My real
movie-watching comfort zone is largely pre-1960’s. I’m a product of that era - with a strong emotional attachment to it -
and I guess that’s the way I’ll always roll. Still, I do like to feel
reasonably plugged in to recent trends and try to see a broad range of new
releases – indies, foreign films, blockbusters, whatever. Yes, classic cinema
gave us plenty of superb performances. But no era’s got a monopoly on great
acting. The past decade, for instance, has teemed with quality work.
I tend to be actress-centric, so I thought I’d pick one category – supporting actress
– and spotlight a hundred sensational accomplishments from the past ten years
(2007-2016). A grateful shout-out to
every one of these performers. For the
world at large, it’s been a difficult decade. But each of these ladies has
shone her light – and made the darkness a little less dark.
100 Outstanding Performances
(arranged alphabetically within each year)
2007
Bhumika Chawla “Gandhi My Father”
Patricia Clarkson “Lars and the Real Girl”
Romola Garai “Atonement”
Jennifer Garner “Juno”
Allison Janney “Juno”
Amy Madigan “Gone Baby Gone”
Samantha Morton “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
Vanessa Redgrave “Atonement”
Amy Ryan “Gone Baby Gone”
Olivia Thirlby “Juno”
2008
Lizzie Caplan “Cloverfield”
Viola Davis “Doubt”
Sally Hawkins “Cassandra’s Dream”
Clare Higgins “Cassandra’s Dream”
Nursel Kose “The Edge of Heaven”
Jennifer Jason Leigh “Synecdoche, New York”
Samantha Morton “Synecdoche, New York”
Hannah Schygulla “The Edge of Heaven”
Tilda Swinton “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Debra Winger “Rachel Getting Married”
2009
Ellen Burstyn “The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond”
Mariah Carey “Precious”
Anna Chlomsky “In the Loop”
Vera Farmiga “Up in the Air”
Marcia Gay Harden “Whip It”
Jill Hennessy “Lymelife”
Mimi Kennedy “In the Loop”
Melanie Laurent “Inglourious Basterds”
Mo’Nique “Precious”
Alia Shawkat “Whip It”
2010
Amy Adams “The Fighter”
Marisa Berenson “I Am Love”
Helena Bonham Carter “Alice in Wonderland”
Geraldine Chaplin “The Wolfman”
Julia Deakin “Down Terrace”
Dale Dickie “Winter’s Bone”
Blake Lively “The Town”
Rooney Mara “The Social Network”
Anne Lise Phillips “Animal Kingdom”
Aubrey Plaza “Scott Pilgrim vs the World”
2011
Jessica Chastain “The Tree of Life”
Pauline Collins “Albert Brooks”
Marion Cotillard “Midnight in Paris”
Jill Eikenberry “Young Adult”
Anjelica Huston “50/50”
Janet McTeer “Albert Brooks”
Carey Mulligan “Drive”
Carey Mulligan “Shame”
Phyllis Smith “Bad Teacher”’
J. Smith-Cameron “Margaret”
2012
Elizabeth Banks “Pitch Perfect”
Samantha Barks “Les Miserables”
Nathalie Baye “Laurence Anyways”
Monia Chokri “Laurence Anyways”
Ann Dowd “Compliance”
Kay Epperson “Bernie”
Gina Gershon “Killer Joe”
Nealla Gordon “The Paperboy”
Nicole Kidman “The Paperboy”
Susan Sarandon “Arbitrage”
2013
Monica Calhoun “The Best Man Holiday”
Sabrina Ferilli “The Great Beauty”
Sally Hawkins “Blue Jasmine”
Scarlett Johansson “Don Jon”
Lupita Nyong’o “12 Years a Slave”
Supriya Pathak “Goliyon ke Rasleela Ram-Leela”
Rosie Perez “The Counselor”
Elisabeth Rohm “American Hustle”
Micaela Watkins “In a World”
Oprah Winfrey “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”
2014
Marion Bailey “Mr. Turner”
Adriana Barraza “Cake”
Polly Draper “Obvious Child”
Lindsay Duncan “Birdman”
Vera Farmiga “The Judge”
Gaby Hoffman “Obvious Child”
Agata Kulesza “Ida”
Lesley Manville “Mr. Turner”
Andrea Riseborough “Birdman”
Oprah Winfrey “Selma”
2015
Elizabeth Banks “Love and Mercy”
Priyanka Chopra “Bajirao Mastani”
Jane Fonda “Youth”
Melissa Leo “The Big Short”
Cynthia Nixon “James White”
Mickey O’Hagan “Tangerine”
Juno Temple “Black Mass”
Marisa Tomei “The Big Short”
Julie Walters “Brooklyn”
Kate Winslet “Steve Jobs”
2016
Nathalie Baye “It’s Only the End of the World”
Laura Dern “Certain Women”
Kate Dickie “The Witch”
Ann Dowd “Captain Fantastic”
Linda Emond “Indignation”
Janelle Monae “Moonlight”
Lea Seydoux “It’s Only the End of the World”
Sheridan Smith “The Huntsman: Winter War”
Charlize Theron “The Huntsman: Winter War”
Michelle Williams “Manchester By the Sea”
