NoirFan

Reading the Meryl Streep thread got me thinking - who is the finest actress currently working in film? As of now, I'd go with Julianne Moore, but as I said in the Streep thread, I believe that eventually Kate Winslet, who is, amazingly enough, only 33, will be viewed as the gold standard for screen actresses. Anyway, here's who I came up with for the poll.

Meryl Streep
Kate Winslet
Julianne Moore
Cate Blanchett
Helen Mirren
Emma Thompson
Laura Linney
Naomi Watts
Diane Keaton
Other - please specify

Apologies to Samantha Morton, Judi Dench, Tilda Swinton, Nicole Kidman, Joan Allen, Julie Christie, Catherine Denueve and all the rest.

toddly6666

You should add Eva Green to that list.

PopcornTreeCt

I heart Cate Blanchett

meritocracy

If the poll was asking who a hot Parisian starlet with beautiful breasts was, Eva Green would get serious consideration from me, but for the most talented actress working today? Seriously?

Meh, I'd add Toni Collette to the list personally.

Patman

Jodie Foster
Hilary Swank
Charlize Theron

CreatureX

Kate Winslet

wendersfan

So if you don't work in Hollywood, you don't count?

The Bus

I don't know if she's the best, but she's better than many on that list: Amy Adams.

FantasticVSDoom

My vote always goes to Kate Winslet, but Kate Blanchett is pretty damn good as well.

NoirFan

kstublen

Winslet is fantastic and probably the best on that list, but I voted for Laura Linney. I love her and feel she is very under-rated. She was fantastic in John Adams and everything I've seen her in as of late.

LiquidSky

I love all on your list plus:

Jodie Foster
Sarah Polley
Jennifer Jason Leigh

Giantrobo

Apparently only WHITE actors can act.

I guess that's what "other" is for....


I submit:

Charlie Goose

Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet are the top two.

wendersfan

Not only are all those actresses white, they're all really pale white women too.

NoirFan

Looking at her IMDB profile, I see a Tyler Perry movie, Smokin Aces, some TV work and a handful of decidedly minor films like Baby Boy and 4 Brothers. This is the finest actress in cinema today?

Palaver

Going with Kate Winslet. She's been great in everything I've seen her in.

Quake1028

I said it in the other thread, but I think that Kate Winslet is our greatest living actress. And I think she will go down as an all-time great.

OldBoy

i think Cate Blanchett is so versatile and talented. i mean she played Bob Dylan for god sake and she's not a dude and do think she was robbed for the Academy Award. i do like the others, but everything i see with Cate amazes me.

chris_sc77

I went for KAte Winslet. Shes a great actress and has fantastic breasts.

NoirFan

Which she thoughtfully bares in each and every one of her films.

Giantrobo

Ha ha Fair enough....not really, but whatever. Look, believe it or not...ALL ACTORS STARTED OUT SOMEWHERE. Hell, I could probably name turds in the files of all the actresses you listed.

But you said, "Talented". She has tons of talent and RANGE. You may not personally approve of the films she's been in, but believe me, her star is rising fast. BTW, you left out her latest "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". I have no doubt her role will be overshadowed by the Big Stars simply because that what happens when Big Stars are around; but I can also guarantee that anyone who pays attention to her performance will notice that there's something there.

Sessa17

Cate Blanchett by far, love Winslet but IMO Cate is more convincingly versatile. Streep can't pull off sexy so Blanchett one up's her on that alone

For all her mainstream success, & all the roles & movies probably everyone typically associates her with, the scene that I think of the most, of why she is the gold standard of acting today is a scene from Heaven. In her first interrogation scene where she finds out that , there is about a 2 minute scene without the camera ever panning or cutting, she goes from clear eyed to crying as the realization of what she's done sets in. It's so completely brilliant what she does in this scene, the woman is so ridiculously riveting.

NoirFan

I agree, that scene is a textbook example of the stunning talent she possesses. She is a mesmerizing screen presence through out Heaven. Even with a shaved head, she is almost transcendently beautiful.

superdeluxe

I am going to say Cate Blanchett, it just seems that every movie she has been in, has garnered her critical acclaim. She seems to pick all the right roles.