Top 10 Performances on Netflix by this Year's Oscar Contenders

Well it's that time of year again.  The time when we collectively decide that actors aren't compensated enough already and begin throwing gold statues at them like we have extra gold to give away.  Every year the discussions go back and forth about how meaningful/less these ceremonies are until it is decided that it's at least a little fun to watch the Weinstein brothers nervously eat themselves further into the grave.  Whatever your opinion of the show is, there is no doubt that those nominated have some acting chops.  And so here are the top 10 performances by this year's crop of talent.

10. Cate Blanchett- Best Actress in a Leading Role- The Talented Mr. Ripley

Cate Blanchett is a chameleon.  She's Meryl Streep in training.  And while her CV may not be as deep as The Lady Streep's yet, she is well on her way.  In The Talented Mr. Ripley, Blanchett plays the minor role of Meredith Logue, a 1950's version of a spoiled brat.  She is the daughter of a textile magnate, and like many rich kids, appreciates very little.  Look no further than her claim that "The truth is, if you've had money your entire life, even if you despise it, which we do -- agreed? -- you're only truly comfortable around other people who have it and despise it" for a peek into her misguided worldview.  Still, she plays a pivotal if limited role in bringing Mr. Ripley to his knees.

9. Judi Dench- Best Actress in a Leading Role- Skyfall

Judi Dench is currently the best M. of any James Bond iteration.  And she's got some steep competition.    John Huston, Robert Brown, Edward Fox, and David Niven have all given M. a run, but Dench does it best.  It takes a powerful woman to play boss to James Bond, and Dench matches Daniel Craig's bond stroke for stroke.  Skyfall offers up M. at her very best.  Unwielding, courageous, intelligent, tragic.

8. Jared Leto- Best Actor in a Supporting Role- American Psycho

Before Jared Leto went off the rails and then came back again, he was a part of this wonderful cult classic.  Leto plays Paul Allen, a young yuppie with a penchant for outdoing his competition.  Unfortunately for him, Patrick Bateman is his competition.  A pity how his story ends, but he just had to get his cards watermarked, didn't he?  A little goddamn humility can go a long way, Paul.  Hope you like Huey Lewis and The News.

7. Sally Hawkins- Best Actress in a Supporting Role- Happy-Go-Lucky

I would urge anybody who has yet to experience Sally Hawkins to move this to the top of their Netflix List.  She is Britain's answer to Kristen Wiig, and if I may be so bold, a far superior choice.  She is at her absolute charming best in Happy-Go-Lucky, playing Poppy, an early 30's teacher bouncing through life aimlessly.  Not an overly unique tale, it's her performance that brings the film to life.  At once hilarious and touching, Hawkins gives us a reason to love Poppy.  Now if she could just learn to drive.

6. Bruce Dern- Best Actor in a Leading Role- The Great Gatsby

Neither film version of The Great Gatsby is very good.  A lot of films get labeled "unfilmable" but I think with this one the proof is in the pudding.  But contrived as it may be, at least the 1974 version of the classic novel didn't have Jay-Z.  Dern is by far the best thing about The Great Gatsby, and for that matter just about every film he has ever been in.  He's a sweet old man now, but there was a time when he was the go-to guy for psychopaths, and that is exactly what he plays here.  Coming from old money and with more than a small streak of violence in him, Dern plays Tom Buchanan.  His temper simmers just far enough below the surface that when he lets loose it is truly a thing of beauty.  If you haven't seen it, google "Bruce Dern whore" and read his interview with the Hollywood Reporter.  Pure gold.

5. Judi Dench- Best Actress in a Leading Role- Shakespeare in Love

That's right it's Judi Dench again.  And this time she is, quite literally, a queen.  Here Dench plays Queen Elizabeth in spectacular, show-stopping fashion.  Her whopping 8 minutes of screen time won her a well-deserved Oscar in a film that undeservingly also picked itself up a gong for Best Picture.  In a cast that includes Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson, Gwenyth Paltrow, Imelda Staunton, and Colin Firth, Dench once again reigns supreme.  

4. Jennifer Lawrence- Best Actress in a Supporting Role- The Hunger Games

It was almost impossible for Jennifer Lawrence to live up to the expectations surrounding The Hunger Games.  But she did.  And not just met them, but exceeded by a good margin.  Lawrence plays the film's hero, Katniss Everdeen- a strong young woman who fights for her life in a cruel game perpetrated by a cruel empire in a dystopian future.  She brings strength and tenderness to a role that, in lesser hands, could have turned into mere fluff.  The story is good, but Lawrence's performance is the reason to watch The Hunger Games.

3. Christian Bale- Best Actor in a Leading Role- American Psycho

As great as Jared Leto is, American Psycho is Bale's show.  It is also the first time audiences got to experience the full force of what this young man had to offer.  Bale plays Patrick Bateman, a yuppie amongst yuppies.  Everything about him screams "first class douche" in the most obsessive compulsive way possible.  And, oh yeah, he also moonlights as a psychotic killer.  Everything about this performance is perfect from Bateman's love of Phil Collins, to the gleeful delight he takes in dismembering hookers.  It's a modern classic and a beautiful, if twisted tale.

2. Meryl Streep- Best Actress in a Leading Role- Manhattan

I have said before that I believe Manhattan is the best romantic comedy of all-time.  And I stand by that statement.  Every element of the story is necessary without any elements being superfluous.  Woody Allen really achieved a remarkable film through the creation of remarkable characters.  Streep's role here isn't large.  In fact she has a very limited amount of time on screen, but she uses it.  She plays the ex-wife of our protagonist (played by who else, Woody Allen) who has come out and started a romantic relationship with a woman since their split.  And she is a bitch.  But her bitchiness never feels unjustified.  We keep asking ourselves "What the hell did you do to this woman, Woody?".  It's no surprise that Streep pulls it off, but it's nice to see her in a film before she was "MERYL STREEP".

1. Leonardo Dicaprio- Best Actor in a Leading Role- What's Eating Gilbert Grape

This is Leonardo Dicaprio's greatest role.  Before he was Jack, before he was Scorsese's rat, before he took down Wall Street, he was Arnie Grape, the mentally retarded brother of Johnny Depp's title character.  Dicaprio garnered his first Osar nomination for his beautiful and heart-breaking portrayal of a young boy surrounded by dysfunction beyond his ability to grasp.  Leo has deserved his trophy for years now and I personally think he should have gotten it his first time out.

So there they are.  Now grab a blanket and a some junk food and study up.  The big show is just around the corner.