The Rise and Comfortable Fall of Jack Sparrow

This was written in 2011 for Examiner.com which went out of business a while back

The pirate genre has always been waiting for just the right people to revive it and with Johnny Depp, Jerry Bruckheimer, and screenwriters Terry Russo and Ted Elliot*, that's just what happened with the original Pirates of the Caribbean

I loved the original Pirates installment but I distinctly remember how much more I've liked it in retrospect. It might have barely made my top ten in 2003** but now I would probably place it among the ten most memorable films of the decade.

This sentiment has been echoed by many film critics at the time: Brian McKay's review at efilmcrtic*** is fairly typical: "Yo ho ho-hum, the ride was better, and shorter. The two main stars of the film are some fantastic visuals and Johnny Depp's performance (which is the saving grace many times over)." That review reflected the general consensus on the film: A little long and the storyline meanders, but it's got a few fantastic elements.

Those notable elements have really grown on me over time. No offense to Javier Bardem or Heath Ledger, but I would consider Johnny Depp's portrayal of the wily and perpetually drunk Jack Sparrow as the greatest original**** performance of the decade and the musical score is also my favorite from any film of the last decade as well (can you even remember any other movie score off the top of your head?).

Like myself, A lot of other critics have retrospectively considered Pirates a classic, partially because the later films highlighted just how great the original one was. If the story line meandered a little in the first one, that was nothing compared to the sequels. By the third installment, the plot was unintelligible.

The original also had a certain novelty to it (although that's a problem with almost all sequels). Because Orlando Bloom's Will Turner was the dynamic character with a love interest, that relegated Jack Sparrow to being more of a side character. He was like Zach Galifanakas in the Hangover or Will Ferrell in Old School: Freed from the obligation of driving the plot forward, he could muck things up all he wanted which contrasted well with the Goody Two Shoes personality of Will Turner.

The sequels diluted themselves with so many dues-ex-machinas that explained away so many would-be deaths, that people forget that the audience was half-convinced that Jack Sparrow wouldn't survive to the end of the movie. There was palpable drama being created from watching this inebriated character, who looked as though he were in over his head, constantly outsmart everyone around him. There was also a catharsis in watching Johnny Depp, who had built a career by condescending to the mainstream tastes of average cinemagoers, not just embracing a role in a Disney film (as mainstream as you can get), but completely owning it.

For those reasons, the magic of the original cannot really be replicated in sequels although it didn't help that the screenwriters completely muddled up their own franchise.

At its best, the sequels just offer standard genre fair. You know exactly what you're expecting but it has some great acting, special effects, and some very clever action pieces. Even as the plot had you scratching your head in Dead Man's Chest, you can't deny that the opening scene as the pirates escape the cannibals or the three-way sword fight on a renegade watermill are absolutely breathtaking scenes.
 

It's in that spirit that you might best enjoy Pirates. It's still 40 minutes too long and the story's as convoluted as ever but there are a few great set pieces, some memorable acting turns, and a genuinely exotic sense of adventure.

It's probably a good thing that Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly are gone. There's a very good subplot between a mermaid and a priest that might have been squeezed out if there was a need to keep storylines going for Elizabeth and Will. Many of the other new additions to the cast have little to do other than overennunciate their "R"s and brandish about

their swords, but Penelope Cruz really brings something to the table with some genuine sexual heat.

With the great attention to visual detail, I'd definitely recommend catching Pirates of the Caribbean at the Uptown Theater in Cleveland Heights where it's playing until June 9th. 

*Elliott and Russo are the screenwriters and pretty fascinating guys when interviewed. I didn't include directors Gore Verbinski (the first three) or Rob Marshall (the fourth installment) because I don't think they were as integral to the template. Some people disagree.

**A little secret: Serious film watchers are usually pretty nerdy in that they're constantly keeping top ten lists

***Brian McKay isn't the first person I go to for a review and I have never heard of him before, but I believe that his review summarizes the general feeling at the time very well

****I use the word "original" because I might give a slight edge to Jamie Foxx or Forest Whitaker in their Oscar-winning performances for eerily replicating the mannerisms of historical figures

Top 25 Actresses of the (Last) Decade: Rehash Article from 2009

This article was originally published in 2009 on another website. It’s now being reprinted here and polished up a little bit:

With the decade nearly over, and the fact that we can get a sense of who is committed to which projects through the end of 2009, we can safely evaluate the actresses of the 2000s. The reason I'm picking actresses instead of actors, is partially because actresses are easier to compare to each other since they get the same roles (romantic interests, daughters, sisters, mothers, feminist activists, monarchs named Elizabeth, etc.), and because actresses tend to be at the peak of their careers for shorter time periods (for example, the actresses of the 90's, Meg Ryan, Demi Moore, Michelle Pfeiffer are not really stars at all today).

