Friday, September 28, 2007

Top Ten Sport Films - Scott

1. Rocky
2. Slap Shot
3. Eight Men Out
4. Brian's Song
5. Bull Durham
6. Cobb
7. Heaven Can Wait
8. Seabiscuit
9. Kingpin
10. Hoosiers

Top Ten Sport Films - Scott

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Top Ten Supporting Actress, Comedy - Scott

(Finally)

1. Maureen O'Sullivan - Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Catherine O'Hara - For Your Condsideration
(One - Two Irish Punch)
3. Dianne Wiest - Hannah and Her Sisters
4. Kathy Bates - About Schmidt / Primary Colors
5. Angelica Houston - Crimes and Misdemeanors
6. Meryl Streep - Adaptation
7. Hope Davis - The Weather Man
8. Liza Minnelli - Arthur
9. Julie Haggarty - Lost in America (22...22!)
10. Wanda Sykes - Clerks 2 ( Sometimes I need to talk to my brother before he posts)

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Top Ten Directors - Mike

1. Woody Allen
2. Mike Nichols
3. Sidney Lumet
4. Martin Scorsese
5. Robert Altman
(tie.) Elia Kazan
6. Stephen Frears
7. Sydney Pollack
8. Ang Lee
9. Ridley Scott
10. Clint Eastwood, Francis Ford Coppola

Top Ten Directors - Scott

1. Woody Allen ( Come on...some duds...The man's a genius!)
2. Sidney Lumet
3. Martin Scorsese
4. Ang Lee
5. Alexander Payne
6. Stanley Kubrick ( Don't believe in God, but God rest his soul)
7. Christopher Guest
8. Clint Eastwood
9. Sydney Pollack
10. Robert Redford

Top Ten Supporting Actress, Drama - Scott

1. Shohreh Aghdashloo - House of Sand and Fog
2. Glenn Close - The World According to Garp
3. Cate Blachett - The Aviator
4. Susan Peretz as "Angie" - Dog Day Afternoon
5. Juliette Lewis - Kalifornia
6. Pam Grier - Fort Apachee, The Bronx
7. Phyllis Somerville - Little Children
8. Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Machinist
9. Kim Bassinger - 8 Mile
10. Laura Linney - Kinsey

Top Ten Movie Endings - Scott

1. ...And Justice for All
2. Little Miss Sunshine
3. American Beauty
4. Rocky
5. Gladiator
6. Heaven Can Wait
7. One Flew Over the Cockoo's Next
8. Dog Day Afternoon
9. The Verdict
10. Taxi Driver

Friday, September 21, 2007

Top Ten Best Movie Endings - Mike

( Just the last few moments.)

1. Kramer vs. Kramer (Seemed real, inspired and improvised. Raw emotions - really smart ending. That's how I would have done it. You wanted just one more scene - but no. It's as it should be, Dustin's no teeth smile to his former wife, elevator shuts. He got his son.)

2. The History of Violence (David Cronenberg’s sly, brilliant merger of a revenge fantasy and an essay on the American Dream has an appropriately messy, provocative ending. So much going on in their faces. The whole journey, what do we do now?, and the little girl was genius. How much we all need to believe in 'the fantasy of family'.)

3. Hannah and Her Sisters ( Perfect, just perfect. Not so much cause Woody can reproduce - Diane Weists' magical delivery "I'm pregnant".)

4. Private Benjamin (Goldies face - beaming and then throws up her veil into the wind. Her face goes through a big ( beginning - middle and end) transformation and every moment is crystal clear - and shiny. Underneath, it's her commenting on and playing up her persona, but then it's so much more. It's a very pro-feminists piece of film-making. And then there she goes walking off into an unknown  future...a better world - without marriage.)

5. The Verdict (She's calling him - Galvin won the case and has the girl desperate on the other end. He got his balls back!)

