Ziyi to Dubya

This is a continuation of this post.

Ziyi: So, Mr Bush, what Chinese movies have you seen?
Dubya: The China Syndrome was dang good!
Ziyi: ...?
Dubya: Ooh! Ooh! Big Trouble In Little China!!!
Ziyi: ...!!
Dubya: Wasn't there a great show in the '80s called China Beach? It had the farmer from that classic American movie Babe!
Ziyi: All wrong! I would have accepted The Last Samurai though.


;)

The 100 Best Performances of the 2000's - 20-11

Now we're getting to the tricky end of the discussion. The part where people's opinions really come out to shine. Judging by the replies to the last entry there will be some disappointment and possible (god, I hope so) some SHOCK! HORROR! Hell, I think my number 20 is enough to encite a riot amongst some of y'all (how dare it be only number 20?) But, here we go... ooh, this is fun.



20. Julianne Moore as Cathy Whitaker in Far From Heaven (2002)

There will be more discussion about this particular performance when we get to #11, but for now the sole focus is on Juli. This isn't my favourite of her performances (that would be without a shadow of a doubt Safe) but gee I respect it something shocking! I remember me and my best friend had free periods at school and this movie only had one showing and it was on Wednesday (the day before all the new titles are released) and I really wanted to see it before it left Geelong (my city) so we went and saw it and I was SO happy. Seeing Julianne's performance was something of a shock as at that time I wasn't so Juliafied as I am now. It was like watching a new favourite bloom into being (of course, it was not actually the case). The way that Julianne explores this character is not only spectacular to watch, but wonderful to think about because she so completely becomes Cathy. I wonder what Douglas Sirk would have said?

19. Jamie Bell as Billy Elliot in Billy Elliot (2000)

Okay, I admit a weak spot for this performance. I simply adore the film and everything in it, but Jamie is just so freakin' adorable, isn't he? Instantly one of my favourite child performances (if you can call him a child still), Jamie - and Billy - just make me smile. Whether it's the scene in the boxing ring with his best friend, the big rousing moment where he stands up for himself, or (my personal fave moment) the goodbye kiss. It warms me inside and I can't get enough. Jamie, if you're reading this... let me know and we can hook up. We'd be hot together! ;)

18. Ziyi Zhang as Bai Ling in 2046 (2005)

I have an inkling that this is going to get the most "huh" responses out of people. Here's a story. I've been in L.O.V.E. with Ziyi since Crouching Tiger. She just missed the list for that particular performance. I love watching her, even in silly piffle like Rush Hour 2 (a bonafide guilty pleasure). So it's been 5 years or so since I saw Tiger and have been waiting patiently for THAT performance. The one that knocked me outta my seat and blew me completely away. This is it. It was going to be hard for any one person to emerge head and shoulders above everything in Wong Kar-Wai's visual feast, but Zhang does so. And that only strengthens the performance in my mind. Mesmerising is a very apt description. VERY apt.

17. Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Definitely the funnest performance in the list (giving numbers 26, 37, 49, 65 and the upcoming 16 a run for their money), Johnny Depp gives a performance that many would have ignored many years ago. Of course, he wouldn't have done this performance years ago, but I'm just saying that he's been ACTING for years. Some (aka, the Academy) acted as if he was this new-faced man who popped up overnight. Ugh. Anyway, what can I say about this performance? Hilarious, wild, eccentric and over-the-top. Yeah, they all fit. Oh, and brilliant. That's a good little descriptor.

16. Uma Thurman as Beatrix Kiddo (aka "The Bride, aka "Black Mamba") in Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2 (2003 - 2004)

Sigourney Weaver and Uma Thurman, battling it out for supremacy - Who would win? I don't know but I'd pay top dollar to find out. How exhilirating is this performance, spread across the two films. Juxtapose the two and the brilliance of Thurman's performance becomes even clearer. At once a femme fatale and damsel in distress, Uma's Beatrix Kiddo is everything a sword-wielding/revenge-getting/country-hopping master should be and more. "Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them with you. However, leave the limbs you've lost. They belong to me now." Whatever you say, Uma!

