Carla Gugino Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Carla Gugino-whose latest project "Lisa Frankenstein" is in theaters tonight. 

Carla Gugino's Filmography Ranked:

21.Spy Kids 2: The Island of Dreams (D-)

20.Gerald's Game (D)

19.Man of Steel (D)

18.New Year's Eve (D+)

17.Michael (C-)

16.San Andreas (C-)

15.Righteous Kill (C)

14.Spy Kids (C)

13.The One (C)

12.Mr. Popper's Penguins (C+)

11.Night at the Museum (B-)

10.Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (B-)

9.Faster (B-)

8.Zack Snyder's Justice League (B)

7.Watchmen (B)

6.Gunpowder Milkshake (B)

5.Sucker Punch (B+)

4.The Lookout (B+)

3.Match (A-)

2.American Gangster (A)

1.Sin City (A+)

Top Dog: Sin City (2005)

Did Sin City coming out while I was a teenager influence my love for it? Without question. However, my glowing opinion of it has remained intact well into adulthood because I'll never forget just how much it blew me away the first time I saw it. I'd never seen something so seamlessly translate the visual style and tone of a graphic novel to the screen before and quite frankly, I've never seen something do it so adeptly since. The thin line between good and evil here beautifully evokes the moral ambiguity of vintage noir pictures, this world is brimming with so much life that you can see why it's both intoxicating and dangerous for its inhabitants and each performance in this massive ensemble is perfectly rendered to match the slick, sleazy nature of the titular location. This is Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's masterpiece and it's a film that I will cherish for the rest of my life.              

Bottom Feeder: Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2003)

On the other end of the Robert Rodriguez spectrum comes Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams. Whatever charm the whole goofy family of spies' dynamic that made the first installment work to an extent rapidly disappeared in the sequel, which is an insufferably corny slog that ranks highly on the list of worst movies I saw as a child.     

Most Underrated: Match (2015)

This tiny indie drama that completely slipped through the cracks of Hollywood is a powerful, grounded character study that is best experienced going in completely blind features a career-best performance from Patrick Stewart in the lead role and terrific supporting work from a pair of underutilized talents in Gugino and Matthew Lillard.  

Most Overrated: Man of Steel (2013)

The only theatrically released Zack Snyder DCU entry that people outside of the toxic online Snyder cult actually really liked is ironically the only one that I believe has basically no redeeming qualities. Henry Cavill has never been stiffer on screen, the pacing is brutally slow, the frantic mid-air action sequences look like shit and Michael Shannon's cartoonish overacting as antagonist General Zod is completely out of place in an otherwise (often far too) deadly serious film.