100 favorite film actresses: #10-#1
birthday buddies…
100 favorite film actresses: #20-#11
100 favorite film actresses: #30-#21
100 favorite film actresses: #40-#31
review: ELECTION
dixie carter (1939-2010)
It’s hard to say the effect that the sassy, commanding, talented, and lovely Dixie Carter has had on my taste in women in comedy. But it’s safe to say that Carter, who died yesterday at the age of 70 due to complications with cancer, has given me more than a few memorable moments during post-school Lifetime Channel back-to-back goodness of Julia Sugarbaker in her element. Say what you will of Designing Women, a sitcom that had its faults but was ultimately a hilarious and entertaining piece of television history, but there’s no denying that Carter was an uber-talent of the 1980s. (When one thinks of Designing Women, isn’t the first thing that comes to mind a classic Julia Sugarbaker tirade on some sexist oaf who stupidly crossed her?) Needless to say, Ms. Carter is no stranger to my television, and I was crushed to hear that she’d passed.
Now let’s think back – this may be lost on some of you readers because of its complete obscurity and critical drubbing – but I must admit my devotion to Dixie went so far as to lead me to the short-lived late-1990s legal drama Family Law, in which Carter played Randi King, the smart-as-a-whip divorce attorney pal to Kathleen Quinlan’s lead attorney. Let’s be honest folks – Dixie made “cougaring” look good ages before it became heavily popularized in recent years. Carter’s character seemed more poised to belong to the over-sexed cast of Ally McBeal than anything with “family” in the title. Regardless, she was a brilliant force for a show that needed her every actorly talent. And it was nice to see a little tinge of Sugarbaker still in her.
100 favorite film actresses: #50-#41
best films: #35: KILL BILL, VOL. 1 (2003)
In an almost operatic fashion, Quentin Tarantino has mastered the art of splatter to a pristine effect – and no other movie quite displays his unusual penchant for this aesthetic like Kill Bill, Vol. 1. From the Luis Bacalov sampling for a score (brilliant set-up as a modern, urban Western of sorts) to the quick-cutting editing and cinematography (where were the Oscar nods for Robert Richardson and Sally Menke?) to the fantastic action-movie acting from the Bride herself, Miss Uma Thurman (she keeps on that borderline between cheese and just plain kick-ass so expertly), it’s an adrenaline-packed rush of gore, beauty, humor, and captivating story-telling. Commendation is owed to Lucy Liu, whose performance as O-Ren, particularly in that unforgettable boardroom scene, is on par with that of Samuel L. Jackson’s Ezekiel 25:17 scene from Pulp Fiction. Now if only she could do more quality work like this (and her fantastic work on Ally McBeal) instead of lame-brained spy thrillers. One thing I particularly enjoy about most all of Tarantino’s films (he happens to be one of my favorite directors) is his ability to construct a ridiculously memorable scene. Though it was merely the opening of the film, one of the best scenes in the movie has to be the opening fight between Thurman and assassin-turned-suburbanite Vivica A. Fox. From the overhead shots to the calm-before-the-storm banter to the cereal spilling all over the floor, it was a tense bit of action with a over-the-top, yet pitch-perfect, build-up. The best part of this movie seems to be Tarantino’s willingness to embrace the often corn-ball nature of many Kung Fu movies – Thurman isn’t trying to be subtle in any way, and this is far from the composed thespians most lauded performers are used to being. It’s pure dark comedy – with a few severed limbs thrown in for good measure.
100 favorite film actresses: #60-#51
Journalistic Skepticism 