Top 10 (or depending how you look at it 11) Greatest Best Actress winning performances.

Just what it sounds like again. If you disagree with my choices here (or on any of my lists like this) then A. suck my balls, B. make your own list, C. post your opinion on the comments section. But anyway, here we go. Keep in mind that I have not seen all of the best Actress winning performances so if you feel I've left it out, I've probably not seen it.

#10. Ingrid Bergman-Paula Alquist-Anton-Gaslight-1944 For those of you familiar with Ingrid Bergman, you know that she is a fantastic actress. with 3 Oscar wins you kinda have to be. I feel that this is the best role that I have seen her in so far. she did absolutely amazing. I always like to see characters who have a slow descent into madness. Or does she? Is she going mad? You just have to watch the movie to find out but she does amazing. I would highly suggest this movie just because of her performance.

#9. Hilary Swank-Maggie Fitzgerald-Million Dollar Baby-2004 Now, I'm not incredibly familiar with Hilary Swank's other performances but I can still tell you that she did an amazing job here. She had great chemistry with Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. I liked her happy determination and how it clashed with Eastwood's cynical realism (if that's the right term). She did amazing and certainly deserved her second Oscar for this one (Haven't seen her first so I can't say about that).

#8. Natalie Portman-Nina Sayers-Black Swan-2010 Now, with my #11 pick you aren't quite sure whether or not her character is going nuts. Here there is not a single doubt. That's why you shouldn't do drugs kids. It all started there. The stress and paranoia didn't help much either. I was going to do this list before the Oscars and Portman would have been on here then. Then I remembered that if I did put her on then she would have lost because that's the way it works. So, I waited until after the Oscars and she won so here she is. Man, she has moved past Star Wars. Good. If you have yet to see Black Swan, go see it. It was my favorite of the year until I saw The King's Speech (and even then it's close). BTW, why on earth didn't Mila Kunis get a nom!? She deserved one I can tell you that.

#7.  Katharine Hepburn-Ethel Thayer-On Golden Pond-1981 Katharine Hepburn always does amazing. She does especially well in her 4th Best Actress win. I particularly lover her screen chemistry with Henry Fonda (who also won for this movie). This is another underrated gem. See this film if for no other reason than her performance (and Fonda's).

#6.  Frances McDormand-Marge Olmstead-Gunderson-Fargo-1996 She was great to watch. she was the highlight of Fargo. Easily. I don't care if you think her accent was stupid. No one is ever satisfied with an accent unless the actor is from the area. I enjoyed her performance and I think that Fargo should have won best Picture. McDormand was the highlight. She rocked.

#5. Kathy Bates-Annie Wilkes-Misery-1990 Misery would be a mediocre film if it weren't for one thing: Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes. Wow...she seemed like a nice #1 fan type of lonely girl at first but...uh...she was cuckoo. That hobbling scene, Well, let me put it this way: I watched the entire amputation scene of 127 hours without flinching too much. I could handle all 7 Saw movies and everything that they threw at me (Granted the Saw movies, the sequels in particular, were stupid as were the over-the-top traps. Except for the needle pit. That made me cringe.) I still cringe just thinking about the hobbling scene. As does everyone else. It was absolutely brutal. Misery would have failed without Kathy Bates. She did amazing.

 #4. Louise Fletcher-Nurse Mildred Ratched-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest-1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is my #3 favorite film of all time. Pretty much for the performances. Seeing Ratched and McMurphy fight for control, her to keep it him to usurp it, was awesome. The whole movie had excellent performances but her and Nicholson were the best. She looked so much like a normal nurse but she was so...EVIL. there is no other descriptor other than EVIL for her character. She did an amazing job. She deserves to be on any top 10 list.

#3. Jodie Foster-Clarice Starling-The Silence of the Lambs-1991 Anyone who has seen The Silence of the Lambs knows that it is all about Hannibal Lecter. He has 16 minutes of screen time and he is the most dominant thing about the whole 2 hour film. But, Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling...man, she did fantastic. I absolutely loved her performance. She had to carry the whole movie and she did it incredibly well. Her and Hopkins are why this movie is at my #2 spot on my top 10 list. Great performances.

 #2. Vivien Leigh-Scarlett O'Hara-Gone With the Wind-1939 Often considered one of the best performances of all time. I believe it. she did an amazing job in this film. I hated her by the end as did everyone who has seen this movie but I loved watching her (but I do need to re-watch it). Great movie. Excellent performance.





























#1.  Vivien Leigh-Blanche DuBois-A Streetcar Named Desire-1951
Katharine Hepburn-Eleanore of Aquitaine-The Lion on Winter-1968

I just couldn't do it. I tried to pick one over the other but I just couldn't. I thought long and hard about who to chose over the other but I decided that since it is my blog I can most certainly have a tie. So, I tied the two. The interesting part is that when Katharine Hepburn won for The Lion in Winter, she tied with Barbara Streisand for Funny Girl. Interesting yes?


I was talking with my mother the other day and she said something to the effect of "Vivien Leigh was great in Gone with the Wind, but the mark of a solid actress is the ability to knock Blanche DuBois out of the park." well, Leigh certainly did that. She was amazing. I guess I'm just a sucker for performances where the character is slowly getting more and more insane. It was an intense and flawlessly done performance...it was an intense and flawlessly done movie.


The Lion in Winter...you need to see this film if you have not. It was utterly amazing (Somehow Oliver! beat it....how do you swing that?) the entire cast had their performances of a lifetime (except for Anthony Hopkins who went on to do The Silence of the Lambs) You had Peter O' Toole as you have NEVER seen him (it beats out his Lawrence of Arabia performance) Timothy Dalton, and of course, Katharine Hepburn. This is my favorite role of hers. I kinda wish that she had been the only one to have taken the award that night. I also wish Peter O' Toole had taken Best Actor that night too. All of the performances were amazing. See this movie.










































As a final note, I have a random question to ask all of you,