6. Ordinary People ( Gets me every time. It's big melodrama words but the men are two of the best actors having a very real moment and the camera pulls back, music plays - it's pure cinema poetry and I have no problem with Robert Redford winning the OSCAR over Marty)

7. Silence of the Lambs ( Every frame of the film was perfect. I can't believe how many times I've watched this movie. It still holds up like brand new. It all leads up to that sweet ending of Hannibal following this ultimate next meal - it's scary and witty - and we're all rooting for him - love it! Changed the way we see movie hero's. This ending almost doesn't fit into the tone of the movie before - but it's still so good.)

8. Working Girl ( Ironic and insightful and inspiring all at once - it's a great moment. Joan Cucsak leaps to her feet "She did it! - She got out!" then that terrific score and music by Carly Simon "Let the River Run!" camera pulls back fast - Melanie turns her body perfectly in the chair of her new office. Camera pulls out of the building - we see many offices - hundreds. Women movin' on up! Being upwardly mobile, and power hungry, but what's it all mean? Smart director.)

9. Fargo - (Cinema, especially recent cinema, isn't known for its portrayals of happy marriages -- especially not in crime movies. But the last scene in this Coen brothers masterpiece doesn't involve any blood, bullets, or double-crosses. It just shows the Gundersons, Marge (Frances McDormand) and Norm (John Carroll Lynch), sitting in bed. He tells her that his painting is going to put on a three-cent stamp, she tells him how great that is, and the emotional core that has been developing throughout the film is suddenly sitting right in front of us.)

10. Rocky - (As Bill Conte's score soars in the background, a bloodied Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) and a hat less Adrian (Talia Shire) finally proclaim their love for one another. And in the distant background, a ring announcer tells a frenzied crowd that our hero has actually lost the fight that held us captive for an entire final act. In one dramatic move, two shy nobodies find their hearts and nothing else matters.)

Honorable Mentions -  No Country for Old MenThe Usual Suspects, Memento, The Spanish Prisoner, Before Sunset, Postcards From the Edge (used to hate it - now I love it), The Color Purple ( Beautiful silhouette of 'Mister' moving through the field with the reunited sisters doing their childhood clap), Shakespeare in Love ( What can I say - I'm a sucker for women walking off alone), Tootsie, 9 to 5, All That Jazz, The Birds, Some Like it Hot, Jacob's Ladder (whole movie a brief hallucination before dying - fabulous) & Little Miss Sunshine ( Gives one hope that good movies are still possible).

Top Ten Great Performances in Not-so-great / Bad Movies - Mike

Top Ten Performances ( Men and Women) in 'Not-so-great' / Bad Movies.

1. Peter O'Toole - The Stunt Man
2. Tom Hanks - Philadelphia
3. Jodie Foster - The Brave One / The Accused and Nell ( Nell is embarrassingly bad. I laughed throughout. Like TV Movie of the Week ala 70's bad...Wild-child girl has to go to court...how stupid is this? But God does Jodie commit)
4. Jessica Lange - Rob Roy ( accent feels a tad off but her emotion is genius as always)
5. Al Pacino - ...And Justive For All (Movie couldn't decide what it wanted to be...)
6. Johnny Depp - That first lame ass Pirate Movie.
7. Diane Keaton - Somethings Got to Give
8. Christian Bale - Pick a movie, any movie.
9. Charlize Theron & Frances McDormand - North Country. 
10. Catherine O'Hara - The Mighty Wind & For Your Consideration (Taking advantage of all the worked he poured into Best in Show and Guffman. These two were stinkers.)

