2000 Best Actor: Christan Bale’s wacko cuckoo in American Psycho was both creepy and quite hilarious.
2000 Best Actress: I’ll get back to you on this one.

2001 Best Actor: Yes, Hackman was amusing in The Royal Tennenbaums, but I can’t stress enough how much I hate that film (I’m a broken record, aren’t I?). Guy Pearce in Memento, on the other hand was almost too painful for me. I don’t think people appreciate the difficulty of having to play a character that cannot have an arc. The fact that he could remain consistent in that role was impressive in its own right, but his steely gaze and determination made Leonard Shelby a memorable and iconic character. Now if only Pearce can go back to understated performances like this instead of the insufferable histrionics and mugging he did in Lawless.
2001 Best Actress: Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive. Say what you will about the film, and Lynch in general. The thing about Mulholland Drive is that the key to liking, or even semi-understanding the film lies with Watts. In the first half, I can understand not liking her performance as the Pollyena-like Betty. But once the second half rolls around, and we realize that “Betty” was just a dream. Watts as Diane makes it all worthwhile. Her bitter disconnect and cynical view makes us understand why she wanted to be perfect.

2002 Best Actor: I guess I’ll say Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me if You Can. Outside of me liking that film A LOT more than most people, he was just so much fun in the movie. That, and he nailed the emotional scenes involving Walken very well.
2002 Best Actress: Believe it or not, I genuinely love Jennifer Aniston in The Good Girl. I admit, I identified with her character’s depression more than anyone else I know. I’ll let her subsequent flurry of shit rom-coms slide, because this was a surprisingly moving and accurate look at depression and guilt.

2003 Best Actor: I’m afraid to say it. Those who haven’t stopped reading this post after Aniston surely will now. All right, brace yourself… Hayden Christensen in Shattered Glass. I’ll leave out the element of surprise some people had when the realized he could act and focus on how he played the character. Stephen Glass even in the end is an enigma. At the same time, all we see is lies and deceit. Christensen deliberately playing the “aw shucks” card all the time made me hate his character even more. I admit, I have a weakness for con-men performances, but what really clinched this one is when he (intentionally) made himself look pathetic and come up with that detestable “Are you mad at me?”. I’ll just pretend the Star Wars prequels (or really, anything else in his career) don’t exist.
2003 Best Actress: Evan Rachel Wood in thirteen played what every parent fears the most: rebellion. While at first I had some trouble believing a thirteen-year-old was capable of this sort of behavior, I took a look at the kids in my town and realized “That was pretty realistic”

2004 Best Actor: How the hell Jim Carrey got snubbed for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I will never, ever know. Ignore his over-the-top comedies from the nineties, THIS was real acting. I always get teary-eyed with his “I wish that I stayed” speech.
2004 Best Actress: Uma Thurman in Kill Bill Vol. 2 was the emotional half to her badass seen in Vol. 1. Great chemistry with Carradine (who should have been nominated too!) and great scenes at the end with her kid.

2005 Best Actor: Jeff Daniels in The Squid and the Whale may have played one of the least likable characters I’ve ever seen. Bernard Berkman is an untraditional sort of villain. He’s not obviously against his sons, but he has no trouble manipulating them just to get petty revenge against his ex-wife. His callous and shameful behavior, for some reason, is completely watchable while being appalling at the same time.
2005 Best Actress: Michelle Monaghan in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang did something that on paper is impossible. How can an actress fix a flaw in the screenplay without editing it herself? By being utterly charming and sympathetic. Yes, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang could have fell into a MAJOR pitfall with the characterization of Harmony. Monaghan supersedes the inheritably sexist depiction of her character as a shallow love interest and floozy in every way. She took a huge flaw in the film and fixed it. That, to me, is impressive.

2006 Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed. Yeah, I don’t get why Warner Bros. tried the last minute push for Supporting, because this was a much better performance than his miscast role in Blood Diamond (yikes, that accent). I always found Billy Costigan to be the backbone to Scorsese’s wonderful thriller. There are some scenes I don’t think DiCaprio will ever top in his career in this film. His subtly anxious behavior around the bombastic Frank Costello. His heartbroken face when the only friend he had in Madolyn turns him away. His final confrontation with Sullivan. I really wish that the Academy didn’t screw this one up so royally.
2006 Best Actress: Hey, remember that sexist characterization I talked about with Monaghan? Well, Maggie Gyllenhaal had the same problem in Sherrybaby. But instead of making her character one way, she portrays her as a very human and flawed person. A lot of the things she did were her fault, but I do think she wanted to change. Certainly one of her crowning moments as an actress.

