C O N S I D E R -Fav Actresses of 2017, 3rd Qtr
Friday, October 6, 2017 at 9:00PM With less than three months of the year to go - eep! -- it's time to do another tally of favorite performances -- this is how we keep track so we're not like Oscar voters who only vote on the last couple months of the year. Here are the 17 best female turns this past quarter according to your host, Nathaniel. Which movies were considered? Movies released between July and right now (October 6th) as well as unreleased movies (marked by an asterisk*) which were screened in that time frame but have no firm release date in the future. Previous 3rd quarter lists: Filmmaking and Male Acting
Disclaimer: Key actress-focused films I missed this past quarter were Home Again, Ingrid Goes West, and Lady Macbeth. If you've seen them give their MVPs a shout-out.
6 LEADING ACTRESSES
Dame Judi Dench as "Queen Victoria" in Victoria & Abdul
I love the idea of character sequels decades later rather than continuing story sequels (that's what TV is for!). The movie is no great shakes but it's quite fun to see her return to this signature character.
Regina Hall as "Ryan Pierce" in Girls Trip
A wonderfully nimble performance. She's got to provide the straight man to the comic bananas but to make that funny, too, while dexterously handling the script's somewhat heavy handed character arc.
Agnieszka Mandat-Grabka as "Janina Duszejko" in Spoor*
Terrifically committed to this stubborn can't-help-herself radical.
Brooklynn Prince as "Moonee" in The Florida Project
Up there with Jacob Tremblay and Quvenzhane Wallis in the flooringly charismatic but not actorly child acting arena. You can feel the direction occassionally but she's still a wow.
Emma Stone as "Billie Jean King" in Battle of the Sexes
Always such a gift when an actress can immediately follow up her Oscar win with an even better performance.
Charlize Theron as "Lorraine Broughton" in Atomic Blonde
Brought it as Broughton, showing everyone else how stylish engimatic movie star acting and DIY stunts within action stardom should be done.
Previously: 1st Qtr and 2nd Qtr Lists Combined
- Paula Beer as "Anna" in Frantz
- Jessica Chastain as "Antonina Zabisnkie" in The Zookeeper's Wife
- Trini Dyrhold as "Anna" in The Commune
- Gal Gadot as "Diana" in Wonder Woman
- Anne Hathaway as "Gloria" in Colossal
- Nicole Kidman as "Miss Martha" in The Beguiled
- Noa Koler as "Michal" in The Wedding Plan
- Zuzana Krónerová as "Hana" in Ice Mother*
- Amy Ryan as "Tracy" in Abundant Acreage Available*
- Kristen Stewart as "Maureen Cartwright" in Personal Shopper
- Anya Taylor-Joy as "Cassie" in Split
- Debra Winger as "Mary" in The Lovers
10 ACTRESSES IN SUPPORTING ROLES
Lola Dueñas as "Luciana Piñares de Luenga" in Zama*
Intensely watchable as a teasing unfaithful politicians wife with too much time on her hands and dubious relationships with her servants.
Tiffany Haddish as "Dina" in Girls Trip
Jada Pinkett-Smith as "Lisa" in Girls Trip
Bless. They were soooo fun. Nice to see Jada stretch. Tiffany has, of course, arrived.
Sylvia Hoeks as "Luv" in Blade Runner 2049
"Off" in ways that makes the space between what is human and inhuman particularly riveting.
Gemma Jones as "Diedre" in God's Own Country*
The grandmother knows what's up.
Tatiana Maslany as "Erin Hurley" in Stronger
Miranda Richardson as "Patty Bauman" in Stronger
We might consider Tatiana's role a co-lead (still thinking on it) but both women's characters are subservient to the protagonist's struggle to begin living again after losing his legs. Maslany is wonderfully empathic and incisive about Erin's confused motivations. Miranda is memorably soused and tactless but where they both truly shine is in their largely unspoken discomfort with each other as the other woman in their man's lives.
Michelle Pfeiffer as "woman" in mother!
Her best work since White Oleander (2002) and a reminder that movies are a lesser thing when she's not in them. And I'm not just talking about the two act structure of this particular movie.
Sarah Silverman as "Gladys Heldman" in Battle of the Sexes
Spin-off movie now!
