Young Hollywood

There for awhile I began to worry that Hollywood's actors had hit its peak and we were gonna see no new young talent. I mean it hard to live up to Meryl Streep or Tom Hanks. Then you have Kate Winsley and the Leonardo Dicaprio age that is slowly more and more dominating the awards. I am not saying that age should matter because Meryl Streep will always be Meryl Streep and could play just about anything, but she one day will not be around and then when Kate Winslet gets older who was going to be next. I was worried that the talent wasnt coming. I mean there for awhile all we had was Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton. Actresses they are not. Then the clouds opened. This rant leads to the topic of my blog which is my picks of who the best and brightest of young hollywood. None of these are in order.

The first one I will mention will be Carey Mulligan. She is probably the one person in my picks to show the most of her potential. She has already been nominated for her lead role in the movie"An Education" a movie about a young girl seduced and has a relationship with an older man. The subtle nature she took on in the role of this girl coming of age could have been easily played as annoying, but instead she had a naive nature about her that gave an understanding to the audience. My favorite role she has done so far is her role in "Never Let Me Go" a movie I have reviewed earlier in my blog. This movie is so hearbreaking and just with her eyes Carey Mulligan show this poor girl and all of her sadness without saying a word. She even made her mark on Doctor Who in the episode "Blink". this is the one episode where the Doctoe and Campanion was barely in it and she manages to carry it strongly.

Recommend:
"Doctor Who- Blink" first if you can watch really sad movies then totally see "Never Let Me Go"

My next choice is Ellen Page. I feel she brought a freshness to Hollywood that it was sorely lacking. Her dry wit became first widely known in the movie "Juno".  The movie became widely popular and recieved some criticism about the movie making teen pregnancy cool, but I never saw that as realistic. She portrayed the odd girl out perfectly finally giving a voice to a modern teenage girl. Not the girls we have been exposed to in the past. Then Ellen Page showed her range even more by doing one of her latest film "Inception" a suspense thriller. Ellen had been known for her indie roles not large blockbuster movies. Being only one of two girls in the film she holds her own against of very strong male actors.

Recommend: "Juno" It is her most famous role, but there is a reason for that it shows her off beat humor perfectly.

Andrew Garfield. What can I say about him. I am in awe of how much I love watching him act. The emotion he is able to show just through the emotion on his face. Then you add the action and I just see it as poetry.  I will be fair and say that I feel he is not always spot on. When he was Doctor Who I felt his accent could have been a bit better and his character doesnt really stand out. Though his role in "Boy A" was truely captivating and the character was in no way easy to play. He plays a man who committed a unspeakable act as a child and just gets out of prison. You get pretty early on what this man did that was so aweful, but you cant stop watching the journey he takes nor do you completely hate him. I also love the way Andrew shows this character's innocence even though he has committed this aweful act. Then there was his role in "Social Network" the part he plays is so subtle and belieavable that you side with him and see this man's side. "Never Let Me Go" is another good example of how he show innocence, only this time it is more heartbreaking and intricate because the character is in such nonrealistic setting.

Recommend-"Boy A" would be the one I pick to show off his acting the most but "Social Network" because he is fantastic and all the other factors of the film just make it amazing to waych.

 I feel Emile Hirsch is often forgotten about when the mention of acting talent gets brought up. After the "Speed Racer" blunder, his career sort of went to the down low, whih is actually quite a shame. He has alot of range since he has played the comedic part of a virgin teenager, to the dramatic role of Chris McCandless. We have seen him play the good guy to the bad guy and never once does he ever skip a beat and seem insincere in his part. In the film "Alpha Dog" he plays the lead in a part about a kidnapper. In no way is this character likeable but you keep watching. The characters he usually plays are often not the people you find easy to love, but in the end still mesmerizes you.

Recommend: "Alpha Dogs" or "Into the Wild"

I know that I will recieve alot of judgment for listing Robert Pattinson amongst the most Talented of my generation. I will not list Twilight in this review, but only to say it was an outlet to become known and to gather an audience. His true talent I feel rests in his movies "Little Ashes" and "Remember Me". In "Little Ashes" he plays Salvador Dali. The artist was known for being odd and for anyone who say that Robert was over the top clearly is not familiar with Dali. Pattinson played the artist's tortured misunderstood nature perfectly. Many did not hear of this movie to go see it because it came out before he peaked with his popularity. Also it has homosexual undertones to it that made some uncomfortable so many did not see it. The there is "Remember Me" which is my favorite movie of Pattinson's. Me similar to the age of the character in the movie I found his portryal of this character highly believable. I felt lost in my life for awhile and still do at times, with film being my only friend to help me through. So I found him gripping in the movie and the end made me cry. I hope more will see this movie and for some help them feel not alone in their feelings.

