The Top Performances of 2011

When I first started to compile this list I was a bit surprised that my entire top 10 consisted of women. As I began to add a few more movies to my year's repertoire this list remained. There was much more to it than the simple fact that the actresses were giving the best acting of the year...the roles they were dominating with had underlying themes of the role of a woman. In Albert Nobbs, Glenn Close and Janet Mcteer explore what it means to be a woman portraying a man in a man's world...or is it a man in a woman's body (more on that later!). We also have Michelle Williams using sexuality to her advantage as Marilyn....wait...no, she's playing Marilyn who did that...all while trying to be taken seriously as an actress....wow...it's those blurred lines that make this such a remarkable performance. And of course there is Lisbeth Salander...the woman "hated by men" as Larson almost referred to her before making her the girl with the dragon tattoo. She does kick ass...but she is also a delicate woman at times...one who, as she gets closer to both women/men she puts up a thicker wall. A few men did sneak in...most notably Michael Fassbender...and some ALMOST did...like Jonah Hill for Moneyball...but the big names in male performances (Clooney, Pitt, Dujardin) didn't even come close for me. I think Clooney has several incredible moments...and perhaps if I saw the film again (it was back in October after all) it might sneak farther up...and it is great to see Pitt in a different type of role...and Dujardin...I know I'm in the minority, but I feel like what God gave him physically had more to do with his great performance than his acting chops. So...here they are. My top 10 performance of 2011. It fest odd to number them..but yes, they are in order.

Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer in "The Help"
I can't remember if last year ranked my top performances of the year or not. Sure I could give it a look, but if you're reading this on December 31, 2011, you know that I haven't yet posted my Top 10...and there just isn't enough time. Whether or not that's the case or not, it's rare that supporting performance stands out like the leading performances. But one actress had the year, of years. And it was not Meryl or Glenn...it was Jessica Chastain. When I first made this list I had decided to give this first place award only to Chastain, but when I rewatched "The Help" in preparing my Top 10 list, I realized I was wrong. It is also Octavia Spencer who deserves this spot. There is much talk about Viola Davis, but to me, it's the relationship between these two women that best encompasses the message/story of the movie. And there scenes together are wonderful Three scenes blew me away (one of which will make my top 10 list of scenes) but it's the very first when Celia hires Minny...that initially struck me. A fallen belle trying SO hard to "forget." The Southern Way.

Elizabeth Olsen in "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
And then there is Elisabeth Olsen in “Martha Marcy May Marlene.” A performance like this is very difficult to analyze because it is almost always the same descriptive. “Lost in the role.” “Doesn’t seem to be acting.” But the difference here is that I don’t know Olsen’s work. I have never seen her act… never seen her in an interview. All I know is this portrayal. I heard another Oscar pundit say they needed to see more of her work to take her seriously. And sadly this might be the way the Academy thinks as well. But I’m sorry… it’s not the Best Performance by an Actress (that has been seen in many roles therefore we all know what she can and will do) in a Leading Role. Right? This is an individual portrayal. I saw a remarkably sad covering of pain, hidden by a blanket of groupthink insanity. Eventually (although quite delayed…in a way I found brilliantly deliberate while others found slow) the covers come off in an amazing party scene beginning with a tightly wound Olsen in conversation with a bartender, erupting…and ending with Olsen unraveling… exploding… revealing what damage has really been done to her. And it all seems so incredibly real. Realism… I think that is where the Academy seems to shy away. I think they really like to see a transformation. From star to _________. They need an Oscar story. And being the long lost Olsen sister isn’t enough.

Michael Fassbender/Carey Mulligan in "Shame"
This is not just Michael Fassbender's movie. Although I loved her in "An Education," this is my favorite performances she has given. It is a (to steal from my contributor Rick Hamilton) performance that hearkens the likes of Sally Bowles (and just like a later pair I will cite)...and perfectly matches...or contrasts her brother, played...yes, brilliantly...by Michael Fassbender. These are two very damaged characters. We don't need to know what their parents did to them or much of their previous life because it is clear they do. And we are thrown into the height of their misery. For Fassbender, it is the whole film...for Mulligan it is that scene where she sings New York, New York that haunts the most. It breaks him down...and us.

Kirsten Dunst in "Melancholia"

I have never seen depression portrayed this way before. I have unfortunately seen depression, first hand, as I’m sure many of you have. Not always a pretty thing to talk about…a bit of a faux pas… but here goes! I have been the person struggling to keep my depressed lover’s exterior at its best when said lover is in actuality falling deeper and deeper. Luckily not at (but getting close to) a wedding. What I saw in Dunst was what I have not seen before… not on film. I was enamored watching her smile through the mud of her sadness. And then as Melancholia comes closer to Earth (so much metaphor!!!) we see the most private of moments: a person seeking an end to her life, realizing it is actually going to happen, achieving a surreal elation right before the end.

Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"
We are unable to take our eyes off Williams as Marilyn Monroe. Even in her darkest moments the pain I felt for her was because I had, somehow, fallen in love with her. Just like Colin (who is having the week with Marilyn) does. Just like all the people before me did. It’s not about Marilyn-isms. Michelle’s Marilyn is present. The way I’m sure Marilyn was. So present that it became a fault. A young actor trying to understand the method, falling into the trap of complete spontaneity in all aspects of life instead of saving it for the stage/screen. Which can lead to utter sadness, elation, but often brilliance. But Michelle Williams is brilliant because she is not just playing Marilyn. She is playing Norma Jean, playing Marilyn, playing MARILYN! Williams, in the blonde hair, pale makeup and red lips is so unbelievably real. She shows us the method by using it. Williams’s Marilyn is not trying to out act Olivier, as he fears, but simply trying to be a better actress when the world only sees her as a star.

Rooney Mara in ""The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Re-reading my review of "Dragon Tattoo" and also others, I realized I didn't really go into much detail about why Rooney Mara is so incredible as Salander. I think that's because what we see on the screen IS Lisbeth...so I can almost only talk about the strengths of the character. But I did say this:
Forget about the nipple piercing, and the eyebrow piercing...the funky hair and make up. Look at her eyes. She is at times fierce yet frightened. She is partly androgynous in moments...then in a turn incredibly feminine, even doll like. When she first meets Blomkvist she appears like a victimized animal...one who might have been sweet and cuddly at one time, open to affection...but after too many beatings simply can't show love...because the guard will be lowered and she will be vulnerable to another attack. And not all attacks are violent, or what they appear to be. At the end of the film, after all that she has been through, it's something very small that causes her guard to be raised yet again. A rejection or sorts.

Asa Butterfield in "Hugo"
When "Hugo" was initially screened I heard a bit of negative buzz from various bloggers who seemed to be wanting to hate something about the film. And most of the badness was all about Asa Butterfield. I could not disagree more. And I think most of the critics and audiences found him wonderful or they wouldn't have continued to flock to the cinema. Maybe he is Martin Scorsese embodied in a young child. Or maybe he is all of us film lovers. All I know is that when he experienced pain, I felt it. And more importantly: his love for film and for his father...and the completion of his father's (and Meiles's) invention was a love I completely understood.

Glenn Close and Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"

These are performances that, for me, are yin and yang. I did not hate Albert Nobbs...and, you know what, neither did the critics. And, I still think Oscar will give it to Close if they choose to nominate her. Albert is such an incredible character she has created. One might want to see "more." But Albert simply isn't "there" yet. We are seeing the beginnings of chippings on a very, very thick wall. Albert doesn't know who he is...and is so confused by what society demands, that he can't quite go deep enough emotionally with anyone. It's not that Close isn't going deep...she is. And it is remarkable. Yet another incredible performance by an actress this year. Janet McTeer is also quite wonderful, but to say she is the more interesting character is so strange to me. The two together make the performances work.

Luisa Pardos in "Artificial Paradises"
Luisa Pardos plays the heroin addict with such a level of honesty that (and I know you hear this often from me) is so rare, it almost feels inappropriate to listen in on her conversations with her new friend, the local, Salomon (played by Salomon Hernandez.) The scenes in which she is on and trying to get off heroin are like nothing I have ever seen depicted in film. There is no wide eyed, trippy, “I’m HIGH!”-ness from Luisa. She is an addict who is so far in that she doesn’t come close to enjoying it anymore, it’s simply a necessity…a way of life. When she tries to quit, there is no thrashing or screaming (although there is a bit of sweating!), just truth.

Zoe Lister Jones and Sam Rosen in "Stuck Between Stations"
"Before Sunset" is more than likely in my top 10 films of all time. This year at the Tribeca Film Festival the film that stayed with me the longest was a film in the same fashion (although not at all improv'd...) “Stuck Between Stations.” It tells the story of Casper, an American soldier in Afghanistan who is on a very temporary leave to settle Dad’s affairs after his death. For Casper, the title says it all. He can’t even bring himself to go into his childhood home, staying in a tent in the backyard, almost as if he is leaving a foot connected to his job, unwilling, or perhaps afraid to fully immerse himself in his past. The film begins after he is already home, at a local bar. There he spies a woman who seems a bit out of place herself with a group of “friends.” Casper realizes this woman is his childhood sweetheart, Rebecca, played by Zoe Lister Jones. They end up on a night long journey...an idea may be old hat, but the intimacy is remarkable, especially in the final scenes between the two as they reach the inevitable.

"Stuck Between Stations" Movie Trailer from Stuck Between Stations on Vimeo.

Honorable mention
Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
George Clooney in "The Descendants"
Martha Plimpton in "Raising Hope"
The cast of "Super 8"
Marisa Tomei in "Crazy Stupid Love"
Naya Rivera in "Glee"
Madeline Stowe in "Revenge"
Tilda Swinton in "We Need to Talk About Kevin