best film: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. I’m anxious to see if this stays above the other Powell and Pressburger films on my ranking (I have it slightly above films like Kerr’s Black Narcissus, Peeping Tom, A Matter of Life and Death and The Red Shoes) with another study and pass thru their oeuvre. It’s a masterpiece, and I’m confident of that so this is a fine film for Kerr to hang her hat on as her singular best film… as would be… best performance:    Black Narcissus where she’s just extraordinarily good and clearly a stronger part

best film: Fargo Is currently my #1 ranked Coen brothers film and they are arguably the greatest auteurs in the world since their debut in 1984 (also McDormand’s debut) nearly 35 years ago. So, this is a towering achievement for both the Coen brothers and their leading lady/muse Frances McDormand. best performance:  Fargo’s Marge Gunderson is an all-time character/performance that is so unique. She’s in a short film here (98 mins) and Marge doesn’t show up until about 30 minutes in. She doesn’t play a crazy woman, beauty icon, an alcoholic, a saint or martyr. She’s a relatively normal

best film: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? Is a weakness as it’s not one I ever think about for my top 100 films of all-time and we’re now into the top 25 actresses on this list. However, It’s still a superb film and is right there with Carnal Knowledge for Mike Nichols’ best after The Graduate. It’s a 4-actor chamber piece and it could feel incredibly stage-bound if it weren’t for Nichols adventurous direction.  In front of the camera, Burton and Taylor deserve almost all the credit- they are both transcendent. best performance: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? is Taylor’s

best film: Klute. I adore Klute but this is Fonda’s weakness for sure. She was in a half dozen great films and she’s excellent in 10 of them (Klute being the best in both category by a decent margin) but even I, as a massive admirer of the film and Pakula’s work in general, (a tragically underrated 70’s auteur with that paranoia trilogy—which Klute is the first leg of) think it may be hard for Jane to hold onto this slot as our contemporary actresses add to their resume and we have the benefit of distance from their more

best film: The Passion of Joan of Arc is one of the seminal films of the cinema art form. Dreyer’s silent masterpiece, for many, is the zenith of editing, sparse mise-en-scene, and yes—screen acting. It’s famously Falconetti’s first and only film—so of course it’s her best. best performance:  The Passion of Joan of Arc is the performance most often cited as the best performance ever in the history of film (I think De Niro gets a lot of mentions for Raging Bull as does Brando for On the Waterfront). I can’t disagree who think Falconetti’s is the best—and if

best film: A Woman Under the Influence is Cassavetes best work and Rowlands clear #1 best film here. Faces comes in second and was the beginning of Cassavetes one-man (for a time) American Independent art film movement (of course Shadows from Cassavetes comes first in 1959). Rowlands worked with Jarmusch, Woody and even Terrence Davies but it wasn’t in their better work. A Woman Under the Influence is a difficult film- but a masterpiece worthy of the journey. best performance:  A Woman Under the Influence is far and away her best performance. She has enough of a resume here

best film: Rome, Open City. Realism has always been around since the beginning of narrative cinema- some thirty years or so prior to Rossellini’s masterpiece- but the WWII Italian Neo-Realism is/was a real art movement and it’s important—and Rome, Open City is the beginning of it and first masterpiece (and still a formidable companion to The Bicycle Thieves). For Magnani, There’s really no competitor though as much as I admire Momma Roma, The Golden Coach and Fellini’s Roma. best performance: Rome, Open City. Magnani’s performance was a punch in the face to screen acting and Hollywood in 1945. Most viewers