best film: If one were to combine the two big Merchant Ivory films (A Room with a View, Howards End) there would be a decent case to take down David Fincher’s Fight Club for the top slot. But as it is, clearly Fincher’s 1999 masterpiece that takes the cake. An honorable mention goes to Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech which somehow seems to be underrated – probably partly because it took the best picture Oscar crown in 2010 when a few other films (including another one of Fincher’s – The Social Network in this case) were more deserving.
Helena Bonham Carter playing against type (especially at this point in her career) in David Fincher’s Fight Club
best performance: It is her debut that gets top honor here – a rarity in this category – for Helena Bonham Carter. She is just nineteen (19) in 1985 when A Room with a View came along and elevated the careers of most of the creative team involved from Ismail Merchant and James Ivory themselves to Judi Dench, young Daniel Day-Lewis, and the always reliable Denholm Elliott and Maggie Smith. Helena Bonham Carter gives the strongest performance in the film. Her highly memorable and remarkable hair may give the second-best performance in the film – simply stunning.
Helena Bonham Carter’s film debut as Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View
stylistic innovations/traits: Helena Bonham Carter has had several distinct acts to her career. The first act is in those expertly polished highbrow Merchant Ivory E.M. Forster adaptations (1985-1992). She bounced around a bit in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s – a nothing role in a Woody Allen film, her first of two Oscar noms (The Wings of the Dove in 1997) and even the important Fight Club role feels like chance (apparently Courtney Love was hovering around the role of Marla Singer and that casting makes sense). The Tim Burton phase is next with their frequent collaborations (including two archiveable films). She specializes in darker, witch-like roles during this stretch. She has the smaller, but still key role in The King’s Speech (and her second nomination) and her work in the Harry Potter series comes here as well. In all, it is a very commendable dozen archiveable and counting for Helena Bonham Carter with those Merchant Ivory films being the clips of her that should shown when she passes on (hopefully many decades from now).
directors worked with: James Ivory (3) – including just a spot uncredited appearance in Maurice, Tim Burton (2), Tom Hooper (2), David Yates (2), Woody Allen (1), David Fincher (1)
Helena Bonham Carter as Helen Schlegel in Howards End (1992) – one of her three Merchant Ivory archiveable films
top five performances:
- A Room with a View
- Howards End
- The King’s Speech
- Fight Club
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
archiveable films
| 1985- A Room with a View |
| 1987- Maurice |
| 1992- Howards End |
| 1995- Mighty Aphrodite |
| 1997- The Wings of a Dove |
| 1999- Fight Club |
| 2005- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| 2007- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |
| 2009- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince |
| 2010- The King’s Speech |
| 2011- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 |
| 2012- Les Misérables |
My pick for the last 3 spots
98.Emmanuelle Riva(Amour, Hiroshima Mon Amour)
99.Jean Seberg(Lilith, Breathless)
100.Florence Pugh(Midsummer, Little Women)
@Malith- Appreciate the comment and you tracking along. These are three good candidates.
I think Anouk Aimee has to there.
1. Lola
2. A man and a woman
3. 8 1/2
4. La Dolce Vita
@M*A*S*H – Appreciate your comments throughout here. I am going to put a page up with the full list just after the 100th name.
@Drake,
I’ve loved your list. There are few actresses I’ll have in my list that’r not in yours (so far).
1. I’ll have Kathleen Turner for sure. The Virgin Suicided is her best film and Body Heat is her best performance and what a tour de force hypnotic performance it is. She’s excellent in Ken Russell’s Crimes of Passion. I mean actresses dominating 90s such as Streep, Lange, Spacek were doing Oscar bait period pieces or biopics (the decade of biopics), how many American actresses have a top 2 as unique as her’s. I think she’s very good in Prizzi’s honor that gives her a really good 3rd performance then The War Of Roses and The Accidental Tourist are amazing #4 and #5. Great actress indeed and one of the most underrated. She was established as a sex symbol but she’s no Sharon Stone or has limited acting range, relying on her looks. She’s an actor actor.
2. I’ll have Michelle Pfeiffer. Incredible in The Age of Innocence. A ravishing performance. Then a really strong performance in Dangerous Liaisons, one of the best of the year and not far behind Close in my opinion. Second best in the film. Then you have a showcase in for of Demme’s Married to the Mob. She’s does what’s needed to be done in Scarface and I Am Sam is a nice little performance not a very accomplished one but makes a solid top 5.
3. I’ll have Elisabeth Moss as you Judi Dench pick. A lot of archieveable films and an impeccable jaw on the floor top 5 (Shirley, Her Smell, Top of the Lake, Queen of Earth, Listen Up Philip). I consider Top of the Lake a movie (written and directed by Jane Campion). A R/HR for me, I know you haven’t seen it. I’m also higher on Shirley than you. It’s a top 10 of the year quality. Did you notice every single of her top 5 is auteur cinema- Alex Ross Perry, Campion and Josephine Decker. Wow.
What are your thoughts on these 3 actresses?
And I’ll also have Judi Davis. An impeccable performer. Her top 5 would be,
1. Husband and Wives
2. Naked Lunch
3. Barton Fink
4. A Passage to India
5. My Brilliant Career
Pretty solid, right? Looks stronger than Dench’s to me.
@M*A*S*H- Strong cases for these three actors- great work. I think it is early for Moss.
I get that for Moss. But she’s on a roll. Hope she does more films than TV.
I also have Gunnel Lindblom hovering over my top 100. She has 3 strengths- a lot of MSs and MPs in her resume, a really solid best performance (The Silence) and the fact that she’s a flat out performer. An actor actor. Her weakness is that apart from The Silence where she’s co- lead, she’s always a supporting player.
1. The Silence
2. Winter Light
3. The Virgin Springs
4. The Seventh Seal
5. Scenes from a marriage/ Wild strawberries
Impressive?
I would definitely include Batman Returns for Pfeiffer. She’s on fire in that and transcends what otherwise could be a one note character.
I have not seen it yet. I have heard great things about Pfeiffer in that. Oh and I completely forgot Pfeiffer’s role in Mother. It’s her #3 for sure. An incredible performance late in her career.
1. The Age of Innocence
2. Dangerous Liaisons
3. Mother
4. Married to the Mob
5. Scarface
Now that’s a perfect top 5. Right?
I’m a big admirer of Michelle Pfeiffer.
My top 10 of his performances (with the grade I give to the movie)
1 – The Age of Innocence (MS)
2 – Scarface (MS)
3 – Dangerous Liaisons (HR)
4 – Batman Returns (HR)
5 – Mother! (HR)
6 – The Fabulous Baker Boys (NA)
7 – Married to the Mob (R)
8 – Love Field (R)
9 – Dangerous Minds (NA)
10 – The Witches of Eastwick (R)
It’s a solid top 5 + solid work with Scorsese, DePalma, Frears, Aronofsky, Burton & Demme.