10 Best Actresses I'm Excited For, 10 Not So Much

With Nick Davis winding up his immaculate Best Actress Project with a profile of a Best Actress nominee every day for the past week and a half or so, I've become re-immersed in my own progress with the category. After watching Ship of Fools a couple of days ago (and I was fighting the whole way not to turn that piece of crap off), I am now down to 80 nominees left to see. Not too shabby, me thinks. Of course, there are a few films which are either obscure as hell in America (Marriage- Italian Style, The Constant Nymph), not available in any format besides the film (The Barker, The Trespasser) or outright banned because of copyright issues (The Blue Veil), but, for the most part, a lot of the remaining ladies shouldn't be too difficult to find. So, in order to commence this re-immersion, here are ten ladies I'm eagerly anticipating...

Diahann Carroll, Claudine I'm usually fascinated by stories about African American families struggling to overcome racism and a vicious cycle of poverty. Bonus points: Nick Davis is ecstatic about Carroll's work here.
Stockard Channing, Six Degrees of Separation I always enjoy Stockard Channing. Seriously one of the most underrated actresses around.
Joan Crawford, Sudden Fear Joan's last nomination. Apparently Oscar saved the best for last. I'm optimistic, but it will be hard to top Possessed.
Jessica Lange, Frances Lange plays a mad actress from the 1940's in a highly emotional and excessive way. Sign me up, sign me up!
Carrie Snodgress, Diary of a Mad Housewife I love a good film about a despondent, lonely housewife. Plus, the film was directed by Frank Perry (aka the man who brought us Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest).
Kim Stanley, Séance on a Wet Afternoon Director Bryan Forbes has been 2 for 2 with me in terms of Best Actress nominees he has directed (Caron in The L-Shaped Room, Edith Evans in The Whisperers). Can Stanley make it 3?
Meryl Streep, Ironweed I've heard this is one of Streep's more underrated efforts. Let's see if she can match the quiet hype.
Gloria Swanson, Sadie Thompson Completely fascinated by the 1932 version with Joan Crawford (one of her best performances ever). Interested in what Swanson will be able to do in this silent version.
Liv Ullmann, Face to Face According to many who have been fortunate enough to see it, this is Ullmann's best work. And that's truly saying something about the woman who gave us Persona, Cries and Whispers and Autumn Sonata. Criterion, release this shit soon, please.
Sigourney Weaver, Aliens LOVED her kick-ass Ripley in Alien. Apparently, she's even better here.

...and, on the flip side, here are ten ladies I'm gonna have to be tied down Clockwork Orange-style in order to get through:

Geneviève Bujold, Anne of the Thousand Days A studio-made historical epic from the mid-60's designed purely for Oscar consideration. Shoot me now.
Ava Gardner, Mogambo I've never been particularly fond of Gardner. Combined with Grace Kelly and post-Lombard Clark Gable in a John Ford film sounds like pure torture.
Jennifer Jones, Love Letters The epitome of an actress who slept her way to the top. All of her other nominations have been close to insufferable.
Sarah Miles, Ryan's Daughter A 3.5 hour David Lean epic that's not even as good as the middling The Bridge on the River Kwai. Oscar truly is a sadistic bastard sometimes.
Michelle Pfeiffer, Love Field Not a huge Pfeiffer fan and this sounds like Movie of the Week stuff to me.
Debbie Reynolds, The Unsinkable Molly Brown I normally adore Debbie Reynolds, but I've heard nothing but bad things about this one.
Janet Suzman, Nicholas and Alexandra See Bujold above.
Gene Tierney, Leave Her to Heaven I simply don't get the big deal about her. One man's acting goddess truly is another's vacant dummy.
Kathleen Turner, Peggy Sue Got Married I saw the first twenty minutes a few years ago and was hardly impressed. It's going to take a lot to get me to try this one again.
Loretta Young, Come to the Stable One of the worst Best Actress winners ever is back as a kind and gracious nun. Just...no.

10 Favorite Movie Characters

A couple of days ago, I whined and manipulated until I got was graciously given a tag to do the Top 10 Favorite Movie Characters meme that's been burning up the interweb of late. The resulting list wasn't as hard to come up with as I originally feared but, to be honest, all I did was go through my DVD collection and just picked 25 characters that jumped out at me and narrowed it down from there. Not much agonizing over here. What I was most fascinated about by my final list was how it was a fairly nice round-up of my two favorite characters: the larger-than-life female and the damaged boy. Hmm....

Let's get started with this before we analyze that to death.

