Needless to say, I was extremely annoyed that neither Speak nor The Cake Eaters were included on this list.
Then I realized that none of Kristen's pre-Twilight performances were included.
Thus Panic Room and Into the Wild were also excluded.
Agreed, Carved, for a primary reason why Kristen was maligned as an actress is because of her role in Twilight. To paraphrase what you stated, including Twilight while excluding some of the best performances of her career is doing her a disservice. While I myself wouldn't characterize her Bella Swan portrayal as atrocious, I definitely wouldn't rate it in her top ten by any stretch. Doing so indirectly implies and contributes to the myth that most of her roles are one-note if the majority of her acting roles are ranked lower.
I would even go as far as to say that Kristen had at least ten pre-Twilight performances I would rank higher than her role in Twilight (
i.e. The Cake Eaters, Speak, Into the Wild, Panic Room, The Safety of Objects, The Messengers, Fierce People, Zathura, In the Land of Women, The Yellow Handkerchief). Even her cameo-like roles in pre-Twilight movies such as Jumper, What Just Happened, Undertow and Cutlass, I would rank higher. Heck, even her role in the family friendly flick Catch that Kid or her part in the godawful thriller, if I may call it that, Cold Creek Manor, I would deem superior. Thus, not listing a single pre-Twilight role is inexcusable. Makes me wonder if she watched any of Kristen's earlier performances.
It should also be stated that Kristen's acting has continued to become more refined, many critics describing her acting as understated or subtle and nuanced, which I totally understand. However, we mustn't forget that Kristen was absolutely fearless as an actress in some of her earliest roles. This is a major reason why Kristen's portrayal as Princess Diana holds my top spot as not only did she become the beloved Princess of Wales, in my opinion, it signaled a return to exhibiting such fearlessness we fans have come to admire her for as a budding actress.
Here's how I would rank Kristen's 20 Best Performances:
1) Spencer
2) Clouds of Sils Maria
3) The Cake Eaters
4) The Runaways
5) Speak
6) Adventureland
7) Welcome to the Rileys
8) On the Road
9) Personal Shopper
10) Still Alice
11) Into the Wild
12) Cafe Society
13) Panic Room
14) Camp X-Ray
15) Seberg
16) The Yellow Handkerchief
17) Happiest Season
18) The Safety of Objects
19) Crimes of the Future
20) American Ultra, Charlie's Angles, Equals, Snow White and the Huntsman (tied)
Notice how her roles in Lizzie, J.T. LeRoy, Certain Women, Underwater, Anesthesia and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk did not make the cut, despite critics praising her for some of these roles. It's not that she didn't churn out good performances in those films. My exclusion had more to do with a lack of acting range being exhibited, in large part because the role didn't call for it.
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Ron2011 (907)
2 years ago
Here's my partial list:
1) Spencer
2) Clouds of Sils Maria
3) The Cake Eaters
4) The Runaways
5) Speak
6) Adventureland
7) Still Alice
8) Welcome to the Rileys
9) Panic Room
10) Camp X-Ray
11) Personal Shopper
12) On the Road
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LLOwens (983)
2 years ago
My list isn't written in stone so I could easily see myself ranking Kristen's performances in the exact order that you did, Ron. It appears we have very similar taste and preference, at least as far as Kristen's performances goes.
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CKid (3816)
2 years ago
At the current time, I'm not going to make a list of which films I feel contain Kristen's best performances.
However, I shall do so after I watch my Crimes of the Future Blu-ray which arrived two days ago.
Afterall, how can I rate a performance in a film I have not yet seen?
Meanwhile, I note with interest that LL has edited his original list so that it now includes four films in the 20th position, namely American Ultra, Charlie's Angels, Equals and Snow White and the Huntsman.
Thus LL's list is now comprised of 23 films.
This made me smile, because while thinking which films I would include on my list, I kept coming to the conclusion that 20 films is not enough. So don't be surprised if my list contains 25 films rather than 20. This way there won't be any ties.
Finally, even though it's a short film, I will probably include Cutlass on my list, as I absolutely love Kristen's performance in it.
Oh yeah, LL, I'm afraid I have to take issue with your statement that Kristen's appearance in Cutlass was a "cameo-like role."
Please remember that she was in half of that 15 minute short film, so I just can't consider that cameo-like.
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