Most promising Young Actresses – Eight Years On.

Back in 2009 in the infancy of this sit, I started compiling a top ten most promising actors and actresses.  While I was still deciding on who would make the grade, Caz from Lets Go to the Movies posted a list of top ten actors.  I duly decided to drop my actors list and write about ten young actresses.  I didn’t have a hard and fast criteria, but set an age limit of 25 and excluded anyone who was an established A list star, such as Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley who were both 24 at the time.  So what has happened since then?  The most significant thing, Scarlett Johansson aside, most of the biggest stars have broken through since the my 2009 article they include: Jennifer Lawrence, Shailene Woodley , Carey Mulligan, Rooney Mara, Dakota Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Mia Wasikowska and Emma Stone.  The most significant people I failed to mention were: Saoirse Ronan and Anna Kendrick.  So what of those I mentioned?

Dakota Fanning: 15 at the time now 23, Dakota’s most significant performance that I have seen since my original post was as Cherie Currie in The Runaways.  Although still giving good performances the great roles don’t appear to be coming her way.  She seems to have been somewhat eclipsed by her Younger sister Elle (19 today). She does have the interesting looking Ocean’s Eight coming out next year.

Kristen Stewart: I sighted Adventurland as proof that Stewart (who turns 27 today), could act and had a career beyond Bella Swan.  I think I have been proved right.   With standout suporting roles in Still Alice, Clouds of Sils Maria and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and excellent starring roles in Personal Shopper and Equals she has not only proved to be a great actress, but also one who makes interesting choices.  I am yet to see Certain Women but have heard positive things about it. 

Nikki Reed: 13 is remains and will probably remain the actresses most significant work.  Now 28 she has totally dropped off my radar, I don’t think I have seen her in anything since the Twighlight movies.   

Ellen Page: After my original article Page now 30 went on to star in the hugely successful Inception directed by Christopher Nolan.  She reprised her role as Kitty Pryde in the X-Men franchise playing a relatively small but very significant part in the excellent Days of Future Past. 

Evan Rachel Wood: I first say  Wood now 29 starring alongside Nikki Reed in 13.  At the time of writing she had appeared in The Wrestler alongside Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei, she appeared to be on the brink of mega stardom but never really made the jump.  She has since found her most significant part and greatest acclaim on TV in Westworld.

Camilla Belle: At the time of writing back in 09, Belle’s star was on the rise.  Now 30, I haven’t seen her in a single movie.  She is still working with 10 IMDB credits it the time, I just haven’t seen any of them. 

Olivia Thirlby:  Best known as Juno’s best friend Olivia Thirlby was a bit of a long shot for the list.  Now 30, she hasn’t found the breakthrough role she needed.  however, she has starred in one excellent film, the massively underappreciated Dredd. 

Kat Dennings: Dennings now 30 is currently best known for the TV show 2 Broke Girls and for providing comic relief in the Thor movies . 

Megan Fox:  Now 30, I expected Fox to try more interesting roles following Jennifer’s Body, unfortunately the Transformers star seems to be concentrated on rubbish comedies and the rebooted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchise. 

Amanda Seyfried: At 24 then and 31 now, Seyfried is the oldest star on the list.  She has proved to be a first rate and diverse actor.  Most exciting of all, she is set to appear in the new series of Twin Peaks later this year. 

I also had a couple of bonus picks:

Olivia Wilde: At 25, now 33 Wilde was older than the rest on the list and still largely a TV star.  She made the breakthrough with several movie roles, the highest profile being TRON: Legacy.  She continues to work in both TV and film. 

Jennifer Ulrich: I predicted the German actress now 32 would make the jump to Hollywood, she hasn’t.  She has continued to work in German TV and Movies. 

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Best Supporting Actress

I recently saw Clouds of Sils Maria on DVD and was planning to write about it as part of my DVD Gems series of great films that didn’t make it to my local cinema.  I didn’t for two reasons; the film is too good, and has too much going on for a three hundred word review; secondly I keep coming back to one thing about the film, Kristen Stewart.

The film stars Juliette Binoche as a world famous actress and movie star.  She splits her time between blockbuster/superhero movies and more serious films and plays.  She accepts a part in a play about a destructive relationship between an younger and older woman.  She is cast in the role of the older woman having previously made her name as the younger woman in the first production and subsequent film adaptation.  Binoche is as brilliant as you would expect but so is her co star Kristen Stewart.

