Girls on film, part one

French director Jean-Luc Godard said that all you need to make a film is “a girl and a gun.” Since I know less about guns than I know about women, I'll skip the gun and go straight to the girl. Here are five women in five movies that I highly recommend.

Sean Young in Blade Runner
I don't know if androids dream of electric sheep, but I sure dreamt about Young's Rachael, the replicant that Harrison Ford falls in love with in this fantastic sf film. I remember watching this on video and being disappointed that it didn't have more action, but the movie stuck with me, along with Young's hauntingly beautiful performance.
I eventually bought the video and -- these being the days before the Internet and my rudimentary knowledge of photography -- I tried to take a picture of Young off the box art. I wound up with ten blurry shots a week later from Walgreen’s.
Did she start my weakness for women with pageboy variants or was it already there? I guess we'll never know. Add another dark intricacy to Ridley Scott's masterpiece.

Lea Thompson in Back to the Future
When I was 10 years old, Thompson was my first movie crush (she is not to be confused with my first 10-year-old movie crush, Natalie Portman… I'm kidding, she was 13).
Hell, the film itself is my first movie crush. More than E.T. (and my age-appropriate crush Drew Barrymore) "Back to the Future" made me feel such wonderful elation that I believe it was at that moment I decided I wanted to make people feel like that too.
I'm sure Thompson had something to do with this though, since I can also happily sit through "Howard the Duck" and a full season of "Caroline in the City."
I remember I thought she was so beautiful I would have gladly screwed over the entire McFly family and stolen her away from that giant nerd husband of hers. This would have negated the existence of Michael J. Fox and saved the world from the Charlie Sheen version of "Spin City," allowing Lea and I to spend the rest of our days in a tropical paradise, basking in the praise of a thankful universe.

Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hudsucker Proxy
"The Hudsucker Proxy" is a misunderstood and underappreciated comedy by the Coen Brothers with an even more misunderstood and underappreciated performance by Jennifer Jason Leigh.
The Coens' homage/pastiche/parody script and direction is perfectly matched by the film's actors, but none do it better than Leigh. She commits to her nasal, Katherine-Hepburn-at-1000-rpm delivery with such joy and intensity that all her lines bring a smile to my face AND she looks fantastic. There's something about the period clothing and hair that make her pop on screen more so than in her modern roles. She was also perfectly cast as Dorothy Parker but for some reason alcoholic writers are only funny in real life.

Winona Ryder in Heathers
What can be said about this movie that hasn’t been said before? If you've never seen it you are missing out on… oh, wait… the other day I lent the President of Borundi "Requiem for a Dream," which Adriana and I sold as "a fantastic movie" and "you've got to see it." He came back with "It's OK. You just oversold it."
Well fuck me gently with a chainsaw. Fortunately you can't oversell "Heathers," a dark, biting satire with a post-Beetlejuice, pre-backing-out-of-Godfather-III-and-letting-Sofia-Coppola-butcher-
the-role-of-Mary-Corleone Winona Ryder.
Ryder starred in three of my favorite movies when I was a teen -- "Beetlejuice," "Heathers" and "Edward Scissorhands" -- roles that elevated her to superstardom if the photos that adorned my notebooks were any indication. I saw her latest film, "A Scanner Darkly," this Sunday and even under all that rotoscoping she still looks great.
So please Winona, your shoplifting and prescription drug abuse is no excuse for slumming in Adam Sandler's neighborhood or hanging out with Asia Argento. You've suffered enough, stop punishing yourself. That much-discussed sequel to "Heathers" sounds like and excellent idea for a comeback

Gillian Anderson in The House of Mirth
Criminally underrated, "The House of Mirth" should have gotten Anderson an Academy Award. She perfectly captures the proud nature of Edith Wharton's heroine, a woman who obstinately follows the rigid rules of a society that doesn't truly obey them.
Anderson is gorgeous as the doomed Lily Bart, striking the perfect balance in a character who is willful, independent and ultimately naïve. I can't recommend this movie highly enough, mainly because nobody's seen it.
In a world were a needless rethread like "Pride and Prejudice" can get 40-year-old virgins' hearts a flutter with a bland Mr. Darcy and nab mediocre boy/girl Keira Knightley an Oscar nomination, it is truly a crime that "The House of Mirth" didn't find an audience.
As for "X-Files" fans, my fellow nerds shouldn't tear down their Agent Scully poster, they should just make room for a Lily Bart headshot next to it.

Next week: All-pageboy post featuring Louise Brooks, Uma Thurman, Elina Löwensohn, Isabelle Hupert, and a pre-op Kate Beckinsale. Be there!