Who would have imagined from them early days playing characters such as Tallulah in Alan Parker’s Bugsy Malone or Iris in Scorsese’s Taxi Driver that this young lady born on this day in 1962 would have become a screen legend and bagged 2 Academy Awards for Best Actress and countless other awards in the process? – It was 12yrs after her brilliant role in Taxi Driver that Jodie Foster delivered one of the best performances of her career as Sarah Tobias who is brutally raped in Kaplan’s The Accused them opening scenes in the bar were pretty horrific, this film sits at number 3 on my Essential Jodie Foster – at number 2 is one of my favorite films of 1997 Robert Zemeckis’s scifi movie Contact starring alongside Matthew McConaughey & William Fichtner – and at number 1 is The Silence of the Lambs playing F.B.I. agent Clarice Starling attempting to catch a serial killer with the help of psychopath Dr. Hannibal Lecter played wonderfully well by Anthony Hopkins, the relationship between Foster & Hopkins is what gave this film it’s bite, them scenes with Clarice trying to gain Lecter’s trust are compelling viewing – the film went on to win the Top 5 Academy Awards – Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Screenplay – now I have named my Essential Jodie Foster it’s only fair to mention the one’s that just missed out but still rank high on her CV : i must confess to having a soft spot for the wonderful Maverick (with Mel Gibson) Jodie looked amazing in this movie and the chemistry between the two is beautiful to watch – Catchfire (with Dennis Hopper) this movie usually gets panned but I really enjoyed it, the film was also directed by Hopper – and David Fincher’s 2002 home invasion movie Panic Room (with Kristen Stewart) such a gripping thriller with a wonderful cast and shot by the the master Fincher….