Top Five Actresses of Our Time

Where have all the actresses gone? Marlo Thomas, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor . . .ah the greats. But there are still some greats of today as well. It's a shame they get muddled in with all the other bad actresses out there. All I hear people I know saying today is that there are no great actresses of our time. Well, I feel like every year, the Academy Awards gets it right almost every time. Here are some of those recognized by the Academy and those who should be recognized by the public.

Dame Judy Dench. What an honor to even write her name. A lovely woman, an even lovelier actress. She is the epitome of what an actress should be. She is talented, interesting, versatile, and a class act to boot. Always regal and again classy, Judi Dench picks roles that are not only suited to her but in which she isn't always accustomed. From James Bond Films to Chocolat to Notes On A Scandal, Judi Dench has done an amazing body of work, popular or not. The great thing about her work is that it is of quality proportions.

She makes all the roles she plays her own, meaning that no matter what she chooses to do you couldn't see anyone else playing it but her. Valley girls are a dime a dozen, teachers getting poor kids out the ghetto may be too. But when Judi Dench does a role, she makes it seem like it's never been done before nor can it ever be copied.

Judy Dench is one of our most prized possessions in the acting world because when she looks at you on-screen you can feel what she is thinking. She can be silent and have a quiet moment with herself that resounds through the anger in her eyes or the psychotic way in which she is planning out your eminent destruction. She is a true master of the art.

We fell in love with her in Pretty Woman, we sympathized with her in My Best Friend's Wedding and he seemed to channel a Norma Rae in all of us in Erin Brokovich. Julia Roberts, America's sweetheart, a beautiful, strong woman, is much more than what she portrays on screen. She is much more than a sensitive girl or a downtrodden woman. She is a wonderful actress in her own rite.

Julia has this smile that tells us that she has this little girl inside of her which really comes out in her romantic comedies like Notting Hill and Pretty Woman. She is the fun exciting beauty on-screen and off-screen we hardly know anything about her. This is a running theme with all classic actresses like Dench or Helen Miran. There profession doesn't seem to spill over in their personal lives which is part of keeping up the illusion that you are that person on-screen. Julia does it so well that most people still think of her as the girl in Pretty Woman.

Julianne Moore, the phenomenal actress from Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Far From Heaven and The Hours, is the front runner for slightly off-scale films. She does the kind of roles that don't seem like they would be right for her as a person. But she picks roles that completely full of emotion. Julianne tends to work with directors of films that are strange and alternative. She really lets her emotions go in the film. She's not afraid to look like a horror in a film when she cries, she's not afraid to give in to complete anger or sorrow. Julianne acts from her gut and seems to give every piece of herself in a role. Julianne disappears and whoever she is playing shows up.

Moore has the style that makes a viewer grieve in their heart for her. She, like all other good actresses, speaks with her eyes. When she is smiling, she can be crying inside and we know it. But it's not a fake smile, or a smile to fool those around her. In Far From Heaven, Julianne's smile represents that she wants to be happy and she thinks that she is. But the only person she is fooling is herself. And when acting is that internal, you know that Julianne feels the way the character does. And by that, she makes us feel sympathy with the character as well.

Dokota Fanning is nothing less than a great find in the film world. She isn't just some random child actor you can put in a film as an extra or somebody's daughter who has no lines. Every role she's played so far has had depth, spirit and honor to its name. At least, that's what she's brought to the role. Her characters have become classic like Pita in Man on Fire or Rachel in War of the Worlds. She has also played classic characters like Fern in Charlotte's Web or Gretel in Hansel and Gretel. She's also not afraid to stand with any other actor and work her craft against people like Denzel Washington or Julia Roberts or Sean Penn from I Am Sam.

Dakota has a unique acting style partly because she is such a smart person. As a young child, she spoke eloquently and as a growing actor, she becomes smarter by the minute. She really studies what she does, going from one emotion to another in .5 seconds. Her characters are always rounded and she really means what she says when she's in a film. Her acting seems effortless.

Catherine Keener is one of the lesser-known actresses of our time although she is always critically reviewed as one of the better ones. It's true too. Everything Katherine does seems to be well suited for her. She also is one of those actresses who picks roles that may be "out there" especially fulfilling the independent filmmaker's need to obtain top-of-the-line actresses.

No matter what kind of movie she does or what kind of success the movie has, Keener's performances always stand out. She doesn't have to be the lead for people to remember her the most from the film. Her lines are witty and she puts more sass than you could think of in her characters. From Lovely and Amazing to Being John Malkovich to Capote, Katherine Keener changes her spots to fit the character but also puts a touch of oddness and uniqueness to the role thorough her own personality or take on the character.

Other mentionables who deserves their own articles - Kate Winslet, Helen Miran, Nicole Kidman, Thandi Newton, Toni Collette