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Greatest female performances

post #1 of 35
10/22/07 at 8:27am
Thread Starter 
Piper Laurie in 'The Hustler' I could've sworn she was actually wasted during filming, she's that damn good.

Maggie Cheung in 'Days of Being Wild' probably the most heartfelt portrait of loneliness I've ever seen.
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post #2 of 35
10/22/07 at 8:49am
Always loved Sigourney in Gorillas in the Mist, but if that's too faggy for ya, one of the most phenomenal scenes in recent memory from a sterling, award-worthy performance is Ellyn Burstyn (all-round, an underappreciated actress for more than 30 years) in Requiem For A Dream, sitting down with Jared Leto and talking about a reason to get up in the morning. Absolutely heart-breaking. A brilliantly delivered, honest, invisible moment of acting.

Gotta go with Katy Hepburn in the The Lion in Winter as well, a film filled with strong performances.
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post #3 of 35
10/22/07 at 9:02am
Thread Starter 
I'll also mention Elizabeth Taylor in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' even with that frumpy exterior she still managed to look halfway sexy but her performance is nothing short of revelatory.
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post #4 of 35
10/22/07 at 12:30pm
I'll agree alongside Ebert and say Charlize Theron in 'Monster' was a masterful portrayal. And she gets extra points for putting on the ugly, too.
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post #5 of 35
10/22/07 at 12:41pm
I have to add in the iconic Miranda Priestley from "Devils wears Prada" by Meryl Streep.
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post #6 of 35
10/22/07 at 1:27pm
Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility. Kate Winslet was wonderful, but Emma Thompson just breaks your heart.

Liza Minelli in Arthur. I know, I should be bringing up Cabaret, but she went toe to toe up against Sir John Gielgud and held her own. Every line out of her mouth was a gem, she was hilarious.

Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter. One of my favorites.
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post #7 of 35
10/23/07 at 1:35am
Thread Starter 
Gloria Swanson in 'Sunset Boulevard' the way she portrays this woman's desperation and delusion is tragically heartbreaking.
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post #8 of 35
10/23/07 at 2:06am
Diane Keaton in Annie Hall. She gives the role so much, we see not only why Alvie falls in love with her, but why she falls in love with Alvie and why she grows apart from him. She turns what could have easily been a two-dimensional quirky character and gives her dignity and a glorious lack of dignity.

No one plays off Woody Allen like Diane Keaton. She's the WASP to his Jew.
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post #9 of 35
10/23/07 at 2:15am
I'll throw a vote in for Burstyn, both in Requiem and The Exorcist - both utter powerhouse performances.

I also have to agree with Laurie in The Hustler.

To that I'll add Jessica Lange in Rob Roy and Cate Blanchette in Elizabeth.
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post #10 of 35
10/23/07 at 8:27am
The Winslet in Eternal Sunshine. Seriously. One of the most breathtakingly real performances in a long time and by far the best of her career.
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post #11 of 35
10/23/07 at 8:45am
Ooooh snap Sackley.

Top call.

Her Clementine is a brilliant performance.
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post #12 of 35
10/23/07 at 8:51am
Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple
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post #13 of 35
10/23/07 at 1:50pm
Sophie's Choice
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post #14 of 35
10/23/07 at 3:44pm
Rachel Weisz in The Fountain, such a vulnerable, heartwrenching performance.
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post #15 of 35
10/23/07 at 10:33pm
Thread Starter 
It's been ages since I've seen it but Emily Watson in 'Breaking the Waves', what a fearless performance that was.
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post #16 of 35
10/24/07 at 9:12am
Gena Rowlands' portrayal of A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE is about as fearless and as devastating as it gets. She's equally effective bringing a lighter touch to MINNIE AND MOSCOWITZ. Very few do comic intoxication so convincingly.

Gong Li gives one of my favorite leading performances of either gender in THE STORY OF QIU JU.
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post #17 of 35
10/24/07 at 12:17pm
Glenn Close was a marvel of scenery chewing in "Fatal Attraction". I loved that she took a role so against her previous "type" and just ate it and her costars alive.

I totally fell in love with Clementine in "Sunshine". Totally.
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post #18 of 35
10/26/07 at 3:25am
Thread Starter 
Naomi Watts in 'Mulholland Drive', I'm not a David Lynch fan but he managed to pull one hell of a performance out of this woman, she starts off wide eyed and Innocent but by the end of the movie, she's a broken person, complete personification of the hollywood dream gone very very bad.
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post #19 of 35
10/26/07 at 4:04am
This seems like an awfully broad category.