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Top Ten Men in Musicals

1. Robert Preston – The Music Man , Victor/Victoria (love my gays)
1. Roy Shrieder – All that Jazz (not great singing but brilliant acting)
2. James Cagney – Yankee Doodle Dandy
3. Joey Grey – Cabaret
4. John Cameron Mitchell – Hedwig and the Angry Inch
5. Joaquin Phoenix – Walk the Line
6. Charles Durning – The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (brief but brilliant)
7. Treat Williams – Hair
8. Richard Gere – Chicago
9. Rex Harrison – My Fair Lady
10. Christopher Plummer – The Sound of Music,
tie with only one... Ewan McGregor - Moulin Rouge

Top Ten Females in a Musical

(very difficult - they could all be number #1)

1. Barbra Streisand – Funny Girl
2. Sissy Spacek – Coal Miner’s Daughter
3. Diana Ross – Lady Sings the Blues
4. Bette Midler – The Rose (May be my favorite)
5. Liza Minnelli - Caberet
6. Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line
7. Michelle Pfeiffer - The Fabulous Baker Boys
8. Julie Andrews – Victor/Victoria
9. Dolly Parton - The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ('Guilty Pleasure' as charged)
9. Catherine Zeta Jones– Chicago
10. Nicole Kidman – Moulin Rouge
tie: Natalie Wood – West Side Story, Julie Andrews – Mary Poppins/ Sound of Music, Renee Zellweger – Chicago (mainly for the puppet scene - other scenes she just looked hungry and on blow)

Top Ten Movie Lines - Mike

1. "Could you not breath so hard" . Geraldine Page - Interiors

2. "...I especially loved the part of the mother character, just a boozy old flirt with a foul mouth..." - Maureen O'Sullivan - Hannah and Her Sisters

3. "...I hate April, she's pushy..." . Diane Wiest - Hannah and Her Sisters

4. " ... I understand. It's just while people are here. It's all right my darling. It's nothing, it's painful, but not important. I'm leaving, the freak, the monster is leaving" . Nathan Lane - Birdcage

5. "Fucking men...Don't defend your sex! Your great til you start to show your age...Then they want a newer model..." (puff) Judy Davis - Husbands and Wives

6. "George George George George...It's Michael Dorsey your favorite client...Yes...swear to God...Last time you got me a job it was a tomato". Dustin Hoffman - Tootsie

7. "Instant gratification takes too long" . Meryl Streep - Postcards From The Edge

8. "I never heard of her" . Jennifer Tilly - Bullets over Broadway

"Who's She?...I need a drink..." Diane Weist - Bullets over Broadway

9. "Did you know your Aunt Kissy is staying with us now?" Sam Wanamaker - Private Benjamin ( partly due to the Barbara Barrie reaction shot)

10. "...No...That's it!...Thank you for answering my question." - Olympia Dukakis - Moonstruck

"We both got what we settled for..." - Susan Surandon - ( a tad dramatic but true) - Thelma & Louise

"Do you ...enjoy...being an actor?" (So non-plussed, bored, stalling for time. She just threw-it-away brilliantly) Catherine Keener - Being John Malcovich

" ...and being so sensitive he feels to need to do things most men don't..like the need to suck dick." Queen Latifha - Living Out Loud

Top Ten Movie Lines - Scott

( Make 'em personal)

1. "Keep em coming sweets...I got a long drive ahead". Bill Murray - Kingpin

2. Are you in my class? "I am today". Sean Penn - Fast Times at Ridgemount High

3. "Let's just say...I Like you a lot". Michael Caine - Alfie

4. "This non-person...this haircut that passes for a man". Maureen O'Sullivan - Hannah and Her Sisters

5. "...that was a very convincing dragon you should be proud". Will Farrell - Starsky and Hutch

6. " ...I tried to fart and a little shit came out...I Shart'd..." Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Along Came Polly

7. "I just thought she was a raging alcoholic". Jim Carrey - Dumb and Dumber

8. "You can't trust something that bleeds for five days and doesn't die". Herbert Garrison - South Park bigger longer and uncut

9. "if I was a fag I could get laid on the subway...Come on Captain! Stay with me..." Vince Vaughn - Made

10. Where's Momma's TV set? "I SMOKED it!" Samuel Jackson - Jungle Fever

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Top Ten Female, Classic (Comedy and Drama) - Mike

Female Classical Performances – Signature Roles (from the beginning of film to 1968)

