Thursday 11 December 2008

My 20 Favourite Actresses



Nathaniel over at the Film Experience Blog has started a new one of these meme things: List Your 20 Favourite Actresses. It's pretty simple - list your 20 faves with pictures, but without commentary. I haven't been tagged, but I wanted to do it anyway and it seems to be the rage these days to choose your own memes.

A few notes on making the list:
  • My basic approach was to choose actresses that I've seen in at least 3 films. So that rules out a few folks - notably Yeong-ae Lee whose performance in "Lady Vengeance" alone would put her in my Top 20. Another example is Hiam Abbass - I just finished watching "The Visitor" earlier on this evening and thought she was terrific. I know I've seen her elsewhere, but apart from "Munich" (which I haven't yet seen), I couldn't find anything else I may have seen her in.
  • I thought the list would be more diverse...I considered spreading the list across several eras, countries, genres, etc. but in the end these were my initial picks so that's what I'm going with.
  • If I was picking most beautiful, I expect that Aishwarya Rai, Scarlett Johansson, Olga Kurylenko and dozens of others would be on the list. But these are for actresses - those whose presence in a film puts a smile on my face.
  • And my wife puts them all to shame anyway...


Du-na Bae

Joan Blondell

Maggie Cheung

Hope Davis

Catherine Deneuve

Gloria Grahame

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Holly Hunter

Meiko Kaji

Gong Li

Carole Lombard

Kelly MacDonald

Giulietta Masina

Jeanne Moreau

Catherine O'Hara

Barbara Stanwyck

Sylvie Testud

Rachel Weisz

Dianne Wiest

Kate Winslet

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed your list, Bob! Oddly enough I just posted my own list and it seems we both used the same photo of Catherine Deneuve. Obviously we both have great taste! We also share Meiko Kaji in common and I'm kicking myself for forgetting to mention Jeanne Moreau since I adore her too.

These meme things tend t make me crazy! I wish I could list a Top 50 instead.

PIPER said...

How controversial is that Joan Blondell photo? I imagine it was scandalous at the time it was shot.

By the way. Little know fact here, but I've slept with over half of the women you listed.

Bob Turnbull said...

Hey Kimberly...I already commented on your site about some of the ones I missed or thought of but didn't have room for. Yeah, I could've done 50 easy...

Piper, I have no idea if that Blondell picture caused a stir at the time - I'm just glad it exists.

By the way, Wiest told me she lost an earring at your place, but she doesn't want to come pick it up. Something about "if I ever see his #!#&#&^% face again...". Best if you drop it in the mail to me.

As for Rachel Weisz, let's just say that if you see Aronofsky walking down the street, you had better get your ass to the other side but quick.

Ivan G Shreve Jr said...

Another vote for the divine Miss Grahame...outstanding! You also found room for Gong Li, and I'm still kicking myself for leaving her off.

But the most impressive name on this list is Hope Davis, proving you are a gentleman with exquiaite tastes. I've loved Hope ever since I saw Next Stop Wonderland, and as a matter of fact I caught The Daytrippers on the Flix on Demand channel about a week ago.

Bob Turnbull said...

Hi Ivan...Thanks for commenting.

GG is most definitely divine. Her eyebrows alone are works of art.

I had forgotten Hope Davis was in "The Daytrippers" - I'll have to catch up with that one. But yeah, "Next Stop Wonderland" was the one that did it...She has a small but very funny role in "Synecdoche NY" as well.

I could easily make a second Top 20 just from other people's picks. Another one I couldn't squeeze in is Teri Garr. Always liked her.

Anonymous said...

I looked of Bae Du-na to see what films she's in. It turns out I was more familiar with her than I realized having seen The Host, Linda 3X and Take Care of my Cat. Inspired choice.

James Yates said...

I'm not at all nitpicking, I mean this more as a joke: I think you picked the most unflattering photo of Dianne Wiest imaginable!

Bob Turnbull said...

Peter, I particularly love Bae in "Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance". She's funny, tough, sexy and just a little bit scary too.

Jamie, nitpick away! That's part of the fun! My wife read your comment and told me you were right...So who am I to argue? B-)

I gotta say that I honestly didn't really see that as an overly unflattering picture, but I suppose her eyes are closed and her smile is a bit unnatural...She has lovely cheeks though! And I know another blogger picked the EXACT same picture in their Top 20 post.

So there! B-)

The Core Dies said...

Yup, they're very beautiful