2007 Best Actor: I know Casey Affleck was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but he really wasn’t and everyone knew it. Saying he’s a supporting role in a film that he co-anchors with Brad Pitt is insulting to him, saying he isn’t “important” enough to be considered a leading man, and insulting to his co-stars like Sam Rockwell, who never had a chance to be nominated because of this fraud. Regardless, Affleck gave the best performance of the decade. Yeah, I know Daniel Day-Lewis was great and all, but even Daniel Plainview wasn’t as complex or rich of character as Robert Ford. Creating such a flawed and human character, as well as making us sympathize with him despite his shortcomings isn’t something to ignore. Besides that, can anyone say with a straight face they were expecting such an expressive face from Affleck?
2007 Best Actress: Tang Wei in Lust, Caution. A lot of things prevented Wei from a nomination. There was no way in hell the Academy was going to nominate an Asian actress in an Asian film. They certainly weren’t going to nominate such a new face in an NC-17 film. Regardless, it was a hell of performance. Wei has to go through many changes throughout the movie and does so perfectly. Her transformation from a naïve young woman to an emotionally conflicted and disturbed spy is compelling, as is her ability to convincingly keep up the espionage act.

2008 Best Actor: In Bruges is a film that has seemed to have grown in stature since its release, and so has Brenden Gleeson’s heartbreaking performance. His humorous interactions with Ferrell were one thing, but DAMN, I was not expecting to feel for his character so much. His expressions are some of the best acting I’ve seen.
2008 Best Actress: I… uh. I haven’t seen many “snubbys” for this year. I’ll get back to you.

2009 Best Actor: I admit, this one took a few viewings of the film before I could fully see the brilliance, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer is a more complex performance than I originally gave it credit for. At first glance, he portrays Ben as an everyday guy going through heartbreak. When I saw it again, I realized he went through more of an arc about realizing how selfish and naïve he was. Sort of like Ben by the end, when I revisited it I had to say “Why didn’t I see this before?”
2009 Best Actress: Let’s be honest. 2009 sucked for Lead women. With the exceptions of Mulligan and Sidibe, the nominees weren’t that great. Bullock is one of the worst Oscar winners ever, Mirren shamelessly hammed it up, and Streep… actually she was alright. Not “great” Streep, but certainly entertaining. I guess if you considered her lead, I’d say Melanie Laurent in Inglourious Basterds, but that’s a big if.

2010 Best Actor: Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine. I don’t know why they would nominate Williams and not him, considering the symbiotic nature of their performances, but whatever. I liked his portrayal of a very flawed father and husband quite a bit. I also find it appalling when any critic takes sides with either character, ignoring the faults with one and focusing on the faults of the other. Both Gosling and Williams had flawed characters that they played, and they played them in a very realistic and human light.
2010 Best Actress: I am no fan of Annette Bening. I never have, and maybe never will be. Her performance in The Kids are All Right was shrill and sometimes over-the-top with a lot of “look at me, I’m acting a lot, Oscar please!” scenes. Julianne Moore on the other hand, was great in that movie. She had a more complex and nuanced character that she played perfectly. Unfortunately, the third act sort of pushes her to the back seat, while simultaneously using Mark Ruffalo as a punching bag. Not a great movie, but yes, Moore was deserving.

2011 Best Actor: Michael Fassbender had a very tricky role in Shame. Not just the sex, but his character is a cipher, and really Brandon didn’t have a proper arc. Still, that really wasn’t the point of Shame anyway, but it can be difficult for an actor to find their character in such a place. Somehow, despite this, Fassbender not only managed to connect to the audience but make us truly sympathize with his plight.
2011 Best Actress: Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene was a great revelation. Her increasingly paranoid performance sang, even though her film was very, very flawed. Unfortunately, it seems that like me, the Academy didn’t like the movie very much. At least I can separate the performance from the film.

Best Actor: Benicio del Toro “Che”
Runners-up: Mickey Rourke “The Wrestler”, Colin Farrell “In Bruges”, Frank Langella “Frost/Nixon”, Joaquin Phoenix “Two Lovers”