All the actresses are pretty contemporary but needless to say they are all fine actors and more importantly great entertainers.
- All movies mentioned are the ones I have seen, there are plenty more!
1: Jodie Foster
One of the most talented actresses to have graced the big screen, Foster has not one but two academy awards to her credit.
First noticed in the mid 70’s for playing a 13 year old protitute Iris in Martin Scorcese’s celebrated * Taxi Driver( along with Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel) she did not the big time until * The Accused * in 1988.
Foster plays the role of a small town woman who is gang raped by 3 men. The 3 men are then let off with a mild sentence. Why? The court feels that the woman is of poor morality and that what happened was bound to happen anyway( with her consent) . Teaming up with the local district attorney( Kelly McGillis), she gets her revenge.
Foster’s moment in the sun and her best movie till date will definitely be Jonathan Demme’s * Silence of The Lambs *. She teamed up beautifully with Sir Anthony Hopkins. Playing the role of a young FBI rookie(Clarice Starling) who is asked to interview a serial killer Hannibal Lecter( Hopkins) in order to understand the psyche of a serial killer, Foster comes up trumps.
watch out for Foster’s brilliance in the climax.
She then played the role of a English School teacher in * Anna and The King * a movie slightly on the slow side but still good.
The other movie that I have seen is * Contact * a scifi movie which is about well Contact with extra terrestrials. She plays the role of a young scientist who is chosen on a difficult mission. The movie was rather ordinary but with a nice ending.
- Julia Roberts
Without any doubt one of the top entertainers in Hollywood and the most celebrated actress as well. Her big break came in the romantic comedy * Pretty Woman * along with Richard Gere .( dont think I have to say much more about the movie!).
My favourite movie of hers will have to be * My Best Friend’s Wedding * where she desperately tries to sabotage her friends marriage in the hope of winning him.
Movies that followed were the weepy * Stepmom(she was also executive producer), * Notting Hill where she plays a big actress looking for love, * Runaway Bride* where she teamed up( rather unsuccessfully this time) with Richard Gere.
Roberts then was catapulted to the top as she won the academy award in 2001 for her role in * Erin Brockovich *( a movie I still havent seen). Based on a true story, she plays the role of a secretary who takes on a big corporation that is dumping chemicals in a small town.
Movies that followed were the dumb * The Mexican * and another comedy * Americas Sweethearts *. I still wonder what she was doing in Steven Sodeberghs smash hit * Oceans Eleven *. Lets just wait and see what she will be up to in the sequel * Oceans Twelve * where she plays the twelfth member in Billy Oceans gang of con artists.
- Susan Sarandon
No list of best actresses can be complete without a mention of this red head. Also known for her philanthropic work as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations she has acted in a huge variety of roles.
The first movie I ever saw of hers was * The Client * where she plays a lawyer defending a 13 year old witness. Other movies include the brilliant * Dead Man Walking (for which she won an academy award), *Thelma and Louise, * Stepmom *, Sidney Sheldon’s * The Other Side of Midnight *( where did not really excel as the mysterious Catherine Douglas).
As co-presenters of the Academy Awards in 1993, Susan and her partner, Tim Robbins(remember * Shawshank Redemption?* and also director of * Dead Man Walking *), seized a chance to bring public attention to the plight of a few hundred Haitians with Aids who had been interned in Guantanamo Bay.
She was arrested for disorderly conduct during a protest in New York over the unarmed shooting African immigrant Amadou Diallo by 4 policeman.(Bruce Springstein’s song 41 SHOTS was dedicated to the Senegalese immigrant)
Oh! By the way, She keeps her Oscar in her bathroom!
- Meryl Streep
Another legend with the most number of academy award acting nominations till date(overtook Katherine Hepburn this year) with 13 in all.
I have to admit the fact that I have not seen many movies of hers but in the two or three I have she was brilliant.
The first one is probably the most well known * Kramer Vs Kramer * for which she won her first Oscar in 1979. Starring opposite Dustin Hoffman( who won an Oscar as well) the movie is about a child custody suit. Made into Akele Hum Akele Tum in Hindi.
The second movie was the brilliant * Bridges of Madison County*. Directed by Clint Eastwood and adapted from the novel by Robert Waller, the movie is about a brief but passionate romance between Eastwood and Streep for four days in the 60’s but then she is married with children. She leaves the details of the affair in a diary.
Her children find the diary after her death and the message they take from the diary is one of hope that they will find happiness too at some point of time in their lives.
Her performance was breathtaking in * The River Wild * where she plays an expert at white water rafting. She takes her family to a spectacularly violent river. On the way they pick up a couple of men who seem inexperienced. Little do they know that they are thieves on the run. Kevin Bacon co-stars.
One movie I have always wanted to see is * Sophie’s Choice * where she plays a concentration camp survivor. Adapted from a book of the same name by William Styron the movie fetched Streep her second Oscar.
The ease with which she slips into roles with different accents is well documented.
Madonna was considered ahead of her for the movie * Evita* to which she replied that she could sing better than her!. Streep ironically replaced Madonna in the critically acclaimed * Music of the heart
* She left her academy award in the bathroom after the 1979 award festivities!
5. Michelle Pfeiffer
This stunningly beautiful actress completes the list of my favourite actresses.
The first movie I saw of hers was the interesting * Frankie and Johnny * where she starred opposite my favourite Al Pacino. She plays the role of a lonely waitress terrified of human contact.
The second one was the funny * One Fine day *, starring opposite George Clooney. Its a typical romantic comedy and deals with the events of well One fine day.
Next I caught * Dangerous Minds * on Star Movies where she plays a teacher in a school full of kids who are into violence and dope. * What Lies Beneath* which brought her together with Harrison Ford and FORREST GUMP director Robert Zemeckis was a bloody drab. It is scary in some scenes but otherwise its a movie best left alone.
Movies I have been wanting to watch include * I am Sam * and also * Age Of Innocence *.
- One actress I left out as I havent seen too many of her movies
Jessica Lange : Watch her in Losing Isaiah and Blue Sky