15. Kate Winslet as Clementine Krucyznski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

For a complete change of pace! How much do I love Kate? A helluva lot, that's how much! This is such a whacked out performance that I was confused after watching the movie. How did Kate do it? How can she excel at period-costumed women in corsets yet do a complete 180 and be even better as a loopy mind-erasing weirdo? Well, i don't know how she did it and I don't care as long as she keeps it up. aagh! She's amazing.

14. Björk as Selma Jezkova in Dancer in the Dark (2000)

There are probably a few things that are guaranteed to make me cry. Dancer in the Dark is one of them. A good percentage of that belongs to this Icelandic wonder. The intense raw emotion that she puts on display is astonishing. Some actors talk about how they like to work their characters from the inside out, well, I think Bjork let it all explode on the exterior. If you need any more proof just rewatch the final 20 minutes or so and I dare you to not be moved.

13. Gael García Bernal as Ángel and Juan and Zahara in Bad Education (2004)

Something about that film title makes me always wanna add a ! onto it. Bad Education! I...don't know. Onto Gael. When I originally saw this movie I loved it, and Gael too. However in the year since I saw it has grown on me, but Gael's performance even moreso. He would've been around #50, but everytime I think about it I feel like it deserves to be higher. Much higher. And so it is. The way Bernal buries deep into each of his characters is a wonder to watch. Whod've thought that one of the biggest up and coming actors would do THIS?! That he's surrounded by Almodovar goodness only amplifies it. What an actor he is, and what a performance.

12. Julie Walters as Mrs Wilkinson in Billy Elliot (2000)

Why doesn't Julie Walters work more on bigger stuff, other than tv movies and tiny-winy bit parts in Harry Potter films? I will never fathom why she wastes what she has. Maybe it's the "Julie is one of m favourite actresses" inside me talking but whenever she's on screen I can't get enough. I want Julie Walters on screen all the time. I'm not even going to go into Educating Rita... With Billy Elliot she got her best role (after Rita of course) and it's fun to imagine this as an older Rita who chose dancing instead of writing because they certainly share traits. it's what Julie does well. Sure, the performance may not be worthy of being this high but when I get a good dose of Julie I get enthusiastic. Possibly too enthusiastic for my own good, but whatever. This is MY list.

11. Diane Lane as Connie Sumner in Unfaithful (2000)

People may scratch their head at this one. Above Julianne, why never?! But it's true. And it has been since day one. From the very moment I saw this movie I gave it an A- grade and thought Diane was just perfection. I then read reviews and discovered that others also thought it was pretty great and that Lane was great too. All throughout that year's Oscar season I was gunning for Diane even though I knew it was an uphill battle especially when she had Nicole and Juli against her. And on Oscar night as most cinephiles were cheering for Juli I was quite opening cheering on Diane. I don't know what struck me about this performance. Was is it the out-in-the-open erotica of it all? The desperation? The zest with which Diane performed it. Yes, all those things I'm sure. But I have a suspicion it was also the simple brute force with which Diane grabbed this role and devoured it as if she herself depended on her being this good. I think she did need it, as it single-handedly rescued her career. And I couldn't think of a better way to do than with a performance this wonderful.

...to be continued with the final 10 best performances...

So, yes, next we move on to the Top 10! I'm sure it's all hilariously predictable (except for one particular performance that NOBODY will predict purely because not that many have even seen it unfortunately) but it's still super-fun, right? In the top 10 we have a bunch of lonely lass' and lads, plenty of drugs, sex and '80s rock & roll. But who will be number 1? We all know my affection for Nicole Kidman, but can she make it to number one? Will there be a surprise or will I be wonderfully cliched? How heavily will Australians figure? We shall find out in the next installments. Ciao!

Reviews + Well? What IS better than big juicy steak?