1. Vivian Leigh – A Streetcar Named Desire
1. Bette Davis – All About Eve
2. Katherine Hepburn – The Lion and Winter
3. Gloria Swanson – Sunset Blvd.
4. Olivia deHavilland – The Heiress
5. Katherine Hepburn – African Queen
6. Geraldine Page – Sweet Bird of Youth
7. Anne Bancroft – The Graduate
8. Elizabeth Taylor – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
9. Geraldine Page – Summer and Smoke
10. Joanne Woodward – Three Faces of Eve
tie: Audrey Hepburn – Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Debroah Kerr –From Here to Eternity, Elizabeth Taylor – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Kim Stanley – Séance on a Wet Afternoon.

Top Ten Male, Classic (Comedy & Drama) - Mike

Male Classic performances – Signature Roles (Beginning of Film to 1968)

1. Marlon Brando – A Streetcar Named Desire ( Changed acting forever)
2. Peter O’Toole - Lawrence of Arabia
3. Marolon Brando – On The Waterfront
4. James Cagney – Yankee Doodle Dandy
5. Spencer Tracy – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Mom's fav.)
6. Gregory Peck – To Kill a Mockingbird
7. Paul Scofield – A Man of All Seasons
8. Paul Newman – The Hustler / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
9. Richard Burton – Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?
10. Michael Caine – Alfie? ( my brother's fav!)
Jack Lemmon – Some Like it Hot, Humphrey Bogart – Casablanca, Clark Gable – Gone with the Wind, Laurence Olivier – Hamlet, James Stewart – Rear Window.

Top Ten Child Performances - Mike

Top Ten Child Performances ( Under 17)

1. Mary Badham - To Kill A Mockingbird
2. Tatum O’Neal – Paper Moon
3. Justin Henry – Kramer vs. Kramer
4. Abigal Breslin – Little Miss Sunshine
5. Haley Joel Osmond – The Sixth Sense
6. Quinn Cummings – The Goodbye Girl
7. Jodie Foster – Taxi Driver
8. Juliette Lewis – Cape Fear
9. Kiesha Castle Hughes – Whale Rider
10. Linda Blair – The Exorcist, Reese Witherspoon – The Man and The Moon.

Top Ten Supporting Female, Comedy - Mike

1. Dianne Wiest – Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Judy Davis - Husbands and Wives
3. Eileen Brennan – Private Benjamin
4. Dianne Wiest –Bullets over Broadway
5. Maggie Smith – California Suite
6. Shirley McLaine – Postcards from the Edge
7. Madeline Kahn – Paper Moon / Blazing Saddles.
8. Kathy Bates – Primary Colors
9. Teri Garr – Tootsie
9. tie for ninth and moving up quick Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada
10. Females in BEST in SHOW – Parker Posey, Catherine O’Hara, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge.
tie: Olympia Dukakis – Moonstruck, Joan Hackett – Only When I Laugh, Leslie Ann Warren – Victor /Victoria, Dyan Cannon - Heaven Can Wait, fuck so many….my new fav. Barbara Barrie – Breaking Away / Private Benjamin ( It's really a cameo but her in those sunglasses and wiping down Goldie's coat just kills me.)

Top Ten Supprting Female, Drama - Mike

(Big list)

1. Glenn Close – The World According to Garp
2. Mary Beth Hurt – Interiors
3. Kim Stanley - Frances
4. Patricia Clarkson – High Art / Pieces of April.
5. Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
6. Amy Adams - Junebug
7. Cate Blanchett – The Aviator
8. Annette Benning – The Grifters
9. Toni Collette – The Hours / The Sixth Sense
10. Judy Partiff - Doroles Claibourne
 Shohreh Aghdashloo – The House of Sand and Fog ( Truly great first performance)
 Geraldine Page – Pope of Greenwich Village, Laura Linney - Kinsey. Meryl Streep – Kramer vs. Kramer, Oparh Winfrey – The Color Purple, Venessa Redgrave – Julia. Jennifer Jason Leigh – Dolores Claiborne, Linda Hunt – The Year of Living Dangerously, Kate Nelligan – The Prince of Tides, Julianne Moore – Boogie Nights / The Hours / Magnolia ( all perfection). Marcia Gay Hardon – Pollack, Piper Laurie – Carrie

