The 100 Best Performances of the 2000's - 20-11

Now we're getting to the tricky end of the discussion. The part where people's opinions really come out to shine. Judging by the replies to the last entry there will be some disappointment and possible (god, I hope so) some SHOCK! HORROR! Hell, I think my number 20 is enough to encite a riot amongst some of y'all (how dare it be only number 20?) But, here we go... ooh, this is fun.



20. Julianne Moore as Cathy Whitaker in Far From Heaven (2002)

There will be more discussion about this particular performance when we get to #11, but for now the sole focus is on Juli. This isn't my favourite of her performances (that would be without a shadow of a doubt Safe) but gee I respect it something shocking! I remember me and my best friend had free periods at school and this movie only had one showing and it was on Wednesday (the day before all the new titles are released) and I really wanted to see it before it left Geelong (my city) so we went and saw it and I was SO happy. Seeing Julianne's performance was something of a shock as at that time I wasn't so Juliafied as I am now. It was like watching a new favourite bloom into being (of course, it was not actually the case). The way that Julianne explores this character is not only spectacular to watch, but wonderful to think about because she so completely becomes Cathy. I wonder what Douglas Sirk would have said?

19. Jamie Bell as Billy Elliot in Billy Elliot (2000)

Okay, I admit a weak spot for this performance. I simply adore the film and everything in it, but Jamie is just so freakin' adorable, isn't he? Instantly one of my favourite child performances (if you can call him a child still), Jamie - and Billy - just make me smile. Whether it's the scene in the boxing ring with his best friend, the big rousing moment where he stands up for himself, or (my personal fave moment) the goodbye kiss. It warms me inside and I can't get enough. Jamie, if you're reading this... let me know and we can hook up. We'd be hot together! ;)

18. Ziyi Zhang as Bai Ling in 2046 (2005)

I have an inkling that this is going to get the most "huh" responses out of people. Here's a story. I've been in L.O.V.E. with Ziyi since Crouching Tiger. She just missed the list for that particular performance. I love watching her, even in silly piffle like Rush Hour 2 (a bonafide guilty pleasure). So it's been 5 years or so since I saw Tiger and have been waiting patiently for THAT performance. The one that knocked me outta my seat and blew me completely away. This is it. It was going to be hard for any one person to emerge head and shoulders above everything in Wong Kar-Wai's visual feast, but Zhang does so. And that only strengthens the performance in my mind. Mesmerising is a very apt description. VERY apt.

17. Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Definitely the funnest performance in the list (giving numbers 26, 37, 49, 65 and the upcoming 16 a run for their money), Johnny Depp gives a performance that many would have ignored many years ago. Of course, he wouldn't have done this performance years ago, but I'm just saying that he's been ACTING for years. Some (aka, the Academy) acted as if he was this new-faced man who popped up overnight. Ugh. Anyway, what can I say about this performance? Hilarious, wild, eccentric and over-the-top. Yeah, they all fit. Oh, and brilliant. That's a good little descriptor.

16. Uma Thurman as Beatrix Kiddo (aka "The Bride, aka "Black Mamba") in Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2 (2003 - 2004)

Sigourney Weaver and Uma Thurman, battling it out for supremacy - Who would win? I don't know but I'd pay top dollar to find out. How exhilirating is this performance, spread across the two films. Juxtapose the two and the brilliance of Thurman's performance becomes even clearer. At once a femme fatale and damsel in distress, Uma's Beatrix Kiddo is everything a sword-wielding/revenge-getting/country-hopping master should be and more. "Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them with you. However, leave the limbs you've lost. They belong to me now." Whatever you say, Uma!

15. Kate Winslet as Clementine Krucyznski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

For a complete change of pace! How much do I love Kate? A helluva lot, that's how much! This is such a whacked out performance that I was confused after watching the movie. How did Kate do it? How can she excel at period-costumed women in corsets yet do a complete 180 and be even better as a loopy mind-erasing weirdo? Well, i don't know how she did it and I don't care as long as she keeps it up. aagh! She's amazing.

14. Björk as Selma Jezkova in Dancer in the Dark (2000)

There are probably a few things that are guaranteed to make me cry. Dancer in the Dark is one of them. A good percentage of that belongs to this Icelandic wonder. The intense raw emotion that she puts on display is astonishing. Some actors talk about how they like to work their characters from the inside out, well, I think Bjork let it all explode on the exterior. If you need any more proof just rewatch the final 20 minutes or so and I dare you to not be moved.

13. Gael García Bernal as Ángel and Juan and Zahara in Bad Education (2004)

Something about that film title makes me always wanna add a ! onto it. Bad Education! I...don't know. Onto Gael. When I originally saw this movie I loved it, and Gael too. However in the year since I saw it has grown on me, but Gael's performance even moreso. He would've been around #50, but everytime I think about it I feel like it deserves to be higher. Much higher. And so it is. The way Bernal buries deep into each of his characters is a wonder to watch. Whod've thought that one of the biggest up and coming actors would do THIS?! That he's surrounded by Almodovar goodness only amplifies it. What an actor he is, and what a performance.

12. Julie Walters as Mrs Wilkinson in Billy Elliot (2000)

Why doesn't Julie Walters work more on bigger stuff, other than tv movies and tiny-winy bit parts in Harry Potter films? I will never fathom why she wastes what she has. Maybe it's the "Julie is one of m favourite actresses" inside me talking but whenever she's on screen I can't get enough. I want Julie Walters on screen all the time. I'm not even going to go into Educating Rita... With Billy Elliot she got her best role (after Rita of course) and it's fun to imagine this as an older Rita who chose dancing instead of writing because they certainly share traits. it's what Julie does well. Sure, the performance may not be worthy of being this high but when I get a good dose of Julie I get enthusiastic. Possibly too enthusiastic for my own good, but whatever. This is MY list.

11. Diane Lane as Connie Sumner in Unfaithful (2000)

People may scratch their head at this one. Above Julianne, why never?! But it's true. And it has been since day one. From the very moment I saw this movie I gave it an A- grade and thought Diane was just perfection. I then read reviews and discovered that others also thought it was pretty great and that Lane was great too. All throughout that year's Oscar season I was gunning for Diane even though I knew it was an uphill battle especially when she had Nicole and Juli against her. And on Oscar night as most cinephiles were cheering for Juli I was quite opening cheering on Diane. I don't know what struck me about this performance. Was is it the out-in-the-open erotica of it all? The desperation? The zest with which Diane performed it. Yes, all those things I'm sure. But I have a suspicion it was also the simple brute force with which Diane grabbed this role and devoured it as if she herself depended on her being this good. I think she did need it, as it single-handedly rescued her career. And I couldn't think of a better way to do than with a performance this wonderful.

...to be continued with the final 10 best performances...

So, yes, next we move on to the Top 10! I'm sure it's all hilariously predictable (except for one particular performance that NOBODY will predict purely because not that many have even seen it unfortunately) but it's still super-fun, right? In the top 10 we have a bunch of lonely lass' and lads, plenty of drugs, sex and '80s rock & roll. But who will be number 1? We all know my affection for Nicole Kidman, but can she make it to number one? Will there be a surprise or will I be wonderfully cliched? How heavily will Australians figure? We shall find out in the next installments. Ciao!