Well? Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland really wanna know! That is one helluva bizarre tagline. Yet, it really makes me want to see the movie just so I can figure it out. I can think of a few things better than big juicy steak, although that's pretty high up there on lists of great things in the world. Mmm, cow!

And, yes, there is more updating of the sidebar. I've finally finished the link section so that it is divided into sections. Obviously more will be added when I find them and like them. But... yay.


I am listening to Sophie Koh's debut album All the Pretty Boys and it's one of those albums that is just beautiful to listen to. She came out of the same development program at JJJ (Unearthed) as Missy Higgins (who went on to have her album The Sound of White going something like seven times platinum which is HUGE). I always had a problem with Missy, her whole album was terribly bland except for "The Special Two" (try and find that song NOW!!!!) but I Sophie's album is far from that. It's haunting in a way. Much like Sarah Blasko, Sophie has a distorted pop sound. And with songs such as "Boat People" and "Timor Song" she won't be finding mainstream success anytime soon. Shame really, because much like another Aussie singer from a couple of years back called Sandrine, Sophie's first album is a bonza.

What happened to Sandrine too? her album Trigger was really great and it was critically acclaimed yet she disappeared. Shame, she was an artist with real potential to keep going and getting greater, much like Sarah Blasko (who I always saw as a mix between Missy Higgins and Bjork - hence, better. MUCH better). Hopefully Sophie is hear to stay for All the Pretty Boys is a wonderful album. A-

I watched two movies yesterday.

Blackmail (1929, dir. Hitchcock) - I've had this on DVD for ages. It came in the package that I bought just to get Hitchcock's 39 Steps (read: masterpiece) and had never popped this disc in. It's an interesting film. It was apparently Hitchcock's AND Britain's first "talkie" picture. I have seen Hitchcock's silent The Lodger which was good for what it was and that's pretty much all I can say about this one. There's no denying that it's dated and it's all a bit hokey. And I'm not even going to get into the fact that there isn't actually any "blackmail" in the movie!


This movie stars Anny Ondra (who had starred in and continued to star in European films) as a girl dating a Scotland Yard detective (John Longden - of not much else from what I can see, however he does look scarily like Stephen Fry minus the bad nose) but leaves him one night to go off with another man (Cyril Ritchard - again, not from anything I can see on his IMDb page). This man attacks her and she kills him with a knife (that has no blood on it, lol). Her detective boyfriend soon realises it was her and they must hide the fact, but then another mysterious man, who we are never actually told how he fits in to the story, shows up saying he knows it was Anny's Alice that did the crime.

I reneg my comment about there being no blackmail, there is. The mystery man makes the detective buy his cigar because he has no cash on him. ooh.

It's all fairly standard, although it is much better than it has any right to be. Once the mystery man shows up it does add something to the story that wasn't really going anywhere. From his arrival the film turns into more of a psychological type of thriller. It was all in good fun, but it should be viewed as more of a Hitchcock curiosity than any piece of great filmmaking. C+

Please Note - the first 10 minutes or so of this movie are silent! I thought was watching a silent movie until the characters suddenly started talking! turns out it was to be a silent but then got changed to a talkie.


The Man with the Golden Arm (1955, dir. Preminger) - Now THIS was a treat. Much like Blackmail this movie has been sitting on my DVD shelf for ages and I never paid attention. I got it free with a DVD magazine I bought over a year ago and just decided to watch it (in my urge to see more old movies, as you will have noticed if you read the screening log). And boy am I glad I did. This movie was astounding.

Frankie (Frank Sinatra, you know him!) returns from rehab adament not to fall into the world of drugs and gambling that he was in before. He just wants to join a band and help his crippled (or is she?) girlfriend (Eleanor Parker). Soon he falls into the traps though as he is surrounded by his ex-employers and drug dealers day in-day out. Soon enough he's unravelling, but with the help of old-flame Molly (Kim Novak, a few years before her Vertigo turn would seal her fate in cinehistory) he tries to get through.