Apologies to the Runners-Up (in no particular order for a solid 25): The Tramp (City Lights), William Canfield, Jr. (Steamboat Bill, Jr.), Lina Lamont (Singin' in the Rain), Effie White (Dreamgirls), Maggie "The Cat" (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Erin Brockovich (Erin Brockovich), Go-Go (Kill Bill Volume 1), Sharpay Evans (High School Musical 2), Miriam Aarons (The Women), Bonnie Parker (Bonnie and Clyde), Norman Bates (Psycho), Mr. Aoki (Shall We Dansu?), Grandma with Crazy Pink Hair (Castle in the Sky), Regina George (Mean Girls)

Susan Vance in Bringing Up Baby
Quite possibly the greatest concoction ever to emerge from a screwball comedy. And you have to admire the lengths she goes to get the man she loves; that's what I call dedication.

Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind
She's a survivor, yo. I really wish I had her determination and drive to get everything she wants out of life, even if she has to lie, steal, cheat or kill to get it.

Margo Channing in All About Eve
This is going to be me in 20 years: the grand, aging diva always ready for every party with a martini in one hand and an arsenal of bitchy one-liners for unsuspecting guests.

Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard
She is big, and that's the way I love her.

Antoine Doinel in Stolen Kisses
Most people would pick Antoine Doinel in his teenage years in The 400 Blows, but I like to imagine my Antoine as the happy-go-lucky young adult in Stolen Kisses. It probably doesn't hurt that his character in this film is roughly the same age I am now and can relate to him on a whole new level than before.

Barbara Jean in Nashville
One of the saddest characters I have ever seen in any film. After all of her scenes, I just feel so bad for her I find it hard to concentrate on any other character with the same amount of attention.

Conrad Jarret in Ordinary People
Every time I watch this movie, and it's probably more often than any sane person needs to, I just want to reach out and comfort this poor guy.

Posh Spice in Spice World
Not only do her line readings ring with hilarity, but this character is quite obviously the starting off point for the "Victoria Beckham" character we all love so dearly (or at least I do).

Velma Kelly in Chicago
Fierce, monstrously talented and, in fact, can do it alone- what's not to love?

Robert Ford in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Strangely relatable and, yet again, another character I feel infinitely sad for everytime they appear on screen and feel this uncontrollable urge to just give them a hug.

Random Top 10: Biggest Comebacks

After the failed Britney comeback (which I am still utterly depressed about), I decided to write about some of the most successful comebacks. Maybe this will show her that it can be done and not to give up hope (or offer up about a million excuses).

10. Robert Downey, Jr. (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Good Night, and Good Luck)

After a slew of impressive performances in Less Than Zero, Chaplin (for which he received an Academy Award nomination and should have won the damn thing), Natural Born Killers and Home for the Holidays, Downey succumbed to a drug addiction that lead to him being jailed a couple of times. He made a small comeback of sorts on the TV show Ally McBeal (for which he won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy), but eventually he relapsed and was forced into drug rehab. A couple of years later, he re-emerged with a pair of opposite performances in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Good Night, and Good Luck that proved that he was back and better than ever.

9. Ingrid Bergman (Anastasia)

There was a time during the late 40's when Ingrid Bergman was probably the most hated woman in Hollywood. While shooting the film Stromboli, she fell in love with director Roberto Rossellini and eventually became pregnant with his child. The only problem was that she was already married and had a daughter. This lead to her being denounced by Senator Edwin C. Johnson on the floor of the Senate, who called Ingrid "a horrible example of womanhood and a powerful influence for evil." This lead to her practically living in exile in Europe for the next 6 or so years, until she starred in her first post-scandal American film Anastasia in 1956. The film and performance proved to be a mega-success and, in the ultimate turn-around, Bergman was ultimately forgiven and awarded the Best Actress Oscar.

8. John Travolta (Pulp Fiction)

Saturday Night Fever and Grease made John Travolta one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, but after a series of flops throughout the 80's and early 90's, he was considerably less in demand. But then Quentin Tarantino cast him in Pulp Fiction and, with a great performance and second Academy Award nomination, he quickly became the hottest name in town again. It seems as if he kind of squandered his fame again after some more flops towards the end of the decade, but after two huge hits in 2007 (the mind-blowingly awful Wild Hogs and the fabulous Hairspray) it seems as if he's on the rise again.