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Top Ten Best Comedy Actor (lead) - Scott

1. Michael Caine - Alfie (Way out front!)
2. Dudley Moore - Arthur
3. Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat
4. Robert DeNiro - The King of Comedy
5. Jeff Daniels - Dumb and Dumber
6. Vince Vaughn - Swingers
7. Nic Cage - The Weather Man
8. Johnny Depp - Don Juan DeMarco
9. Bill Murray - Groundhogs Day
10. Nathan Lane & Robin Williams - Birdcage

Top Ten Supporting Actor, Drama - Scott

1. Ben Kinsley - Sexy Beast
2. Jack Lemmon - Glengarry Glenross
3. Billy Bob Thorton - A Simple Plan
4. Tommy Lee Jones ( "I don't care" best line ) - The Fugitive
5. Benicio del Toro - Traffic
6. Steve Buscemi - Reservior Dogs
7. Samuel Jackson - Jungle Fever
8. Joe Pesci - Goodfellas
9. Christopher Walkin - The Deer Hunter ( even though he's sold out his butthole in this last comedy piece of shit! "Balls...of something...glory...Fury" - Sad.)
10. Juaquien Phoenix - Gladiator

Top Ten Best Supporting Actor, Comedy - Scott

1. Christopher Guest - Waiting for Guffman ( My Sons and Mine fav. Performance of all time)
2. Bill Murray - Kingpin
3. Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
4. Martin Landau - Crimes and Misdemeanors
5. Woody Allen - Hannah and Her Sisters
6. Jack Wardon - Heaven Can Wait
7. Hank Azaria - Along Came Polly / & Birdcage
8. Sean Penn - Fast Times at Ridgemount High
9. Charles Grodin - Midnight Run
10. Steve Buscemi - Fargo
Tie (With violent protests from brother Mike) Paul Ruebens 'Pee Wee' -in Cheech and Chong's Next Movie !!!

Top Ten, Comedy - Scott

1. Hannah and Her Sisters
2. Sideways
3. Fargo
4. Burn After Reading
5. Knocked Up
6. Vicky Christina Barcelona
7. Birdcage
8. Election
9. Crimes and Misdemeanors
10. 40 Year Old Virgin
(tie Dumb and Dumber)

Top Ten favorite Actress, Drama - Scott

(as SCOTT says - "Best performance by a thing that bleeds fives days out of the month and here is my list"...He said it ...not me...He thinks that's the way the Academy should read it off each year as well)

1. Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose ( Knocking Meryl off after decades...)
2. Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice
3. Kate Winslet - Little Children
4. Jessica Lange - Frances
5. Ellen Burstyn - Requirem for a Dream (her best role!)
6. Faye Dunaway - Network
7. Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
8. Annette Benning - American Beauty
9. Emma Thompson - Sense and Sensibility
10. Charlize Theron - Monster

Top Ten favorite Actor, Drama - Scott

1. Sean Penn - Assassination of Richard Nixon, Milk, Dead Man Walking.
2. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Before the Devil Knows Your Dead / Capote
3. Ben Kinsley - House of Sand and Fog
4. Paul Newman - The Verdict
5. John Hurt - The Elephant Man
6. Dustin Hoffman - Midnight Cowboy
7. Kevin Spacey - American Beauty
8. Al Pacino - And Justice for All
9. Jack Nicholson - Cuckoo's Nest
10. Johnny Depp - Blow,
tie: Leonardo DeCaprio - The Aviator
(took off Robert NeNiro for selling it wholesale. I was going to keep Taxi Driver but then I heard he was doing 'Little Fockers'...I can't...I just can't)

