Paste’s Arthouse Powerhouse 100
Features, Issue 19, Published online on 13 Dec 2005 Page 1 of 4 Next >(Above [L-R]: Bill Murray, Zhang Ziyi, David Cronenberg, Sofia Coppola, Charlie Kaufman)
By Tim Porter, Steve Dollar and Tim Basham with Robert Davis, Kate Kiefer and Josh Jackson
Tired of the same-old “most powerful” lists filled with the same mega-celebrities and executives of monolithic, interchangeable corporations? We are, too. So Paste decided to put together its own list of the most important people and organizations involved in making and promoting the movies we love.
Twenty years ago, the films we’re most passionate about would’ve played in “arthouses”—quaint (read: cramped, no-frills, small-capacity) theaters with character, run with a personal touch, but only in the largest Metropolitan areas. Today, arthouses are commonplace in most American cities, and these venues now compete head-to-head with megaplexes showing the latest blockbusters. Their fare is most commonly referred to as “independent cinema,” denoting the individual voice exhibited by its makers (but not necessarily denoting their financial independence from corporate entities). And these days, independent film is mainstream. For every Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean or Harry Potter (great films, all), there’s a Garden State, Lost in Translation or March of the Penguins.
The Paste Arthouse Powerhouse 100 is not simply a list of our critical faves. These entrants help make quality independent film operate at the level it’s now achieved. They elevate the craft, draw audiences and keep the engines of commerce running in support of quality, unique voices. This isn’t a buzz-list or a box-office tally, but both of those attributes count. We’re looking for those with the unique combination of art and commerce that powers the arthouse.
The list also reflects current importance. Key figures in arthouse history (John Sayles, Steven Soderbergh, John Pierson) are absent; some will return as their arthouse activity picks up. We’ve divided the list into the Creatives (actors, directors, screenwriters, etc.) and the Wheel Greasers (producers, distributors, production companies, etc.).
So, without further ado, here’s the 2005 Paste Arthouse Powerhouse 100…
Actors
1. Bill Murray
Recent Highlights: Broken Flowers, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Coffee and Cigarettes, Lost in Translation
Upcoming Projects: The Lost City (Andy Garcia’s directorial debut)
» A staple in the fare meted out by Wes Anderson and now Jim Jarmusch, Murray is the actor most responsible for bringing a new audience to independent film. The former SNL star progressed from riotous caricatures in comedic blockbusters (Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day) to surprisingly subtle, nuanced and waggishly comedic performances in idiosyncratic films. All is forgiven for Garfield and Charlie’s Angels.
2. Paul Giamatti
Recent Highlights: Sideways, American Splendor
Upcoming: The Hawk Is Dying, Lady in the Water (M. Night Shyamalan)
» Memorable for so long in so many unmemorable movies, Giamatti now has scored one breakthrough after another. He’s an indie Everyman with a touch of the old Woody Allen, one whose neurotic self-regard doesn’t always play for laughs. His Sideways sidekick got an Oscar nomination, but it’s only a matter of time for Giamatti.
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman
Recent Highlights: Capote, Owning Mahowny, 25th Hour, Punch-Drunk Love
Upcoming: Strangers with Candy (if it escapes lawyer purgatory)
» Hoffman inhabits his characters with such zeal, and so consistently chooses quality material, he even draws audiences for his supporting roles. Paul Thomas Anderson’s go-to actor, Hoffman has also lent his considerable talents to the works of Spike Lee, Todd Solondz, Anthony Minghella, David Mamet, Cameron Crowe and the Coen Brothers. When he nabs the Best Actor Oscar in March for Capote, we hope the lead roles start pouring in.
4. Scarlett Johansson
Recent Highlights: Match Point, Lost in Translation, In Good Company, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Ghost World
Upcoming: The Black Dahlia (Brian De Palma), Untitled Woody Allen project
» Since securing an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Manny & Lo at age 12, Johansson went from ingénue to arthouse vogue to Hollywood glamour queen. With a few exceptions (most notably The Island), the young actress’s role selection has been laudable. Bonus points for bringing Woody Allen back from the void.
5. Don Cheadle
Recent Highlights: Hotel Rwanda, Crash, The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Upcoming: Tishomingo Blues (directorial debut; Elmore Leonard adaptation)
» Stunning as a character actor enlivening Steven Soderbergh and P.T. Anderson films, Cheadle showed his leading-man clout in Hotel Rwanda—and got an Oscar nomination and IFP Gotham Award to boot. Next? He directs.
6. Laura Linney
Recent Highlights: The Squid and the Whale, Kinsey, P.S., You Can Count on Me
Upcoming: Jindabyne, Driving Lessons
» A classy workhorse of an actress who chooses interesting projects, Linney elevates any film she graces. She’s unstoppable, thriving without flash or blockbuster roles.
7. Terrence Howard
Recent Highlights: Four Brothers, Hustle & Flow, Crash
Upcoming: Idlewild (musical starring André Benjamin)
» Any actor would kill to have the career boom Howard’s enjoying. The charismatic performer gave Sundance fave Hustle the sex appeal it needed to bumrush the multiplexes, and he won’t be stopping there.
8. Juliette Binoche
Recent Highlights: Bee Season, Hidden, Caché, In My Country, Chocolat
Upcoming: Breaking and Entering (Anthony Minghella)
» An arthouse icon since the mid 1980s, the graceful French actress has more than a Cannes-do résumé: Her presence in a film almost guarantees its quality. Hollywood is unkind to women over 40, but “La Binoche” is busy as ever.
