NWI Awards: Best Actress

Watching great actresses on screen is often frustrating because of the glaring lack of good roles for women in mainstream movies. In a predominantly testosterone ran business though, that is regretfully the way it seems to be. Anyways here's some great female performances that defined 2008.

Best Actress

10) Michelle Williams, Incendiary

A classic case of good performance, bad movie. A kind of feminist tragedy skew terrorism paranoia. Whatever, Williams is much better then the movie itself.

9) Belen Rueda, The Orphanage

You think acting in a horror movie is easy? Hell no. In a role that could have been all over the top hysterics and OTT, she manages to create a genuine character that we can empathise with amidst all this craziness

8) Jessica Biel, Easy Virtue

The performance that proved most critics wrong in a single year must be this, in which Jessica Biel, yes she of Blade: Trinity, puts in the best performance in a film full of Brit mainstays.

7) Ellen Page, Juno

In Juno's second acting nomination from this blog, much to its bloggers dismay, Ellen Page's career-making performance is much better then it should have been and belongs in a movie slightly less kung powed by its own self-conciousness.

6) Angelina Jolie, Changeling

Not quite Oscar worthy in comparison to this year's competition, but from films released in the UK in 2008, her place is warranted. Ms Jolie adds a new dimension to the grieving relative thing she's had down since Mighty Heart.

5) Tannishtha Chatterjee, Brick Lane

In a fantastically introspective yet communicative performance, this is a great debut performance from an actress that in all probability I'll never see in a film again. And if that's not what's wrong about the British film industry..

4) Keira Knightley, The Duchess

Elizabeth Swann continues her campaign to be the next period go to gal in yet another terrific corseted performance. Its a shame she can't be this good in films set in the contemporary.

3) Nicole Kidman, Margot at the wedding

Yet another Grade A Kidman ice queen, with added intellectual snobbery courtesy of Director/writer Noah Baumbach.

2) Laura Linney, The Savages

Even though she has like I think 3 oscar nominations, one still feels that Linney is one of the more under-rated actresses. I don't know how I'm made to think that, but in fairness she is consistently awesome.

1) Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky

This could have quite easily been one of the most annoying characters of all time. But Hawkins is so likeable that one can actually feel one's cynicism disappearing as the film progresses. Few performances can say that they've done that.