Girl Week 2021: Ranking Kirsten Dunst
Friends, I'm really excited for The Power of the Dog. It's one of my most anticipated films of the year, and it stars one of my all time favorite actresses - Kirsten Dunst. And since Dell is kind enough to host another Girl Week, I thought today would be the perfect time to nerd out about Kirsten's performances ahead of her next release. I've seen way too much of her work to do a regular numbered list. We'd be here a long time if I talked about every film, so I'm breaking them down into a few separate categories.
We're Dun(st) Here (or: films I didn't like, but watched for her anyways)
Woodshock
On The Road
Melancholia (she's actually amazing in this....but Lars Von Trier)
Elizabethtown
Mona Lisa Smile
All Okay Things
Wimbledon
The Beguiled
Hidden Figures
The Spider-man films
Kiki's Teeny Service (Or, same as the previous category, but tween me loved them)
All I Want
Dick
Fifteen and Pregnant
Bring It On
Nostalgia™
Small Soldiers
Anastasia
Jumanji
Little Women
Eternal Sunshine of her resume
Bachelorette
Midnight Special
Marie Antionette
Kiki's Delivery Service
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Get Over It (this is so underrated. I would put this in the next category, but I wanted it to be #1 in this one)
The Power of Kirsten Dunst (the best of the best!)
Interview With A Vampire - Easily one of the best child performances ever on film.
Drop Dead Gorgeous - One of the best satires out there.
The Virgin Suicides - When people should've started taking her more seriously
The Devil's Arithmetic - This may have been a lifetime movie, but seriously...her and Brittany Murphy are great in this.
Fargo (TV) - What I think most people will call her best performance, and they're not wrong, but...
Crazy/Beautiful - I say with zero hyperbole that Kirsten should've gotten an Oscar for this film. This could've easily been an overly sappy teen drama but she OWNS this movie.
Wow! Lots of her movies I still haven't seen. To me, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the best thing she's ever done. Some big differences between us are that I actually like Melancholia and think Bachelorette is terrible. Thanks for reminding me to seek out some of the others. And, as always, I'm extremely happy that you're participating.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you're hosting again! I hated Bridesmaids so Bachelorette felt like my consolation prize. lol
DeleteKirsten Dunst I think continues to get overlooked where as popular as she was. Her work as an actress never gets mentioned as I think it what underrates her.
ReplyDeleteMelancholia is my favorite performance of hers as well as one of my favorite films by Lars von Trier. Notably because it was extremely accurate in its depiction of depression. She didn't just nail a lot of what goes on when one becomes depressed but also on how they feel and look at things. I was that person the year before and that performance was just smacked on. It saddens me that she got overlooked at the Oscars that year.
Her work with Sofia Coppola so far is awesome as I await to see what they do next (and I still need to see On the Rocks but I've been stuck with other things).
With the exception of Fargo (which I haven't seen), the essentials you mention are dead on as The Devil's Arithmetic is fucking underrated!
I think Elizabethtown is the worst film she did as it was just bland and dull though we all know that isn't the worst thing Cameron Crowe would do.
I am really hoping Kirsten makes a return as Mary Jane in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as the first thing I hope to see her do is knock out a bad guy and then say "I am so over this damsel-in-distress shit" It would be a good way to make Mary Jane awesome and then end with her having a comeback as an actress where she plays the villain in a play with Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker watching as does Tom Holland's Peter Parker, Doctor Strange, Wong, Dr. Palmer, MJ, Ned, Hot Aunt May, Wanda, Billy & Tommy, Loki, Kid Loki, Gator Loki, and Throg all watching before they return to their universe.
As much as I disliked Melancholia as a whole, she was very good in it and you're right about how depression was depicted. She's great with Sofia (though I didn't like On The Rocks)
DeleteI hope we see her in Doctor Strange as well! That would be so nice. I'm glad to see some love for The Devil's Arithmetic.
While I'm not as big a fan of her as you I do like Kirsten Dunst and have followed her career loosely since Interview with a Vampire.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any of the ones you listed that you didn't like so I guess that's a win on my part!
I loved Hidden Figures but her part wasn't part of the reason why. She did fine with it but it was a narrowly focused role.
Dick and Get Over It are imperfect but both definitely have their charms. Bring It On is my second favorite cheerleader movie-admittedly a very narrow genre (Fired Up! is a guilty pleasure of mine-and there is a scene in it where the entire cheer camp watch Bring It On and repeat the dialog word for word!)
One movie of hers that I don't see listed is The Cat's Meow. She plays Marion Davies in the film that purports to tell the story behind the sudden death of film producer Thomas Ince on William Randolph Heart's yacht in the mid 1920's on a weekend excursion that is shrouded in mystery. The film takes a lot of liberties with the facts (and I do mean alot) but is entertaining with Cary Elwes, Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Tilly in the cast. Kirsten even sings "After You've Gone"-over the closing credits I believe.
I haven't seen The Cat's Meow, but I need to. I saw a lot of people mention it when Mank came out last year. I love when she sings, that's a big reason I loved Get Over It so much.
DeleteAwe, I'm kind of sad you didn't like Elizabethtown. Teen me ate that movie up! I've seen it so many times.
ReplyDeleteI am too because I used to THIRST over Orlando Bloom and obviously Kirsten was my favorite.
DeleteCrazy/Beautiful is criminally underrated!!!! IT IS AMAZING! I love it, I have seen it so many times and I should rewatch it asap. Get Over It is also amazing! I actually love Elizabethtown so I would have it higher in the list.
ReplyDeleteIT IS! Crazy/Beautiful is stunning. I need to watch a lot of her movies again. Now I'm in a mood.
DeleteShe was great in Interview with the Vampire. Did you know she was in Star Trek: The Next Generation? I haven’t seen most of her films. I really Hidden Figures but, like Joel, for other reasons namely the 3 main gals. I am trying to remember her in it. I heard good things about Elizabethtown so I will watch it one day.
ReplyDeleteI did! I've seen that episode of Star Trek she was in. I like Hidden Figures a lot as a film for, but in term's of Kiki's performance it's on the lower end because she didn't get much to do.
DeleteGreat list! I couldn't agree more with so many picks, though I'd bump up Little Women and Melancholia. I don't think her version of Amy is as bad as a lot of critics made it out to be when Greta's version released, and her performance in Melancholia is one of my all time faves. I hate to say it's also one of my favorite films but ugh to Lars Von Trier. I'm so looking forward to The Power of the Dog - I hope she's in Oscars contention though I'm not paying a lot of attention this year.
ReplyDeleteI really liked her Amy, but it's hard to compete with Florence Pugh's version.
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