Easy Come Easy Gaughin

Angelina Jolie

A few good roles (Changeling may push her up some, but I haven’t seen it, so it will have to wait for the update which I should get to around 2017,) and a strong bargaining position with film producers; at this point, she can get about whatever role she wants. Which makes it hard to understand how she winds up in stuff like Wanted and Alexander.

I am interested in what she does with The Fountainhead (rumored to be in pre-production, according to IMDB.) It’s an enduring work of far right wing crack-pottery, written by a “visionary” neo-fascist. It will be a hoot to see how Ms Jolie’s production shines a light on all those awful nasty poor people, and how all of the morally upright people were born rich.

Ten best roles

10) The Bone Collector 9) Alexander 8) Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow 7) Hackers 6) Wanted 5) Gia 4) George Wallace 3) Mr and Mrs Smith 2) The Good Shepherd 1) A Mighty Heart

Percentile rating

87.26

Gottfried John

I really don’t know anything about him. If any of my three readers are German, would you like to fill in the gaps?

Ten best roles

10) Cafe Oriental 9) Otto – Der Film (probably my favorite movie title since I started doing this stuff) 8) Bin Ich Schon? 7) The Institute Benjamenta 6) Die Matrosen von Kronstadt 5) Ente Oder Trente 4) Chinese Boxes 3) The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes 2) In a Year with 13 Moons 1) The Marriage of Maria Braun

Percentile rating

80.13

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson’s a talented young actress whose ability gets lost in a web of 50’s style sexpot starlet publicity. She’s a very polarizing figure; pervasive entertainment info shows keep her on the TV constantly, and she’s all over the Internet every time she burps after dinner. But she’s appeared, sometimes even carried entire films on her uncommonly ungaunt frame. The knocks against her more frequently attack her mediocre singing career, or public gaffes within the Obama campaign. Still, a combination of talent, a knack for turning up in the public spotlight, and luck have landed her squarely in the middle of some of the better films of the last decade. With a score this high at this age, barring a Robert Downey Jr style meltdown (and look how that’s turned out for him,) she may ultimately be considered along with the likes of Audrey, if not Katherine Hepburn.

Ten best roles

10) An American Rhapsody 9) Girl With the Pearl Earring 8) The Black Dahlia 7) The Other Boleyn Girl 6) In Good Company 5) A Love Song For Bobby Long 4) Ghost World 3) Manny and Lo 2) Match Point 1) Lost in Translation

Percentile score

92.00

Richard Jenkins

The patriarch of the family funeral home business from HBO’s Six Feet Under has been scoring points for years in very small parts in which he nonetheless manages to stand out. In this regard, he is the current counterpart to Amanda Plummer, who served a similar role throughout the 80’s and 90’s, but doesn’t show up as frequently now as she should.

Jenkins is terrific in the recent DVD release The Visitor, where his calm, almost catatonic demeanor barely covers a simmering emotional composition that’s one bad incident away from surfacing, brilliantly. It’s a role that reminded me a lot of one of my favorite parts of all time, Anthony Hopkins’ Oscar-worthy role in The Remains of the Day (he lost to Tom Hanks’ one-note gimmick Forrest Dumbutt.)

Ten best roles

10) Little Nikita 9) Eye of God 8) The Falls 7) Sea of Love 6) Snow Falling on Cedars 5) Fun with Dick and Jane 4) The Mudge Boy 3) The Indian in the Cupboard 2) North Country 1) The Visitor

Percentile rating

74.37

John Jarratt

I gotta admit, I am drawing a total blank on this guy. He was apparently the REALLY bad guy in 2005’s supposedly terrifying Wolf Creek, but I didn’t see it, because, like, it was supposedly terrifying. He’s had a long career of significant parts in Australian film, but we don’t get much of that here in the upper world. Doesn’t mean I can’t research and assign numbers, though.

