2011 Movie Achievement Awards including the best performances of the year

Welcome to my second annual Movie Achievement Awards. Last year I handed out praise in several categories. They were definitely not your usual categories like Best Actor or Best Cinematography. There were awards like Most Jaw-Dropping Ending and Best Achievement by Siblings. This year won't have the exact same award titles, but they'll be just as unusual. However, exactly like last year I'll begin by naming the best acting performances of the year. Below I have picked the 15 best performances followed by eight specific achievement categories. Without further ado, here are the 2011 Movie Achievement Awards. 

Best Performances of the Year

15. Berenice Bejo in The Artist

Her silent partner can be found higher on the list, but her graceful and playful performance as rising star Peppy Miller, is eternally important to the film's overall quality. And she's equally important to the film's phenomenal, climactic scene.

14. Peyman Maadi in A Separation

Maadi plays Nader who, for the most part, is an honorable and honest man. His life revolves around his 11-year-old daughter and his sick father. His wife wants to leave Iran, but he can't leave his father. He explains this in a simple and powerful statement. His wife comments that since his father has Alzheimer's it makes no difference who takes care of him because he doesn't know Nader is his son. Nader's response is "I still know he's my father."

13. Christopher Plummer in Beginners

After his wife passes away, Hal, who is close to 80 years old, comes out of the closet. Plummer, himself, is 82 and with this performance, and his turn as Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station a couple years ago, he's as good as he's ever been and in prime position to nab his first Oscar.

12. Brendan Gleeson in The Guard

Few actors pull off the gruff, no nonsense man's man better than Gleeson. He plays Sergeant Gerry Boyle, a police officer in Ireland, who follows his own rules yet still follows an unspoken ethical and honorable code. His interactions with FBI Agent Don Cheadle are flawless and comfortable even when they're not getting along.

11. Viola Davis in The Help

One of the most effortless looking actors around. I, honestly, never see Viola Davis on screen. She's as good as anybody at fully embodying a character and it looks as if that Best Actress award is hers to lose this year.

10. Ryan Gosling in The Ides of March

One of my favorite actors around. With George Clooney, Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti, the cast is loaded, but Gosling easily stands out with a controlled, but furious performance.

9. Nick Nolte in Warrior

Nolte will break your heart in the most subtle way in this film. To put it plainly, his character is a mess. He's a recovering alcoholic who has one son who he barely talks to and another son who'd rather use him as a fighting trainer than a father. It's because we know his character deserves the abandonment that his performance is so emotional. Nolte still has it.

8. Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady

Can there be a list like this without the Streeper? Nay-sayers will say Streep isn't acting in this movie she's impersonating. It's obvious to me Streep studied Margaret Thatcher like a book, and not only perfected her look and her voice, but perfected her personality and way of thinking. Thatcher is a deep woman and Streep has every inch of that depth on display.

7. Demian Bichir in A Better Life

Maybe the most genuine performance of the year. Bichir plays Carlos Galindo, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who's trying to make ends meet while raising his teenage son by himself. He's not making a political stand in this movie, he's playing a human being who has problems and is dealing with them and trying to give his son endless opportunities. I was very surprised he received an Oscar nomination, but very happy as well.

6. Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn

Only Williams, and Blue Valentine co-star Gosling, were on last's years performance list as well. She plays the beautiful Marilyn Monroe during the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl, which she made with Laurence Olivier. Just like Streep's turn as Margaret Thatcher, Williams doesn't just look and speak like Marilyn, she delves deep into Marilyn the person and brings her out for everyone to see. She's one of the most gifted actresses around today.

5. Ryan Gosling in Drive

Didn't I say he was one of my favorite actors? If you watch The Ides of March then watch Drive, you'll get to see why he's one of the best out there. In Ides his emotions are on full display. In Drive, he plays a stuntman and getaway driver who is a man of very few words. Because of this everything he says is delivered with impact. It's not about volume, it's about importance and decisiveness. There's a scene where he's in a car with Carey Mulligan, a neighbor of his who he seems to be smitten with. She non-nonchalantly mentions her husband is coming out of prison soon. Since this is a woman he has feelings for, this is a moment we expect some emotional response. Instead we get Gosling with a stone face staring ahead and saying nothing. The camera stays on him for a while. When the scene finally cuts we realize the non-response said more than anything he could have said verbally.

4. Octavia Spencer in The Help

For a good supporting performance an actress needs to steal every scene she's in. Spencer makes an art form of it in a very well acted movie (it was awarded the Best Ensemble Cast award by the Screen Actor's Guild). She plays, Minny Jackson, a spitfire of a housemaid who Bryce Dallas Howard's character quickly realizes you shouldn't mess with. As Jessica Chastain's maid, we see the caring and truly helpful side of Minny's character. Spencer has been around for a while and it's about time she got some notice.

3. Michael Fassbender in Shame

I've said it before, it's such a brutal and devastating performance that, at times, it's extremely hard to watch. He plays Brandon who struggles with sex addiction. When the movie begins we see his routine which involves prostitutes and precisely timed masturbation sessions regardless of where he is. It's not ideal, but Brandon has found a way to make it work for him, until the arrival of his sister, who plans to stay at his place indefinitely, majorly messes up his life routine. Then we see how addiction ruins people and ruins families. Fassbender will make you pity, as well as sympathize, with Brandon. For most of us, it doesn't seem like a proper way to live. Fassbender knows this and so does Brandon. He needs sex to function, but it doesn't seem to give him pleasure anymore. Fassbender's steady performance will break your heart.