It's an amazing piece of filmmaking here by Otto Preminger, of who I had never been exposed to before, although I have Anatomy of a Murder on DVD queue - i hope it arrives sooner rather than later. The performances here are all excellent. Frank Sinatra who was Oscar nominated is just amazing as Frankie, and the two women - Parker and Novak - are equals. It's a surprise neither got any award support, Parker has a delicious character to devour as Novak has some scenes of real emotion. Her scene in the bedroom with Frankie was mesmerising.

The techs too are meticulous. The Oscar-nominated score by Elmer Bernstein is top of the shelf calibre. Love how when the drug-dealer places each piece of using-equipment on the table the horns on the soundtrack blew out loud. The Oscar-nominated production design, too, is a work of art. The skid-row streetscapes are wonderfully designed. Costuming and cinematography are also appropriately wonderful.


I can't help but wish that I had been around when films like this were being made. Not only can I see the brilliance in this film, but it makes a film such as Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream even more powerful. Yes, Golden Arm has 1950's sensibilities (nobody recovers from cocaine addiction that fast, okay and the book is apparently MUCH darker) but that doesn't take away any of the power. This film was astounding. A

Strange. That now makes three films from 1955 that I have absolutely loved and neither of them got nominated for Best Picture. Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray), East of Eden (Elia Kazan) and The Man with the Golden Arm. And of those, only Kazan received a Best Director nomination. Thankfully Frank Sinatra and James Dean got nominations (Dean for Eden and not Rebel. It's hard to decide which movie he deserved it for me!). Add to that Rififi and Bergman's Kvinnodröm [Dreams] and with even limited knowledge, 1955 was a really good year.

The 100 Best Performances of the 2000's - 49-21

Because I have nothing else to do right now and I'm bored... here's some more!



49. Ellen DeGeneres as the voice of Dory in Finding Nemo (2003)
(If you don't call this a performance then... well, i dunno. You're wrong)

48. Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain (2005)

47. Willem Dafoe as Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

46. Tilda Swinton as Margaret Hall in The Deep End (2001)

45. Anthony LaPaglia as Det. Leon Zat in Lantana (2001)

44. Jim Broadbent as Zidler in Moulin Rouge! (2001)

43. Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuernos in Monster (2003)

42. Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones' Diary (2001)

41. Chlöe Sevigny as Jean in American Psycho (2000)

40. Daryl Hannah as Elle Driver (aka "California Mountain Snake") in Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2 (2003 and 2004)



39. Patricia Clarkson as Eleanor Fine in Far from Heaven (2002)

38. Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis de Sade in Quills (2000)

37. Annette Bening as Julia Lambert in Being Julia (2004)

36. Bill Murray as Bob Harris in Lost in Translation (2003)

35. Rachael Blake as Jane O'May in Lantana (2001)

34. Ben Kingsley as Don Logan in Sexy Beast (2001)

33. Jim Carrey as Joel Barish in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

32. Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator (2004)

31. Noni Hazlehurst as Janelle Heart in Little Fish (2005)



30. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Neil in Mysterious Skin (2005)

29. Catherine Deneuve as Kathy in Dancer in the Dark (2000)

28. Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

27. Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000)

26. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly in Chicago (2002)

25. Imelda Staunton as Vera Drake in Vera Drake (2004)

24. Michelle Williams as Alma Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain (2005)

23. Patricia Clarkson as Olivia Harris in The Station Agent (2003)

22. Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadi in House of Sand & Fog (2003)

21. Parker Posey as Meg Swan in Best in Show (2000)
(was this the most ignored comedy turn of the last decade?)


...to be continued...

We continue in the next installment with the next best 10 performances of the 2000's as judged my moi, followed by the TOP 10! Each entry from now on will have a small written part to go along with it. In the next batch we have sexual ladies and "ladies", two swords-people and three dancers. Hmmm. Ciao.

