From Jillicious to Jill's Issues: My Fave Five Flicks of... WINONA RYDER

I have been toying with the idea of publishing my Top Ten Lists on whatever (usually about Hollywood and Pinoy pop culture) which I have been putting together for some time now. But I decided that for my blog I would just snip it down to my Top 5. And for my first list, I just picked randomly from my files and the winner is… WINONA RYDER.

Let’s forget for a while that she went a bit loopy not too long ago. Honestly I wasn’t that surprised with the whole shoplifting fiasco. If you review her filmography, you’d clearly see that she’s been playing characters with really big issues. In fact she played them so well that I was beginning to think that she must not be acting at all. And then there goes the mallrat scurrying out with unpaid retail. There’s my answer.

Anyway, I really have 10 in my Winona list, oh actually 11 but I don’t really consider the film Lucas (1986) as one of her official movies since it was her very first and she just played a very small (but sweet) role next to Corey Haim and Charlie Sheen. You’ll even see Courtney Thorne Smith (Ally McBeal) and Jeremy Piven (Entourage) back when they were just nobodies in Hollywood.

The other 5 snipped off the list were: 10) Dracula (1992), 9) Age of Innocence (1993), 8) How to Make an American Quilt (1995), 7) Beetle Juice (1988), 6) Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Basically, based on my own “study” (naks!) on Winona’s movies, I noticed that she was really good in 3 categories: 1) Playing a Girl with “Issues” 2) Period Dramas 3) Goth-styled Cult Classics.
In a way these could also be the reasons why I became a fan of her screen work. I could easily relate to the “girl with issues” character. I love period dramas (whether in film or in literature) especially the ones set during late 1800s and early 1900s. And believe it or not, I was once (but only for a short period of time) a goth girl.

So here are my FAVE FIVE FLICKS of… WINONA RYDER

5) Girl Interrupted (1999) – I think most Winona fans would hands down agree that this was her best portrayal of … uhm… “herself” hahaha! I think this was her last good movie and don’t you think it was rather coincidental that it came out in 1999? It was sort of like the end of an era. No doubt, I would crown Winona Ryder as “the” Cult Classic Queen of the ‘90s. She was the Hollywood poster child of the so-called Gen X!. Hence when the ‘90s ended and teen girls went from being somber to becoming steroidal fashionistas, Winona’s reign came to an end. Enter Lindsay Lohan.

4) Heathers (1989) – Speaking of LiLo (that’s short for Lindsay Lohan for those of you who aren’t in the know), way before her smash hit “Mean Girls,” “Heathers” already depicted the outrageous reality of high school girls’ rivalries. It was even way more violent and twisted. “Mean Girls” would painfully look cute next to Heathers’ grit.

3) Little Women (1994) – I have loved the book Little Women ever since I was a child. And even then I could already relate to Jo March – the outspoken sister with an unrestraint imagination. Like her I used to write plays and stories as a kid and would force my sisters and playmates to act it out for me. Talk about being a dictator!

2) Mermaids (1990) – Set in the ‘60s, Winona plays a repressed 16-year-old whose issues on love, sex and relationships are all rooted in her dysfunctional mother. Now you know why this hits close to home. I looove this movie. I love Cher’s movies actually. I have my own Cher list which I will publish soon. :-) Christina Ricci was still adorable. This was pre-Addams Family. After that, she just became that odd girl overnight. Basically I love this film because I adore coming-of-age stories. I saw this when I was just about to enter my teens and it just made me more into a sucker for romance. Aaah… puppy love!

1) Reality Bites (1994) – If “Mermaids” set the tone on how I would view romantic love during High School, “Reality Bites” defined my perspective in college. I think the whole reason why I used to have a penchant for non-committal, elusive, mysterious, brooding kind of rocker dudes was because of Ethan Hawke’s character Troy. Darn it! The movie is part of my list of favorite cult classics of all time. Who could ever forget that “My Sharona” dancing scene in the convenience store? I watched it together with my closest High School friends just before we bade each other goodbye for college. It was a sappy moment, hahaha! Real life chick flick scenario. Until now we still couldn’t resist dancing to “My Sharona” whenever we would catch that song on the radio. We still all memorize the songs in the original soundtrack. *Sigh*… Movies do make dog ears on the pages on our lives, don’t they?