Top 20 Women Who Crush Men in Film.
20.Intolerable Cruelty
Catherine Zeta-Jones-Marylin:This is not a great movie and I shutter to think what the film gods will do to me now that I've said that about two of the most talented filmmakers today. Watching what is considered the worst of the Coen Brothers films I found a charm to this one that I hadn't seen before. The problem is not the acting it is the story but as far as acting goes this is one of those movies that has amazing performances especially from the leading lady. Zeta Jones is a wonderful man eater. She has the amazing ability to give off this pure sexuality and at the same time being cold as ice. She can be a real bitch but the thing that puts her higher then lower on the list is that she eventually changes her ways.
19.Ghostbusters
Sigourney Weaver-Dana Barrett/Z00l: This is a movie that works on the cast alone. You can't believe how well Weaver does in this movie until that moment when she turns her performace from the nice unsuspecting mild mannerd Danna Barret to the foxy as hell Zool. What I love is how well she take control of the scene with Murray and makes him his bitch throughout most of it and just completely dominates every single moment of it. many props to the people who did costume and makeup design on this movie. they turn her from an 80's girl to an otherworldly entity that every guy wants to get with. She is great but she doesn't get much higher because she has to be saved at the end of the day.
18.Terminator 2 Judgment Day
Linda Hamilton-Sarah Connor: If ever a women in film could drop me or any man I know like a bad habit, it would be Sara Connor. Now we are not talking about Terminator 1 Sara Connor. In the first movie she was a scared soon to be mother who was just trying to survive the robot apocalypse. In T2 she is cut she is rough she is ready to knock some heads. Hamilton is such a bad ass that she does not take shit from anyone and dominates every man except for one. This is a wonderful movie full of strong performances including Hamilton who just knows how to kick major ass.
17.Sunset Blvd
Gloria Swanson-Norma Desmond-Even from the first time we see her we see that she is a force to be reckoned with. Swanson is doing her best work as the over the hill actress who still believes that her comeback picture is just a phone call away. The reason I dig this character so much is the way she manipulates the main character to do whatever she wants. The other thing about this performance is that she doesn't have sex appeal on her side she isn't charming or witty. What she has going for her is the name that once held sway and a sort of toughness that she has developed over the years and makes her a real terror.
16.The Descent
Shauna Macdonald-Sarah: What makes this character with one name such a force to be reckoned with. From the opening of the film this woman experiences great loss and also is suspicious about her best friend being untrue to her. throughout most of the movie she is in what appears to be an emotional coma and stays there. It is only when the stakes are at their highest does she snap out of it and turn into a woman of pure animal like nature. The way Sarah fights tooth and nail to escape her nightmare is amazing.
15.Fatal Attraction
Glenn Close-Alex Forrest-Does crazy even begin to describe this women. No it does not. She has this ability to be sexy and within twenty seconds she can turn it on a dime and make you want to change your name and fake your death just to be sure. The reason Close does so well in this film is because throughout half the film you are sympathizing with her and you feel that the actions she has taken are justified. It is only when she does the unthinkable that we feel that the character might need to be put down.
14.The Graduate
Anne Bancroft-Mrs. Robinson
How do we feel about a woman trapped in a loveless mariage who happens to find happiness in the arms of younger man who is the son of her close friends? If it were anyone but Mrs. Robinson we would call her a whore. Mrs. Robinson is a woman who knows how to topple men and at the same time has a side to her that most of the world doesn't see. She can be cold one moment and then within seconds she will have a look of regret and sadness on her face that will show the real Mrs. Robinson, the one trying to escape the shell of a woman she is now. What Bancroft pulls off so well is that she is not the main character in the piece and yet she is the character that is most remembered and referenced from the film.
13.Sin City
Devon Aoki-Miho
It is amazing that a character with no lines can be one of the most affective in a film. Aoki doesn't say one thing throughout her part of the story and yet you feel that not a single other man woman or whatever can match her in deadliness. There isn't much to say about her just that she is a bad ass.
12.Jackie Brown
Pam Grier-Jackie Brown
For god sakes her name is in the title. Grier gives a great performance in the weakest of the Tarantino movies. To say that she is bad in it would be untrue the only thing that makes the movie weak is the length of it. Grier is awsome as the lead character who concocts a plan to take half a million dollars and screw over any and everyone in order to get it. Grier is best known for playing the strong female black cop in the 70's. She is known for her big hair and even bigger attitude. What Tarantino brings out of her so well is the same sassy soul mama but more reserved and tied down with a plan not just flying by the seat of her pants. The thing I don't dig about the character is how mouthy she can be and it gets a bit old after some time.
