DEZMOND'S BEST LIVING ACTRESSES (Part1)

Dezmond over at Hollywood Spy, winner of Best Gossip and Gold in 2010's Movie411 Blog Awards, is our first guest writer this month and todays post gives you part 1 of who he thinks are the best living actresses today.

Cate Blanchett doesn't have a single role which wasn't legendary, flawless, breathtaking, stunning, ground breaking, mind blowing, magnificent, profound, intelligent ... not a single one. She is just like Meryl Streep - a category of her own, with whom no one else can compete. Even her weakest performance is better deserving of an Oscar than any other performance of any other actress. She also possesses an otherworldly, refined and mesmerizing beauty which radiates from deep within. Her best role would be the one from ELIZABETH THE GOLDEN AGE in which she gave a masterclass in acting, shining in every possible scene in the outstanding epic. She didn't play, but she WAS an elven queen in THE LORD OF THE RINGS. And don't forget her hypnotizing voice while she narrated the story in that epic. She out staged Brad Pitt in THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (and wasn't even nominated for an Oscar). She did what no other actress did - played a man, and played him for real not as a parody in I'M NOT THERE. She was the most perfect Katharine Hepburn in THE AVIATOR. She was so stunningly flawless in CHARLOTTE GRAY, VERONICA GUERIN, THE GIFT. She was the hottest feme fatale in BANDITS. She stole the show in THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY. She had the most perfect accent in THE GOOD GERMAN. She stole the show again from Brad Pitt in BABEL. She was an action hero in THE MISSING and INDIANA JONES.And you fell in love with her in NOTES ON A SCANDAL in which she had the most amazing chemistry with her royal majesty Judi Dench (bow immediately). She also stole the show in ROBIN HOOD. We will be watching her in THE HOBBIT, HANNA and THE INDIAN SUMMER.

For some reason, I've never considered Elizabeth II as the English queen but Judi Dench :) She really is royal in every respect. I first fell in love with her watching the amazing and heartwarming sitcom AS TIME GOES BY (1992-2005) the most intelligent TV series from BBC about a woman who, at her mature age, meets the love from her youth and they start their romance again as two older people. Amazing show, I'm happy I was able to grow up watching it. Another BBC series I loved her in was the witty, charming and star-studded CRANFORD. We all loved her versatile roles in "James Bond", "Nine", "Notes on a Scandal", "Mrs Henderson Presents", "The Chronicles of Riddick", "Ladies in Lavander", "The Importance of Being Earnest", "Iris", "Chocolate", "Tea With Mussolini", "Shakespeare in Love", "Mrs. Brown"... The fact that she has just one Oscar (for the 8 minute role in "Shakespeare in Love") just speaks about the nonsensical criteria of the American Film Academy. But she does have 10 BAFTAs like a true British Dame!

Catherine Zeta Jones is the magical creature of the kind which hasn't been seen in Hollywood for decades: classic movie diva like those famous actresses from the Golden age of Tinseltown. Not only does she have the spellbinding physical beauty, but she has something that only a few other modern actresses have - the deeply profound charisma and aura which simply radiate and glow from her magical presence. She always gives intelligent and highly expressive performances. I personally loved her touching and stunningly skilled acting in NO RESERVATIONS, her witty playfulness in CHICAGO, her glamour in THE MASK OF ZORRO, her mesmerizing charisma and warmth in TITANIC(TV series), her grandeur in CATHERINE THE GREAT, and her innocent loveliness in the role which made her popular THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY.

Rachel Weisz could be Catherine's twin sister - she has the exact same charisma, magnetic aura, profound sensuality, intelligent approach to roles, playful wittiness, spellbinding presence and velvety voice. She made us laugh in THE MUMMY and THE MUMMY RETURNS, she made us cry in THE FOUNTAIN, she made us angry in THE CONSTANT GARDENER, she made us shake in AGORA, she made us dream in ERAGON, she made us care in ENEMY AT THE GATES. Just like Catherine, she too carries the magic of the Golden age of Hollywood when divas were born and not made.

To be continued.......

This article was written by Dezmond, Editor and Chief of Hollywood Spy