Recommend: "Remember Me" the ending might be hard for some to watch emotionally, but I feel worth it. "Little Ashes" is fantastic also if you like small art house movies.

Emma Stone might come as a shocker on my list with all the earlier choices above, but I see her as someone who will be more and more hilarious as time goes on. There are very few women in film that can be funny and also a leading lady and feel she can be one. She is both funny and pretty, which I feel lack in film. Her scarcasm and dry sense of humor is very off beat and refreshing for film. I have seen her films since "Superbad" and personally I feel the movie falls flat and really is not funny at all and fails to use the good actors the movie has. This isnt a review for the movie so I will not go into it to much, but Stone play a love interest for one of the main characters, and if it had been done right she would have shined much better that what was done. I feel I should mention "Zombieland"  because it shows what a good story can do to bring a out none main characters making it an ensemble cast instead of not. Her role was smart and well played. You believed this girl was pretty enough to con a man out of whatever she wanted and smart enough to survive a zombie apocalypse, yet you like her and dont feel the need to slap her across the face, which I feel the need to do sometimes. "Easy A" was her first leading part and may I say was well played and I feel has been the best teen movie since "10 Things I Hate About You" and before that movie the 80's reigned as the only decade able to make teen movies. "Easy A" has a humor that is unique and refreshing that I feel has alot to doe with Emma Stone and her skill to make this character likeable and understanding.

Recommend: Easy A

Garret Hedlund is another one I think many people forget about how good he is because his performances I feel are unferstated and poignant. His career has never been small roles really, but still go under the radar. His role in "Four Brothers" as the youngest brother and most damaged was gorgeously played and was the role that made me take notice of him. Especially out of all the performances in the movie. Then there was "Friday Noght Lights" His part was my favorite because it seemed the least forced and the most real. The character wasnt perfect and yet you were still on his side. His roles have slowed since he decided to be in the upcoming blockbuster "Tron" where I suspect it will raise him higher in status, which personally I feel he deserves. I personally look forward to his role in the film "On the Road" where he will play along side Kristen Stewart.

Recommend: Four Brother it has action, story and emotion.

Many people have compared Jesse Eisenberg to Micheal Cera. Since the two often play the nerdy or geeky type of guy so it was only expected that there would be comparison. Here is where I see the difference and draw the line. Though Jesse plays a nerdy or geeky character I always see the difference between each one of his characters. Zombieland was probably his first big role to get him on the map. His humor is dry and subtle. I feel it goes under the radar because of this. When you first watch Zombieland everyone mentions how Woody Harrelson is funny, which he is, but his himor is bigger and broader. So if you go back you you then see his humor. If you knew Jesse before this movie it was probably because of his role in Squid and the Whale. This is a more dramatic role then in Zombieland. Though he is still nerdy he is much more cold and dellusional about life and much more broken then compared to the character in Zombieland where he is a hermit who wants to find love. In Adventureland he is not really a nerd or geek, he plays an average guys who has to get a crappy job for the summer. This role is prbably the most relatable he has done. I leave his final and my most personal  favorite is "The Social Network". In this role he plays the geek of geeks. The man who invents Facebook. In the role he is unemotional  and a genius. Through the movie you go from being ticked off to understanding to ticked off to feeling a sadness for a character who has everything that really has nothing. I enjoy his work and all of his characters have layers.

Recommend:
For Comedy:Zombieland
Best performance and all around good movie: The Social Network

I left my most favorite young actor last and probably the most controversial choice, since many people either love her or hate her.In this review I am going to ignore the big vampire elephant in the room. I will only talk about the roles that shine her acting talents. The first movie I ever saw her in is probably one of my favorite. "Speak" is a movie about a young teenage girl who is sexually assualted and her living in silence about the incident. the role is poignant because though she does not have alot of dialogue you can feel this girl's pain through her eyes and body language. The next movie I will mention is "The Runaways" where she plays the lead role of Joan Jett.  This role is way different then her role in "Speak". She plays a girl who cant be quiet and be the girl society thinks is accpetable and you can completely believe her. Joan Jett herself approved Kristen to play her. Kristen can play a girl that is simple to a girl broken. She has a subtlty to her performances that I really like. She never goes over the top and always gets peoples mannerisms really well bringing to life really interesting women.

I recommend "Speak" if you can watch a sort of sad slow paced movie. "The Runaways" for a great biopic. "Twilight" if you want a simple fun movie and I warn very romanticized and girly.