PopMatters, a respected movie and pop culture blog has listed its top 20 female performances of the year, here's the list and a little of what they said on each winner:
#20 - MERYL STREEP in DOUBT
"Streep is nothing short of magnificent as the mean on the outside, frail on the inside nun who must uncover the truth and remove all reservation."
#19 - THANDIE NEWTON in W
"Newton’s nonsensical depiction of Condoleeza Rice makes the film that much more frightening."
#18 - CATHERINE DENEUVE in A CHRISTMAS TALE
"Catherine Deneuve portrays the matriarch of a neurotic, dysfunctional yet oddly congruous bourgeois clan to perfection. Like wine, she gets better with age."
#17 - ANGELICA HUSTON in CHOKE
"In this stunning, savage performance, Huston strips away the concept of death with dignity to offer up a sharp-tongued take on failing mental faculties."
#16 - VIOLA DAVIS in DOUBT
"Viola Davis may only have one scene in Doubt, but I guarantee that it’s the scene you’ll remember. A five-minute wonder."
#15 - MIKEALA FISCHER in TELL NO ONE
"Fisher uses five minutes of screen time to create an unforgettable villain and elevate the entire work."
#14 - KATE WINSLET in THE READER
"Selling both lust/love for a teenager and sympathy for a concentration camp guard (herself) is quite a tall order; then again, we’re talking Kate Winslet."
#13 - KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS in I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG
"Her masterful investment in suppression yields a concluding flood of emotions that transcends the film’s flimsy third act plot devices. She is a revelation."
#12 - DEBRA WINGER in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
"No other actress could have endowed the character of Abby with such simmering volatility and hid it behind an empty smile the way she does."
#11 - ROSEMARIE DEWITT in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
"In a film which features Anne Hathaway and Debra Winger chewing up the dialogue like champions in every scene they are in, someone had to hold down the emotional middle ground here, thankfully there is the breath of fresh air in RoseMarie DeWitt's performance."
#10 - ANGELINA JOLIE in CHANGELING
"As the most famous mother since the Virgin Mary, the act of watching Jolie’s performance is comparable to seeing her worst nightmare come true, one of her kids stolen. Not only is it her best performance its one that is utterly transfixing."
#9 - PENELOPE CRUZ in VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA
"By the time we finally get to meet Juan Antonio’s ex-wife, described as insane and murderous by everyone in the film, there’s almost no way she can live up to our expectations. Penelope Cruz obliterates them."
#8 - DIANE WEIST in SYNEDOCHE NEW YORK
"Wiest imbues her dual roles with a sweetly stabilizing nature that delivers the protagonist from his torment and likewise relieves the audience from an intellectual exercise."
#7 - ANNE SAVAGE in MY WINNIPEG
"Ann Savage not only owns her role, but she owns the movie. One leaves wanting to see a film, where she is the central character."
#6 - MICHELLE WILLIAMS in WENDY AND LUCY
"As Wendy, a young drifter on the brink of financial ruin, Williams is both vulnerable and tough—and absolutely riveting."
#5 - KATE WINSLET in REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
"Winslet walks the fine line between shrew and shrewd flawlessly, making her displeased spouse both the subject of pity and scorn. While she will probably win her first Oscar for playing the sexually open war criminal in The Reader, this was the much braver performance."
#4 - MARISA TOMEI in THE WRESTLER
"Mickey Rourke’s heartbreaking return as The Ram in The Wrestler has been justly feted, but Marisa Tomei is equally poignant as his love interest, Cassidy. Tomei never lets us forget the stakes for her character, so we always understand exactly where she’s coming from."
#3 - MELISSA LEO in FROZEN RIVER
"This studious actress molds an anti-heroine that feels right at home in our fraught economic times. Leo speaks volumes in her silence, letting her face tell the story sans make-up, sans affectation; she knows her character, Ray.
#2 - ANNE HATHAWAY in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
"You can almost taste the acid seeping from Hathaway’s performance even as the first sarcastic line leaves her mouth. This is her moment."
#1 - SALLY HAWKINS in HAPPY GO LUCKY
"Hawkins brings multifaceted warmth to Poppy that encompasses an enormous range of emotions but deftly blends them all into an earnest optimism. She brings to Leigh’s working class milieu a breath of fresh air that brightens the darker corners of the film."
Interesting list!!!!