Ten best parts

10) The Odd Angry Shot 9) Australian Dream 8) All Men Are Liars 7) Rogue 6) The Settlement 5) The Great McCarthy 4) Fluteman 3) Dead Heart 2) Wolf Creek 1) Dark Age

Percentile rating

81.35

Famke Janssen

Famke is exotically gorgeous, of course, and as the potentially most powerful X-Person, she is the Rita Hayworth of Geek City. Probably best known by the general film public as Xenia Onnatop from Goldeneye. She actually has a subtle comedic touch that few people know about, as she has mainly displayed it in films no one outside of her family has seen.

Ten best roles

10) Rounders 9) X-Men: The Last Stand 8) RPM 7) GoldenEye 6) X-Men 5) Deep Rising 4) The Treatment 3) The Ten 2) Love and Sex 1) Turn the River

Percentile rating

82.38

Allison Janney

She got famous on The West Wing and parlayed that exposure into a minor, but still ongoing film career, including important supporting roles in American Beauty and Juno. Odd smokey looks, vaguely Mediterranean, with a dollop of Howdy Doody makes for a difficult sell as a leading lady, but she’s a strong character actor.

Ten best roles

10) Nurse Betty 9) Piccadilly Jam 8) Drop Dead Gorgeous 7) Heading Home 6) FIrst Do No Harm 5) Big Night 4) How To Deal 3) Winter Solstice 2) Juno 1) Our Very Own

Percentile rating

71.16

Derek Jacobi

That picture makes him look like one of those crazy real-life dolls that looks real until you look too closely into the eyes. I think he’s still alive and kicking, though, appearing in small parts in about half a dozen movies every year, most of which you have never and will never see.

In England he’s a lifetime achiever type, having conquered film, TV, and stage during his long career, but he never really caught on in the States, sort of like the thespian’s counterpart to Oasis, although generally  more well-mannered.

Ten best roles

10) Blue Blood 9) Mannen Som Gick Upp I Roek 8) Fool 7) Little Dorrit 6) Dead Again 5) Two Men Went to War 4) Breaking the Code 3) Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon 2) Henry V 1) I Claudius

Percentile rating

91.54

Samuel L Jackson

The keeper of the Kanga flame! Young people love him, which is quite an accomplishement when you’re significantly older than your core demographic (just ask Rob Schneider). He’s got such star power that the mere concept of his appearance in Snakes on a Plane generated a storm of publicity, even though the film didn’t, probably couldn’t possibly live up to the hype (”there are pickle-smoking snakes on this pickle-smoking plane!”).

He’s equally comfortable in big action films like Die Hard 3, or in smaller character driven work like Eve’s Bayou or Black Snake Moan. He will be forever loved among the hipster doofus set for his casual mix of profanity. violence and heartfelt bible-passage-spouting in Pulp Fiction.

Ten best roles

10) Coach Carter 9) Black Snake Moan 8) 1408 7) Fresh 6) The Negotiator 5) Snakes on a Plane 4) Jackie Brown 3) Changing Lanes 2) The Red Violin 1) Pulp Fiction

Percentile Score

95.95

Hugh Jackman

Consider his range. His career broke internationally playing the wise-cracking but explosively vicious Wolverine in the X-Men films. Yet he also received critical acclaim playing cabaret singer Peter Allen, an enormously talended performer who quite openly flamboyantly displayed his swishiness as a selling point.

Jackman appeared in The Prestige, which is as masterful a suspend-your-disbelief film as any I have seen in years. His appearance in the critically divisive The Fountain establishes his willingness to take on non-traditional parts, even if it didn’t score him many new fans. He is soon to make waves in Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, which, like most of Luhrmann’s work, will probably be both great and cringe-inducing, all at the same time.

Ten best roles

10) Swordfish 9) Scoop 8) Someone Like You 7) Kate and Leopold 6) Erskineville Kings 5) X-Men: The Last Stand 4) X-Men 3) The Fountain 2) X2: X-Men United 1) The Prestige

Percentile Score

89.41