Top Ten, Drama - Scott

1. American Beauty
2. Goodfellas
3. No Country for Old Men
4. Taxi Driver
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
6. Brokeback Mountain
7. Slumdog Millionaire

8. Little Children
9. Blow 
10. The Verdict

Top Ten Supporting Actor, Comedy - Mike

(Lots of Gays)

1. John Gielgud – Arthur
2. Michael Caine – Hannah and Her Sisters
3. Willam H. Macy & Steve Buscemi - Fargo
4. James Coco – Only When I Laugh
5. Alan Alda & Martin Landau – Crimes and Misdemeanors
6. Vincent Gardenia - Moonstruck
7. Chris Cooper - Adaptation
8. Christopher Guest – Waiting for Guffman
9. Albert Brooks – Broadcast News
10. Bill Murray - Kingpin
Tie: Jack Wardon – Heaven Can Wait, Woody Allen - Hannah and Her Sisters / Husbands and Wives / Crimes and Misdemeanors, Robert Preston – Victor / Victoria, John Michael Higgens & Michael McKean – Best in Show (like I said – lots of gay characters), John Malcovich – Being John Malcovich, Jim Broadbent – Bullets Over Broadway. 

Top Ten Supporting Actor, Drama - Mike

1. Ben Kinsley – Sexy Beast ( way out in front)
2. Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road ( May be my new Number one - I didn't want to be to anxious)
3. Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People
4. James Mason– The Verdict
5. John Lithgow – The World According to Garp.
6. Billy Bob Thorton – A Simple Plan
7. Tommy Lee Jones – The Fugitive
8. Jason Robards – Julia / All the Presidents Men.
9. Jack Lemmon – Glengarry Glen Ross / Shortcuts (like fine wine - he got better and better)
10. Ian Holm - The Sweet Hereafter
Tie: Christopher Walken – The Deer Hunter, Beau Bridges – The Fabulous Baker Boys, Ned Beatty – Network, Chris Sarandon, Charles Durning and John Cazale - Dog Day Afternoon, Robert Duvall – Apocalypse Now, Al Pacino – Godfather, Rip Torn – Cross Creek, River Phoenix – Running on Empty, Leonardio deCaprio – What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, Ralph Finnes - The Reader

Top Ten Male, Comedy (lead) (1969 - present) - Mike

1. Dudley Moore – Arthur
2. Dustin Hoffman – Tootsie
3. Woody Allen – Annie Hall
4. Nathan Lane – Birdcage
5. Robin Williams – Birdcage ( yes, I'm a big queen)
6. Michael Caine – Educating Rita.
7. Jeff Daniels – The Squid and The Whale
8. Michael Douglas – Wonder Boys
9. John Cameron Mitchell – Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
10. Nic Cage – Adaptation
tie : Jermey Irons – Reversal of Fortune, Bill Murray – Groundhog’s Day, Tom Hanks - Big, Campbell Scott – Roger Doger, Peter Sellers – Being There. Vince Vaughn – Swingers. Robert DeNiro – The King of Comedy

Top Ten Male, Drama (lead) (1969-present) - Mike

1. Paul Newman – The Verdict
2. Marlon Brando – The Godfather
3. Robert DeNiro - Taxi Driver (not Raging Bull)
4. Dustin Hoffman – Midnight Cowboy (why I made it 1969 Midnight Cowboy is ...the start of Modern Cinema)
5. Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
 (I love ties)5. the men of  Network - Peter Finch / William Holden
6. Al Pacino – Dog Day Afternoon
7. Jack Nicholson – Cuckoo’s Nest
8. Sean Penn - Milk
9. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
10. Jack Lemmon – Missing, William Hurt – Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Sean Penn – The Assassination of Richard Nixon/ Dead Man Walking, 
honorable mentions: Ben Kingsley – Gandhi / House of Sand and Fog, Anthony Hopkins - Silence of the Lambs, Daniel Day Lewis – My Left Foot/ Gangs of New York/ There will be Blood ( Barely...I kinda think it's not going to hold up overtime) , Kevin Kline – Sophie’s Choice ( didn't get enough kudos 4 this one). Jon Voight – Midnight Cowboy / Runaway Train. Kevin Spacey – American Beauty. Robert Duvall – Tender Mercies.