Get it?

But seriously, this is really broad. It seems a little condescending. I mean, would you start a discussion about the "Greatest Male Performances"? I do have to acknowledge, however, that when film geeks talk about the great performances, they rarely include women in the discussion, which I think is sad.

So, all that said, Pam Grier in Jackie Brown. She completely controlled a film that included Samuel L. Jackson and Robert DeNiro. No mean feat.
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post #20 of 35
10/27/07 at 8:16pm
Thread Starter 
I should've added 'in film', oh well.
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post #21 of 35
10/28/07 at 1:13am
Ok, I'll start by sayng that I have not seen a fraction of the amount of movies the rest of you seem to have, nor have I seen any of the "classic great moviies" but I feel like the 4 lead characters in Set It Off did nothing short of accurately, and believeably portray every ounce of emotion their characters were dragged through, and to me, that's what good/great acting is: not just being accepted as the person that does "this" and is "that", but manages to do so in a natural way you'd see a real person be, act, and feel when experiencing the things they do. When I believe how you feel, rather than simply accept that that's what you're character's supposed to be feeling, is what real acting is to me, and I felt like everything they did in that film was anything less than great.
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post #22 of 35
10/28/07 at 1:54am
Michelle Pfeiffer in BATMAN RETURNS. Admittedly, my movie intake is mostly geek shit like Batman, but by any standards, she's fucking impressive in this.

It's clearly really difficult to walk the tightrope between weird camp and acceptable reality/fantasy, keeping the character consistent. God knows Danny DeVito couldn't manage it, in the same movie no less.

The tagline should've been; YOU WILL BELIEVE A WOMAN CAN BE A WIMPY SECRETARY AND THEN GET PUSHED OUT A WINDOW AND THEN BECOME A CAT-THEMED QUASI-CRIMINAL THING.
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post #23 of 35
10/28/07 at 2:42am
Anne Bancroft in THE GRADUATE. A truly complex performance. Sympathetic, yet extremely threatening.

Nicole Kidman in EYES WIDE SHUT. I just saw this again for the first time in years and I had forgotten how great she is in it. Absolutely wipes the floor with Cruise in the little screen time she's given.
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post #24 of 35
10/28/07 at 3:37am
The role I always loved Kidman in was "To Die For". Don't know if it was a "great performance" but it was the one that made me stand up and notice her.
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post #25 of 35
10/28/07 at 4:01am
- Shirley Maclaine - Terms of Endearment
- Bette Davis - All About Eve
- Greta Garbo - Queen Christina
- Diana Ross - Lady Sings the Blues
- Maureen O'Hara - The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- Susan Sarandon - Thelma & Louise
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post #26 of 35
10/28/07 at 5:34am
Meryl Streep in Kramer vs. Kramer.
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post #27 of 35
10/28/07 at 8:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Strange
Meryl Streep in Kramer vs. Kramer.
Absolutely, and the "problem" (if you can call it that) is that really, Meryl Streep owns this thread. Whether it's comedy or drama, everytime I've ever watched any of her films, I'm always just agog at the end of it - she's never short of briliant, every time.
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post #28 of 35
10/28/07 at 1:20pm
Catherine Deneuve in Repulsion's always been a favourite
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post #29 of 35
10/28/07 at 2:12pm
Natalie Portman hat trick:
Garden State
Leon
V for Vendetta
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post #30 of 35
10/28/07 at 9:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Hughes
Natalie Portman hat trick:
Garden State
Leon
V for Vendetta
Don't forget Closer. Her and Clive ran circles around Jude n Julia...
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post #31 of 35
10/28/07 at 9:57pm
Thread Starter 
Faye Dunaway in 'Network'
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post #32 of 35
10/29/07 at 12:06am
Yes. And Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde. And Faye Dunaway in The Four Musketeers. And really, Faye Dunaway in a lot of things.
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post #33 of 35
10/29/07 at 2:54am
Quote:
And really, Faye Dunaway in a lot of things.
Including Supergirl?
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post #34 of 35
10/29/07 at 11:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty
Including Supergirl?
AND Eyes of Laura Mars. Which is one of my favorite camp-fests.
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post #35 of 35
10/29/07 at 11:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty
Including Supergirl?
Well now, I didn't say "all", did I?
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