Top Ten List - Best Actor 2008

10. Richard Jenkins in The Visitor - One of the best character actors out there, Jenkins delivers a subtle and emotionally complex leading man performance. He's charming, nuanced and completely natural.

09. James Franco in Pineapple Express - Even the picture on the cover is hilarious. Franco shines as a drug dealer who is surprisingly deep in this comic gem from the summer. Franco, who is usually a brooding, serious leading man, shows he can do comedy with just as much ease.

08. Frank Langella in Frost / Nixon - My distaste for the movie is maybe why he's so low on my list. Langella, however, does become Richard Nixon. It's a great and total transformation. The movie may not be spectacular but his performance is awfully good. He steals the show.

07. Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man - It's the perfect role for Downey, actually. He's always been a person who I thought of as charming, witty, just a little cocky. That's who Tony Stark is, essentially as well. Downey probably had no trouble channeling those traits to use for the role. He also managed to be heroic as well.

06. Sam Rockwell in Snow Angels - Probably one of the most underrated actors out there, Rockwell always shines playing complex characters. This time around he's playing a born again Christian struggling with his demons and with his ex-wife moving on when all he wants to do is work things out. It's a frighteningly real performance.

05. Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt - Hoffman and Streep go toe to toe and prove that they are two of the living greats. Hoffman has a difficult job - making his priest seem trustworthy and honest but still managing to make him just a little creepy. You don't know if you should trust him or not. There's a particular scene between Hoffman and Streep and I didn't think either one of them was going to make it out of there alive!

04. Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road - His Frank Wheeler is deeply complex. And DiCaprio plays him with such ease. Maybe its because he's such a phenomenal actor. Maybe it's because he's with Kate again. But his performance here just may be his best ever (or, maybe, second only to The Departed). Frank is unhappy and lonely, struggling with the fact that his wife may not love him anymore. Winslet's got the showier, louder role, for sure, but DiCaprio is perfection as well.

03. Colin Farrell in In Bruges - It's been a long time since we've seen what Farrell could do acting wise. He's long just been a tabloid staple. But guess what? That potential that we all saw back in the days of Phone Booth, that has had everyone saying for the last decade, "If only he could find the right part..." well, it finally shines through. In Bruges is the right part for Farrell and it manages to show his range. He could be depressing, funny, charming, dark and witty all at the same time. I knew he could do it.

02. Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler - Probably the comeback of the year, it's nice to see Rourke, who was once considered the next Robert DeNiro, on top again. Darren Aronofsky took a chance on him and it pays off. The movie is about a wrestler struggling with the fact that his career is just about done, he has burned every bridge in his personal life, his youth is gone, his looks are gone, he's damaged himself physically and emotionally for years and years. Rourke probably didn't have to look far for inspiration.

01. Sean Penn in Milk - I'll say it right here and now - Sean Penn is in the top three of the greatest living actors. I can't decide yet where he would fall in the top three, but he's definitely in there. Penn becomes Harvey Milk. He inhabits this sweetness (yes, sweetness... yes, Sean Penn) and charm and becomes Harvey Milk. We're so used to seeing him play characters who are fiery and intense. Here he takes that passion and channels it in a different way. He plays Harvey to perfection, helping to create one of the two best performances of the year (he's probably tied with Ledger). Penn never ceases to amaze.

Tomorrow - Best Films!