11.Double Indemnity
Barbara Stanwyck-Phyllis Dietrichson
I want to believe that if Sharon Stone took most of her inspiration for her character from this hot pistol. If their was an award for the queen of noir it would go to the character of Phyllis Dietrichson who plays the game of deception so well and makes everyone fall right into her well oiled trap. She has this wonderful way of looking up at a man and just making them melt in front of her.
10.Scream
Courtney Cox-Gale Weathers
I would be remiss if we didn't mention one of the most bitchy women in film. She is cold blooded ruthless and most of all motivated to uncover the truth. What also makes her such an interesting character is not only does she have some of the better lines in the films its also that she has survived three films and looks like she is going to be in the next one as well. Cox has never lost the edge with this character even when working with lesser scripts and actors.
09.Basic Instinct
Sharon Stone-Catherine Tramell
Perhaps the most cold and calculating women in all of cinema. Stone plays the part with not only venom but that of a small child who has pinned down a fly and wants to tear the wings off one at a time. She is amazing at playing the temptress with so many layers. The reason she plays the role so well is because she has an amazing counter part in Michael Douglas. The two play the cat and mouse game and you are never sure who is who in that relationship. The reason she cracks the top ten is because you never see the full side of her evil. The film is left open ended and you don't feel satisfied.
08.Election
Reese Witherspoon-Tracy Flick
So you want to tak about bitchy. Well if bitchy had a best friend it would be Tracy Flick. She is the princess of bitchy and knows how to use it. I have never been a Witherspoon fan and usually she bugs the hell out of me. In this dark comedy she does seem to shine through her usual annoying self. This is what director Alexander Payne dose so well with the entire cast. I usually dislike all the actors in this piece but Payne does a wonderful job of bringing out the best in all of them. Especially with Witherspoon he makes her a leading lady and not just some background figure that looks good. He stretches her acting and really makes you dislike her on several levels.
07.Let the Right One In
Lina Leandersson-Eli
from the first moment we see the frail little girl who doesn't say much and seems to be almost sick from the way she looks we know there is something dangerous about her. The performance given by Leandersson as the small but deadly creature is nothing short of mesmerizing. She does not come off as dangerous at anytime until the moment she seems threatened. The way she deals with the things that threaten her or those she loves is scary and the director also brings a sense of beauty to her brutality. I won't ruin any thing but the final scene is fantastic and should be viewed multiple times.
06.Brick
Nora Zehetner-Laura
She dosen't have the most lines she isn't the biggest player in the game hell she isn't on screen all the time. She is the biggest reason the movie has a plot to it. The whole movie revolves around her and you don't even know it. Zehetner is what you call the silent player in this film and she does it so well. Director Rian Johnson makes her seem so innocent with a dark side to boot. As an audience we should not trust her but we are tricked so quickly into thinking she is the only one we can trust. Noir never looked so good in color.
05.Kick Ass
Chloe Moretz-Hit-Girl
You know the movie is called Kick Ass but the star of the film is Hit Girl. Moretz steals the show and every scene she is in. This is a girl who can fight like a prizefighter and curse like a sailor. Now I have heard a lot of people say that what she does and what she is put through is nothing short of child abuse. All I have to say is "IT'S A MOVIE RELAX." The character is fictions and you should just enjoy the film and divorce yourself from reality. Now Hit Girl is just a unstoppable force. Director Matthew Vaughn knows what he wants to see on film and he gets that with this performance. While the movie is about Kick Ass and his struggle Hit Girl is the stunner of the film.
04.Kill Bill
Uma Thurman-The Bride
Perhaps the only women who could give Hit Girl a run for her money in body count. The Bride or ******* ***** as we don't hear throughout the first movie. All we know about her is that a man named Bill betrayed her and that she is out to settle the score. We first see her with an old partner who she tears apart in her home and sticks her with a knife. The Bride then flies to Japan and confronts her next nemesis O-Ren Ishii. O-Ren is not alone she has her gang the crazy 88's and that is where the carnage really begins. She goes through 88 bodyguards to reach O-Ren in one bloody beautiful massacre. There is a lot of fights in the second film but it is the first where we see the Bride come out as a vicious killing machine. In the nearly fifteen minute fight sequence between her and the crazy 88's, she shows that she will do anything to kill her enemy and get to the next one.