Réka Tenki as "Klára" in On Body and Soul*
This role is an oddity (a corporate psychologist with a sex symbol's way of presenting herself) but she's so damn watchable and memorably put out by the "game" she thinks the leads are playing.
previously in 1st and 2nd qtr
- Nadia Alexander as "Melissa" in Blame*
- Elena Anaya as "Doctor Poison" in Wonder Woman
- Betty Buckley as "Doctor Fletcher" in Split
- Kirsten Dunst as "Edwina" in The Beguiled
- Betty Gabriel as "Georgina" in Get Out
- Jessica Grabowsky as "Kaija" in Tom of Finland*
- Holliday Grainger as "Louise" in My Cousin Rachel
- Shira Haas as "Urszula" in The Zookeeper's Wife
- Amy Hill as "Aunt Charlie" in Catfight
- Holly Hunter as "Beth" in The Big Sick
- Catherine Keener as "Missy Armitrage" in Get Out
- Sienna Miller as "Nina Fawcett" in The Lost City of Z
- Helene Reingaard Neumann as "Emma" in The Commune
- Harriett Walter as "Margaret Webster" in The Sense of an Ending
- Melora Walters as "Lucy" inThe Lovers
1 ACTRESS IN A LIMITED OR CAMEO ROLE
Robin Bartlett as "Erma" in The Glass Castle
The always dependable Bartlett is a nightmare mother to Woody Harrelson. You can see where she put the damage on.
Previously: 1st Qtr and 2nd Qtr Lists Combined
- Erika Alexander as "Detective Latoya" in Get Out
- Vella Lovell as "Khadija" in The Big Sick
- Kaori Momoi as "Hairi" in Ghost in the Shell
- Elizabeth Rodriguez as "Gabriela" in Logan
- Robin Wright as "Antiope" in Wonder Woman
- Odessa Young as "Maggie" in Sweet Virginia*
- Unknown as the arranged date in Menashe
What would your list of favorites recently look like?
Reader Comments (28)
-You forgot Sophia Lillis - so lovely in IT.
-"Up there with Jacob Tremblay and Quvenzhane Wallis" is not a good thing in my book -
hated them both.
Onata Aprile in What Maisie Knew - now, there's a child performance for the ages!
-Sylvia Hoeks was awesome - Robin Wright was nothing special.
Carla Juri was great, too. Love her.
Great list, Nathaniel. Obviously I haven't seen nearly enough movies.
In total agreement with you on Betty Gabriel (who establishes the "this is what would happen to you" scare in "Get Out"); and Charlize Theron in "Atomic Blonde". I also liked Sofia Boutella in "Atomic Blonde".
I liked all the actresses in "Their Finest". Lead Gemma Arterton and the sharp supporting turns by Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy in Harry Potter) and Rachael Stirling (Diana Rigg's daughter).
I never see a Kate Mara movie on purpose, but I'm always surprised by how much I like her performances. Realistic and straightforward again in "Megan Leavey".
I liked Ruby Rose in "John Wick 2". She has such go for broke energy.
In performances by children, Dafne Keen in "Logan" is ferocious and smart. I love the story about her playing while her actor parents rehearsed productions of Hamlet, and Dafne would be saying all the lines of the play while she played.
I said this on another post a while back, but - limited role, Annette O'Toole in "Women Who Kill".
I really liked Aubrey Plaza in Ingrid Goes West. She gives the best performance by a lead actress so far this year.
I also want to acknowledge Haley Lu Richardson in Columbus. Her performance as an aspiring college student aiming to escape her small town life was laid back and charismatic while also emotionally devastating. She should be our next big star.
Good list. The only other actresses I can think to add would be:
Elizabeth Olsen (Ingrid Goes West/Wind River). I'm so happy she's in more interesting roles. She's was riveting in "Martha.." but the films that followed have been lackluster. Hopefully this year is the start of an upswing. "Ingrid..." is the better performance but I was still wowed with her handling on an uneven character like Jane in Wind River.
Taliah Webster (Good Time). This fits in the third category. In a small role she leaves a lasting impression. It left me wondering what her life was prior to be introduced in the film and what's going to happen her once she existed.
Riley Keough (Logan Lucky). MVP of the cast. From the Girlfriend Experience to American Honey, I'm excited to see her pop up anything now.
Yeah, Dafne Keen was so great in Logan - surprised she didn't make Nathaniel's 1st quarter list.
I absolutely co-sign the mention of Sophia Lillis. Nathaniel you must watch Lady Macbeth, a fantastic film with at the centre an electrifying performance from Florence Pugh. I will be crossing my fingers for any attention she gets during awards season - it would be deserved.
Love that you mentioned Regina Hall! Her emotional performance resonated with me so much, especially the speech at the end.
Urgh, hearing Emma is better in TBOS than LLL just makes me more irate that she stole Izzie Huppert's Oscar!
