Top Ten List: Best Supporting Actress 2009

It's time for my annual top ten lists. First, however, I'd like to say that I thought 2009 was a pretty disappointing year for movies and that fact is proven by the very lacking top ten lists I have this year (especially my Best Supporting Actor list which is just a mess). Every day this week I will be counting down the ten best Supporting Actor and Actress, Lead Actor and Actress and, of course, Film. Keep in mind there are a number of films that I really wanted to see that I didn't get a chance to, including Nine, The Road, A Single Man, A Serious Man, Crazy Heart, etc. So, for now, here is the first list...

Best Supporting Actress 2009
10. Catherine Keener in Where the Wild Things Are - Keener is always spectacular and here she takes very limited screen time and creates a three-dimensional very real feeling mom to life.

09. Patricia Clarkson in Whatever Works - Whatever Works is hardly one of Woody Allen's best films. However, even when Woody isn't at his best, his films are usually better than most others. The best thing about Whatever Works is Clarkson's deliciously hilarious performance as a naive Southerner who is soon the toast of the New York Art scene and exploring her sexuality.

08. Rosamund Pike in An Education - Hilariously and decidedly un-academic, Pike plays the perfect foil for Carey Mulligan's Jenny. Her Fanny is just so ditzy and such a dumb blonde. In a movie with a very dark side, you can't help but smile when Pike is on the screen.

07. Sigourney Weaver in Avatar - Weaver's performance is just fantastic. It also proves that this technology that James Cameron all but invented really works since we get such a sense of her performance even when she's a nine foot tall blue alien. It's a testament to the film and Cameron that we can be so moved by a creature.

06. Paula Patton in Precious - Patton's performance in Precious may not be the best (more about that soon) but it may be my favorite of the film. Patton is so sweet and so kind and so heartwarming that her kindness melts your heart a little bit.

05. Monica Potter in The Last House on the Left - The Last House on the Left is one of the few films that has actually stuck with me from way back in February (or March or whenever it was released). At the beginning, Potter is cautious, loving and happy. By the end, her whole world has been ripped apart and she is both heartbroken and ready to exact revenge.

04. Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air - What most helps Farmiga's performance is that she and Clooney have some GREAT chemistry. She's able to go toe-to-toe with him and their chemistry reminds me of old-school movie chemistry. She's sexy and powerful and I'm glad she's finally found a role so worthy of her talents.

03. Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air - For as sexy and confident as Farmgia is in Up in the Air, Kendrick is the opposite. She's young and confused, recently out of college and struggling to define her life as an adult. She's got her life planned out like she thinks it should go - marriage, children. Yet her eyes are open to the fragility and intimacy of the people all around her. Her performance was perhaps the most surprising of the year.

02. Melanie Laurent in Inglourious Basterds - As a young Jewish refugee ready to exact revenge on the Nazi's who destroyed her family, Laurent is terribly impressive. The particular scene that always stands out to me is a scene at a restaurant between her and Christoph Waltz. She knows what he is capable of, yet is forced to make nice with him during dinner. It's a scene between the two best actors in the film and a scene where I don't think I let out a breath the entire time.

01. Mo' Nique in Precious - What else is there to say about the most ballsy, fearless, fierce, heartbreaking, terrifying, electrifying, moving, brilliant performance of the year? Hope she's practiced her acceptance speech.


Tomorrow - the very disappointing Best Supporting Actor list.