikuchi - Babel
I really hate to oversimplify performances like this, but: she showed her vagina a lot and made weird faces. She didn't ever express her pain to me. She has one brilliant second in the club where she sees the guy she likes kissing another girl and her face just falls, but it's literally a second. The rest of her performance is terrible and desperate for attention.
8. Felicity Huffman - Transamerica
Another "wow, terrible, how could anyone like this?" performance. SO HAMMY AND UNREAL AND ACTING!!!!!!. I can't stand Desperate Housewives, but from the little of it I saw, Felicity was just great there. I still find her likeable, but I don't know why she's so terrible in movies. I'm so thrilled Reese got that Oscar!
7. Julianne Moore - The Hours
All the ladies in The Hours are fairly overrated. None of them even deserved a nomination (except for, oddly enough, Toni Collette), and it's nowhere near the best work of any of their careers. But seeing as Julianne Moore was the worst of the three by far, I included her here. It's not a horrible performance; she definitely makes you feel something. But that's probably just her role and all the crying and menstruation (;) I like The Hours, I do) it involves. Moore is always stylized, sometimes a little too much for me. This is one of those times. Her performance just seems like a bunch of weepy scenes with little connective tissue.
6. Joaquin Phoenix - Gladiator
Bad. Hammy. Prancy. Yuck.
5. Naomi Watts - 21 Grams
This is partially her awful movie's fault. By fucking with the time so much, it eliminated any possibility of a real "thread" going through her performance. So...it comes off as a lot of screaming and howling and histrionics, which I despise. It's like she took that breakdown part in Mulholland Dr. and just acted that the whole movie, and it is way too much. Terrible, terrible, terrible. But at least some people agree with me.
4. Cate Blanchett - The Aviator
From the first time I saw this film, I've never seen what anyone else saw in her. I didn't think she was magical or that she lit up the screen at all. What I saw was a well-accented but emotionally dead and somehow creepy performance. Worst of all, I can always, always see the wheels turning when I watch Cate here, something you never saw with Katharine Hepburn. I think that is the biggest insult to Kate of all.
3. Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean
I'm pretty surprised this isn't #1 myself. But yeah, what can I say, I am running out of steam. I didn't think he was funny, and I didn't think he created any sort of real character. We don't know who Captain Jack is, despite all the hoopla about him. And that's a real crime, and it's purely Johnny's fault. Awful. With stuff like Ed Wood, it's pretty gross that this is what finally got him attention.
2. Marion Cotillard - La vie en rose
My hatred for this film and performance is still so fresh in my mind. She's in the Naomi Watts camp - any way her performance could have been good was destroyed by the filmmakers, making it look like all she does is scream and howl and overemote. She's way worse than Naomi, though. Marion creates a thing of nightmares and does an incredible disservice to Edith Piaf by not playing her, but by creating an empty shell of hysterics and makeup. Just terrible.
1. Jennifer Connelly - A Beautiful Mind
Jennifer Connelly's performance in Requiem for a Dream is the second best performance of the 2000s. Until 2007, it was THE best. Unfortunately, her performance in A Beautiful Mind is one of the worst. Period. She's got my Razzie for it. She literally does nothing. She doesn't play it quiet and bring emotion and sublety and make you feel for her, but I don't really think sublety is Connelly's thing. That's fine. She's not terrifically subtle in Requiem for a Dream and that performance is fucking amazing. And yet, here, she doesn't go over-the-top, yet explode with fire and passion and light up the screen. She just looks bored the entire running time, like she knew she was going to get an Oscar for playing the supportive girlfriend/wife in a prestige movie made to appeal directly to AMPAS. Actors that are natural get a ton of credit for me, and actors that look like they'd rather be doing anything else get major shit points from me. This, my friend, is where shit points might as well originate. Yuck. 7 years later, I'm still complaining about her Oscar win over 4 great performances.