03.Aliens
Sigourney Weaver-Ellen Ripley
In Alien we have a group of minors who are trapped on a ship with a hostel creature. Not unlike a great horror movie the creature picks them off one at a time and one strong female lead manages to survive. Seven years pass and a new film comes to the big screen. This time a crew of bad to the bone marines are sent down to a planet to investigate why colonists have stopped communications. Weaver after being lost in space for years goes with the marines and comes down to figure out if what happened on the planet happened to her former crew. The marines take it by the numbers and run into not one but many aliens that are meaner and faster then the first. The warrior alienstear apart the marines and we are left with a few beat up marines a little ggirl and Weaver. So what makes Weaver such a great female lead. Up till now in the two films all she has done is survive the first alien. She barely survived the first one and now she is on a planet full of aliens. The one thing that turns this lady in distress to a futuristic Valkyrie is that she has something to protect. In Alien director Ridley Scott makes Weaver his girl trapped in the house with the Killer. In Aliens Director James Cameron does the same thing only this time gives her a big gun to defend herself with. The scenes where Weaver is fighting off the Aliens and defending the little girl are nothing short of amazing. She becomes the bad ass momma with a pulse rifle.
02.500 Days of Summer
Zooey Deschanel-Summer Finn
We are meant to fall in love with her from minute one and we do. She is lovely she is wonderful and she will tear your heart out stomp on it shove it back in your chest and you will still want to love her. Deschanel can be given only partial credit. The reason this little gem works is because of the chemistry that Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt share. She is a modern woman and doesn't believe in love. I saw this movie when I had just gotten out of a bad relationship and was a bit jaded to the idea of love myself. I dry ran this film and began yelling at the screen hoping that something bad would happen to this character. Upon watching it several months later I really started to see it from her side. Both sides are presented well and you do feel empathy for her by the end. Still when it is all said you feel she gets to walk away nearly free.
01.Closer
Natalie Portman-Alice?
When I came up with this list I didn't have any real idea who would come out on top and I started to look through my film collection and I spotted Closer. This is a movie about love in all the wrong places and what we do to find love or at least what we think is love. Portman plays a woman who by chance runs into a man that she falls for and becomes involved in his life. The two become lovers and eventually become interlocked in a love square. Why is Portman number one on this list? It's because the whole movie she never loses control she is constantly one up on the other three and by the end of the film we are left with the fact that we might not know anything about her. She is a mystery wrapped in a enigma. This girl not only knows how to take verbal punches but also knows how to throw them hard. Portman in the strip club scene with Clive Owen is one of the best conversation pieces I have seen.
Catherine Zeta-Jones-Marylin:This is not a great movie and I shutter to think what the film gods will do to me now that I've said that about two of the most talented filmmakers today. Watching what is considered the worst of the Coen Brothers films I found a charm to this one that I hadn't seen before. The problem is not the acting it is the story but as far as acting goes this is one of those movies that has amazing performances especially from the leading lady. Zeta Jones is a wonderful man eater. She has the amazing ability to give off this pure sexuality and at the same time being cold as ice. She can be a real bitch but the thing that puts her higher then lower on the list is that she eventually changes her ways.
19.Ghostbusters
Sigourney Weaver-Dana Barrett/Z00l: This is a movie that works on the cast alone. You can't believe how well Weaver does in this movie until that moment when she turns her performace from the nice unsuspecting mild mannerd Danna Barret to the foxy as hell Zool. What I love is how well she take control of the scene with Murray and makes him his bitch throughout most of it and just completely dominates every single moment of it. many props to the people who did costume and makeup design on this movie. they turn her from an 80's girl to an otherworldly entity that every guy wants to get with. She is great but she doesn't get much higher because she has to be saved at the end of the day.
18.Terminator 2 Judgment Day
Linda Hamilton-Sarah Connor: If ever a women in film could drop me or any man I know like a bad habit, it would be Sara Connor. Now we are not talking about Terminator 1 Sara Connor. In the first movie she was a scared soon to be mother who was just trying to survive the robot apocalypse. In T2 she is cut she is rough she is ready to knock some heads. Hamilton is such a bad ass that she does not take shit from anyone and dominates every man except for one. This is a wonderful movie full of strong performances including Hamilton who just knows how to kick major ass.
17.Sunset Blvd
Gloria Swanson-Norma Desmond-Even from the first time we see her we see that she is a force to be reckoned with. Swanson is doing her best work as the over the hill actress who still believes that her comeback picture is just a phone call away. The reason I dig this character so much is the way she manipulates the main character to do whatever she wants. The other thing about this performance is that she doesn't have sex appeal on her side she isn't charming or witty. What she has going for her is the name that once held sway and a sort of toughness that she has developed over the years and makes her a real terror.