Interesting Cameo Kristen Wiig mother!
Talking about Cameos or Limited Roles, Nat PLEASE complete the 2017 Film Bitch Awards!!!
I'd also include Gemma Jones, cast so successfully against type in God's Own Country. Sternly compassionate and the accent was spot-on too.
ben1283 -- ACK. When I posted this last night I was like "something is off" but i kept scouring it not being able to place what. She WAS on the original post. Must have accidentally deleted and thus it looked "off" to me when posting.
Looking over the full list you've compiled (and there are some great new additions here), the performance that continues to stick with me across months is Paula Beer's. Part of that is the film as a whole of course - but she's so effective and affecting in it. I hope she gets future opportunities to shine. Loved her in Frantz.
And If those two are excellent (no surprise) I guess Stronger just went from a Maybe So to a Yes for me.
Great list! I would also add Florence Pugh from Lady Macbeth. She was completely mesmerizing and so compelling/unsettling throughout the film.
I thought Jennifer Lawrence was fantastic in mother!
Ulrich -- didn't forget her. Just didn't see IT.. I may be forced too if it's an unexpected awards player but horror movies are not good for me -- I dont think it's healthy to be desensitized to bloodshed and violence (which is why i stopped watching American Horror Story) so I try to avoid the genre unless the film is more psychological than physical or unless the raves are there (not just the popularity). But obviously the horror flicks that make a critical splash like THE WITCH, THE DESCENT, or THE BABADOOK I will see (and sometimes love).
Stone was so good in Battle of the Sexes, but I personally thought she was incredible in La La Land. Haddish might have gotten an Oscar nod in another year, I think.I'd love to see her pull a surprise Critics Choice or Globe nod.
eurocheese -- i thought she was great in La La Land too. It's just the backlash that always comes with winning where people en masse decide someone wasn't good in something they were very good in. But that said I still think she's even better in Battle of the Sexes.
100%, Nat. It's common to bag on Emma Stone and La La Land (as typical and tired as predictable backlash can be), but she really is on another level in Battle of the Sexes. She and Andrea Riseborough were wonderful together—it's wise of the filmmakers not to mention their characters' messy post-script—and Stone's locker room breakdown felt well-earned and satisfyingly moving. Another Oscar nom wouldn't surprise me at all.
I really loved Regina Hall, Charlize Theron and Emma Stone in their roles. I also think JLaw did the best with what she was given.
You still HAVE to catch up with A QUIET PASSION.... Cynthia Nixon is still the best actress of the year in my opinion.
I gotta second the Cynthia Nixon mention, she's amazing in A quiet passion, also add Sally Hawkins for Maudie
Lillis really is quite strong in "It", though. Not awards-season strong, but of course that's not the only reason we watch movies. Also impressive: Carla Gugino in "Gerald's Game". Weirdly, Bruce Greenwood almost gets to outshine her, but it's two really solid performances.
I thought Aubrey Plaza was fantastically unhinged in Ingrid Goes West, but Billy Magnuson as the playboy brother to Elizabeth Olsen was great.
Lady Macbeth's Florence Pugh is a powerhouse, and her maid Anna, played by Naomi Ackie is mostly reactionary, as all of Pugh's anger and ire are taken out on her. The reactions are stellar to the repeatedly terrible events surrounding her.
I find Judith Dench to be really boring. People go gaga over these hoity-toity British movies and hand out awards just because they have British accents. I like Charlize Theron when she gets fat - that's what awards are all about!
Florence Pugh is really outstanding in Lady Macbeth, as is Naomi Ackie as the maid Anna - what both women do to track their characters' respective descents is incredible to watch, especially since they do so much with so little.
Cynthia Nixon is still best of the year for me, as well, and Jennifer Ehle is also typically great in A Quiet Passion.
The person I'm most shocked to not see on this list, though, is Lois Smith in Marjorie Prime. Incredibly affecting work. I can only assume you haven't seen it, which you should. Even aside from Smith, who gives a career-best performance, it's really good.
Pfeiffer was *delicious* in Mother! Her performance is naughty and funny.
I loved Lillis in IT, and I understand your reservations about it -- I was scared shitless -- but the real horror is about the indifference the town has to the injustice around it, and while the book explores this more, I thought the movie conveyed it well. I also thought the actress playing Eddie's mom (a creepy as hell woman with a bad case of Munchausen's by proxy) did a lot with a little.
Sorry Jakey but It wasn't remotely scary. Good film though and Lillis was excellent and natural.