Saturday
Jan082011
Start Your Weekend With Pretty Pictures
Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 8:41AM 
Good morning.
I'm spending this Saturday, behind the scenes: writing, podcast editing (yes, it returns!), skimming through previously adored movies (FB Awards about to start), interview transcribing (two soon-to-be-nominated people I've long admired), and the like. Next week = busy busy busy.
While you're here why not check out my 33 all time favorite actresses? (Just click on any photo to start the slide show). Feel free to share yours. I was going to put up a Top 100 up but that seemed... extravagant (as well as time consuming). If there's enough interest I'll add more galleries throughout the year. Mmmmm eye candy.
Got any movie plans this weekend?
tagged Actressexuality, The Film Experience, galleries
Actressexuality, The Film Experience, galleries
Reader Comments (25)
Nathaniel, where does Sissy Spacek figure on an expanded list? Seems you have included most of the 6+ oscar nominees. And Sissy is undoubtedly brilliant as I believe you have stated in the past.
Favorite Actresses:
Juliette Binoche
Cate Blanchett
Claudette Colbert
Penélope Cruz
Catherine Deneuve
Goldie Hawn
Katherine Hepburn
Diane Keaton
Nicole Kidman
Giulietta Masina
Jeanne Moreau
Barbara Stanwyck
Liv Ullman
(Actresses on the Fringe Who Have Given Some of My) Favorite Performances of All Time:
Marion Cotillard
Bette Davis
Irene Dunne
Maria Falconetti
Ava Gardner
Gloria Grahame (The Big Heat... ♥!)
Audrey Hepburn
Isabelle Huppert
Diane Keaton
Vivien Leigh
Sophia Loren
Gena Rowlands
Rosalind Russell
Simone Signoret
Gloria Swanson
Tilda Swinton
Monica Vitti
Jacki Weaver
Kate Winslet
Reese Witherspoon
Natalie Wood
Actresses I Have an (Almost) Inexplicable Fondness For:
Halle Berry
Natalie Portman
Great pictures and a choice of divine ladies, but where's Susan Sarandon?
Also, in terms of the FB Awards, as a Julianne Moore devotee you MUST watch "Chloe" before choosing. Maybe you'll hate it (as many people do) but it's Atom Egoyan+Julianne Moore and maybe she'll pop up in something for it (body of work? with this and The Kids Are All Right) -- she should.
I could have sworn Cate Blanchett was on this list...
Actresses I'd Foolishly Forgotten:
1st Tier -
Ingrid Bergman
Thelma Ritter
Meryl Streep
2nd Tier -
Greta Garbo
Judy Garland
Miriam Hopkins
Marilyn Monroe
Julianne Moore
Naomi Watts
Dear Nate - I hope you love to hear this but it's getting to the point that I look as forward to the FB awards as I do the Oscars. Get started NOW, you bastard!!
Jesus badmofo - how can you leave Elizabeth Taylor off such a long list of actresses?! And to have "forgotten" Meryl Streep even for a moment?!! You and I would obviously not get along. :-)
I know for sure I have to re-watch Exit Through the Gift Shop. I don't like having one pulled over on me with a documentary and I'm trying to figure out just how they pulled off the transition from awesome street art documentary (so many of my favorites featured) to possible exploitation of an unstable person. The twisted part is you can verify everything shown in the documentary actually happened. It's just: who made it happen? To what extent were Shepherd Fairey and Banksy manipulating the entire thing (or were they at all?) and what is the artistic statement they were trying to make? Wass there even a statement at all?
Mmmh... very good list, but where are some acting goddesses like Isabelle Huppert, Glenn Close, Greta Garbo and especially KATHARINE HEPBURN???
PS: The Meryl Streep photo is hilarious!
billybil - In my defense, Meryl & La Liz (yikes! how did I miss that) are so far up in my head I almost forgot they shared the same plane of existence as these mere mortals. :-)
Great list!
I did notice, although I'm 100% sure it's purely coincidental and not at all willful, that there aren't any non-white actresses on the list.
And not to be politcally correct, my top 33 list is probably all white actresses too, except for perhaps Viola Davis. Viola Davis (from "Doubt") is an outstanding stage actress who I wish would see more film roles.
But I think it speaks more to the lack of quality roles for non-white actresses than it does the lack of quality non-white actresses. I'm sure they're out there waiting for juicier opportunities.
