Gangster Squad
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Don’t read this the wrong way, Gangster Squad is by no means a great movie, but it also isn’t as bad as some of its critics made it out to be. In addition to Emma Stone in her supporting role, the cast of the film is stacked. Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, and Michael Pena are doing their best with the material, and Sean Penn is taking a big swing.
Emma Stone is well-cast as a femme fatale type, though the most shocking thing about the movie is how little chemistry she and Ryan Gosling appear to have, especially when you remember how well they come off together in other, better movies.
Cruella
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It sure looks like everyone had a great time making this movie. Cruella revels in the fact that its source material is a cartoon and as such the production design is highly stylized.
Likewise, the movie makes a meal of skewering Cruella’s mogul origins, and some of the “high fashion” outfits that the costume department cooks up are practically unhinged.
Emma Stone unsurprisingly understands the assignment, and she does a fantastic job embodying the original character while embuing her with enough new pathos to allow for the shift from despicable villain to misunderstood hero.
Not any kind of instant classic, but certainly fun for what it is.
Zombieland
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Directed by Ruben Fleischer (who would later go on to work with Stone again on Gangster Squad), Zombieland was released in 2009, right in the middle of culture’s obsession with the living dead. Emma Stone is third billed here, behind Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg, though she holds her own despite it still being quite early in her career. Here, she plays Wichita, a tough scammer who looks after her little sister Little Rock, played by Abigail Breslin.
The film would spawn a sequel in 2019, Zombieland: Double Tap, which ultimately have a bigger box office take despite being slightly inferior to the original.
Poor Things
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Poor Things, also directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, is a difficult film to categorize. The film looks like a Disney feature that’s been filtered through an acid reflux nightmare. There’s body horror, bawdy humor, and loads and loads of sex. Played out like a fairy tale, it’s the story of a woman whose body is reanimated after death, with her brain replaced by…well, you’ll have to see the film.
Emma Stone is incredible. It’s a difficult role yet she fearlessly throws herself into it. Likewise, Mark Ruffalo does the best work of his career as a buffoonish lothario who draws Stone’s Bella out into the real world. It is not a film for everyone, but if it works for you it will be one of the best films you’ll see this or any year.
Battle of the Sexes
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Released in 2017, Battle of the Sexes is a mostly faithful retelling of the real-life tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973. The directing duo of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (who previously made Little Miss Sunshine) smartly use the subject matter to comment on contemporary sexual politics, but don’t ever get heavy-handed and fall into the trap of being a “message movie.”
Though the film was never able to find an audience and was ultimately a box office disappointment, the movie is an underrated crowd-pleaser that showcases both the comedic and dramatic talents of Emma Stone and her co-star Steve Carell.
The Favourite
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The Favourite was Emma Stone’s first collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos, the eccentric Greek director of films like The Lobster and Killing of a Sacred Deer, and her bold performance netted her yet another Oscar nomination for best actress. The film is the most accessible of Lanthimos’ catalog and is as funny as it is challenging.
Stone co-stars with Olivia Coleman and Rachel Weisz in this dark, often downright nasty satirical comedy about the 18th-century internal politics of the court of Queen Anne and the two women who vied for her attention and all of the power that came with it. Until recently, this was arguably Emma Stone’s greatest performance.
Crazy, Stupid, Love
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Crazy, Stupid, Love is that special kind of sweet, well-made romantic comedy that Hollywood desperately needs to make more of today. Dan Fogelman’s script is finely crafted, filled with sharp dialogue and big drama set-pieces that play out like an update of screwball comedies from a bygone era.
Steve Carrell is the lead, but many times Ryan Gosling threatens to steal the entire movie with his charming scumbag routine. He and Emma Stone’s chemistry is palpable and he gives another amazing performance that served as a big step for her out of the teen comedy zone. It’s impossible not to love this picture
Easy A
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Sure, she was already on people’s radar for her supporting roles in movies like Superbad, but Easy A marks Emma Stone’s arrival as a believable, bankable leading woman. This teen rom-com, directed by Will Gluck, isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel. This is a standard teen flick with a couple of recycled ideas from 80s sex comedies that felt fresh again in 2010 simply because of Stone’s fresh screen presence.
The movie cleverly surrounds her with plenty of veteran comedic actors who will elevate the film without stealing any shine off of its star. Any time you see Lisa Kudrow and Stanley Tucci in a cast list, you know you’re in good hands.
La La Land
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Writer/Director Damien Chazelle’s follow-up to the immensely enjoyable Whiplash, La La Land is a musical showbiz romance that reunites Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling once again, this time as struggling artists chasing their dreams. The musical numbers are incredible throwbacks to the golden age of Hollywood, and Stone and Gosling hold their own under the incredible demands that this requires. Stone would win an Academy Award for the performance — her first — and rightfully so. Gosling is great but you can’t take your eyes off of Stone who has that certain kind of old-school screen presence. One of the best musicals in years.
Birdman
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Released in 2014, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) was another home run from filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu that landed at the top of many critics’ lists of best of the year. While it hasn’t held up nearly as well as some of his other offerings, the overall “gimmick” of the film — that is that it is ostensibly comprised of a single uninterrupted shot — and the strong ensemble are still intriguing enough to make up for some of the thinness of the story upon second viewing. Emma Stone picked up a Best Supporting Actress nod for her turn, and though her screen time is limited she makes the most of every minute.
