Any fans of Sigourney Weaver out there?

[TrueFaith77]

I very much like her. I wouldn't rank her among my very best movie actresses (Gish, Magnani, Hepburn, Garbo, Bergman are the top 5).

However, her Ripley is a genuine achievement in modern screen portraiture. Even in those Alien films for which I am not so hot (1 & 4 are great, 2 & 3 problematic), she is always riveting and powerful. You didn't mention what is probably my second fav Weaver performance: Death and the Maiden. It's one of the better Roman Polanski films.

I recommend that people check her out on the short-lived series Political Animals. It is full of contrivances, but she has scenes that are so powerful. I was especially moved by a scene, which is utterly contrived to make the audience side with her and to give her the opportunity to really grandstand, and she does, but it is more than just satisfying--she displays personal political conviction but also genuine maternal responses. But I'm easily moved by the protective love of mothers for their gay sons.

RE: comparisons to Streep and Blanchett. For me, there is not a phonier, more cliche, more ridiculous actress than Cate Blanchett. My favorite Blanchett movie is the one where she sleeps with her student. She is so riotously bad. Judi Dench, who is a total sell-out but at least can act, gives her best performance in that movie, however. She is INTENTIONALLY hilarious. And it is beautifully photographed by Neil Jordan's d.p. Check it out if you need a laugh, whatever it was called.

As for Streep, she is the superior commedianne to Weaver. She-Devil, Death Becomes Her, Stuck On You, Mamma Mia, the GREAT Prairie Home Companion (in my top 2 fav meryl performances). Her breathless comedic style is what I originally found winning about her. She was way over-the-top as an actress in the 80s, but she has hit her stride this century. SOY, PHC, Lions for Lambs, Dark Matter, MM, The Iron Lady and her greatest-performance-ever The Manchurian Candidate are glorious. Only Diane Keaton is better (best actress of the 80s and the 00s).

Another actress recommendation: Giovanna Mezzogiorno in Vincere gives the best performance by actress THIS decade in the best movie so far this decade. It has EVERYTHING I look for in movies--including Filippo Timi!