9. Charlize Theron
Recent Highlights: North Country, Monster
Upcoming: The Brazilian Job
» You thought she was arm candy; turns out she’s Meryl Streep. Another Oscar for North Country? The South African is no stranger to stardust, which sure doesn’t hurt her indie moves.
10. Gael García Bernal
Recent Highlights: Bad Education, The Motorcycle Diaries, Y Tu Mamá También, Amores Perros
Upcoming: The Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry), Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu)
» This young Mexican heartthrob (named a “Male Revelation” by the 2003 Cannes jury) spices up the arthouse by plying his wares in bold, original films.
11. Naomi Watts
Recent Highlights: Stay, I Heart Huckabees, The Assassination of Richard Nixon, We Don’t Live Here Anymore, 21 Grams
Upcoming: King Kong, The Painted Veil
» Though not above genre films (The Ring), Watts has been a forceful, mesmeric presence since David Lynch cast her in Mulholland Dr.
12. Zhang Ziyi
Recent Highlights: 2046; House of Flying Daggers; Hero; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Upcoming: Memoirs of a Geisha
» She flies through the air with the greatest of ease, speaking body language that transcends subtitles. Earthbound, she’s just as compelling. China’s greatest export may become a one-woman cultural revolution.
13. Audrey Tautou
Recent Highlights: A Very Long Engagement, Amélie, Dirty Pretty Things
Upcoming: The Da Vinci Code
» Released in U.S. arthouses weeks after 9/11, Amélie became a cultural phenomenon and one of the highest-grossing foreign-language films of all time. It also made Tautou a sentimental favorite in Indiewood.
14. Chloë Sevigny
Recent Highlights: Broken Flowers, Melinda and Melinda, Shattered Glass, Dogville
Upcoming: Manderlay (Lars von Trier), 3 Needles (with Sandra Oh, Sarah Polley, Lucy Liu, Olympia Dukakis and Stockard Channing)
» Kids, Boys Don’t Cry, The Brown Bunny—risky, if not outright salacious, choices have characterized Sevigny’s career. And fortunately, they pay off more often than not.
15. Tom Wilkinson
Recent Highlights: A Good Woman, Separate Lies, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Girl with a Pearl Earring, In the Bedroom
Upcoming: The Night of the White Pants (in a rare comedic starring role), The Last Kiss (written by Paul Haggis, starring Zach Braff)
» After 20 years of character-actor obscurity, Wilkinson gained new exposure in The Full Monty. His career really took off after his 2002 Oscar nomination for In the Bedroom; he’s appeared in over a dozen films since then. Though a delight in smaller roles in films from Shakespeare in Love to Eternal Sunshine, Wilkinson deserves more meaty roles a la Bedroom.
16. Jake Gyllenhaal
Recent Highlights: Jarhead, Brokeback Mountain, Proof, The Good Girl
Upcoming: Chronicles (David Fincher)
» Gyllenhaal caught the critics’ attention with October Sky and then became a cult favorite with Donnie Darko. Graduating to more adult content, the young star has not one, not two but three Oscar-buzz-worthy late-2005 releases.
17. Ralph Fiennes
Recent Highlights: The Constant Gardener, The Chumscrubber, Chromophobia, The Good Thief
Upcoming: The White Countess (final Merchant/Ivory collaboration)
» After stumbling in Red Dragon and Maid in Manhattan, this two-time Oscar nominee returned in 2005 to his home in the arthouse (with leave to play He Who Must Not Be Named—and we’ll all crash our megaplex neighbors for that one).
18. Kate Winslet
Recent Highlights: Finding Neverland, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Iris
Upcoming: Little Children (Todd Field)
» After Titanic, Winslet could’ve been Queen of the World! Mercifully, she chose to sail straight for indie waters and, in the process, added two Oscar nominations (for Iris and Eternal Sunshine) to her previous two (for Titanic and Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility).
19. Gwyneth Paltrow
Recent Highlights: Proof, Sylvia, Possession, The Royal Tenenbaums
Upcoming: Running With Scissors
» Don’t hate her because she’s beautiful. Paltrow’s name helps get movies made, and she’s routinely proven her adeptness at acting and script selection.
20. Parker Posey
Recent Highlights: A Mighty Wind, Personal Velocity
Upcoming: The OH in Ohio, Adam & Steve, For Your Consideration (Christopher Guest), Fay Grim (Hal Hartley)
» The oft-crowned “Queen of Indies” has abandoned her subjects with increasing regularity but she always returns.
Arthouse Emergent: Actors
1. Amy Adams - After several years on TV and in light comedic film roles, Adams wowed critics with her performance in Junebug, which garnered her a Special Jury Prize at Sundance and a Gotham Award nomination.
2. Joseph Gordon-Levitt - The former 3rd Rock star delivered powerfully in two outstanding 2005 Sundance entries, Mysterious Skin (released last May) and Brick (bowing next March).
3. Jamie Bell - He’s not even 20, and he’s already racked up a string of notable credits since his debut in Billy Elliot. Though this year’s The Chumscrubber and Dear Wendy have met mixed reviews, Bell receives great marks for his lead performances. Next, he adds Peter Jackson, Clint Eastwood and David Mackenzie to his list of bosses.
4. Camilla Belle - Belle’s portrayal of strong-willed 16-year-old Rose in Rebecca Miller’s The Ballad of Jack and Rose sung to critics and earned her a Gotham Award nomination.
5. Lou Taylor Pucci - Pucci’s performance in Thumbsucker—his first leading role—did anything but suck, earning him a Best Actor nod from Berlin and a Special Jury Prize at Sundance.
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