The criteria:

-Being prolific, as in doing a lot of movies. If you have a number of hits and some misses along the way, you still get more exposure than someone who's been in very few movies and has won Academy Awards for two of them like Hillary Swank

-Being in good movies. The actress might not be the one to get the major awards bling from the movie but they might be part of great works

-Having Oscar nominations, nominations by other major awards bodies, or generally highly praised performances

-Being a bankable movie star with blockbuster potential, bonus points for helming a major franchise

-Being present the whole decade. If you've only been hot since 2005 or 2006 like Amy Adams or Ellen Page, that's not really dominating the decade but rather 3 or 4 years.

The list

1. Nicole Kidman

Kidman is one of the most prolific and visible actresses in Hollywood and if she has had any misfires, one has to credit her for taking so many chances and diving into them headfirst: She tackled romantic comedy with one of the most innovative writers in the genre with Nora Ephron, she immersed herself into the glitz and glamour of Baz Luhrmann, she teamed up with Sean Penn and Sidney Pollack to make a classic thriller, and took a chance with a controversial innovator in Lars von Trier even if she didn’t like it enough to stick around for the sequel. Some of Kidman's less-remembered roles this decade, such as that a trouble janitor who enters into May-December romance with a professor in The Human Stain or a UN translator in Sidney Pollack's thriller The Interpreter, are roles that might have been career highlights for other stars on this list.

Dossier

Nationality: Australian

Best Role: Ada Monroe, Cold Mountain (highly subjective personal opinion on the part of the author)

Other Highlights: The Others, The Hours, The Cold Mountain, Dogville, Interpreter, Birth, Margot at the Wedding

2000s Hardware: 1 win, 2 Oscar noms, 4 Golden Globe Noms

Blockbuster/Tent pole Credentials: Golden Compass if it spawns a sequel [Ed note: It didn't], voice work in Happy Feet

Directorial Portfolio: Anthony Minghella, Baz Luhrmann, Stephen Daldry, Nora Ephron, Sidney Pollack, Lars von Trier

Credit: Rebloggy

2. Cate Blanchett

Known primarily for playing Queen Elizabeth in the last decade, Blanchett never has exhibited much of a star persona but, like Kidman, she has been highly prolific and immersed herself in a tremendous variety of work. In the last three years alone, she appeared in seven wide release pictures, she has earned Oscar nominations for three of them. In addition, she has propelled two others to Oscar nominations for Best Picture. She also has a penchant for the quirky and experimental as shown through her willingness to embrace projects like Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic and Steve Soderbergh's The Good German.

Dossier

Nationality: Australia

Best Role: Bob Dylan, I'm Not There

Other highlights: Veronica Guerin, Aviator, Life Aquatic with Steve Zassou, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (she’s arguably the only person acting in the film), Notes on a Scandal, Babel, Good German

The decade in hardware: 1 Oscar win, 4 Oscar noms, 6 Golden Globes Nods

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones

Directorial Portfolio: Steve Soderbergh, Steve Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Ron Howard, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Peter Jackson, Todd Haynes, Shekhar Kapur, David Fincher, Barry Levinson

3. Meryl Streep- The preeminent actress of our era. Twelve nominations into her career, Streep is still capable of surprising audiences with new facets of herself, which is simply amazing. This decade, she's transformed into a stoic uberboss, a quaint country singer, and a sexually adventurous middle-aged writer.

Dossier

Nationality-American

Best Role: Susan Orlean, Adaptation

Other Highlights: Devil Wears Prada, Prairie Home Companion, Prime, It’s Complicated, Doubt, Manchurian Candidate

The decade in hardware: 4 Oscar noms, 7 Golden Globe noms

Blockbuster Credentials: Adventures of Lemony Snicket

Directorial Portfolio: Johnathan Demme, Rob Altman, Tom Daldry, Spike Jonze, Robert Redford

4. Kate Winslet

Winslet was in the biggest blockbuster of all time, and has done an excellent job in the 2000s of making audiences forget the name Rose Bukater and remember the name Kate Winslet instead. Her effusive personality and her able handling of Saturday Night Live the week after Ashlee Simpson was busted for lip-synching has done wonders for her public persona but it’s largely been about the acting talent with Winslet and the breadth of films. She became the youngest actress to earn 5 nominations by 2007, and finally goaded the Academy into giving her an Oscar through sheer perseverance with her role of Hannah Schmidt in “The Reader.” Interestingly enough, she predicted on a 2005 episode of “Extras” that it would take a Holocaust movie for her to win.

Dossier

Nationality: British

Best Role: April Wheeler, Revolutionary Road

Other Highlights: Secret Life of David Gale, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,  The Reader

The Decade in Hardware:  Oscar Wins: 1, Oscar Noms: 4, Golden Globe Noms:  5

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Winslet isn't exclusively high-brow, but she doesn't have any big blockbusters to her name this decade.