Stewart plays the personal assistant to Binoche’s star.  The character is more introverted and less emotional that Binoche’s actress but is equally as passionate.  The character exudes an intelligence that is tempered by youth and naivety.  She cannot always express herself in the way she wishes to.  The greatest achievement of the part is that she is always believable.  She never comes across as an actress playing an assistant, she is totally natural and immersed in the role.  Interestingly the only other person I can think of playing her was also in contention for the part, Mia Wasikowska.  Wasikowska is probably my favourite young actress at the moment but probably couldn’t have done any better than Stewart who is totally sublime.  I am clearly not the only person to be impressed, Kristen Stewart won a César (a French Oscar), the first American actress to win one!

We shouldn’t be surprised, this isn’t the first time Kristen Stewart has impressed in a supporting role.  She bought the same naturalism and innocence to Still Alice as the daughter of Julianne Moore’s Oscar winning lead.  This ability should not come as any surprise, she has always been a talented actress.  Take a look at early roles such as Undertow (2004), Panic Room (2002) and Into the Wild (2007).  Her previously most impressive role was in Adventureland (2009) released between the first two Twilight movies.  And that is the crux of why some people don’t like Stewart and why others are surprised when she is good, Twilight!   A lot of people who dislike Stewart actually or even hate the character Bella Swan not the actress.  All the lip biting and pushing her hair back is the character not the actress, ironically, the haters she has attracted for Twilight are actually a sign of how well she captured the character.

As far as I can see Clouds of Sils Maria is eligible for next years Oscars having received a general release in April 2105 after spending a year doing the festival rounds.  It is unlikely, but possible that Kristen Stewart could receive an Oscar nomination.   If you don’t believe me, check out Still Alice and Clouds of Sils Maria as well as some of her other movies I have mentioned, if you haven’t already, I would recommend you watch them anyway. 

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Fourth Annual Groovers Movie Awards

We have had the BAFTA’s, The Globes and the awards for every guild you have heard of (and a few you haven’t), this weekend sees the main event, The Oscars.  But before that we have the Dom’s, The Fourth Annual Groovers Awards.  All awards are chosen by me and the criteria for eligibility is decided by me.  The award, is called the “Dom”, if you understand the relevance you need to watch Fandango. 

Best Movie: Boyhood

Easily my favourite movie of the year. 

Best Director: Richard Linklater

One of my favourite directors for two decades wins his first Dom for his masterpiece  Boyhood.

Best Actor: Ralph Fiennes

Anyone who has seen In Bruges will know that Ralph Fiennes  can be funny but I never imagined that he could be anything like as funny as he is in The Grand Budapest Hotel. 

Best Actress: Patricia Arquette

A supporting role in other awards but the centre and heart of my favourite film of the year, Boyhood

Best Screenplay: Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness

Funny clever and utterly brilliant, everything that is great about The Grand Budapest Hotel starts with the script. 

Best Documentary: 20,000 Days on Earth

Not actually a documentary by traditional definitions but the award winner is the fictionalised account of Nick Cave’s 20,000 days on earth:

Best Looking Movie: The Grand Budapest Hotel

A combination of photography, production design and all the other things that go into putting the directors vision on screen.  The Grand Budapest Hotel is a truly stunning film.  

Movie star of the year: Mia Wasikowska

Returning after appearing in the first Groovers Awards,  movie star of the year goes to Mia Wasikowska: After appearing in Stoker my favourite film of 2013 Mia Wasikowska is rapidly becoming one of my favourite actresses with fantastic performances in Maps to the Stars, The Double, Only Lovers Left Alive and Tracks in 2014.

Fandango Award: Dan Gilroy. 

Fandango was writer/director Kevin Reynolds debut (and best) feature, and the first notable movie for star Kevin Costner. It gives its name to this award for the best breakout film-makers of the year: Dan Gilroy, the younger brother of writer director Tony Gilroy.  Dan Gilroy’s first credit was as a writer on Freejack in 1992.  More than twenty years and a handful of screenplays later he came up with Nightcrawler, a debut feature directed with the swagger and confidence of a veteran director. 

