Waif vs. Waif: Mia Wasikowska vs. Saoirse Ronan

[This guest post is from Ester Bloom, recently reader-spotlighted. She and I were speaking off-blog about how much we missed the old shuttered website Fame Tracker. Ester whipped up this homage to one of their best series "Two Stars: One Slot". We hope you enjoy. -Nathaniel R.]

Battle of the Stars With Unpronouncable Names

Mia & Saoirse on May 2nd, 2011 at the Met Costume Gala

Saoirse (“Sur-shuh”) Ronan and Mia Wasikowska (“Vash-i-kov-ska”) burst upon the scene at roughly the same time: In 2007, S. Ronan lent much-needed eeriness to Joe Wright’s Atonement in her first major role and received an Academy Award nomination. In 2008, Mia W. elevated both the HBO series “In Treatment” and the Daniel Craig vehicle Defiance, earning a place as one of Variety magazine’s “Actresses to Watch” in the process.

Since then, neither actress has sat on her hands. S. Ronan gave critics something to praise about Peter Jackson’s misconceived but lush adaptation of The Lovely Bones. Mia W. brought gravitas to Tim Burton’s misconceived but lush adaptation of Alice in Wonderland and helped made 2010 The Year of the Teenage Virgin with her role as the daughter in Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right.

Mia W. skipped ahead with a career-defining turn as the fierce, independent, young star of Jane Eyre, matching the intensity of Michael Fassbender. S. Ronan caught up by embodying another titular character: the fierce, independent, young star of Hanna, where she matched the intensity of Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett.

Mia as "Jane Eyre" & Saoirse as "Hanna"

Both parchment-skinned, fiery-eyed women hail from the former British Empire: though S. Ronan was born in New York, she was raised in Ireland, and Mia W. is from Canberra, Australia. They are only five years apart in age, and in many ways they could be sisters: they share a self-possession and a grace not easily found among Hollywood starlets. (Try to imagine either of them falling out of a limo, half-dressed.)

But where do they go from here? S. Ronan appears later this year in another popcorn flick about teenage assassins called Violet and Daisy directed by Geoffrey Fletcher (an Oscar winner for the screenplay of Precious). It could be good—Hanna is good, anxiety-inducing fun—but the presence of Alexis Bledel as a co-star doesn’t inspire confidence. After that, S. Ronan will return to form (and to screen with Cate Blanchett) in another, hopefully better, Peter Jackson vehicle, The Hobbit.  

Mia W. has chosen a more indie route, joining the crew of Gus Van Sant’s Restless and Rodrigo Garcia’s Albert Nobbs, as well as several other small-budget projects. 

Both of these steely sylphs have it in them to succeed despite their tongue-twisting names. Who has the edge? S. Ronan’s Hanna scared the bejesus out of audiences and Manohla Dargis, and she is already one of the youngest actresses to get an Oscar nomination; she has proven she can play to the mainstream and to art houses. Mia W. could manage a Best Actress nod this year for Jane Eyre and has plenty of other roles that will be catnip to Oscar on the horizon, but she hasn’t yet proven her box office chops. We have faith in both and this could easily be a draw, but Mia W., with more serious projects coming up, gets the edge.

Advantage: Mia W.

She's Still in Love With Judas, Baby

Another couple of months, another Lady Gaga short film. Thankfully she's calmed down a smidge since the epic EPICNESS of "Born This Way" which was messy MESSYNESS.

Sometimes it's good to have a simple concept and just execute it well.

In this case its Christ & Disciples as biker gang with Gaga as the Holy Fool / Biker Chick who can't choose between her two (archetypal) men, saintly Jesus or bad boy Judas (Norman Reedus!) who is so rebellious he demands that his name be pronounced with extra syllables. Speaking of. Love the tongue-tripped lyric bridge.

In the most Biblical sense,
I am beyond repentance
Fame hooker, prostitute wench.