Notable Directors: Michel Gondry, Sam Mendes (her then-husband), Todd Field, Marc Forster

5. Rene Zellweger

Ideal in romantic comedies or as a dramatic love interest, Zellweger has also expanded to roles of independent women with roles in Miss Potter, Cold Mountain and Bridget Jones. She scored three successive Oscar nominations with Bridget Jones, Chicago, and Cold Mountain, and with her performances in Cinderella Man and Miss Potter, was a a threat to be present in the Oscar race pretty much every year she had a major film.

Dossier

Nationality: American

Best Role: Roxie Hart, Chicago

Other highlights: Nurse Betty, Cold Mountain, Miss Potter

The Decade in Hardware: Oscars: 1, Oscar Noms 3, Golden Globe Noms: 6

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Bee Movie, Bridget Jones spurned a sequel

Directorial Portfolio: Rob Marshall, Anthony Minghella, Ron Howard, Neil LaBute, George Clooney

Source: DRWL Wordpress

6. Reese Witherspoon

Her output is more limited than some of the ladies on the list but she has been America's sweetheart since breaking out in Legally Blonde and following up with favorable romantic comedy Sweet Home in Alabama. She also is in high demand judging by the 15 million dollar paycheck she's been commanding. Most importantly, she took her sweetheart charm and turned it into a nuanced performance in one of the best performances of the decade in Walk the Line.

Dossier

Nationality: American

Best Role: June Carter Cash, Walk the Line

Other highlights: Legally Blonde, Just Like Heaven

The Decade in Hardware: Walk the Line earned her a win at the Oscars and was her sole nomination at Globes or Oscars

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Legally Blonde spawned a sequel

Directorial Portfolio: James Mangold, Mira Nair

Source: IMDB

7. Judi Dench

Proving that old age and the bob weave are not barriers, Dench continues to corner the market on juicy veteran roles and has managed to score four Oscar nominations this decade. While none of her Oscar-nominated roles were popular films at the box office, she gets exposure through playing M in the James Bond series. She also appeared in the critically acclaimed Pride and Prejudice.

Dossier

Nationality: British

Best Role: Barbara Covet, Notes on a Scandal

Other Notable Roles: Iris, The Shipping News, Mrs Henderson Presents, Casino Royale, Pride and Prejudice

The Decade in Hardware: 4 Oscar noms, 3 Golden Globe noms

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: James Bond, the less successful Chronicles of Riddick

Directorial Portfolio: Stephen Frears, Martin Campbell, Lasse Hollstrom, Joe Wright, Rob Marshall

8. Scarlett Johansson

It is hard to even fathom how only five years after breaking out in Lost in Translation, Scarlett Johannson has amassed a lifetime of great performances to date. She's been in The Prestige, The Other Boleyn Girls, Match Point, Girl with a Pearl Earring, a Love Song for Bobby Long, and has even had time left over for a hearty romantic comedy like In Good Company or a sci-fi thriller like The Island. Even before breaking out in Lost in Translation, she managed to steal scenes in films like Man who Wasn't There and Ghost World. Due to category confusion (was she supporting or lead for Lost in Translation?), that career-affirming Oscar nomination eludes her but she's got plenty of time to accumulate more accolades. She also has a BAFTA (British version of the Oscars) to her name for Lost in Translation.

Dossier

Nationality: USA

Best Role: Charlotte, Lost in Translation

Other notable roles: Ghost World, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Love Song for Bobby Long, Match Point

Notable Hardware: Some Golden Globe nominations but no Oscar nods in a cruel twist of fate

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: She was in Home Alone 3, Prestige made quite a bit of money and she will be added to the Iron Man sequel next summer

Directorial Portfolio: Paul & Chris Weicz, Woody Allen, Sofia Coppola, Christopher Nolan, Brian de Palma, Joel & Ethan Coen, Frank Miller, Phillip Noyce

Source: Product Placement Blog dot com 

9. Julia Roberts

The biggest starlet in Hollywood last decade has slowed down a little bit this decade but still isn’t enough to stop and say. She's considered herself semi-retired and usually enters into projects because of her friendships with Brad Pitt, Steve Soderbergh, Mike Nichols or George Clooney, which doesn't make her particularly bankable as a star any more. At the same time, she's still Julia Roberts and generates a lot of buzz whenever she does decide to do a film, such as Charlie Wilson's War a couple years ago

Dossier

Best Role: Erin Brockovich, Erin Brockovich                  

Other notable roles: Closer, Ocean’s 12, Charlie Wilson’s War, Duplicity

Nationality: American

The decade in hardware: One Oscar, one Oscar nom and 3 Golden Globe noms

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Ocean's 11 series (though she was weaned out by part 3)

Directors: Stephen Soderbergh, George Clooney, Mike Nicholls, Gore Verbinski,

10. Julianne Moore

Moore is usually attracted to only the classiest material, and sometimes these films, like Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio and Freedomland, are films that the general movie going public is rarely even aware of. In some case, however, like Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men and the Oscar-nominated The Hours, magic has struck and her profile has been upped significantly as a result. Breaks into more lightweight material such as Laws of Attraction or Next have also helped as well.