7. Ellen DeGeneres (The Ellen DeGeneres Show) and Rosie O'Donnell (The View)

At their peaks, Ellen had one of the most successful sitcoms on TV (Ellen) and Rosie had one of the most successful talk shows on TV (The Rosie O'Donnell Show). But then, they both came out of the closet and saw their careers go in steep decline. Both shows were ultimately canceled and the two women laid low for awhile. Then, Ellen delivered one of the greatest animated performances ever in Finding Nemo and found herself with her own talk show. Her quirkiness and sense of humor made for one hell of a good time and The Ellen DeGeneres Show is now one of the most popular talk shows on TV (probably right behind Oprah and Dr. Phil). Last year, Rosie joined the cast of The View and quickly became one of the most controversial hosts in the show's history. Her angry lesbian shtick made the show exciting again and The View saw a sharp increase in ratings.

6. The Ladies of Desperate Housewives

Who would have thought that the woman who played Lois on Lois and Clark, a former Melrose Place castmate, the wife of William H. Macy and an actress with no really impressive credits to her name would suddenly became the most adored women on the most popular show in the country?

5. Robert Altman (The Player)

The 80's were a tough time for Robert Altman. His 70's glory days long behind him, Altman was stuck doing horrible little films like O.C. and Stiggs, Fool for Love and HealtH that were nowhere near in the class of M*A*S*H, Nashville or 3 Women. Then in 1992, Altman did The Player, his satire of Hollywood and the film business, and suddenly he was once again the most adored director in Hollywood. He earned his first Oscar nomination since Nashville in 1975 and regained the clout he needed to pursue some of his most popular work: Short Cuts in 1993, Gosford Park in 2001 and A Prairie Home Companion in 2006.

4. Judy Garland (A Star is Born)

After getting fired from both Annie Get Your Gun and Royal Wedding for erratic behavior, Judy was dismissed from her MGM contract in September of 1950. She went on tour for awhile, but eventually she found herself back in Hollywood with this musical remake of A Star is Born. While still a little flaky, Judy put her heart and soul into her performance and gave what most people consider her finest performance of her career. The role thrust her back in to the limelight and she was nominated for a Best Actress in 1954. This comeback didn't last long though: She was widely expected to win, but was ultimately robbed by Grace Kelly in The Country Girl. With this disappointment, and the fact that the studio practically butchered the film and it was consequently a flop, Garland never fully recovered her legendary status and quietly slipped back into touring and dabbled in TV.

3. Mariah Carey (The Emancipation of Mimi CD)

You all know about Mariah's TRL meltdown, the bomb known as Glitter and a soundtrack and subsequent album (Charmbracelet) that ultimately went nowhere. The haters were ready to pronounce her career over, but then she released The Emancipation of Mimi in 2005 and it was suddenly as if she had never gone away. Not only was Mimi one of her freshest and most addictive albums in years, but it also spawned the biggest hit of her career, won her a ton of Grammy's and proved that this diva wasn't dead.

2. Marie Dressler (Anna Christie)

In 1914, legendary vaudeville star Marie Dressler starred in the first feature-length comedy Tillie's Punctured Romance with Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand. She eventually returned to vaudeville but was blacklisted in 1927 for supporting a union. For the next couple of years, Dressler was at a major low point in her life and even considered suicide. Then, writer Frances Marion urged legendary MGM producer Irving Thalberg to give Dressler the role of Marthy in Garbo's first talkie Anna Christie (1930) and Thalberg agreed. Dressler surprised critics and even Garbo herself with her fantastic performance. This soon led to more roles for Dressler and eventually, at the age of 62, she became the most popular star in Hollywood with her performances in Min and Bill (for which she won the Best Actress Oscar), Tugboat Annie, Dinner at Eight and Emma. She remained at the top until her death in 1933.

1. Gloria Swanson (Sunset Boulevard)

The comeback performance of a lifetime. Gloria Swanson was a superstar during the silent era who's career eventually waned with the coming of the talkies. When Billy Wilder started casting for his upcoming film Sunset Boulevard, he originally wanted Mary Pickford, Pola Negri or Mae West for the role of forgotten silent movie queen Norma Desmond. When they didn't pan out, George Cukor suggested Gloria Swanson. She accepted and, consequently, gave one of the greatest performances of not only 1950 or the 50's in general, but of all time. She no-doubtedly understood the role, but she was one of the few silent actresses who could play it because she could act with her voice as well as her face. The performance brought her a Best Actress nomination and should have heralded a flood of new films for her. Unfortunately, most of what she was offered were cheap versions of Norma Desmond and she eventually lost interest in Hollywood.