16.The Descent
Shauna Macdonald-Sarah: What makes this character with one name such a force to be reckoned with. From the opening of the film this woman experiences great loss and also is suspicious about her best friend being untrue to her. throughout most of the movie she is in what appears to be an emotional coma and stays there. It is only when the stakes are at their highest does she snap out of it and turn into a woman of pure animal like nature. The way Sarah fights tooth and nail to escape her nightmare is amazing.
15.Fatal Attraction
Glenn Close-Alex Forrest-Does crazy even begin to describe this women. No it does not. She has this ability to be sexy and within twenty seconds she can turn it on a dime and make you want to change your name and fake your death just to be sure. The reason Close does so well in this film is because throughout half the film you are sympathizing with her and you feel that the actions she has taken are justified. It is only when she does the unthinkable that we feel that the character might need to be put down.
14.The Graduate
Anne Bancroft-Mrs. Robinson
How do we feel about a woman trapped in a loveless mariage who happens to find happiness in the arms of younger man who is the son of her close friends? If it were anyone but Mrs. Robinson we would call her a whore. Mrs. Robinson is a woman who knows how to topple men and at the same time has a side to her that most of the world doesn't see. She can be cold one moment and then within seconds she will have a look of regret and sadness on her face that will show the real Mrs. Robinson, the one trying to escape the shell of a woman she is now. What Bancroft pulls off so well is that she is not the main character in the piece and yet she is the character that is most remembered and referenced from the film.
13.Sin City
Devon Aoki-Miho
It is amazing that a character with no lines can be one of the most affective in a film. Aoki doesn't say one thing throughout her part of the story and yet you feel that not a single other man woman or whatever can match her in deadliness. There isn't much to say about her just that she is a bad ass.
12.Jackie Brown
Pam Grier-Jackie Brown
For god sakes her name is in the title. Grier gives a great performance in the weakest of the Tarantino movies. To say that she is bad in it would be untrue the only thing that makes the movie weak is the length of it. Grier is awsome as the lead character who concocts a plan to take half a million dollars and screw over any and everyone in order to get it. Grier is best known for playing the strong female black cop in the 70's. She is known for her big hair and even bigger attitude. What Tarantino brings out of her so well is the same sassy soul mama but more reserved and tied down with a plan not just flying by the seat of her pants. The thing I don't dig about the character is how mouthy she can be and it gets a bit old after some time.
11.Double Indemnity
Barbara Stanwyck-Phyllis Dietrichson
I want to believe that if Sharon Stone took most of her inspiration for her character from this hot pistol. If their was an award for the queen of noir it would go to the character of Phyllis Dietrichson who plays the game of deception so well and makes everyone fall right into her well oiled trap. She has this wonderful way of looking up at a man and just making them melt in front of her.
10.Scream
Courtney Cox-Gale Weathers
I would be remiss if we didn't mention one of the most bitchy women in film. She is cold blooded ruthless and most of all motivated to uncover the truth. What also makes her such an interesting character is not only does she have some of the better lines in the films its also that she has survived three films and looks like she is going to be in the next one as well. Cox has never lost the edge with this character even when working with lesser scripts and actors.
09.Basic Instinct
Sharon Stone-Catherine Tramell
Perhaps the most cold and calculating women in all of cinema. Stone plays the part with not only venom but that of a small child who has pinned down a fly and wants to tear the wings off one at a time. She is amazing at playing the temptress with so many layers. The reason she plays the role so well is because she has an amazing counter part in Michael Douglas. The two play the cat and mouse game and you are never sure who is who in that relationship. The reason she cracks the top ten is because you never see the full side of her evil. The film is left open ended and you don't feel satisfied.
08.Election
Reese Witherspoon-Tracy Flick
So you want to tak about bitchy. Well if bitchy had a best friend it would be Tracy Flick. She is the princess of bitchy and knows how to use it. I have never been a Witherspoon fan and usually she bugs the hell out of me. In this dark comedy she does seem to shine through her usual annoying self. This is what director Alexander Payne dose so well with the entire cast. I usually dislike all the actors in this piece but Payne does a wonderful job of bringing out the best in all of them. Especially with Witherspoon he makes her a leading lady and not just some background figure that looks good. He stretches her acting and really makes you dislike her on several levels.
07.Let the Right One In
Lina Leandersson-Eli
from the first moment we see the frail little girl who doesn't say much and seems to be almost sick from the way she looks we know there is something dangerous about her. The performance given by Leandersson as the small but deadly creature is nothing short of mesmerizing. She does not come off as dangerous at anytime until the moment she seems threatened. The way she deals with the things that threaten her or those she loves is scary and the director also brings a sense of beauty to her brutality. I won't ruin any thing but the final scene is fantastic and should be viewed multiple times.
