Top Ten List - Best Supporting Actor 2011

10. Michael Fassbender for Jane Eyre - Maybe it's my huge crush on Fassbender or maybe it's his really huge year, but he smolders in a boring period piece like Jane Eyre. He manages to make the rough and unlikeable (at least I always disliked him) Mr. Rochester sexy and mysterious.

09. Jonah Hill for Moneyball - Everyone knows Jonah Hill is funny. But the guy can actually act! Thanks, probably, to Aaron Sorkin's fantastic script, Hill brings the character of a dorky math whiz who uses his skills to assess baseball players to life on the screen.

08. Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Ides of March - Hoffman has also had a great year, also stealing his few scenes in Moneyball, but in The Ides of March, he is sneaky and manipulative and loyal and just plain fantastic.

07. Kenneth Branagh for My Week With Marilyn - Sure, this movie belongs to Michelle Williams and her fantastic portrayal of Marilyn Monroe, but there is room to talk about Branagh, too. He plays Sir Laurence Olivier perfectly - mean, surly, ridiculously talented, in love with and jealous of Monroe.

06. Stellan Skarsgard for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Elegantly creepy, Skarsgard was the perfect choice to play the seemingly nice member of the despicable Vanger family, Martin. In his big scene near the end, he manages to be terrifying and funny and classy and intelligent and disgusting, all at the same time.

05. Patton Oswalt for Young Adult - Yes, Patton Oswalt can act and he creates one of the best oddball chemistries ever with Charlize Theron. He's a handicapped former bullied kid who grows up to be a guy who makes moonshine and loves action figures. He is disgusted by Theron's character, but also worships her. It's a great performance to watch.

04. Ben Kingsley for Hugo - Kingsley has been one of the greatest actors of his generation for years. But, after years and years in film, Hugo may just be his finest performance ever. As a toy maker and former revolutionary director, Kingsley is fierce and sentimental and just amazing.

03. Albert Brooks for Drive - Brooks is devastatingly scary in one of the best movies of the year. As a mobster type, he terrifies in a controlled way, which is really the most terrifying way to scare people after all.

02. Corey Stoll for Midnight in Paris - My personal favorite performance of the year, Stoll steals the entire movie away from more well known actors. His Ernest Hemingway is absolutely and undeniably hilarious. It's a shame he wasn't nominated as part of the ensemble at the SAG Awards, but here's hoping he goes method and shows up in character, drunk and yelling, "WHO WANTS TO FIGHT??"

01. Christopher Plummer for Beginners - Plummer is exhilarating as a man in his 80s who finally comes out of the closet, only to find out he's dying, and manages to inspire his son to start over because he won't let a little thing like death slow him down from finally being happy and finding true love and starting movie clubs and having parties and being just plain amazing.