6. Felicity Huffman - Transamerica
- Lost to: Reese Witherspoon - Walk The Line (weak year imo. Other nominees: Judi Dench - Mrs Henderson Presents; Keira Knightley - Pride & Prejudice; Charlize Theron - North Country)
- While nowadays this so-so film may have its faults, Huffman gave an amazing performance.
- Every review brings acclaim to Huffman's performance which elevated the film.
- Earned her spot at number 5 not just because of her performance but because she lost to someone who was easily 5x worse than her and this is a modern day tragedy
5. Melissa Leo - Frozen River
- Lost to the MOST whack campaign (until Melissa Leo's iconic 2011 campaign) to the undeniably undeserving Kate Winslet in The Reader. Also nommed: Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married; Angelina Jolie - Changeling; Meryl Streep - Doubt
- Amazing performance in an overlooked film. Leo won the Independent Spirit Award & National Board of Review for this film.
- New York Times review: "Ms. Leo’s magnificent portrayal of a woman of indomitable grit and not an iota of self-pity makes “Frozen River” a compelling study of individual courage.
She brings the same kind of gravity to the role that Patricia Neal did to Alma Brown in “Hud” 45 years ago."
4. Emmanuella Riva - Amour
- Lost to: Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook. Also nommed: Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty; Quvenzhané Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild & the only other won besides Riva who should have won, Naomi Watts - The Impossible
- You might not have seen this movie, and if you did you will never forget it or the two amazing performances headlining this film.
- For Amour, Riva won a BAFTA, Cesar and Venice Film Festival award, among others
- Rick Groen: "Remarkably, she does it all, even when reduced to communicating with her eyes alone. Hers is, in every sense of the phrase, a nakedly honest performance"
3. Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal AND Penelope Cruz - Volver
- Lost to: A caricature in the flesh Helen Mirren - The Queen. Also nommed: Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada; Kate (are you fucking kidding me) Winslet - Little Children
- Dench went under the radar this year, but the chemistry between Dench & Blanchett in this film was unlike ANY of these other films since the 2000s. Dench RIPPED apart the upper-middle class British guise and tore that shit to SHREDS. Richard Roper said: "Dench is one of the most menacing spinsters this side of Kathy Bates [Oscar winning performance] in "'Misery,'"
- Cruz and her cast won the Cannes award for acting. AO Scott: "With this role Ms. Cruz inscribes her name near the top of any credible list of present-day flesh-and-blood screen goddesses, in no small part because she manages to be earthy, unpretentious and a little vulgar without shedding an ounce of her natural glamour."
2. Viola Davis - The Help
- Lost to Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady. Nommed against: Glenn Close - Albert Knobbs; Rooney Mara - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (how was she even nominated); Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn (how was she even nominated x2)
- Watching Davis in the help, then watching Streep in The Iron Lady proves two things: Meryl can win for a terrible film & the Oscars are pretty much content on award ANY white woman over a person of color (because, let's be real, we know what happened this year and the years following 2011). Both movies were only ok, but Davis and he co-stars elevated The Help far higher than The Iron Lady
- It was more than just a performance. From NPR: "Under Davis' skillful hand, Aibileen emerges as...the dignified face of nonviolent resistance, and the one who argues wordlessly for the union between two people on opposite sides of the racial divide that ends this rather wishful tale."
1. Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream
- Lost to: Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich (she was good, best performance of her career, etc. but nowhere near as perfect as Burstyn (also nommed: Joan Allen - The Contender; Juliette Binoche - Chocolat; Laura Linney - You Can Count on Me)
- One of the most harrowing performances of our time
- Peter Travers said "Burstyn gives an award-caliber performance that is as raw and riveting as the movie that contains it."
- Would have won if moved to supporting actress (against Kate freaking Hudson)
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