Winona Ryder @ 50: Little Women

We're celebrating Winona Ryder for her birthday this week

by Lynn Lee

Was Winona Ryder miscast in Little Women? Boy, was she ever. Or so I thought back in 1994 when I first heard she was playing Jo, second of the four March sisters, in the then-new film adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic.  As a teenager who’d read Little Women so many times it had become personal canon, I found the casting ludicrous on its face.  After all, in the book Jo is lanky, tomboyish, awkward, and plain.  Ryder, by contrast, was tiny, graceful, and so exquisitely pretty I had a bit of a crush on her, a fact that sharpened rather than softened my disapproval.  Still, in the end curiosity and my family’s tradition of going to see a movie on Christmas meant I got to judge for myself just how wrong she was for the role.

Readers, what can I say?  She completely won me over....

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Winona Ryder @ 50: "The Age of Innocence"

by Cláudio Alves

It didn't take long for Winona Ryder to capture the Academy's attention. In 1990, Mermaids marked the young actress' first brush with awards buzz, and, three years later, The Age of Innocence cashed in on that promise. For playing May Welland, the fiancée, then wife, of Daniel Day-Lewis' Newland Archer, Winona Ryder was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar and probably came quite close to winning. She won the Golden Globe and Anna Paquin's win at the Oscars for The Piano was considered a surprise at the time. And yet, reading reviews from the time and even modern considerations, it's clear that Ryder's performance isn't as universally beloved as her victories might imply. Indeed, it's divisive work…

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Winona Ryder @ 50: the iconic "Heathers"

Team Experience is celebrating Winona Ryder this week as we approach her 50th birthday

By Christopher James

Some talents are undeniable. Winona Ryder’s rise to stardom was quick. Her first leading role, as Veronica in Heathers, was only her fifth film. However, the ease at which she conveyed the dark comedy’s tricky tone spoke to a talent well beyond her years. In its theatrical release in the spring of 1989 Heathers barely made a dent at the box office, only grossing $1.1 million domestically. Today, it stands as one of the defining roles of her Ryder’s career. It was a launching pad and announcement to the world. She is neither achild star nor a scene stealer, but a leading lady with a one-of-a-kind screen persona.

Not only is Heathers my favorite performance from Winona Ryder, it also ranks as one of the best performances of a high school student ever. Veronica is on the Mount Rushmore of teen heroines alongside Cher from Clueless, Cady Heron from Mean Girls, Lady Bird and, of course, Carrie. In so many ways, Veronica combines attributes of all of those characters...

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Winona Ryder @ 50: "Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice"

Team Experience is celebrating Winona Ryder this week as she turns 50.

by Ginny O'Keefe

He’s the ghost with the most, babe. It’s Beetlejuice. The wacky, morbid and over the top 1988 Tim Burton joint  revolves around Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) a couple living in an idyllic Connecticut countryside. They are tragically killed after their car swerves off a bridge and into a river. The thing is the film keeps following them and their perspective. Tracing their steps all the way back home which is when they realize…they’re dead! Once home they discover a book titled "Handbook for the Recently Deceased". Soon enough their house is sold to the Deetz family. Charles, his wife Delia and their daughter Lydia all moving out into the country from New York City. They begin to tear apart the house and make it their own. Barbara and Adam want them gone so it’s time to start haunting. Eventually they turn to someone (or something in the form of Michael Keaton) they never should have for help: Betelgeuse (pronunciation: beetle juice). 

The greatness of this film is its supreme wackiness. Nothing is too out there for this movie. It’s got sandworms, moving sculptures, Harry Belafonte musical numbers, dead caseworkers, Catherine O’Hara wearing gloves as a headband, goofy production design, and a perfect balancing of message and escapism. My favorite character in the film is Lydia played by the great Winona Ryder...

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50th Anniversary: "Play Misty for Me"

by Nick Taylor

Happy 50th anniversary to Play Misty for Me! The 1971 directorial debut of notoriously productive actor/director/writer/composer Clint Eastwood received a new wave of attention earlier this year in the wake of lead actress Jessica Walter’s still-unthinkable death at age 80. Nathaniel mentioned the film in his in memoriam piece, but with its anniversary upon us it seemed right to give the film a deeper dive. The story is a tale as old as time - boy meets girl, boy and girl have a liaison, boy realizes girl is dangerously invested in their relationship and that one of them will probably die. Fatal Attraction would take that fable in an iron grip once it hit the screens, imbuing it with its own peculiarities, but Play Misty for Me is very much its own beast. That’s partially the beauty of launching before the film that will eventually define your subgenre...

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