Also overrated (not in any particular order other than the one I remember them in): Bjork - Dancer in the Dark (duh. I just thought of this. I don't feel like writing up a new writeup, but suffice it to say she would be really high.), Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal (would be on the list if not for the "one Cate Blanchett performance" rule), Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd, Helena Bonham Carter - Sweeney Todd, Audrey Tautou - Amelie, Amy Adams - Junebug (sorry, Jesus), Kate Hudson - Almost Famous, Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age (a lot of critics loved her), Patricia Clarkson - Dogville, Patricia Clarkson - Far from Heaven, Patricia Clarkson - Pieces of April (Clarkson is soooo notttt the "supporting actress godsend" that most portray her as. She's usually good, but not award-worthy.), Ryan Gosling - Lars and the Real Girl, James McAvoy - Last King of Scotland, Annette Bening - Being Julia (this would be on the list, except nobody online seems to like her here thank God), Judi Dench - Iris (people saying she was better than Julie at the whole Alzheimer's thing makes me crack the shit up), Diane Keaton - Something's Gotta Give, Jim Broadbent - Iris, Matt Dillon - Crash, Thomas Haden Church - Sideways, Jackie Earle Haley - Little Children, Natalie Portman - Closer, Shohreh Aghdashloo - House of Sand and Fog, Thora Birch - Ghost World, Gael Garcia Bernal - kind of everything, Ed Harris - The Hours, Adam Sandler - Punch-Drunk Love, Naomi Watts - King Kong, Ziyi Zhang - Memoirs of a Geisha (this one's not so loved on the internet, though, thank God), Eva Green - The Dreamers, Ellen Page - Hard Candy
Yeah, they're great to spectacular, but calm down people: Nicole Kidman - The Hours, Meryl Streep - The Hours, Julianne Moore - Far from Heaven, Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake, Helen Mirren - The Queen, Isabelle Huppert - The Piano Teacher, Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line, Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote, Penelope Cruz - Volver, Gael Garcia Bernal - Bad Education, Kate Winslet - Little Children (not so much now, but when it came out people were FLIPPING OUT!!!!), Ziyi Zhang - 2046, Mark Wahlberg - The Departed, Jack Nicholson - The Departed, Saoirse Ronan - Atonement, Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton (the way the blogosphere talks about it, you'd think God got an Oscar), Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Maggie Gyllenhaal - Sherrybaby, Cate Blanchett - Heaven, Parker Posey - Best in Show, Jake Gyllenhaal - Donnie Darko, Daniel Day-Lewis - Gangs of New York, Bruno Ganz - Downfall
And just to get the warm fuzzies out there, here are tons of sadly underrated performances (I don't nominate nearly all of them, and if they all got a ton of attention a bunch of them would probably be pretty overrated, but most of these get almost no attention, which is sad as they are great): Clive Owen - Croupier, Forest Whitaker - Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, Cate Blanchett - The Gift, Jeffrey Wright - Shaft, Philip Seymour Hoffman - Almost Famous, Jack Black - High Fidelity, Gary Lewis - Billy Elliot, Samantha Morton - Jesus' Son, Kirsten Dunst - The Virgin Suicides, Goya Toledo - Amores perros, Anthony LaPaglia - Lantana, William H. Macy - Panic, Ray Winstone - Sexy Beast, Brian Cox - L.I.E., Will Ferrell - Zoolander, Kerry Armstrong - Lantana, Uma Thurman - Tape, Tom Cruise - Minority Report, Sam Rockwell - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Greg Kinnear - Auto Focus, Samantha Morton - Morvern Callar, Jodie Foster - Panic Room, Catherine Keener - Lovely and Amazing, Maura Tierney - Scotland, PA, Philip Seymour Hoffman - Punch-Drunk Love, Ray Liotta - Narc, Brian Cox - 25th Hour, Edie Falco - Sunshine State, Emily Mortimer - Lovely and Amazing, Bebe Neuwirth - Tadpole, Kathleen McDermott - Morvern Callar, Hayden Christensen - Shattered Glass (never have I seen a great performance so dismissed by the "he can't act!" belief), Kevin Spacey - The Life of David Gale, Chiwetel Ejiofor - Dirty Pretty Things, Robert Downey Jr. - The Singing Detective, Paul Giamatti - American Splendor, Jack Black - School of Rock, Peter Dinklage - The Station Agent, Patty Considine - In America, Zooey Deschanel - All the Real Girls, Sarah Polley - My Life Without Me, Renee Zellweger - Down with Love, Hugh Grant - Love Actually, Laura Linney - The Life of David Gale, Laura Linney - Love Actually, Sean Penn - The Assassination of Richard Nixon, Tobey Maguire - Spider-Man 2, Will Ferrell - Anchorman, Tom Hanks - The Terminal, Laura Linney - P.S..., Abbie Cornish - Somersault, Jennifer Garner - 13 Going on 30, Lindsay Lohan - Mean Girls, Kim Basinger - The Door in the Floor, Reese Witherspoon - Vanity Fair, Laura Dern - We Don't Live Here Anymore, Steve Carell - Anchorman, Liev Schreiber - The Manchurian Candidate, Topher Grace - In Good Company, Kyra Sedgwick - The Woodsman, Lacey Chabert - Mean Girls, Amanda Seyfried - Mean Girls, Marion Cotillard - A Very Long Engagement, Sandra Oh - Sideways, Tony Leung - 2046, Yeong-ae Lee - Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Embeth Davidtz - Junebug, Lisa Kudrow - Happy Endings, Joan Allen - Yes, Nathalie Press - My Summer of Love, Vince Vaughn - Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Jeffrey Wright - Broken Flowers, Paul Rudd - The 40-Year-Old Virgin, George Clooney - Good Night, and Good Luck., Edward Norton - Kingdom of Heaven, Liam Neeson - Breakfast on Pluto, Maggie Gyllenhaal - Happy Endings, Isla Fisher - Wedding Crashers, Emily Mortimer - Match Point, Patricia Clarkson - The Dying Gaul, Heath Ledger - Candy, Edward Norton - The Painted Veil, William H. Macy - Edmond, Joe Cross - Running with Scissors, Cate Blanchett - The Good German, Melinda Page Hamilton - Sleeping Dogs Lie, Scarlett Johansson - Scoop, Doug Jones - Pan's Labyrinth, Paul Giamatti - The Illusionist, Ian McKellen - The Da Vinci Code, Kevin Spacey - Superman Returns, Woody Allen - Scoop, Jodie Foster - Inside Man, Jessica Biel - The Illusionist, Edie Falco - Freedomland, Jill Clayburgh - Running with Scissors, Blythe Danner - The Last Kiss, Don Cheadle - Talk to Me, Steve Buscemi - Interview, Gabriel Bryne - Jindabyne, Russell Crowe - American Gangster, Michael Shannon - Bug, Sienna Miller - Interview, Belen Rueda - The Orphanage, Dakota Blue Richards - The Golden Compass, Dylan Freasier - There Will Be Blood, Morgan Freeman - Gone Baby Gone, Kerry Washington - I Think I Love My Wife, Martha MacIssac - Superbad. WHEWWWWWWW.
Of course, I am sure there are many I am forgetting. Ah, bitching. You are wonderful.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Why not?
My top 25 films, at the moment, of this budding millennium.
25. Lantana
24. Spider-Man 2
23. In the Bedroom
22. Mystic River
21. A History of Violence
20. You Can Count on Me
19. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
18. The Constant Gardener
17. Adaptation.
16. Dogville
15. Requiem for a Dream
14. Bad Education
13. Minority Report
12. In the Mood for Love
11. Children of Men
10. Talk to Her
9. Marie-Antoinette
8. The Departed
7. Chicago
6. Moulin Rouge!
5. Kill Bill
4. 25th Hour
3. Lost in Translation
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
1. Angels in America
25. Lantana
24. Spider-Man 2
23. In the Bedroom
22. Mystic River
21. A History of Violence
20. You Can Count on Me
19. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
18. The Constant Gardener
17. Adaptation.
16. Dogville
15. Requiem for a Dream
14. Bad Education
13. Minority Report
12. In the Mood for Love
11. Children of Men
10. Talk to Her
9. Marie-Antoinette
8. The Departed
7. Chicago
6. Moulin Rouge!
5. Kill Bill
4. 25th Hour
3. Lost in Translation
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
1. Angels in America
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