Sissy Spacek

I first saw Badlands six or seven years ago and was immediately a fan, I've returned to it time and time again and it is those repeat viewings that have led me to put it on top of My top 100 films list.
It was actually Badlands that led to the creation of this list. Revising my top 10 for the first time in an age I wanted to find a place for Bandlands but, at that point, couldn't and so, in slotting it in at number 11 I decided to go the whole hog and do a top 100. Another rewatch later and here we are.
That, for me, is the essential reason that Badlands is number one; every time I've seen it I've loved it more and more.
The directorial debut of Terence Malick (who has made just three films since, only two of which I've seen, liking neither very much) it never feels like the work of a novice being among the most beautiful looking films ever made. Malick has a fondness for the real world and for nature and we see much of it in Badlands, the lanscape shots are breathtaking, the sequence where Kit (Sheen) burns Holly's (Spacek) house is also particularly gorgeous but Malick also finds beauty in the more mundane things.
the characters Kit and Holly, their relationship and character and Kit's crimes were based on the real story of Charles Starkweather and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate. Their spree took place in 1958 when Starkweather was 19 and Fugate just 13.
The film adds a couple of years to the age of each of the characters.
Sissy Spacek was 23 when Badlands was made but her cute youthful looks mean that she absolutely convinces as 15 year old Holly. There's more to her performance than that though, she portrays Holly's youthful naivety with great intelligence and manages to suggest, subtly, the mixed emotions of this young girl once her boyfriend starts killing. Spacek also contributes narration from Holly's diary, not only are these beautifully written by Malick, never seeming like a screenwriter, rather than a 15 year old girl, came up with them but Spacek's reading of them is one of the most touching and memorable things in the film.
Martin Sheen was also a good deal older than his character, 10 years in fact, but he too is perfectly cast as the James Dean like Kit. Kit's matter of fact way about everything is very funny and Sheen gets plenty of mileage out of that and crucially he remains interesting and charming enough to make you believe that Holly would stay with him.
There are few other people in the film but it's worth noting that the man who comes to the door when Kit and Holly take over a rich man's house for an afternoon and 'borrow' things from him is Terence Malick himself stepping in for an actor who hadn't shown up.
It's difficult to encapsulate the brilliance of this film as it almost sneaks up on you but it's a riveting, almost hypnotic, experience and one which repays repeat viewings as the strength of Spacek and Sheen's wonderful performances impresses more each time.

Stephen King's first book is his best by some way. The film is better. Brian DePalma's superlative defying masterpiece (I like that, means I don't have to get out my thesarus for new superlatives) features an exceptional performance from Sissy Spacek, 26 at the time but completely convincing as 15 year old Carrie. Unlike so many 'plain' characters she carries off the shyness of the early part of the film and blossoms in convincing form by the end.
The iconic image of a blood drenched Spacek standing onstage at her prom has been constantly quoted in the nearly 30 years since its release (Neil Marshall used it in The Descent this year). THAT ending sparked countless imitators, serious and spoofing but it's not the shock that makes it memorable but the dreamlike sheen lent it by De Palma's shooting the scene backwards and then reversing the film. An Oscar nominated Piper Laurie also makes an impression as Carries insane mother and DePalma gives her a more visceral and memorable death than King was able to.
Carrie is a horror masterpiece and one that if you haven't seen you should watch now.

Robert Altman says that the setup of 3 Women came to him in a dream. This makes perfect sense as you watch the film which proceeds from the first frame in a very strange, dreamlike fashion.
Shelly Duvall and Sissy Spacek were, apparently, part of Altman's dream the night the film took shape and both of them are excellent. Duvall is funny and sad as the girl who is always saying how many people are interested in her when, as we see, almost nobody is. Spacek plays her innocent adrift once more. She's still brilliant at it and, crucially, still looks young enough to pull it off. Spacek takes the acting honours though with a third act twist that completely alters her character making her, at a stroke, more sexual and otherwise more adult. This could have undone the film had Alman not had an actress as capable as Spacek of carrying off the sudden shift.
At just over two hours it is a bit long and the third woman of the title (Janice Rule) is largely superfluous but when it focuses in on Spacek and Duvall this is Altman at his best.

A fantastically mad vehicle for Steve Martin, if only he'd do something as silly and as funny now. However the film is almost stolen by a fine voice only performance by Sissy Spacek who brings real emotion to a brain in a jar.

A fine, slow paced, drama from Paul Schrader. It has fine central performances from Nick Nolte, James Coburn and, enlivening what could be a dull part, Sissy Spacek. Most of the support is solid as well, bar Holmes Osborne, whose accent is comically dreadful. The ending seems rushed, which is a shame given how good the unhurried bulk of the film is but it's well worth seeing, if only for Coburn and Nolte impressing as father and son.

The Straight Story is an apt title for this, easily David Lynch's most straightforward, accessible film. It's not entirely without Lynchian moments (several characters seem ripped from his olde book of oddballs). Most of the time it feels more like a film by Terence Malick. Lynch has fallen in love with small town America here, his take on his characters is affectionate and his lensing of the countryside is beautiful.
As lovely as it looks this film centres around and owes most of its success to the performance of Richard Farnsworth. The former stuntman got an Oscar nomination for his turn and it was richly deserved. He makes Alvin a decent, if prickly, man and brings great poigniance to Alvin's disability and to his journey. Also excellent is Spacek, a great actress who brings colour to a small role and there's an effective cast of cameos as Alvin makes his trip.
It's a very gentle film, not one for a viewer who likes things to explode as often as possible, but it is relentlessly charming and well worth watching.