Top Five Movies of Winona Ryder

Winona is the original alternative girl of the 80s and 90s, and if not for Helena Bonham Carter, probably the girl we?d see frolicking in Tim Burton movies for the past ten years. Unfortunately for us, instead she?s made ?The Dilemma.? Even as she continues to make movies (and especially if she makes bad ones), I know that my thoughts of her still hearken back to seeing her for the first time as a Goth teen in ?Beetlejuice? and then hitting the same ages as the rest of her movies afterwords. The apex of her life as the ultimate alternative Generation-X girl happened with ?Reality Bites? as the object of affection for Ethan Hawke and Ben Stiller in Stiller?s directorial debut.

With her body of work, neither of those movies made my list. Winona has continued to make movies and the list includes some of those from her early years, middle years and last month that are preferable to ?The Dilemma.? It?s really pretty cool how Winona has changed with us.

5. Black Swan

Winona Ryder looking hot

This is the best movie on the list and it isn?t higher because this isn?t Winona Ryder?s movie. But, it is perfect in reminding us how big of a part she was in growing up from seeing her start in ?Beetlejuice? to seeing her now. Not washed up, but definitely older than the starlets around her and still showing up most all of them.

4. The Age of Innocence

If you?ve done a movie with Martin Scorsese, more than likely it?s going to make a top five list of your roles. Add in acting beside Daniel Day-Lewis and it?s actually surprising that it isn?t higher on the list.

3. Girl, Interrupted

First reason that Daniel Day-Lewis isn?t that impressive: acting beside a young Angelina Jolie. Winona leads a beautiful cast in this story of an all-woman?s mental hospital that also includes Brittany Murphy, Clea DuVall and Elisabeth Moss. Yes, the actresses are all beautiful, but what I remember is that they all did a fantastic job.

2. Edward Scissorhands

I mean, come on, he has scissors for hands. How attractive can that be? If it were that attractive, wouldn?t scissors for hands be a kind of peacocking still used today? It?s not, but it?s a credit to Winona that she convinced us that she could fall in love with this guy. Well, that and he looked a lot like Johnny Depp.

1. Heathers

No matter what she does, when I think of Winona, it will always come down to this movie. I don?t even know if this movie still holds up, and considering it stars Christian Slater in his most Nicholson-esque part that is a very fair point to ponder, it makes sense still in my mind that he went through all of that to win the heart of Winona.

Agree? Disagree? Which movies would make your Winona Ryder top five?