Dossier

Nationality: American

Best Role: Cathy Whitaker, Far From Heaven

Other Notable Roles: Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio, Laws of Attraction, Children of Men, The Hours, A Single Man, Shipping News

The Decade in Hardware: Two Oscar noms, two Golden Globe Nods

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: Hannibal, Next

Directors: Todd Haynes, Ridley Scott, Stephen Daldry, Alfonso Cuaron

11. Naomi Watts

With her ability to slip into and out of accents and an on/off switch with which she can bring out intensity, Watts is simply too talented to be anything but an A-list actor for long. Her performance in Mullholland Drive was one of the most notorious Oscar snubs of the decade. Two years later, she earned a well-deserved nomination in 21 Grams and a couple years later, she turned a role that nearly derailed Jessica Lange's career in a third-time remake into Oscar bait, with the role of Ane Darrow in King Kong. She often adds a lot to films in supporting roles like Eastern Promises or I Heart Huckabees and more often than not, her work goes unnoticed.

Dossier

Nationality: Australian

Best Role: Betty, Mullholland Drive,

Other Notable Roles: 21 Grams, The Ring, King Kong, Eastern Promises

Oscar Hardware: 1 Oscar Nom, surprisingly zero Golden Globe nods

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: King Kong, The Ring

Directorial Portfolio: Ron Howard, David Lynch, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, David Cronenberg, Peter Jackson, Gore Verbinski, Woody Allen, James Ivory

Source: North Country Charlize Theron-The Wrap

12. Charlize Theron

The Charlize Theron story is a dream come true for every B and C-lister out there with hopes of turning into an A-lister overnight. With Monster (2003), she landed that one juicy role and turned it into the performance of a lifetime. The Academy treats the best actress race like a coronation of Tinseltown's homecoming queen and more than in any other race, there is a hesitancy to give it to someone who hasn't paid her dues, but Theron was too good to deny. She later proved that she wasn't a one-hit wonder by scoring another Oscar nod in North Country and has picked up parts in Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah and attempted action roles in Aeon Flux and Hancock (the 10^th highest grossing film of 2008). Neither showed sequel potential but a kick-ass heroine is always marketable.

Dossier

Best Film Role: Aileen, Monster

Other Notable Roles: Aeon Flux, North Country, Curse of the Jaded Scorpion

Nationality: South Africa

The Decade in Hardware: 1 Oscar win, 2 Oscar nominations, 1 Golden Globe Nomination

Tentpole/Blockbuster Credentials: An unsuccessful attempt with Aeon Flux, Hancock had a decent opening weekend but fell off

Directors: Robert Redford, Nikki Cairo, Woody Allen, Paul Haggis, John Frankenheimmer

13. Helen Mirren- The first woman over the age of 40 to win a best actress Oscar since Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren had a big career hit with her role in The Queen and won a second Golden Globe for playing Queen Elizabeth I in the same year. In addition, she had Oscar nods for Godsford Park, The Last Station, and made respectable Oscar bait in Calendar Girls. Well into her 60s, she continues to exude an odd sex appeal and youthfulness. With the exception of her Oscar-nominated role for The Madness of King George, the actress was more visible onstage and in the British miniseries Prime Suspect. 

Best Role: Queen Elizabeth II, The Queen

Other Notable Roles: Gosford Park, Calendar Girls, The Last Station

Nationality: British through and through

The Decade in Hardware: 1 Oscar win, 3 Oscar noms, 4 Golden Globe noms

Tentpole/Blockbuster Credentials: National Treasure 2

Directorial Portfolio: Stephen Frears, Rob Altman, Taylor Hackford, Sean Penn

14. Keira Knightley

When she was cast in Pirates of the Carribean, little-known Keira Knightley might have been destined to be the female love interest in a swashbuckling epic, but as she held her own against Orlando Bloom and Jonny Depp, she gradually became the center of the story herself (and for that matter, the only remotely interesting character onscreen in the disastrous third installment of the trilogy). Rather than ride the kind of fame that one gets from being in a billion dollar trilogy into a string of roles in romantic comedies, Knightly went for more high-brow material, scoring a nod for Pride and Prejudice and starring in an Oscar-nominated film with Atonement.

Dossier

Best Role: Jules, Bend it Like Beckham

Other Notable Roles: Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Atonement, Domino, The Edge of Love

Nationality: English

The Decade in Hardware: 1 Oscar nom, 2 Golden Globe noms

Tentpole/Blockbuster Credentials: Pirates of the Caribbean

Directorial Portfolio: Joe Wright, Gore Verbinski, Tony Scott

15. Jennifer Connelly- Like Watts, Connelly is so talented that it was only a matter of time before she became an A-list actress, won an Oscar or both. Her Oscar for A Beautiful Mind could have just as well been for House of Sand and Fog, and she regularly appears in highly respected films such as Requiem for a Dream, Little Children, and Blood Diamond and even her unremarkable genre films like Open Water and Ang Lee's Hulk are capable of drawing attention solely because her name is on the marquee.