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A to Z of 2014

A – Avengers: Captain America: The Winter Soldier set the Avengers franchise in a new direction and Marvel announced phase Three schedule covering films up to 2019.

B  – Boyhood: What could have been a gimmick turned out to be the best film of the year.

C – Nick Cave: 20,000 Days on Earth was neither documentary or a narrative film, but was one of the best movies of the year.

D – Doug Liman: Edge of Tomorrow was the enigma of 2014.  The Doug Liman directed movie received solid reviews and great word of mouth but underperformed at the box-office.

E – Egypt & Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott’s biblical epic was released on Boxing Day in the UK and few weeks earlier in some countries.  The film has been banned in Egypt as the courtiers censors are unhappy with “historical inaccuracies”.

F – Fincher & Flynn: Director David Fincher turned Gillian Flynn’s bestselling Novel Gone Girl into an excellent movie.

G – Guardians of the Galaxy –  Made up of a cast of largely unknown characters, it was considered a risk for the franchise.  Not only was the film great fun but was the Highest grossing film at the US box-office (and 2nd highest worldwide) for the year.

H – The Hobbit: After more than 20 hours screen time, The Battle of the Five Armies brings Peter Jackson’s time in Middle Earth to an end.

I – The Interview:  The release for the movie The interview was cancelled following threats from hackers.  Barack Obama and George Clooney joined the debate and the film received a limited Christmas day release earning $1million from 331 scenes in independent theatres.

J – Jennifer Lawrence: With an Oscar win and two other nominations as well as a starring role in two of the biggest movie franchises, Jennifer Lawrence is probably the biggest young star in Hollywood.  She was also the most outspoken victim of hackers who stole nude images and posted them online.

K – Kickstarter: the big names to come from kickstarter in 2014 were the Veronica Mars movie and Zach Braff’s ;Wish I Was Here.  Blue Ruin and Obvious Child also raised a little to help get them released.

L – Luc Besson & Lucy: After numerous movies with his name attached as a writer or producer Besson is back in the director’s chair with the surprise hit Lucy.  Making back its $40million budget back in its opening weekend.

M – McConaissance: Matthew McConaughey’s resurgence was completed with a best actor Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club.

N – Nightcrawler: Jake Gyllenhaal gives the performance of his career in Dan Gilroy’s feature debut.

O– Oprah Winfrey: as well as producing two movies: Selma and The Hundred-Foot Journey Winfrey proved her Hollywood power by lending her support to the independent British film Belle.

P – Paddington: What could have been a disaster turned out to be charming and funny.

Q – Quvenzhané Wallis: The young star of Beasts of the Southern Wild retuned with a small part in 12 Years a Slave and starring role in the remake of Annie.

R – The Rover: After his début feature, Animal Kingdom in 2010 David Michôd is back with The Rover, a movie full of subtext, foreboding and great acting from Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson and Scoot McNairy. 

S – Scarlett Johansson: It’s been a busy year for Johansson with the UK release of: Her, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Chef, Under the Skin and the surprise hit of the year Lucy.

T – Alan Turing: The imitation Game finally told the long overdue story of war hero and farther of computing, Alan Turing.

U – Unreleased: A region 2 DVD of Snowpiercer is available from a well know online retailer but the film is still yet to receive a UK release.

V – Vampire: Forget Twilight, with Only Lovers Left Alive and What We Do in the Shadows there are two original ideas to kick-start the genre.

W – Mia Wasikowska: After appearing in Stoker my favourite film of 2013 Mia Wasikowska is rapidly becoming one of my favourite actresses with appearances in Maps to the Stars, The Double, Only Lovers Left Alive and Tracks in 2014.

X – X-Men: Days of Future Past: Bryan Singer returned to the X-Men franchise with a seminal story form the 80’s. It beat Captain America: The Winter Soldier at the world box-office, dragging the franchise from the shadow of Marvel Studios.

Y – 12 Years A Slave: Winner of Oscars for Best picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and best supporting actress for Lupita Nyong’o in her first feature film.

Z – The Zero Theorem: Terry Gilliam is back after five years, and back to what he does best, making interesting films that look like the cost a lot more to make than they actually did.

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