Video: B+ That Bit w/ the Lipstick: A+ The Break: D+ (video breaks are tired. just dance!) Song: B

P.S. TANGENT TIME:  I'm totes enjoying Gaga's reign these past couple of years but, gotta say it, really missing Madonna today. Like as in more than usual.

Maybe it's because Madge looked flawless at the Met Costume Gala. Maybe it's because this is Gaga's "Like a Prayer" no? I'm not saying that in a negative 'ripping off Madonna' way people like to assume. I'm saying that as in this is the moment where the stars feel indestructable and poke at the religious people's eternally thin skin and risk their noisy wrath while making some sort of dance-ready point about the eternal internal spiritual war that's a universal part of being human". That moment.  "Like a Prayer" is Madonna's very best song (A+) in a discography with astounding number of viable options for that title. So that's probably how the pangs of missing are so acute. Excited for her directorial effort W.E. -- when will we see it? -- but could use more music real soon. It's been so long since "Hard Candy". Just one more record as fab as "Confessions on a Dance Floor", please!? Pleaseandthanks.

P.P.S. We now return you to your normally scheduled film programming.

Reader Spotlight: Borja

Hey people! Sorry we missed the spotlight last week. This is a series where we get to know members of The Film Experience community!

This week I'd like to introduce you to Borja from Spain. He's a talent agent so if you're an actor or actress, maybe one day he'll be staring at your headshot or reel!

Nathaniel: Borja thanks for doing this. How did you discover The Film Experience?
BORJA:  I was googling an actress two years ago and clicked over. I love your point of view Nathaniel and it's a place where people are passionate but respectful -- something rare on the web.

Thanks. Do you remember your first movie?
The first I remember vividly was Raiders of the Lost Ark and I left the theater changed forever. I was only six and it was my true favorite for a long time, the benchmark for all action and adventure movies. All the people involved became my heroes: Steven Spielberg, who is directly responsible of my love for movies, Harrison Ford and, of course, Karen Allen. Marion Ravenwood is still one of the most fascinating female characters of all time.

So underrated! I'm feeling generous so I'm giving you FIVE favorite actresses. Go.
I´ll try…

Sigourney Weaver: My first favorite. I discovered her for the first time in “Ghostbusters”, a movie where she is funny, sexy, dark and intelligent. The definitive love came with “Alien”, logically. There is nothing I can say about Ellen Ripley that hasn't been said before. The idea of a woman taking control, being brave, tough and credible at the same time… Ufff… too much for me, I was trapped. Weaver is much more than Ripley though. Highlights on her career: “Year of living dangerously” (my personal favorite at the moment), “Working girl”, “Gorillas in the mist”, “Death and the maiden” or “A map of the world”. One word to describe her? Unique. No one before, no one after her.

Penélope Cruz. To understand my passion you must live in Spain. She became a national star at 18, with two movies: “Jamón Jamón” and “Belle Epoque”. Since then, she has had a career with up and downs, but being the most successful Spanish actress in history, becoming a big star in Hollywood, having problems with the English language and finally being nominated to three Oscars and winning. During that whole time I was supporting her from a distance. In Spain, the coolest thing you can say about her is that she is a bad actress, she is not so beautiful and looks cheap. It´s so tiring! I think she has the screen presence only the greatest stars of all time have.

Kirsten Dunst: The most underrated actress of her generation. I love how she takes the simplest way to create a character. You will never see her overacting or being selfish, she is always honest, transparent and clean. You can read everything through her eyes. I find her fascinating as a woman, I love the way she looks, the way she talks… everything ! She is not at the peak of her popularity these days but I´m sure that's temporary. Can't wait to see her work with Von Trier.