Best Role: Kathy, House of Sand and Fog

Nationality: American

Other Notable Roles: Beautiful Mind, Blood Diamond, Little Children, Requiem for a Dream, Open Water

The Decade in Hardware: One Oscar win, one Oscar nom, one Golden Globe nom

Blockbuster/Tentpole Credentials: A failed attempt at The Hulk, a commercially successful but critically panned Day the Earth Stood Still

Directors: Ron Howard, Ed Zwick, Todd Fields, Ang Lee, Darren Aronofsky, Terry George

And the rest of the top 25 (All deleted from the internet forever, except 25):
16. Natalie Portman 17. Laura Linney 18. Maggie Smith 19. Catherine Zeta-Jones 20. Kirsten Dunst 21. Joan Allen 22. Halle Berry 23. Maggie Gyllenhaal 24. Cameron Diaz 25. Angelina Jolie

25 Best Acting Performances of 2014

1. Ralph Fiennes, Grand Budapest Hotel: The centerpiece of Wes Anderson’s best received film to date is a sublime comic creation and one of those unique characters whose iconic stature should be remembered for years if there’s any justice. He’s unapologetically shameless in the lengths he’ll go to to please a client and his emotional core develops as the film goes on through his relationship with Zero. It’s a high-water mark for Fiennes as well who, just the other day, The Film Experience was asking to resounding choruses how it could possible be that 20 years have passed with an Oscar nomination for this uber-talented actor.  .
2. Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl: Pike reconciles both ends of the dichotomy of a woman in love by playing the extremes-- sugary/sweet and vengeful/bitter- with delicious wickedness. Just like Fiennes’ performance, Pike’s work here is indisputably a game changer.
3. Julianne Moore, Still Alice: While Moore’s Oscar win is a recognition of her great career as well, there’s little doubt that she at least deserved to be in the conversation for her thoroughly researched role of a woman in Alzheimer’s. Without Moore making the character so engaging, this film would have been a snoozefest designed to win someone an Oscar. With Moore at center, her acutely-felt awareness of her degradation gives the movie the feel of a psychological thriller.
4. Benedict Cumberbatch, Imitation Game: In his portrayal of severely anti-social mathematician Alan Turing, Cumberbatch allows us to empathize with someone who is nearly devoid of feelings. And he was a lot of fun to watch on the awards circuit.
5. Reese Witherspoon, Wild: It would be dismissive of the last decade to call this film Witherspoon’s graduation from a rom-com-centered ingenue to a grown-up, but it’s fair to say she has never had a role so demanding and the way she makes so many solo scenes engaging says a lot about her capabilities.
6. Brendan Gleeson, Calvary:Gleeson stars as a priest in a small Irish town, whose congregation has regressed so far morally that when he receives a death threat, he has no idea who it’s from. His pensiveness and jaded interaction with the townsfolk carries the movie’s somber aura.
7. JK Simmons, Whiplash: Simmons deservedly won a best supporting actor here for his intensity and the sheer uniqueness of his creation. The “what makes this character tick” question is just enigmatic enough that the film’s twists have enough room to surprise us.
8. Miles Teller, Whiplash: By contrast, Simmons owes plenty of his Oscar to the quality of his scene partner. Andrew’s descent into artistic obsession is filtered through a timid teenager wrestling with being comfortable in his own skin. Teller portrays both parts of the character with the adeptness of someone twice his age.
9. Ed Norton,Birdman: Looking back nearly two years after seeing the film, I can barely remember any of the performances. It was such an ensemble film that none of the  performances really were able to escape the conformity of the group effort and the acting felt oversahdowed by the razzle of the camera tricks anyway. The sole exceptions were Norton and the one-scene wonder of the critic (was it Lindsey Duncan? I’ll have to double check the credits). The temperamental actor is a standard but not one who would initially turn down sex with Emma Stone or punch someone else in his underwear. There were a lot of odd specificities that powered this film.
10. Keira Knightley, Imitation Game: I know it would be reductive to call a brilliant thinker like Joan Clark “plucky,” but that really is the first word to come to mind when thinking of Knightley’s portrayal. It’s why you can understand how Clark could deftly navigate her way through a boy’s club or convince a gay man to abandon his better judgement and propose to her. It’s been a great year for Knightley and she got her long-overdue second nomination here.
11. Christoph Waltz, Big Eyes: As I started watching this film, I was thinking of how refreshing it would be to see Waltz play someone other than a maniacal villain. Boy, was I wrong….
12. Carrie Coon, Gone Girl: Coon and Affleck nail down the easygoing ebb and flow of siblings so well that they seem more natural together than Casey and Ben did on the press tour for “Gone Baby Gone.” Coon also nails certain moments of revulsion, whether at her brother or his wife.
