So things have been crazy the last several weeks, and I haven’t had a chance to write a new blog entry. Luckily for me, as I was moving files from my old desktop over to my new laptop, I discovered an old blog entry that I’d started writing a couple of years ago (back when I was doing my movie blog the first time), that was 80% done already! So I’ve finished it up (including adding updates to the end of a couple of the entries to cover movies the actress had done since I’d originally written this), and present it now for your reading enjoyment:
For this week’s blog post, I’ve put together a list of actresses that I like, with a little write-up on each. Now, even though I’ve numbered the entries, I wouldn’t necessarily call this a Top 10 list (especially since it’s expanded to a Top 12 list since I started writing it), since I’m sure there are numerous actresses that I really like that I completely forgot about when I put this list together (being the absent-minded fellow that I am). They’re also not in any particular order (as far as which I like better); it’s just the order I happened to put them in as I was putting this thing together. Now for anyone who knows me, the following list of actresses will probably hold few surprises (they’re for the most part all young and attractive starlets – what can I say, I’m a guy), but there should be a surprise or two on the list, plus there’s at least a couple ladies on this list that I'm sure most people have never heard of. So here we go:
1. Keira Knightley – What can I say about this girl? She’s beautiful, she’s talented, she’s willing to do nude scenes, and she has the most incredibly sexy British accent! What’s not to like?! I am a huge fan of Keira’s, and have loved pretty much everything I’ve seen her in. Interestingly enough, the first movie I saw her in (well, not actually the very first, but I’ll get into that in a bit) was the made-for-TV movie Princess of Thieves, made back when she was only 16. This was back before she’d made a name for herself, and I mainly rented the movie because I like medieval films, and it looked interesting enough (she was playing the daughter of Robin Hood). And I have to say she did a pretty solid job with the role. I later discovered that this wasn’t really the first time I’d seen her, however; I just hadn’t realized it the first time I saw her. The first time I’d ACTUALLY seen her in a movie was in Star Wars: Episode I (which came out 2 years prior), where she played Queen Amidala’s decoy (believe it or not). Of course, this is a minor enough role that you don’t really pay a whole lot of attention to her.
Keira first got noticed in
Other great movies of Keira’s include King Arthur (I don’t care what anyone says about it, I thought it was a good movie) and The Jacket. She's starred in a number of other movies that I haven't had a chance to see yet, most notably Domino (which I really need to watch one of these days).
2. Natalie Portman – From the girl who played Queen Amidala's decoy, we move on to the girl who played the queen herself. I’ve been a fan of Natalie’s since she was 12, when she starred in Léon (AKA The Professional in the
In between the Star Wars movies Natalie starred in a number of romantic and independent films, none of which I’ve gotten around to watching (as much I as like her performances, I’m just not much into chick films, so there’s a few of her movies I haven’t motivated myself to see yet). I’ve heard really good reviews of Garden State, so that’s one I’d like to see, and I’m really curious to see her in Closer, despite the mixed reviews I’ve heard on that one.
Among her more recent movies, I absolutely loved her in V for Vendetta (of course, I loved pretty much everything about that movie -- such a fantastic film!), and enjoyed her performance in Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (which was a cute movie, but not necessarily one I'd buy).
3. Ziyi Zhang – I have a particular fondness for Asian women, I must admit, and Ziyi Zhang is a perfect example of the many fine actresses to be found in
Ziyi Zhang shot to international stardom with her next film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. And with good reason. This was an absolutely astonishing movie. The visual elements and cinematography were just breathtaking. And all the performances were stellar. Ziyi did just an amazing job in this movie. And you could tell she was a very talented rising star. The
Ziyi’s next movie actually did make it to US theaters (more than likely because of star Jet Li). This was Hero, which was another phenomenal movie. Two further US theatrical releases followed, one the Chinese film House of Flying Daggers (another fantastic film that's one of my favorites of hers), and the other the American film Memoirs of a Geisha, which to my knowledge is the first movie she’s done where she spoke English. Along with these she’s done a number of other Chinese films that I’ll have to track down one of these days, since one of the things I’ve discovered with a number of actors/actresses/directors who have come to the US after finding success overseas is that some of their best films are often pictures that never make it to the States.
4. Katharine Isabelle – I’m sure the first thought most readers will have here is, “Who?” But as I said in my intro, there are a couple of actresses on this list that most of you have probably never heard of, although in this case you’ve probably seen at least one of the movies she’s been in. It was actually looking up Katharine (real name Katie Murray) on imdb that inspired me to put together this list. I’d just watched her in an of episode of Stargate: SG1, and had to look her up on imdb to verify that it was actually her (she’s one of those people that I always recognize as soon as I see her, but can never remember what else I’ve seen her in until I look her up).
For those of you who are wondering who the heck this woman is and what movies you might have seen her in (and haven’t bothered to click on her name to see her imdb page), the most notable movies that she’s done are Disturbing Behavior and Freddy vs. Jason. The role that she’s most known for (although the movies themselves aren’t that well known) is in the Ginger Snaps trilogy, a series of independent films out of
Katharine has had a number of other small movie roles, including parts in Insomnia and the Sci-Fi Channel mini-series Legend of Earthsea. In one of her earliest roles (way back when she was just 10) she starred as Christopher Lambert’s daughter in the wonderful suspense thriller Knight Moves (a movie I really enjoyed). She’s also done guest roles in numerous TV shows (something she says hates to do, but it pays the bills between movie gigs). She is a talented and very beautiful young actress, and it’s a shame that she has yet to find that breakout role that will shoot her to stardom. But until she does I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for her in future roles, however small.
