The Best Actresses In Movies Today (Your Top Ten)

[idealdiscountdude]

My question is simple?

Who do you think are the best actresses in Hollywood today. Which actresses consistently give great performances and pick good projects? Who are the best in your opinion?

Ideal's List:

1.Julianne Moore
2.Cate Blanchett
3.Angela Bassett
4.Meryl Streep
5.Catherine Keener
6.Alfre Woodard
7.Susan Sarandon
8.Gwyneth Paltrow
9.Nicole Kidman
10.Maggie Smith

[Annie Hall]

1. Julianne Moore
2. Emily Watson
3. Mary Louise Parker
4. Nicole Kidman
5. Thora Birch
6. Reese Witherspoon
7. Maggie Smith
8. Susan Sarandon
9. Judi Dench
10. Jennifer Connelly

[Heavenley]

1. Michelle Pfeiffer

2. Nicole Kidman

3. Jodie Foster

4. Catherine Zeta Jones

5. Cate Blanchett

6. Kate Hudson

7. Goldie Hawn

8. Reese Witherspoon

9. Thora Birch

10.Gwyneth Paltrow

[Mojo5]

1. Gong LI
2. Maggie Cheung
3. Meryl Streep
4. Jennifer Connelly
5. Zhang Ziyi
6. Nicole Kidman
7. Jena Malone
8. Diane Lane
9. Angela Basset
10. Catherine Zeta Jones

[notchreturns]

ACTRESSES:
Jennifer Connelly (Requiem for a Dream, A Beautiful Mind)
Julianne Moore (Magnolia, Boogie Nights)
Christina Ricci (The Opposire of Sex, Buffalo '66)
Nicole Kidman (The Others, Eyes Wide Shut)
Frances McDormand (Fargo, Almost Famous)
Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking, Bull Durham)
Joan Allen (The Contender, The Crucible)
Renee Zellweger (Nurse Betty, Jerry Maguire)
Sarah Polley (The Sweet Hereafter & Go!)
Annette Benning (The American President, The Grifters)

[Trinity]

1. Julianne Moore
2. Jodie Foster
3. Angelina Jolie
4. Renee Zellweger
5. Nicole Kidman
6. Kate Winslet
7. Gwyneth Paltrow
8. Cate Blanchett
9. Winona Ryder
10. Jennifer Connelly

[BadCoverVersion]

Brenda Blethyn
Samantha Morton
Jennifer Connelly
Kelly MacDonald
Toni Collette
Rachel Griffiths
Julianne Moore
Shirley Henderson
Nicole Kidman
Emily Watson

[Hannibal21]

PAST
1. Katherine Hepburn
2. Ingrid Bergman
3. Bette Davis
4. Audrey Hepburn
5. Marilyn Monroe
6. Joan Crawford
7. Claudette Colbert
8. Vivien Leigh
9. Elizabeth Taylor
10. Joan Fontaine

PRESENT
1. Kathy Bates
2. Jodie Foster
3. Julianne Moore
4. Susan Sarandon
5. Meryl Streep
6. Nicole Kidman
7. Sally Field
8. Jennifer Connelly
9. Frances McDormand
10. Sigourney Weaver

[LAW]

All of the usual suspects I see.

Honorable mentions to go to as well:

Maggie Gyllenhaal
Jenna Malone
Rachel Weisz

[syxxpac]

1) Jamie Lee Curtis
2) Nicole Kidman
3) Julianne Moore
4) Jennifer Connelly
5) Jodie Foster
6) Catherine Zeta Jones
7) Renee Zellweger
8) Halle Berry
9) Sigourney Weaver
10) Cate Blanchett

[dh1989]

10. Maggie Smith

9. Julia Roberts

8. Meryl Streep

7. Julie Walters

6. Renee Zellweger

5. Jodie Foster

4. Susan Sarandon

3. Goldie Hawn

2. Reese Witherspoon

1. Julianne Moore

And an honorable mention must go to the late and great Audrey Hepburn!

[Voodoodoll]

1. Emma Thompson
2. Milla Jovovich
3. Cate Blanchett
4. Winona Ryder
5. Drew Barrymore
6. Sigourney Weaver
7. Michelle Rodrigues
8. Angelina Jolie
9. Brittany Murphy
10. Jennifer Garner

Can't fit in Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, Natasha Lyonne or Asia Argento :(

Kate Beckinsale would be in if she ever decides to make a decent film again :mad:

[Hannibal21]

I REALLY hope somebody else would mention Kathy Bates.

[Voodoodoll]

Originally posted by Hannibal21
I REALLY hope somebody else would mention Kathy Bates.

