Something Negative

In the past (brief as it's been), I've posted about things I like. This is a post about something (someone) I really don't like.

Ellen Page. Ellen Page is an awful actress. I don't only think this because I hated Juno (though that doesn't help my opinion of her). Ellen Page is an example of one of the recent trends towards overacting that seems so popular with the indie kids these days, particularly in female roles. Really great actresses never seem like so much like they are acting as just being themselves.

To be fair, Page hasn't exactly been cast in fantastic roles and no one expects her to be the next Meryl Streep, but I worry that the next generation of actresses is all Kristen Stewart and Zooey Deschanel and no Gwyneth Paltrow.

Right now, most of my hopes for the future of great female actresses lie in Carey Mulligan. Besides the unfortunate name, she truly embodies the subtly and class a great actress should have (or at least do a good job pretending to have). If you look back at the best actress nominees from last year, regardless of my feelings about Sanda Bullock's greatly undeserved win (oops, slipped out), they are some of the greatest actresses of their generation (Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep). But where are the great actresses of our generation? Gabourey Sidibe had an incredible performance in Precious but my best guess is that she's a one hit wonder.

All that to say...Ellen Page = lame, Carey Mulligan = awesome.