Top Ten Female, Comedy (lead) (1969 – present) - Mike

1. Goldie Hawn – Private Benjamin (Maybe I'm influenced cause I know her...I can't help it. She makes me laugh)
2. Reese Witherspoon – Election
3. Diane Keaton – Annie Hall
4. Holly Hunter – Broadcast News ( "Thanks everybody")
5. Nicole Kidman - Too Die For ( just for the line at the pool alone, "No Thankx!....No Thankx!" ( So Funny)
6. Laura Linney - The Savages ( her listening and reactions are genius)
7. Frances McDormand – Fargo
8. Mary McDonnell – Passion Fish
9. Gwyneth Paltrow – Shakespeare in Love (Gonna get a lot of flack for this one…)
10. Liza Minnelli – Arthur (she’s hysterical!!! – just watched it)
Runners up.... Cher – Moonstruck, Laura Dern – Citizen Ruth, Mason Mason – Goodbye Girl / Only When I laugh, Renee Zellwger – Bridget Jones Diary, Julie Walters – Educating Rita, Laura Linney – You Can Count on Me, Meryl Streep - Death Becomes Her / The Devil Wears Prada.

Top Ten favorite Female, Drama (lead) (1969 – present) - Mike

1. Meryl Streep – Sophie’s Choice (Under any criteria - it's the performance of a lifetime)
2. Jessica Lange – Frances (1982 - great year in movies and acting - would have won the OSCAR any other year)
3. Marion Cotillard - En Vie La Rose (Undeniable)
4. Geraldine Page – Interiors
5. Mary Taylor Moore – Ordinary People
6. Angelica HoustonGrifters
7. Faye Dunaway – Network
8. Gena Rowlands – A Woman Under the Influence
9. Shelley Duvall - 3 women
10. Jodie Foster – Silence of the Lambs
Tie. Whoopi Goldberg – The Color Purple (Film doesn't hold up but her performance does), Susan Sarandon - Thelma & Louise, Dead Man Walking. Jane Fonda – Julia ( So many great performances but Julia is my favorite) . Meryl Streep – Out of Africa.  Jessica Lange – Men Don’t Leave.. Judi Dench – Notes on a Scandal. Geraldine Page – A Trip to Bountiful. Emma Thompson - Howard's End. Kate Winslet - Little Children.

Top Ten, Drama Films - Mike

1. Network (Perfect film)
2. The Grifters
3. The Verdict 
4. No Country for Old Men
5. Taxi Driver
6. Dog Day Afternoon
7. The Reader (2008)
8. Brokeback Moutain
9. Missing ('82)
10. Interiors (Woody's awesome first drama)
Tie for tenth: Midnight Cowboy, The Queen, Sophie's Choice, Amadeus, Out of Africa, Million Dollar Baby, Reversal of Fortune, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, & Ordinary People.

Top Ten, Comedy Films - Mike

1. Hannah and Her Sisters – Woody Allen
2. Tootsie – Sydney Pollack
3. Crimes and Misdemeanors – Woody Allen
4. Birdcage – Mike Nichols (Great ensemble acting)
5. Best in Show – Christopher Guest ( ...the best of Guest)
5. Postcards From The Edge - Mike Nichols
6. Bullets Over Broadway – Woody Allen
7. Private Benjamin – ( I'll fight til the death for this one - it's a great movie)
8. Arthur
9. Wonder Boys - Curtis Hanson
10. Fargo – The Cohen Brothers
Tie for tenth: Election, Broadcast News, Working Girl, Legally Blonde, The Squid and the Whale, Adaptation, Being John Malcovich, Waiting for Guffman, and Heaven Can Wait, and ...9to5!