Cannes Watch: Donnie's Maker Meets the French

IMDb is reporting that Richard Kelly's comedy/drama/action/scifi/musical Southland Tales has been picked for the Palme D'or competition at Cannes (will it be anything oscar-ish)! Also in competition will be Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antionette (how will it be received?!), Almodovar's Volver (will it gain pace for Oscar?), Innuratu's Babel (this could either way) and a bunch of others.

Surprised there was no word of Forman's Goya's Ghost as it seemed very Cannesish from what I've heard. Maybe it's not ready yet.

with Wong Kar-Wai residing over the events, it'll be an exciting festival. YAY! The complete list is here

Speaking of Kar-Wai the last lady that he bathed beauty upon, Ziyi Zhang has a hilarious quote appear on IMDb today.

Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi visited the White House in Washington DC yesterday for a spectacular ceremony to welcome Hu Jintao, President of China, to America. The Memoirs Of A Geisha star was thrilled to be included in the festivities - but earlier vowed to test President George W. Bush's movie knowledge if she had a chance to speak to him. She said, "I never thought I'd be able to go to the White House and participate in an activity like this. It's a great honor. If I have an opportunity to meet President Bush, I'll ask him how many Chinese films he has seen."

Oh Ziyi, I love you but don't tempt fait. Asking a question like that is like asking a Chinese woman if they're Japanese (oops)

I knew it!

Without Australia, Hollywood would crumble and die (er, apparently). God, that's some major self glorifying going on there. "Australia also has a track record of making highly-profitable Hollywood films - ensuring studios return to make films downunder."

And then to make it sound like Oprah and Julia Roberts' careers hang on to whether this movie that was made in Australia (Charlotte's Web where they voice characters) is sort of rediculous.

"Hollywood continues to eye Australia as a film-making destination." Thanks Sherlock. They didn't even mention the Stephen King miniseries that feels like it's been filming for years.

The only actually interesting part of this article is about a film I hadn't heard of called 48 Shades, and even that is glazed over. No need to tell us what this film is actually about, right?

Happy Feet is like Moulin Rouge!. It's an Australian film that just happens to have American funding.

This article was really helpful in proving that occasionally some movies are filmed in Australia and occasionally they are successful. Whoa.

The Best Performances of the 2000's, 74-50

Here we go again.

74. Nicole Kidman as Grace Stewart in The Others (2001)

73. Cate Blanchett as Tracy Heart in Little Fish (2005)

72. Adrian Brody as Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist (2002)

71. Sean Penn as Paul Rivers in 21 Grams (2003)

70. Jamie Lee Curtis as Tess Coleman in Freaky Friday (2003)



69. Albert Finney as Ed Masry in Erin Brockovich (2000)

68. Eric Bana as Mark "Chopper" Reed in Chopper (2000)

67. Renée Zellweger as Betty Sizemore in Nurse Betty (2000)

66. Gwyneth Paltrow as Margot Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

65. John Cameron Mitchell as Hedwig Robinson/Hansel in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

64. Charlotte Rampling as Marie Drillon in Sous le Sable [Under the Sand] (2001)

63. Clive Owen as Jack Manfred in Croupier (2000)

62. Julie Delpy as Celine in Before Sunset (2004)

61. Daniel-Day Lewis as Bill "The Butcher" Cutting in Gangs of New York (2002)

60. Michelle Pfeiffer as Ingrid Magnussen in White Oleander



59. Meryl Streep as Susan Orlean in Adaptation. (2002)

58. Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote in Capote (2005)

57. Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett in Pride & Prejudice

56. Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie Darko in Donnie Darko (2001)

55. Reese Witherspoon as June Carter in Walk the Line (2005)

54. Thora Birch as Enid in Ghost World (2001)

53. Scarlett Johansson as Charlotte in Lost in Translation (2003)

52. Clive Owen as Larry in Closer (2004)

51. Marcia Gay Harden as Celeste Boyle in Mystic River (2003)

50. Everlyn Sampi as Molly Craig in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)


...to be continued...

In the next installment we have a vampire, a sexual deviant, a monster, one of 2005's most talked about performances, some good ol' fashioned wizardry and... a fish. 'til then...