Continuing with my Greatest of the 00′s series, I will now shift the attention to the great female performances of the decade. 6 out of these 10 portrayals (and most likely 7 once Mo’Nique gets her chance) went on to win Oscar gold. After a long debate, my number one performance ended up coming from the same person that I would consider as the greatest actress of the decade.
Check out my top 10 Greatest Female Performances after the jump…
10. Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose, 2007 (Won Best Lead Actress)
9. Helen Mirren as Quenn Elizabeth II in The Queen, 2006 (Won Best Lead Actress)
8. Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf in The Hours, 2002 (Won Best Lead Actress)
7. Halle Berry as Leticia Musgrove in Monster’s Ball, 2001 (Won Best Lead Actress)
6. Mo’Nique as Mary in Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire, 2009 (Heavy favorite to win Best Supporting Actress at this years Oscars)
5. Ellen Burstyn as Sara Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream, 2000 (Nominated for Best Lead Actress)
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4. Kate Winslet as April Wheeler in Revolutionary Road, 2008
Revolutionary Road – Let’s Go To Paris! – These bloopers are hilarious
3. Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius Beauvier in Doubt, 2008 (Nominated for Best Lead Actress)
2. Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos in Monster, 2003 (Won Best Lead Actress)
1. Kate Winslet as Hanna Schmitz in The Reader, 2008 (Won for Best Lead Actress)
Honorable Mention: Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly in Chicago, 2002 (Won Best Supporting Actress); Hillary Swank as Maggie Fitzgerald in Million Dollar Baby, 2004 (Won Best Lead Actress); Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, 2006 (Nominated for Best Lead Actress); Meryl Streep as Julia Child in Julie and Julia, 2009 (A favorite to be nominated and perhaps win Best Lead Actress at this years Oscars); Nicole Kidman as Satine in Moulin Rouge!, 2001 (Nominated for Best Lead Actress); Jennifer Connelly as Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind, 2001 (Won Best Supporting Actress); Cat Blanchett as Jude in I’m Not There, 2007 (Nominated for Best Supporting Actress); Julia Roberts as Erin Brokovich in Erin Brokovich, 2000 (Won Best Lead Actress); Diane Lane as Connie Sumner in Unfaithful, 2002 (Nominated for Best Lead Actress); Julianne Moore as Cathy Whitaker in Far From Heaven, 2002 (Nominated for Best Lead Actress); Meryl Streep as Susan Orlean in Adaptation, 2002 (Nominated for Best Supporting Actress); Kate Winslet as Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004 (Nominated for Best Lead Actress); Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator, 2004 (Won Best Supporting Actress).
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I totally agree with you…for once.
I might have switched #1 and #2, but who likes a nit-picker. Good list!
Here`s mine:
10. Hilary Swank – Million Dollar Baby
9. Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
8. Nicole Kidman – The Hours
7. Angelina Jolie – Changeling
6. Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada
5. Julia Roberts – Erin Brokovich
4. Helen Mirren – The Queen
3. Kate Winslet – The Reader
2. Halle Berry – Monsters Ball
1. Charlize Theron – Monster
These are all great choices as well! I struggled over Theron and Winslet for my number one spot.
My top 10 greatest female performances of the decade(listed by actress, character name & film title/year released date in parentheses):
10. Laura Linney, Wendy Savage(The Savages/2007)
9. Virgina Madsen, Maya(Sideways/2004)
8. Keisha Castle-Hughes, Paikea(Whale Rider/2002)
7. Ellen Page, Juno MacGuff(Juno/2007)
6. Julianne Moore, Cathy Whitaker(Far From Heaven/2002)
5. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Sherry Swanson(SherryBaby,2006)
4. Kate Winslet, Hanna Schmitz(The Reader/2008)
***3. Rinko Kikuchi, Chieko Wataya(Babel/2006)
2. Hilary Swank, Maggie Fitzgerald(Million Dollar Baby/2004)
1. Charlize Theron, Aileen Wuornos(Monster/2003)
Honorable mentions and my second ten: Kate Hudson, Penny Lane(Almost Famous/2000), Julie Christie, Fiona Anderson(Away From Her/2006), Naomi Watts, Cristina Peck(21 Grams/2003), Marion Cotillard, Edith Piaf(La Vie En Rose/2007), Ellen Burstyn, Sara Goldfarb(Requiem for a Dream/2000), Laura Linney, Samantha “Sammy” Prescott(You Can Count on Me/2000), Joan Allen, Laine Hanson(The Contender/2000), Kate Winslet, April Wheeler(Revolutionary Road/2008), Samantha Morton, Sarah Sullivan(In America/2002), Patricia Clarkson, Joy Burns(Pieces of April/2003)
***Kikuchi losing out to Jennifer Hudson(DREAMGIRLS) for the Best Supporting Actress of 2006 still sticks out like a sore thumb, for me, personally. Guess it’s because she is Asian and I’m Asian, too, so I wanted to see a fellow Asian win an Oscar for a change. How many Asians can you name that have won an Oscar? And actors or actresses playing Asian characters don’t count either, as Linda Hunt did in her Oscar winning performance for Best Supporting Actress in 1982′s THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY. Only a few come to mind. Most recently, DEPARTURES(2008) won the Best Foreign Language Film award at last year’s Oscars. Before that, Ang Lee won Best Director for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN(2005). And before that, Haing S. Ngor won Best Supporting Actor way back in 1985 for 1984′s THE KILLING FIELDS. Anyhow, I didn’t mean to get all political. Just venting some frustrations, that’s all. LOL! But seriously, Rinko Kikuchi gave an absolutely devastating & heartbreaking performance as an angry, deaf-mute Japanese teenage girl yearning for love in BABEL. No performance in recent years has moved me more so that is why I am putting her so high on my list.
Oh, I forgot to add that the producers of DEPARTURES are Asians(Japanese)…duh!
God bless the Asians!
You must like my predictions for Foreign Language film then… 2 out of 5 are from Asian countries.
Kikuchi was fantastic in Babel, possibly the best part of the entire film. Hudson won the Oscar cause she sang a song really well. Sad isn’t it?
God bless you Mark for your predictions! Hopefully, one of them will win:) As for Jennifer Hudson, you hit it right on the button! If there was an Oscar for singing, she would have deserved to win it. Granted, her one musical number was a powerhouse performance, but her dramatic scenes in the film when she wasn’t singing didn’t impress me at all. Maybe that’s why her next movie role after DREAMGIRLS was a bit part in the SEX AND THE CITY movie!
[...] If you have missed any of my previous lists, you can check out my top ten Characters, Female Performances and Male Performances of the [...]
[...] of my prior top 10 lists of the decade, feel free to check out my Characters, Male Performances, Female Performances and Quotes [...]
[...] of my prior Top 10 lists of the decade, feel free to check out my Characters, Male Performances, Female Performances, Quotes and Songs [...]