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Top 5 Performances Feedback
 Hello Filmspotter,
From Chicago, this is The Dope Sheet... I'm Sam Hallgren.
As we mentioned on Wednesday's show (Filmspotting #102), we
haven't been able to spend as much time as we would have liked
sharing your Top 5 Performances. We heard from a lot you, but with so
much else to cover on the show, we thought The Dope Sheet was the
best place to share the bounty.
In honor of next week's Top 5 ('Chick' Flicks), I'm going to
focus on some of your favorite Female Comedic Performances. This
first e-mail is from
Laura Philips in Shaker Heights, OH:
I was about halfway through [your list of] comedic performances
when I decided to turn my iPod off and make my own lists before
hearing the rest of your picks. One thing that surprised me was how
difficult it was for me to think of female dramatic performances and
how easy to think of male performances in general, which I thought
said something about the kinds of roles that are available to men vs.
women. I tried to think of performances that gave me the most
pleasure, as you all put it, or where I just walked away from the
performance completely blown away. Some of them are really recent,
but if it's about what makes you happy, why does it need to age?
5. Audrey Hepburn, Roman Holiday
4. Cher, Moonstruck
3. Shirley MacLaine, The Apartment
2. Audrey Tautou, Amelie
1. Katharine Hepburn, The Philadelphia Story (pictured)
Honorable Mention: Meg Ryan, When Harry Met Sally. (Since you
guys admitted to liking this movie during the New York movies
feedback, I am unashamed to mention it.)
Sam: Great performances, all of them, Laura. Cher's
performance in "Moonstruck" (Nicolas Cage's, too) just missed the cut
on my list. You mention in your e-mail how compiling the list made
you reflect on the kind of roles available for men and women ... with
women getting the very short end of the stick. It's on my mind, too,
as I start to assemble next week's 'Chick' Flicks Top 5 -- a
regrettable title, perhaps, given the fact that the Top 5 will be
devoted not to romantic comedies and the like, but to films that best
convey the life of women in films ... as deemed, yes, by a couple of
dudes. It's hard not to notice that all six performances are in films
about women dealing with relationships.
And even though all are great performances in movies classified
as comedies, Audrey Tautou's Amelie spends much of the film in
bittersweet melancholy pining for love; and in "Moonstruck," Cher's
Loretta Castorini spends half the film in a foul mood, suffering no
fools while Cage's tragic Ronny and Vincent Gardenia's amorous Cosmo
have all the fun. And if you think about it, most of the comedy comes
at Hepburn's expense in "The Philadelphia Story." I'm not criticizing
the picks at all; I just think it says something about the roles --
even great roles in great comedies -- typically given to actresses.
Here's another list of great Female Comedic Performances from
Rob in London:
5) Joan Greenwood, "Kind Hearts and Coronets"
4) Anna Faris, Lost in Translation - Just hilarious (whether or
not it's a Cameron Diaz impression.
3) Beverly D'Angelo, National Lampoon's Vacation movies - Sexy,
slutty, mommsie and dead funny.
2) Julie Kavner, Radio Days - She had to beat out some stiff
competition as my favourite Woody Allen babe.
1) Katharine Hepburn, Bringing Up Baby - Masterclass.
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10 Best Character Actors...
Something you'll hear a brief discussion about during Friday's
show... The Onion A/V Club's recent list of
10 Character Actors Who Should Be In Every Movie.
This is such a good idea it just infuriates Adam and I that we
didn't think of it first. Luckily, The Onion's Scott Tobias only
steals a couple of our picks. Thanks to the (unnamed) Filmspotting
listener who tipped us off to The Onion's list. Here it is:
10. Robert Forster (Medium Cool, Jackie Brown)
9. Rory Culkin (You Can Count On Me, Down In The Valley)
8. Melissa Leo (21 Grams, The Three Burials...)
7. Timothy Olyphant (Go, Deadwood)
6. Scott Caan (Oceans 11 & 12, Friends With Money)
5. Charlotte Rampling (The Verdict, Under The Sand)
4. William Fichter (Go, Black Hawk Down)
3. Zooey Deschanel (The Good Girl, Almost Famous)
2. Nicky Katt (Dazed and Confused, The Limey)
1. Gary Cole (Office Space, A Simple Plan)
We're going to unveil the Filmspotting Top 10 the last week in
June. Who would make your list? Email it to:
feedback@filmspotting.net
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Overlooked DVD Pick: Human Nature
 Finally, a quick Overlooked DVD Pick tying in with one of Scott
Tobias' character actor picks -- the Charlie Kaufman scripted/Michel
Gondry directed
"Human Nature"
(2001).
Tobias' #10 pick Robert Forster has only a small role, but the
film, made before Kaufman and Gondry teamed up for the (admittedly
far superior) "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind," deserves
attention from more than Kaufman completists. A strange fable about
science, social acceptance and romantic relationships, "Human
Nature's" uneven tone is made up for by Kaufman's singular style and
Ryhs Ifans' hilarious performance as a man raised as an ape.
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Dope Sheet |
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n. Slang.
A list of scenes from the script that have already been filmed,
or a list of the contents of an exposed reel of film stock.
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