Tough women in the movies...
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| Wed, 10-19-2005 - 11:22pm |
The rest is at the link:
http://movies.msn.com/movies/explosivefemales?GT1=7139
Women on the Verge
In honor of 'Domino,' we explore our favorite 10 explosive female performances
By Kim Morgan
Special to MSN Movies
Actresses have it tough in Hollywood. Really tough. In fact, so much so that it can drive them crazy.
If pretty, they're frequently relegated to the wife or girlfriend function. If "unconventional," they're passed around and sometimes underappreciated in character roles. And if they age ... well, their chances of any "type" shrink more than most young actresses' waistlines. They just don't get those juicy, nutty, meaty parts that, say, Jack Nicholson or Robert De Niro or Al Pacino are allowed to knock out of the ballpark. Think about it. How many gals get to play a Travis Bickle? Or Hannibal Lecter?
But though their opportunities are less, actresses have proven they can play with the big boys. It just takes a particular kind of breakout performance (usually a crazed, fiery one) for audiences and critics to sit up and take notice. With the upcoming "Domino," in which the liltingly lovely ingénue Keira Knightly straps on a gun, smacks down criminals and generally kicks a whole lot of butt in playing real-life (and recently deceased) model-turned-bounty-hunter Domino Harvey, we're eagerly waiting to see what she's made of. Another Angelina Jolie in the making, perhaps?
So to honor those who came before Keira, we've come up with our personal top 10 list of the fiercest female performances in movies. These women not only surprised us with their ferocious talent, but left an indelible mark for others to follow. To all you mad and, yes, misunderstood ladies, we salute you.

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Although I appreciate the acting of the women in these roles, alot of them were crazy women. I don't consider them to be tough women. I was thinking more along the lines of Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft or Carrie Moss in the Matrix. These are characters that I appreciate. But I am a butt kicking kind of woman. :)
Jody
i agree with jo, i don't like their list at all. the "crazy woman" isn't an underrepresented character in hollywood at all, in fact it often reinforces negative stereotypes about women.
i agree with their inclusion of uma thurman in kill bill, but it was bizarre to include her in that list, she doesn't fit in with the others at all.
this is who i'd include:
the bride (uma thurman), kill bill movies
lara croft (angelina jolie), tomb raider movies
river (summer glau) AND zoe (gina torres), serenity (i'm obsessed with this movie)
elektra (jennifer garner) (not the best movie, but she definitely kicks ass)
charlie's angels (cameron diaz, lucy liu, drew barrymore)
sigourney weaver's character in the alien movies
that chick (played by milla jovovich) from the resident evil movies
any character played by michelle rodriguez (blue crush, resident evil, lost)
i wouldn't include trinity from the matrix movies because she had to rescued by neo and it was so trite. she just rubs me the wrong way. i guess.
hmm, i'm having trouble thinking of more -- i would have thought there'd be more obvious ones.
if we include tv, we have to include:
buffy (sarah michelle gellar)
sydney (jennifer garner) from alias
starbuck (katee sackhoff) from battlestar galactica
edited to add - there are actually a number of kick-ass women who've been on alias, i couldn't even list them all
Edited 10/20/2005 10:09 am ET by jenindc
Wasn't Serenity great? River was so much more badass in the movie than she ever was in the series.
DH and I pondering whether they'll do another movie. I don't think it fared all that well at the box office. :(
I will have to rent Serenity when it comes out on DVD. I don't know anything about it but if it has kick ass women in it then it would probably be worth it for me.
As for more women, I think that Lucy Liu in that awful movie with Antonio Banderas was good. Also, on TV there was Zena. Can't forget her. There have definitely been many on Alias, like the black woman who is Sydney's nemesis. They had a funny fight scene in a clothing store last year. I also loved Faith on Buffy. She was really tough.
Jody
Demi Moore was OK in GI Jane, especially after she shaved her head. I thought the shots of her in the tank top with her fake breasts kind of took away from the toughness of it though. The one arm push ups were impressive though.
Jody
I saw the scene with the one arm push up and that's what caught my eye.
they are under contract to do two more if fox wants them to. i haven't heard how well it did at the box office, but it was a relatively inexpensive movie to make for an action movie, so they may have made a good profit even with mediocre sales. i'm sure we haven't seen the last of the serenity crew. there is just too much fan dedication. i'm also going to buy the dvd of firefly AND the dvd of serenity when it comes out. there is still much money to be made off this film. i know someone who has seen the movie three times already.
i'm literally obsessed with this movie. i think it's the new star wars. i've seen it twice already and i want to see it a third time while it's still in the theater. i won't say more because i don't want to spoil anything for people who haven't seen it yet. but nathan fillion is my new back up boyfriend.
see serenity in the theaters if you can. it's amazing. then rent the dvd of firefly, and then rent serenity and see it again.
you don't need to have seen the tv show to enjoy the movie, but you will appreciate the film A LOT more if you do. without firefly, it's a great action movie. with firefly, it's the best action/sci fi saga since the first star wars.
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