Top Five Movies of Maya Rudolph

This past weekend ?The Heat? opened and trounced the rest of the adult fare as far as box office success goes. Leading up to that point, I read an A.V. Club post that revealed only 10% of the top 40 grossing movies of the year had a female lead. That includes dramas, comedies, action, sci-fi, silent or whatever. Only three more had a female co-lead. When you have talented actresses like I have profiled and Maya Rudolph in this profile, I find that hard to believe. But, looking at the future, it?s true.

This week it?s ?The Lone Ranger.? Next week it?s ?Pacific Rim? and ?Grown Ups 2.? The following week, it?s ?R.I.P.D.? The week after that is ?The Wolverine.? I could go on, but it?s kind of depressing. Sure, ?Red 2? has Helen Mirren, but that?s a Bruce Willis joint.

I thought about female superheroes having a major movie the other day (and how The Wasp wasn?t in ?The Avengers,? just Black Widow) and I realized how few female superhero movies there are. ?Elektra? and ?Tank Girl? were the only ones that came immediately to mind. Looking up more, I found ?Catwoman,? ?Supergirl? and ?Barb Wire.? Wow. That was one good movie out of the bunch? Where was Wonder Woman at least?

You can?t tell me that fan boys and fan girls would not watch a lady in spandex if they watch the guys in spandex. Wait a second maybe I shouldn?t say this too loud. Note to self, there?s a vast untapped movie script field ready to be exploited by a go-getter. Until I get busy writing the great American superheroine movie, at least we have comedies that will occasionally feature a lead woman. One of the top hilarious actresses is Maya and here are five movies where at least in a couple, she?s a co-lead.

5. Away We Go

Sam Mendes, the director behind ?American Beauty,? ?Road to Perdition,? and ?Jarhead? brings this story from Dave Eggers (?A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius? and co-founder of the 826 tutoring centers across the country) and Vendela Vida to the screen with Maya and ?The Office? star John Krasinski. Besides Maya, the movie also features Maggie Gyllenhaal and Melanie Lynskey.

4. A Prairie Home Companion

Robert Altman?s last movie as a director and I better stop starting each paragraph on each movie with the men involved if I want to start giving women their proper due. The story is based on the long-running NPR show hosted by, darn it there I go again, Garrison Keillor.

3. Chuck and Buck

I can?t help this one. I mean the name of the movie is the names of the two lead male characters. One of the main actors, Mike White, wrote this as well as ?The Good Girl? with Jennifer Aniston, ?Orange County? and a couple episodes of ?Freaks and Geeks.? Besides actresses, at least a couple women were producers of some sort and the production design, set decoration and hair and makeup were all done by women. (That last sentence, though I am happy that women get to do creative work on movies, kind of makes me sad because I would guess that people think that those roles would go to women.)

2. Idiocracy

Maybe it?s good that most of the people involved with a movie regarding how stupid the world is getting are men. I?m reaching here, I know it.

1. Bridesmaids

Written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, starring many great female actors along with Kristen and Maya, there are a lot of creative women involved in this production. Paul Feig, as mentioned in the link above, directed this and it?s good that he enjoys working with the fairer sex. Maybe it would be too much to hope for to see a woman in the writer, star and director?s chair in the near future, but there?s always hope, and there?s always television like ?Girls.?

Agree? Disagree? Which movies would make your Maya Rudolph top five?