Friday, October 14, 2005

Catherine Elise Blanchett



In the Actress of the Aughts Countdown we reach lucky number seven

Previous Film Experience Notes on Oscar Winner (feels good to say, doesn't it) Cate Blanchett:
2004 Oscar Win: Notes on the Race
2004 Silver Medal: Best Supporting Actress. Gold Medal: Character Intro
The Aviator review
The Shipping News review
2001: Supporting Actress (Honorable Mention)
The Gift review

16 comments:

John T said...

I love Blanchett-I agree that she's the next Streep (but what does that make Kate Winslet)? Oh, and looking forward to the delightful Miss Morton up next.

Javier Aldabalde said...

Loved the note on Cate - "she's just warming up" WOW! if this has only been a prologue then she's definitely in for the all-time lists...

though I like to think of her as her very own great and unique thing.

I got Cate's number right too (second in a row!) now I say #6 is between Morton and Moore. If Nat goes by his heart Moore will be higher but right now I'm predicting Moore for #6.

adam k. said...

Wait, is that really Cate in the photo? What movie is that from? Doesn't look like her at all...

NATHANIEL R said...

that's Cate from The Man Who Cried (one of her best performances I think) --ever the chameleon

adam k. said...

Wow. I should check that one out.

Anonymous said...

i think clarkson is #6, morton #5, moore #4, dunst #3, winslet #2 and kidman #1

Anonymous said...

Os far, 3 of 4 (I though Morton would be in Pfeiffer's spot, so the most I can get is 8.)

Yay Blanchett - what an awesome actress.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and awesome work with the pictures, both in the blog (Johnasson and Blanchett both look stunning) and in the write-ups.

Anonymous said...

On nat's comment about Julianne/Nicole trying to be Streep AND Roberts;

Honestly though, I don't fault Kidman for stretching her wings in mainstream comedy. Bewitched isn't a great film, but Kidman actually gives a real and nuanced comic performance (wheras in The Stepford Wives, she clearly the film's "straight" woman, not the main comic foil). It's character acting, not just Kidman trying to get by on being charming and charasmatic (ie Julia Roberts) Give Kidman a good mainstream comedy, and she'll be recognised as a great comedienne (which I think she should be seen as anyway, on account of To Die For). It kinda reminds me of Streep's forays into mainstream comedy with She-Devil and Death Becomes her. Streep gives very real, and well judged comic performances in those movies, which weren't really recognised because the films around her blew.

Julianne Moore on the other hand, does attempt to do the "charming/charasmatic" Julia Roberts routine in mainstream comedy (ie Laws Of Attraction), and it just doesn't come off in performance. She lacks the comic timing and charisma of those "rom-com" queens, and unlike Kidman, doesn't really try to create a comic characterisation. Which is why Kidman still gets good reviews in her bad comic vehicles, and Moore doesn't.

Anonymous said...

Gotta admit, I love me some "Death Becomes Her"! And also, Meryl in "Postcards" pretty much proved she knocks the ball out of the park with comedy, to say nothing of her slyly comic turns in "Adaptation" and "Angels In America" (I'm thinking Ethel Rosenberg).

Oh, hang on - WAAAAY off topic!

BTW - Nat, how much are you revelling in the extent to which we're second guessing you here?!

Rob

adam k. said...

I have to agree with Right on the order. We'll see.

I disagree though about Kidman being good in Bewitched. All I kept thinking the whole time (well, at least in the broad comic segments) was that Reese Witherspoon would have been a better choice. Kidman comes off as strained and tense when doing light comedy, IMO. She doesn't seem to naturally "get" comic material the way many actors do. Instead, she just tries to work, work, WORK it the way she works drama, but it just doesn't... well... work.
Moulin Rouge and To Die For had some good comedy by Kidman, but she just can't pull off total broad comedy like Bewitched.
That said, though, I still think she deserves to be #1 on the list.

adam k. said...

And Moore, btw, KILLS at comedy when the character she's playing isn't actually supposed to be funny. Moore has perfected her own brand of ironic tragicomedy that no one else can do as well. I mean, Amber Waves in Boogie Nights... the porn scene...!!!... that is some of the funniest shit I've ever seen in my life. But the whole point is that Amber sucks as an actress... not that Amber is charismatic. And Carol White in Safe... the scene when the sofa arrives... Moore's "oh my GOD"... it's hilarious! I would hardly say that Moore lacks comic timing. But the weird thing is that she can only use her comic skills in auteurist dramatic vehicles; broad comedy just doesn't seem to agree with her (now I've never actually seen Evolution or LoA... I've spared myself the pain... but I'm taking everyone's word that she's bad in them).
Anyway. Weird. But I maintain that Moore is great at comedy in her own unique way.

Javier Aldabalde said...

I fully agree with Adam on Moore and comedy.

NATHANIEL R said...

javier ---i really do feel that Cate is just warming up. As the famous leading ladies go she's actually one of the younger ones. If she can start making actual good films... wow.

arkaan -thanks. the visuals are fun to do.

rob -it's fun but i've been changing the order myself all throughout work on the top 100 so I have no idea which of you will be correct. when it's posted we'll all know ;) it's worth noting that when you get to the top 20 the difference between the positions is very miniscule. So, in five years time if i'm still writing... anything could happen with the actual top 100 after 4 more years of films.

adam- totally agree on Moore as far as comedy goes. she's great in Big Lebowski for instance which is a comic role. I just want her to stop with the romcoms and paycheck jobs.

Anonymous said...

I know im the only one who doesnt care for Blanchett so im glad she didnt place higher. Having said that, I DO recognise her contributions to film this century.

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