Michelle Williams: I was a "Dawson's Creek" addict and I remember being very mad because everything on the show was designed as a vehicle for Katie Holmes (nothing against Mrs. Cruise). But since the pilot I was in love with Michelle… in fact I remembered her from “Species”, that terrible Alien-with a hot blonde movie. Since then, she has proved not only that she is a versatile infinite actress but that she has taste and guts choosing projects. And it doesn't hurt that she is a class act in everything related with her exposed and difficult life.

Kate Winslet: Capable of everything. Period.

You work in the industry as an agent right? What do you look for in actors to decide to represent them?
Mmmm… difficult question. I could talk for hours about this and say nothing but I will try to be concrete: The perfect mixture of talent, intuition and charisma. Oh, and I try to work only with good people, this is fundamental for me.  

That's SO under-discussed. Let this be a lesson to all budding film professionals: it's not only talent or looks. If you're not good people, who will want to hang around you all day on set?

OK, wrapping up. The movie of your life. Title? Star?
The title should be: “La camisa del hombre feliz” (“The shirt of the happy man”, kind of…) and who I want to play me? Uff… Must be short, with dark hair and a big nose. Ben Foster comes to my mind, or Emile Hirsch. Those could work.

previous episodes of this series

The Rose

may flowers, blooming each afternoon

Just remember.... in the winter... far beneath the bitter snow...

How beautiful is that song? On a scale of 1-10? 11! One of the all time classics.

I don't think we've ever discussed that particular Best Actress race. Sally Field took her first Oscar for Norma Rae "UNION!". But who gets your vote?

• Jill Clayburgh, Starting Over
• Sally Field, Norma Rae
• Jane Fonda, The China Syndrome
• Marsha Mason, Chapter Two
• Bette Midler, The Rose

I've just realized that the reason we've never discussed it here at The Film Experience is that I barely remember these movies (and have never seen Starting Over ... which sounds like a spiritual sequel or straight up remake of An Unmarried Woman). I remember really liking the other four performances when I saw them on VHS (gulp) in the late 80s. I was a huge fan of Chapter Two in particular for a split second but barely remember it now. No one speaks of Marsha Mason anymore...

Game of Thrones, Three Hours In

I've resisted commenting on the new HBO series Game of Thrones, made possible by way of The Lord of the Rings. (That's a gift that will hopefully keep on giving to the fantasy genre. No one wants to go back to the 80s when B movie status was forced upon an entire genre.) I wanted to see how the series did or did not evolve from the kick-off show a couple of weeks back. So after three hours in the Seven Kingdoms, it feels like time to discuss.

After glancing at a few reviews and comment pieces, most of which seem elated at the ratings or the instant second season renewal, it seems the general consensus is FuckYeahGameofThrones. I am personally not elated though I did want to be. I imagined that the right cast or storytelling decisions in the series would smooth over or even hurdle some of the problems with the book series. I loved the first book but grew less enamored with each until I finally gave up on the series halfway through the third. By that time we had been introduced to dozens of major characters (plus several dozen minor ones) and the story threads, splintered at the thrilling final chapters of the first book, had only been rebraided in the abstract. The characterizations were, generally speaking, quite interesting. What killed it was the lack of interaction between the characters. The map is so big and the plots so resistant to truly intertwining that it felt like you were reading 100 different novels at once and even the ones about blood relatives would almost never overlap. Great characters are great characters but even they need chemistry with other great characters to truly leap off the page or screen.

George R R Martin can turn a phrase with the best of them, build a thrilling moment, and make complex decisions about characterizations (the best longform aspects of the book may be that, aside from maybe three or four characters, most of them minor, nobody seems entirely like heroes or villains). But I found the author's voice too cruel -- the ratio of gruesome plot turns to endearing or lighter or funny or romantic bits is roughly 99 to 1 -- and the stories far too repetitve once it was clear that entire books would go by and we'd still be harping on the same points (in that way it was already a television soap opera!) and still yearning for some face-to-face time between ANY of the characters we'd seen interact in the first novel.

But here's how the pros and cons and character detail breaks down thus far.

Click to read more ...