Top 20 Female Performances
1) Diane Keaton – LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR
2) Gena Rowlands – A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE
3) Meryl Streep – SOPHIE’S CHOICE
4) Emily Watson – BREAKING THE WAVES
5) Gloria Swanson – SUNSET BLVD.
6) Liv Ullmann – SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE
7) Jane Fonda - THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?
8. Glen Close – DANGEROUS LIAISONS
9) Kathy Bates – DOLORES CLAIBORNE
10) Louise Fletcher – ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST
11) Faye Dunaway – BONNIE & CLYDE
12) Anne Bancroft – THE GRADUATE
13) Julia Roberts – ERIN BROCKOVICH
14) Ellen Burstyn – REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
15) Jodie Foster – THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
16) Jennifer Connelly – REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
17) Charlize Theron – MONSTER
18) Natalie Portman – LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL
19) Barbara Stanwyck – THE LADY EVE
20) Rosalind Russell – HIS GIRL FRIDAY
I don't know what it says about me that I love Female performances where the character is mentally losing it or has already lost it. My Top 7 are all women having a mental breakdown.
I can't stress enough how many of you need to add a few of these films to your education. Not enough of you have 1, 2, 4, 6 and 9 in your knowledge bank or DVD queue. If we all saw the eligible films, I'd be much more certain of their ability to make the final list.