13. Alec Baldwin, Still Alice: Playing the significant other or other loved one trying to maintain steadiness while a loved one suffers is not always easy to do. It has won Alicia Vikander, Jennifer Connelly, Brenda Fricker and countless other women Oscars or nominations. It has been rare, however, to see a man go through a caretaker role like this. Baldwin’s approach from a masculine perspective was an interesting take: It was more externally quiet.
14. Mark Ruffalo, Begin Again: At this point, Ruffalo has three Oscar nominations which is quite a lot for an actor who squints his way through some of his most difficult scenes. This performance, however, really hits home. Ruffalo’s character here is a wide-eyed (a character with less squinting is good news for this guy!)  dreamer inside a jaded record executive and, in this fairy-tale-like story, we are sure invested in seeing that wide-eyed dreamer reemerge. When he smiles or jaunts around the city with Keira Knightley, or figures out the logistics of a musical number, it’s electric.
15. Chris Dowd, Calvary: This isn’t the baby-faced dreamboat from “Bridesamaids” you’ve grown to love. In a short amount of screen time, Dowd stands out among the cast of lowlives in the “Who wants to murder the priest” sweepstakes.
16. Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer: I not only love the uniquely enthusiastic regime enforcer Swinton creates here. I also love how a non-traditional-Oscar-bait role from an even less traditional film made so many dents in the Awards season.
17. David Oyelowo, Selma-Sorry #Oscarssowhite protesters, I have to agree with the Academy. This performance had a good gravity to it, but wasn’t up there with the best of the year. I'm sure this guy will make it sooner or later though.
18. Ben Affleck, Gone Girl: It takes two to tango and Affleck is particularly eclectic when Nick starts figuring out Amy’s game and playing by her rules.
19. Channing Tatum, Foxcatcher: To be clear, I found this movie excruciatingly boring. Frankly, I would have been more surprised by a revelation that a multi-millionaire  volunteering to let a bunch of Olympic athletes wrestle in his house wasn’t doing it for inappropriate reasons. Still, that doesn’t take away from the fact that amid all this Oscar bait, the actors are doing what they’re supposed to pretty well. In particular, Tatum blew me away as a sensitive brute enamored with darker secrets.
20. Keira Knightley, Begin Again-I might have moved her up a couple spots if she wasn’t so overly flowery in moments. Her relationship chemistry with Adam Levine didn’t seem entirely convincing either but she more than made up for it as one half of the cinematic year’s best platonic friendship with Mark Ruffalo. Her instant girl-bonding with Ruffalo’s daughter (played by Hailee Steinfeld) was particularly adorable as well. An additional paragraph can be written about Knightley’s musical performance here.
21. Emily Blunt, Into the Woods-Emily Blunt had a somewhat bizarre part here with her loyalty to her husband so well established in the first half and the second half being marked by---well, no spoilers. Blunt maintains the comic and fantasical tones of the film very nicely. Blunt is well-known but I think it’s still possible to call her underrated
22. Paddy Considine, Pride-Like “Into the Woods,” this film was a big ensemble effort. There were a lot of great performances in this film, so it’s hard to single one out. Considine, though, has one of the biggest presences in the film as Dai, one of the more elderly Welsh miners facing the cultural shock of an alliance with London’s gay community. One morning, he casually announces over breakfast to his wife that he’s not just comfortable with gays but also gay, and it’s one of the film’s most out-of-nowhere moments. It’s also, in the hands of Considine (and scene partner Imelda Staunton), one of the film's most beautiful moments. 
23. Matthew Goode, Imitation Game-The straight man to Benedict Cumberbatch’s erratic character.
24. Anna Kendrick, Into the Woods-Kendrick sings and dances and dresses like Cinderella! What more can you want?
25. Matthew McConaughey, Interstellar-McConaughey convincingly playing a man who’s future Earth’s smartest scientist and best pilot might be a stretch. However, he makes the list for two moments: 1) The tear-ridden scene in which he learns his daughter grows up and 2) His endearing banter with a sarcastic robot.

The one I just realized I forgot to put in: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Frank

Films I did not see that might have affected my judgment: Nightcrawler, Boyhood, American Sniper, Mr Turner, A Most Violent Year, Inherent Vice, 2 Days One Night

2015: Year-End Top 30 Actress Power Ranking

This is my Power Rankings series where I rank actors and actresses on a mix of commercial and critical bankability. The measure is on the odds that casting this actress in your film will make it a critical or commercial success. It's based on December 31, 2015 as I originally wrote it then and haven't gotten around to posting it. Check out the last power rankings I did three years ago for reference.

Fair warning: A proper noun or two might be spelled wrong. 



