Todd Lyden

Cover of V for Vendetta (Widescreen Edition) So I wanted to go back and recognize another Academy award winner from this year, but keeping the balance stuck with female. I think Natalie Portman had a career worthy of honoring a while back and while I have yet to see Black Swan , I am sure she deserved it. While I have forgiven the transgression of helping Lucas mess with our collective childhoods by being the in the Star War prequels, I still think she is a great actress. I love the trajectory of her career. She has been in small dramedies like Anywhere But Here , Where the Heart Is , and Zach Braff 's Garden State .  She has also done diverse comedies like Mars Attacks! (remember that?) and the recent No Strings Attached . While a generation will think of her as Padme from Star Wars, there are two movies that stand out for me. The more recent V for Vendetta was a great performance. However, if I have to pick a single performance that is her shining moment: the breakout ...

Image via Wikipedia Batman finally won an Oscar . Christian Bale took home the gold this year with his supporting performance in " The Fighter ." (Guess which movie is next on my que?) So I thought he would be appropriate for today's installment of epitome Monday. So which performance is his crowning achievement? Is it Dicky in "The Fighter?" I can't say it is because I haven't seen it yet. What about his Batman? " The Dark Knight " and " Batman Begins " are fantastic work. Perhaps you go back even further? " Empire of the Sun " really gave a tip that this child actor was going to become a powerhouse some day. Maybe " Newsies ?" Yes, he was in that. How about the bad guy in " Shaft ?" Yes, he did play against Samuel L. Jackson ! Me? I'm going with "Equilibrium." This is the actiony B-movie that illustrated he had the action chops along with the emoting skills. John Preston has...