5. Jessica Alba – Y’all knew this list would have to have Jessica on it somewhere. She’s beautiful, she’s sexy, she’s a wonderful actress, and she’s been in all kinds of good movies lately. And she’s been scantily clad at some point in pretty much all of them (something she has said she wants to get away from, as she doesn’t want to be stuck typecast in that sort of role. And as much as I like her in those sorts of roles, I can’t really blame her – after a while it has to get old to constantly be considered for roles mainly based on how good you look in a bikini). And sadly, Miss Alba has made it clear that she has no interest whatsoever in doing nude scenes (this is also true for Katherine Isabelle – for those of you who remember her shower scene in Freddy vs. Jason, that was a body double you were ogling). Which, while a shame, is something I respect both actresses for. If you’re comfortable with nudity and don’t mind doing nude scenes, I say more power to you. But if this is something you’re not comfortable with and have no desire to do, by all means tell anyone and everyone who tries to convince you otherwise that they’re welcome to piss off. Hell, body doubles have to earn a living, too (along this thread, here’s an interesting little bit of trivia – while Keira Knightley is very comfortable showing her breasts, she feels very differently about her butt, and so for Domino she got a butt double, and the director actually let her pick out the woman who’s butt would taking the place of hers).
But enough talk about onscreen nudity (as fun as that topic is). Let’s get to the topic at hand – Jessica Alba’s film career. Like many film stars, Jessica’s career actually goes back quite a bit further than most people generally realize, and she did a number of movie and TV roles before breaking out in her starring role in Dark Angel. Her very first movie was way back when she was only 13, in the family comedy Camp Nowhere, starring Christopher Lloyd (which I have on VHS – I’ll have to go back and watch it again one of these days, since I don’t remember her in it – not surprising, considering how young she was and that this was long before anyone knew who she was). This was followed by several years of doing mostly TV guest roles, before stealing the show in both the Drew Barrymore romantic comedy Never Been Kissed and the horror comedy Idle Hands (both released in 1999). She also did a couple of lower budget movies around that time, before going on to play Max on the TV series Dark Angel.
When Dark Angel was canceled after only two seasons (which is a damned shame, but not that big a surprise considering it was a sci-fi show that aired on Fox), Jessica was able to successfully transition back to movies. She’s had a couple big hits with
[Update] So Jessica starred in a couple of movies since I originally wrote this that I wanted to comment on. The first was the brilliantly funny (and very, very raunchy) Good Luck Chuck. Such a great movie!! And who can forget the wonderful scene of Jessica in her cute little penguin panties. But more importantly, she really shows off her comic side in this movie, especially her ability to do physical comedy. After seeing her in this movie, I’d love to see her do more comedy. The other movie she's done that I was not quite so impressed with was The Eye. This movie was quite the letdown. Of course, my main problem it is that it's an American remake of an Asian horror film, and like 95% of these films, the original Asian film is just SO MUCH BETTER (one of these days I'll have to do a blog post comparing the various Asian horror films with their inferior American counterparts).
6. Alyson Hannigan – I do so love my redheads, and Alyson Hannigan is just such an incredibly cute, sexy, funny, talented redhead. I’ve been a fan of hers ever since her Buffy the Vampire Slayer days. I always liked her best out of the women on the show, although Eliza Dushku (who we’ll discuss further down the list) was always a close second (as far as the star of said show goes, while I’ve enjoyed most all of the movies I’ve seen her in, and always liked her on the show, I’ve still never really been a big fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar). I loved how Alyson’s character developed on the show, and I ESPECIALLY loved the couple of episodes that featured her evil vampire alter-ego (go figure). All in all just a great character played by a wonderful actress.
But like so many other actors/actresses, Alyson was acting for many years before her breakout role. Her first role was in some minor B-movie I’d never heard of at the ripe old age of 12. Two years later she would star in her first significant role in the comedy My Stepmother is an Alien, which coincidentally enough also starred Seth Green, who would go on to play her werewolf boyfriend on Buffy. Okay, so the stars of the movie are actually Dan Aykroyd and Kim Basinger, but considering her name is fourth in the credits after Jon Lovitz, I’d say that was pretty significant for a 14-year-old appearing in her second film. From there she starred in some show called Free Spirit that I’ve never heard of that looks like it ran for one season.
The next seven years were spent doing TV movies and guest appearances until she landed a part on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And I have to say this is still one of her best roles (although Lily on How I Met Your Mother has to be a close 2nd). I’m thinking she wanted to prove her versatility as an actress when she finally broke out into feature films, however, when you consider how completely different her character on American Pie is from Willow. But she did indeed prove herself, because she was hilarious in that movie, and just as good in the sequel (I still haven’t gotten around to seeing American Wedding yet, but from the trailers I’d say she was even funnier in it). Of course, she still hasn’t fully made the leap to film actress, and continues to do most of her acting on the small screen. Other than the American Pie trilogy, she’s only done a couple of other feature film that I recognize.
After a handful of guest appearances following the end of Buffy, Alyson moved on to her next starring role in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. While I’m generally not much of a sitcom watcher myself, I have to say that I love this show!! Everyone in the show is fantastic (I especially love former Doogie Howser star Neil Patrick Harris as Barney – the boy is a riot!). And as usual, Alyson is very much her cute, funny, quirky self. I was so happy to see this show become a success (especially considering how brutal the networks are these days when it comes to canceling first season shows).
So this is starting to develop into quite the lengthy post. And since I’ve still got some more writing to do on the later entries, and I want to get at least SOMETHING posted this week, I’m going to post the first half of my list now, and save the rest of the list for next week (which conveniently saves me from having to think up a new subject for next week’s post). So keep an eye out for part two of my favorite actresses list, coming soon to a movie blog near you!!