The top four:

1. Charlize Theron
2. Cate Blanchett
3. Jennifer Lawrence
4. Kate Winslet

There were four clear contenders for the top spot. The two K/Cates (Blanchett and Kate Winslet) are the go-to actresses for auteurs and they have both displayed a seemingly endless range for Oscar-caliber acting in the last twenty years. Blanchett is penalized a little because she’s so chameleon-like  that she doesn’t have any star persona. Winslet is penalized a little because she wasn’t on any particular hot streak before Steve Jobs (which got her an Oscar nomination but it was a film which no one really saw) as evidenced by the disaster that was Jason Reitman’s Labor Day.

Lawrence is on fire (as Alicia Keys can attest) with two franchises she’s successfully helmed and more Oscar nominations than any 25-year-old really needs. However, she could be in danger of being ghettoized if she chooses to do all her non-tentpole films with David O Russell. For non-DOR fans, she is in danger of falling off their radar as the lack of success Joy had in finding an audience showed. There’s also some debate about whether she can master an older woman but that’s based on whether you think she pulled Joy (I'm in the camp that she did).

That leaves Charlize Theron who has been recognized as a high-caliber actress for a dozen years now, has the hardware to show for it, and has a certain edge to her screen persona that sells. By sheer talent and appeal, I am comfortable calling her the biggest star in moviedom today.

5.      Meryl Streep-Universally considered the best actress of her generation, Streep continues to take risks and interesting choices while also doing broad appeal films like Mamma Mia, Lemony Snicket, It’s Complicated, Prime, and some might say Ricki and the Flash (in theory, this film should have had broad appeal). She’s aging gracefully and is a threat to get an Oscar nomination pretty much every year.

 6.      Scarlett Johansson-Although she’s never been Oscar-nominated, she’s come close enough a few times that she’s considered high-caliber. She also has several Golden Globe and BAFTA nominees and has been an established actress for a dozen years. She’s a certifiable action star and has made boundary-pushing choices through films such as Lucy, Her or Don John’s Addiction. And yes, the plot of Lucy was pretty ridiculous, but it was an edgy choice on her part.

7.      Julianne Moore-She’s hot because she just won an Oscar, but even so, she consistently brings the goods. She’s been in romantic comedies, art house films, and adaptations BUT she goes down a couple pegs from Top 5 because her best performances are often for obscure films. She won an Oscar for Still Alice but did anyone see Still Alice? Free Held, Maps to the Stars and, in the past, The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio didn’t even get wide-scale distribution.

8.      Amy Adams-The female answer to Leonardo DiCaprio. She has the make and temperament of a character actress but she has shown the ability to hold her own as a lead (she out-acted Jennifer Lawrence  in American Hustle) and her filmography is so full of good films, she can rival John C Rilley or the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman as contemporaries.  Man of Steel brings tent pole credentials and so did Enchanted (although that was back in 2007). She also has done comedy like Talladega Nights or The Muppet Movie and was pretty game to get her hands dirty .

9.      Naomi Watts-How often she appears in film is relative but her talent alone groups her in the top tier. Like Nicole Kidman, she’s chameleon-like in accents and although this is three years ago, The Impossible was very DiCaprio-like in terms of the rigor of the shoot.

 10.  Rooney Mara-Although her filmography is relatively short (not as short as Hailee Steinfeld or Saiosre Ronan), she has made strong marks in everything she’s in. Even small supporting roles in Social Network or Her garnered attention. She has about a 50% chance of winning an Oscar for Carol but even if she doesn’t, she will likely be back.

11.  Keira Knightley-Authentic English actors and actresses always get a boost in bankability because so many period pieces (even things not explicitly set in England like Troy or Merchant of Venice) require an English thespian. On top of that, Knightley is hip and cool and has a modern sensibility. She could easily fit into a Diablo Cody or Noah Bombauch work (Begin Again or Seeking a Friend for the End of the World might not have been written explicitly by those two but they were in that mold). Plus, she can swashbuckle AND sing. 

12.  Anne Hathaway-An Oscar winner at the right age to play a wide range of parts, her public persona is a bit polarizing. She did action in Get Smart and sang in Les Miserables. Even though she’s been on SNL, her comic chops are not particularly strong in my opinion.

13.  Rachel McAdams-Introduced to Hollywood in a villainess role in Mean Girls, she’s tackled a wide range of parts working with Terrence Malick, Woody Allen, Thomas McCarthy and kicked ass in Sherlock Holmes and a Most Wanted Man. Turned a best supporting actress nomination in a competitive field this past year and is a very strong romantic lead.
  
14.  Sandra Bullock-The female counterpart to Matthew McConaughey in that she was seen mostly as a romcom type of actress with a bubbly personality but her 2009 Oscar gave her a makeover and the follow-up Oscar nod in Gravity gave her a lot more leverage in being taken seriously. 

15.  Emma Stone-This might just be me  but I have trouble not seeing her as a teeny-bopper sor tof star even though we’re apparently 5 years removed from her high school roles in Easy A and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. She’s had a respectable turn in the Help, starred in two of Woody Allen’s most invisible films and her big Oscar-nominated turn in Birdman (which I’m pretty sure would not have materialized if she wasn’t acting in the eventual BP winner) was still that of a teenager. I think it might still be a while until she’s taken seriously as an actress who can play 30+. 