06.Brick
Nora Zehetner-Laura
She dosen't have the most lines she isn't the biggest player in the game hell she isn't on screen all the time. She is the biggest reason the movie has a plot to it. The whole movie revolves around her and you don't even know it. Zehetner is what you call the silent player in this film and she does it so well. Director Rian Johnson makes her seem so innocent with a dark side to boot. As an audience we should not trust her but we are tricked so quickly into thinking she is the only one we can trust. Noir never looked so good in color.
05.Kick Ass
Chloe Moretz-Hit-Girl
You know the movie is called Kick Ass but the star of the film is Hit Girl. Moretz steals the show and every scene she is in. This is a girl who can fight like a prizefighter and curse like a sailor. Now I have heard a lot of people say that what she does and what she is put through is nothing short of child abuse. All I have to say is "IT'S A MOVIE RELAX." The character is fictions and you should just enjoy the film and divorce yourself from reality. Now Hit Girl is just a unstoppable force. Director Matthew Vaughn knows what he wants to see on film and he gets that with this performance. While the movie is about Kick Ass and his struggle Hit Girl is the stunner of the film.
04.Kill Bill
Uma Thurman-The Bride
Perhaps the only women who could give Hit Girl a run for her money in body count. The Bride or ******* ***** as we don't hear throughout the first movie. All we know about her is that a man named Bill betrayed her and that she is out to settle the score. We first see her with an old partner who she tears apart in her home and sticks her with a knife. The Bride then flies to Japan and confronts her next nemesis O-Ren Ishii. O-Ren is not alone she has her gang the crazy 88's and that is where the carnage really begins. She goes through 88 bodyguards to reach O-Ren in one bloody beautiful massacre. There is a lot of fights in the second film but it is the first where we see the Bride come out as a vicious killing machine. In the nearly fifteen minute fight sequence between her and the crazy 88's, she shows that she will do anything to kill her enemy and get to the next one.
03.Aliens
Sigourney Weaver-Ellen Ripley
In Alien we have a group of minors who are trapped on a ship with a hostel creature. Not unlike a great horror movie the creature picks them off one at a time and one strong female lead manages to survive. Seven years pass and a new film comes to the big screen. This time a crew of bad to the bone marines are sent down to a planet to investigate why colonists have stopped communications. Weaver after being lost in space for years goes with the marines and comes down to figure out if what happened on the planet happened to her former crew. The marines take it by the numbers and run into not one but many aliens that are meaner and faster then the first. The warrior alienstear apart the marines and we are left with a few beat up marines a little ggirl and Weaver. So what makes Weaver such a great female lead. Up till now in the two films all she has done is survive the first alien. She barely survived the first one and now she is on a planet full of aliens. The one thing that turns this lady in distress to a futuristic Valkyrie is that she has something to protect. In Alien director Ridley Scott makes Weaver his girl trapped in the house with the Killer. In Aliens Director James Cameron does the same thing only this time gives her a big gun to defend herself with. The scenes where Weaver is fighting off the Aliens and defending the little girl are nothing short of amazing. She becomes the bad ass momma with a pulse rifle.
02.500 Days of Summer
Zooey Deschanel-Summer Finn
We are meant to fall in love with her from minute one and we do. She is lovely she is wonderful and she will tear your heart out stomp on it shove it back in your chest and you will still want to love her. Deschanel can be given only partial credit. The reason this little gem works is because of the chemistry that Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt share. She is a modern woman and doesn't believe in love. I saw this movie when I had just gotten out of a bad relationship and was a bit jaded to the idea of love myself. I dry ran this film and began yelling at the screen hoping that something bad would happen to this character. Upon watching it several months later I really started to see it from her side. Both sides are presented well and you do feel empathy for her by the end. Still when it is all said you feel she gets to walk away nearly free.
01.Closer
Natalie Portman-Alice?
When I came up with this list I didn't have any real idea who would come out on top and I started to look through my film collection and I spotted Closer. This is a movie about love in all the wrong places and what we do to find love or at least what we think is love. Portman plays a woman who by chance runs into a man that she falls for and becomes involved in his life. The two become lovers and eventually become interlocked in a love square. Why is Portman number one on this list? It's because the whole movie she never loses control she is constantly one up on the other three and by the end of the film we are left with the fact that we might not know anything about her. She is a mystery wrapped in a enigma. This girl not only knows how to take verbal punches but also knows how to throw them hard. Portman in the strip club scene with Clive Owen is one of the best conversation pieces I have seen.