Really? No black actresses? No Whoopi or Halle or Ruby or Zoe or any?
OtherRobert, my take on 'Gift Shop' is that the artists wanted to make a documentary that people would coo over just like Thierry's 'street art' despite the fact that it was average at best. But then again, I thought the movie stunk so...
As for my weekend movie plans, I saw Blue Valentine last night, preparing to be blown away by Williams and finding myself more impressed with Gosling. Sure, Williams had the meatier character arc, but Gosling was a character I'd never seen before in film. Major kudos in my book for that.
I also watched Tangled. It was a visual splendor, but it reminded me that not all animated flicks are made to be enjoyed by both children and adults. (Why not!?) It was waaay too slapstick for me and I just couldn't get into Rapunzel or Flynn. The horse drove me crazy. The village dance and "I See the Light" scenes were beautiful though.
Later tonight- Scott Pilgrim v. the World.
Evan -- well yes, it's definitely a kids movie with the slapstick. i loved the horse but could have done without some of the other silly bits. that lantern scene though: LOVE.
Rick and Prince -- it's an all time list. Unfortunately black actresses never get a fair shake of the great roles (even today and definitely not before the 80s) and even the ones that seemed poised to become all time greats only last for a few films (angela bassett) it. makes-a-me crazy. For instance I love Kerry Washington right now more than her career can possibly back up. It's so damn frustrating.
Cinephile -- Sarandon was literally #34 and I had to stop cuz it was getting time consuming ;)
Stefano -- anyone you don't see there you can pretend is #35 :)
Esther -- sissy is in my top 100. i'm not sure where. Probs top 50.
PODCAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ruby, Whoopi, Viola, Angela and Kerry are just a few of the many Black actresses who are unjustly ignored despite having more talent in their pinky finger than many of Hollywood's biggest starlets combined.
I get depressed just thinking about it...
Great list! For some reason I thought we would overlap more, but there are definitely actresses on your list that I totally respect yet have have no strong passion about.
My list is rather...eclectic, and involves some stage performers as well (An actor is an actor! :-) )
My top twenty:
Barbra Streisand
Deborah Kerr
Maureen O'Hara
Emma Thompson
Donna Murphy
Charlotte Rampling
Helen Mirren
Nathalie Baye
Maggie Smith
Janet McTeer
Julie Andrews
Audrey Hepburn
Julie Christie
Kyra Sedgwick
Kristin Scott Thomas (thought she'd be on your list, as well)
Natasha Richardson
Kate Winslet
Bernadette Peters
Toni Collette
Meryl Streep
A Beautiful Slideshow!!
My favorites: Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Maureen O'Hara, Deborah Kerr, Kristin Scott Thomas, Amy Adams, Emma Thompson, Rachel McAdams, Jane Wyman, Juliette Binoche, Barbra Streisand, Marion Cotillard, Naomi Watts
Love Catherine Deneuve! Audrey Tautou would be in my top as well.
Really good answer, badmofo - very smart. We can be friends again.
An actress I really love(d) is (was) Sonja Braga - has she been doing anything lately? And Salma Hayek runs the gammut is something else too. God is she beautiful. We need many more high quality sexy romance/adventure movies for women like this (and a movie-going audience that would pay to see them!) Salma needs movies like THE TOURIST written for her.
And I think Halle Berry has got to be one of the most beautiful women who has ever lived and fine the fact that that woman isn't doing sweeping romances in gorgeous gowns all the time a sin against nature. It's true - I do tend to like all my actresses really beautiful but Sonia, Salma and Halle are all great actresses too.
Sometimes I imagine Diana Ross having done Blanche Dubois a few years back with Denzel Washington as Stanley - oh yeah, he could do that - and I about swoon..
Kind of great pictures of Sexiest Nicole
Needs Isabelle Huppert and Laura Linney added at the minimum.
That´s a wonderful list.
My top 10 are:
Vivien Leigh
Deborah Kerr
Bette Davis
Elizabeth Taylor
Julie Andrews
Cate Blanchett
Katharine Hepburn
Nicole Kidman
Marion Cotillard
Joan Crawford
Meryl Streep
Olivia De Havilland
Kate Winslet
Michelle Pfeiffer
Ava Gardner
Lea, your top ten is 15 people long ;)
Lol. I know. I added 5 people more and realized too late that I hadn´t altered my number on top.