16.  Judi Dench-If you need a senior citizen, she’ll work in nearly every film, but it's worth noting, she’s getting to the age where her acting days are limited due to failing eye sight.

17.  Jessica Chastain-Two Oscar noms in the past five years and a very close call last year for a nominaion as well. Not to mention she’s been in four Best Picture nominees-The Martian, Zero Dark Thirty, Help, and Tree of Life- in that time period as well. She’s also won a Golden Globe and two NBR awards. With Interstellar, The Martian, Zero Dark Thirty, and a Most Violent Year, she has a very good track record of interesting film choices

18.  Helen Mirren-Very versatile actress who not as old as she looks (she’s 70), although she gets relegated to senior citizen parts (though she is considered a cougar of sorts). She still gets awards buzz here and there (Woman in Gold and Trumbo in this year alone). Also worth noting: Woman in Gold got $33 million domestically at the box office. Extremely impressive for a film no one’s ever heard of. 

19.  Alicia Vikander-It’s hard to properly rate someone who’s been in the public spotlight for exactly one year. Man from Uncle, Ex Machina, The Danish Girl ere all great performances and she could even win an Oscar and just won a SAG award, but it’s just one year. The longer you’re in the public eye the better chances you have of working up a fan base.

20.  Nicole Kidman-The first time I wrote a list like this in 2009, she was #1 and she’s still just as good but a lot of her films are not wide-release. Her best role in the last half-decade, Paperboy, was mostly enjoyed ironically by people. The Oscar campaign for that role was something along the lines of  “Let’s give an Oscar nom to someone in a bad movie for once!” 

21.  Saoirse Ronan-I tend to group her, Haile Steinfeld and Carey Mulligan together in the same boat. Women who got Oscar noms at young ages and subsequently got set up with expectations as the next big thing. Of the trio, Ronan has had the biggest cult. She carried Brooklyn to a Best Picture Nomination this past year.

22.  Kristen Wiig-Some might disagree but I would maintain she wasn’t as well-known on SNL as Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. Those three were known as Hollywood royalty. Wiig had the most screentime of anyone on SNL in her later years, but there was a good chance if you didn’t watch SNL during those years, you wouldn’t have known she was on. Since leaving, she’s had a game-changing megahit in Bridesmaids, has taken value-added supporting roles in nearly every comedy to come out. She has also won critical acclaim in a wide variety of indie films.

23.  Emily Blunt-This is more wishful thinking because somehow I don’t think Blunt is quite A-list yet, but I see no reason why she shouldn’t. I don’t even understand why she wasn’t nominated for Sicario. She can play a brooding, introspective star, she can do dramedy (Sunshine Cleaning, Devil Wears Prada), she did period (Young Victoria), and she has edge. 

24.  Reese Witherspoon-Wild was one of the best performances of any actor last year IMO and she deserved an  Oscar, but she’s so ingrained as the ingénue that it’s sometimes hard to see her outside of that typecast. Even Walk the Line had her playing a version of that Southern Ingenue. It’s also been well over a decade since she became a tentpole star with Legally Blonde.

25.  Claire Danes-Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell, James Gandolfini and Kyle Chandler have enjoyed extremely successful movie careers since their star-making TV roles have ended. I predict when Homeland ends, Danes will be an A-lister in the movies.  As far as I can gather, she’s only been in one film in the 2010s (a Sundance entry) but that should change when Homeland ends. Anna Faris and Kerry Washington are two others I believe will explode in film when their TV shows end. 

26.  Carey Mulligan-Her casting in the Great Gatsby when it was hyped up in the pre-production phase says a lot about how prized she is among casting directors. She’s the right age to be cast in young women roles. Garnered some Oscar buzz this past year for Suffragette.

27.  Marion Cotillard-Being from England is a big plus. Being from nearly every other country is an impediment, but Cotillard has done extremely well for herself acting in such high profile films as Public Enemies, Midnight in Paris, and Inception and shone in MacBeth this year. 

28.  Kerry Washington-She had a long career as a character actress (Ray, Mr and Mrs Smith, Last King of Scotland) before being cast in a highly visible TV show which should give her a big boost when Scandal ends. She’s even done great work in the movies while on Scandal (Exhibit A: Django Unchained) 

29.  Rosario Dawson-Dawson amasses a lot of longevity points: She’s been in consistently good roles for the last 13 or 14 years throughout multiple genres. With a supporting role in Daredevil, she's dipped her toe into prestige TV, but she still has plenty of time on her schedule to be in the next big thing on screen.

30.  Ellen Page-Has a hip and cool edge (Whip It, Juno) but could use a better agent. Her latest film, Freeheld, did not get great distribution but she's visible enough that a comeback isn't out of the question.