Good pick :) A top 10 just isn't big enough and my memory is terrible :(

I missed Jennifer Jason Leigh out as well - oops.

[Deckard]

Wow no one has mentioned my fave actress of last 5 years.......
CATHERINE KEENER (Out Of Sight, Being John Malkovich, Death To Smoochy etc)

[Trinity]

Originally posted by Deckard
Wow no one has mentioned my fave actress of last 5 years.......
CATHERINE KEENER (Out Of Sight, Being John Malkovich, Death To Smoochy etc)

I love Catherine Keener (BJM is her best performance, imo), but my top ten was just too crowded to fit her in.

[Annie Hall]

Originally posted by Trinity
I love Catherine Keener (BJM is her best performance, imo), but my top ten was just too crowded to fit her in.

Same here. I think she's edgy and wonderful, but she has not appeared in enough to fit in with my list.

[Deckard]

Cool to hear the support.....KEENER was also great in LIVING IN OBLIVION with Mister Buscemi.......Neil La Bute's YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS is also a personal fave...

So many Great roles (shakin cameo in ADAPTION)........Sorry for going off the main topic...but hey this girl rules

AND Kudos to all the Jennifer Jason Leigh votes, finest actress of her generation (LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN should quash anyone doubts that she is not bold, daring, talented and completly immersed in her charecters....go girl

[Buck Turgidson]

1. Julianne Moore
2. Susan Sarandon
3. Sigourney Weaver
4. Jodie Foster
5. Jennifer Jason Leigh
6. Emma Thompson
7. Meryl Streep (Erstwhile #1. Mailed it in lately. A lot.)
8. Alfrie Woodard
9. Francis McDormand
10. Mary Louise Parker and Mia Kirshner

[Buck Turgidson]

Originally posted by Deckard

AND Kudos to all the Jennifer Jason Leigh votes, finest actress of her generation (LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN should quash anyone doubts that she is not bold, daring, talented and completly immersed in her charecters....go girl

And utterly fearless.

[BloodiedCelticVengeance]

Originally posted by Deckard
AND Kudos to all the Jennifer Jason Leigh votes, finest actress of her generation

She impresses me every time out... but absolutely blew my doors off in GEORGIA. She WAS Sadie! Her racoon eyes , her deliciously wasted warbling of the Velvet Underground and Nico's "I'll Be Your Mirror" (at the Jewish wedding), her urgent-unkempt disarray...

I know hardware is not the true benchmark of a great performance, but... I think the girl deserved any and every statue the folks were handing out... though she wound up typically empty handed.

My list:

1. Julianne Moore
2. Cate Blanchett
3. Jennifer Jason Leigh
4. Jodie Foster
5. Thora Birch
6. Natasha Lyonne
7. Chloe Se7igny
8. Emily Watson
9. Renee Zellwegger
10. Sarah Polley

[Bullet Tooth Tony]

Ok here goes, I'll try not to judge them on looks :)

NICOLE KIDMAN
HELENA BONHAM CARTER
NAOMI WATTS
FRANCES MCDORMAND
THORA BIRCH
RENEE ZELWEGGER
MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL
JULIANNE MOORE
JODIE FOSTER
NATALIE PORTMAN

[Trinity]

I'm glad to see Julianne Moore is on nearly everyone's list.

[Buck Turgidson]

Originally posted by Trinity
I'm glad to see Julianne Moore is on nearly everyone's list.

And at the top of more than a few.

[SAI]

Bar the first two there is no real order to this

1: Julianne Moore
2: Jodie Foster

Nicole Kidman
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Cate Blanchett
Kate Winslet
Reese Witherspoon (though she needs to get away from the 'new Meg Ryan' path she's trying to forge and get back to roles like Freeway and Election)
Christina Ricci (Any news on dates for Prozac Nation and The Speed Queen??)


Some I've only seen in one or two parts, but want to see more of:
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Natacha Regnier
Lara Belmont
Naomi Watts
Kate Hudson

[ilovemovies]

Originally posted by SAI


Reese Witherspoon (though she needs to get away from the 'new Meg Ryan' path she's trying to forge and get back to roles like Freeway and Election)
Christina Ricci (Any news on dates for Prozac Nation and The Speed Queen??)



Well, not Freeway. That movie was awful and she gave a shrill and annoying performance in it. I have to say though, the ever since her she became a big star her choice of film have less interesting. I mean she went from doing doing Cruel Intentions (***), Pleasantville (***1/2) and Election (haven't seen but here great things about to after fame Legally Blonde (**1/2), Sweet Home Alabama (***, liked it but not as good as her old work) and Legally Blonde sequal which looks more or less like the first one.

Prozac Nation is out in limited release on March 14.