Happy Birthday Winona Ryder!!!

Apparently, it's birthday week here at Movie MoJoe!  Winona Ryder turns 42 today, and, I must say, she looks exactly the same.  I'm not alone in thinking that, right?  She's stunning.

Back in the late 80's/early 90's, Ryder was everywhere.  She starred in three of my favorite movies of all time (Heathers, Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands), and she perfected the dark, moody teenager.  I believe the passed the baton of this honor over to Christina Ricci when they did Mermaids together in 1990.

Ryder made her debut in Lucas, a coming-of-age from 1986.  She starred alongside Corey Haim, Charlie Sheen, and Coutney Thorne-Smith.  I've never even heard of it, so I definitely want to see it out.  She already has that short hair that I've come to recognize with some of her later work. 

She collaborated with Tim Burton for the first time with Beetlejuice.  As Lydia Deetz, she isn't phased by all the supernatural things around her.  She actually embraces it all.  I love how she clashes with her stepmother, Catherine O'Hara.

These two images make me so happy.  So very happy. 

Do I really need to sell Heathers to you?  Not only is it one of the best movies about high school, it's obviously one of the best movies ever.

If Heathers were to come out today, I bet boys would drool all over Ryder's Veronica the same way they love Tina Fey.  Veronica is sexy, but she doesn't have to be. 

I have always wanted to punch someone in the face with this zinger.  In time...

And then she won my heart over when she threw on a blonde wig and fell in love with Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands.  The moment near the end when popular girl Kim begs Edward to hold her still makes me clutch my pearls. 

You can't tell me that you don't twirl in wonder the first time the snow falls like Ryder in Scissorhands.  You do.  I do.  Everyone does.  

With both Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence and Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, I was throughly convinced that Ryder was born to wear corsets and fan herself with little fans. 

Innocence is probably Scorsese's most underappreciated film, and Ryder received her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role opposite Daniel Day-Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer. 



By this point in her career, Ryder had worked with some incredible directors.  Coppola would cast Ryder in the final Godfather film, but she dropped out due to exhaustion.

This hat has been on every Christmas list I've had since 1993. 

Ryder's second Oscar nomination came for playing Jo in Little Women.

Her performance as Abigail Williams in The Crucible (again, opposite Day-Lewis) might be my favorite performance.  Her desire for Day-Lewis' John Proctor is primal and reckless.  She should have received an Oscar nomination alongside Joan Allen. 



My dad was very much taken by Ryder in Girl, Interrupted.  I remember coming out of the theater talking about Angelina Jolie's performance, and my dad mostly talked about Ryder's performance as Susanna Kayson. 

When Ryder popped up on screen for a cameo in the Star Trek reboot, I literally screamed, "IS THAT WINONA RYDER?!?!"  I was so loud that I got shushed by strangers in the crowded theater.  I really like that movie, but for weeks all I could think about was her.  Winona fucking Ryder!  In a Star Trek movie!!!  How did that slip under my radar?!

Her best role as of late came in Darren Aronofsky's ballet/perfection/psychotic thriller, Black Swan.  Ryder plays an aging ballerina (hmmm...) who loses the lead in Swan Lake to a younger actress dancer.  The scene where Natalie Portman visits her in the hospital, and Ryder goes bonkers still freaks me out to this day.  She's great in it.

She had a supporting role in Ron Howard's The Dilemma.  I am not a fan of the movie, and that's putting it mildly.  Vince Vaughn is married to Jennifer Connelly (sure, why not), and he sees the wife to his best friend (Ryder) cheating.  Kevin James plays Ryder's husband.  I wanted the ending to be totally from left field.  I wanted James to know about and him be gay, or I wanted Ryder and James to be swingers.  Instead of the lame "should just tell him later rather than sooner" plot, I wanted it to be totally crazy.  Ryder's character's name is Geneva (point), and she guy she's cheating with is Channing Tatum.  Get it, girl.

She teamed back up with Tim Burton for last year's Frankenweenie, a love letter to old Hollywood movies.  She voices Elsa Van Helsing, the perfect name for a Winona Ryder role.

If you haven't seen Ryder's entry into the Drunk History series, you must watch it.  I was laughing out loud at work.  No, seriously, people were staring.

Winona will next star in the Jason Statham thriller Homefront.  This is something that I shouldn't be excited for, but I think Statham is hot.  It also doesn't look as bonheaded as his normal stuff.  All the pictures of Ryder indicate that she gets to play a trashy wife.  I am not sure.  Check out the trailer:





She also has a role in the upcoming TV movie, Turks & Caicos, directed by David Hare.  They has been some recent talk that Burton is developing Beetlejuice 2.  Lydia Deetz better be in it.  She better be.  

Happy Birthday, Winona!  You're a terrific actress, and damn you look beautiful!