2. Jean Dujardin in The Artist

Every scene he's in is his. He is in complete command the entire movie. And since he's the lead in a silent film, he relies on his precise facial expressions and disciplined body language to tell us what he can't say with words. He plays George Valentin who is the biggest star of the screen at the end of the silent era. Once talkies are introduced, Valentin's star power greatly diminishes. With intense closeups on Dujardin's face, we see how heavily this affects him and leads him to binge-drinking and dark thoughts. This film starts out very joyful and then turns rather dark part of the way through. Dujardin makes the transition very seamless for us and it never feels too melodramatic or over the top. There are a lot of talented actors who couldn't pull this role off. I have a feeling we'll start seeing a lot more of this talented French actor.

1. George Clooney in The Descendants

The most nuanced and controlled performance of the year, and the best in Clooney's career. We know he's intelligent, we know he's handsome and we know he's charming. But Clooney is turning into one of the greatest actors of all time and he's doing it one perfectly subtle performance at a time. Watch his work in Syriana or Michael Clayton or Up in the Air to see his abilities rapidly growing. In The Descendants he plays Hawaiian land baron Matt King who, after his wife falls into a coma, is forced to raise his two daughters alone. At once, two tremendously important things are happening to him. First, he has the final decision on what happens to acres of land his family owns in Hawaii. He's getting pressure from all sides telling him why he shouldn't sell it or why he should sell it or how much he should sell it for. Secondly, he's being thrust into a fatherly role he's never been comfortable with and ones that's never been necessary until now. King has so much going on, but Clooney stays very focused and keeps King believable and real. I, honestly, had trouble deciding between Clooney and Dujardin, but I realized it takes a special actor to bring even more depth to an already profound character like Matt King. It's a very honest performance. Clooney nails it.

More Awards

Best Supporting Dog

Blackie as Maximillian the patrol dog in Hugo

Cosmo as Arthur in the Beginners

Uggie as Jack in The Artist

Winner: Uggie
He steals scenes over and over and gives the film even more heart. Everyone loves a Jack Russell terrier and Uggie is a perfect example.

Best Short Comedic Performance

Jennifer Aniston as Dr. Julia Harris in Horrible Bosses

Sacha Baron Cohen as the Station Inspector in Hugo

Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali in Midnight in Paris

Jon Hamm as Ted in Bridesmaids

Winner: Adrien Brody

This was hard. Aniston is wonderful as the sex maniac dentist. Baron Cohen gives a hilarious and heartfelt performance. Hamm plays a man years behind his Mad Men character. But, Brody's short, but excellent, turn as Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali is laugh-out-loud funny as he keeps talking about a rhinoceros.

Best One-on-One Combat Movie

Real Steel (Robot Boxing)

Win Win (High School Wrestling)

Warrior (Mixed Martial Arts)

Winner: Win Win

It's definitely the softest of the three movies, but it's funny and has a lot of heart. Warrior was very close to winning. Real Steel didn't stand a chance.

Best Non-Human lead character (not including animated movies)

The Beaver in The Beaver

Caesar the chimpanzee in Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The Horse in War Horse

Robert the tire in Rubber

Winner: Caesar

Andy Serkis, who's already played King Kong and Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies, has mastered the art of the motion capture performance. He gives Caesar real life and gives the movie emotions it would otherwise have lacked. He's way ahead of his time.

Best Character Name

Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Caine) in Cars 2

Humpty Alexander Dumpty (voice of Zach Galifianakis) in Puss in Boots

Motherf**ker Jones (Jamie Foxx) in Horrible Bosses

Winner: Humpty Alexander Dumpty

Classic funny character name + normal middle name = Perfectly hilarious name

Worst Movie of the Year

Bad Teacher

Cowboys & Aliens

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Winner: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

To me a really bad movie is one that's trying hard to be a good movie. Bad Teacher isn't trying for much and you know what you're getting with Cowboys & Aliens and Transformers, but the makers of Extremely Loud were trying to make a great film. They failed, but somehow fooled enough people to earn a Best Picture nomination.

Best Action Scene of the Year

Fast Five - Dragging a vault through the streets of Rio de Janeiro

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - The Battle of Hogwarts

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - Tom Cruise scales the tallest building in the world

Winner: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

This was very tough. Harry Potter's scene was great, with the giants and death eaters and spiders all over the place, but it's the third best choice in this category. The vault chase scene in Fast Five is exhilarating to watch, but Cruise climbing the Burj Khalifa in Dubai with nothing but state-of-the-art sticky gloves, is a sight to behold. And that's before the real fun starts.

Best Superhero Movie of the Year

Captain American: The First Avenger

Green Lantern

Thor

X-Men: First Class

Winner: X-Men: First Class

I might call Magneto my favorite comic book character ever and he's on full display in this movie, portrayed by Michael Fassbender. I haven't seen the other X-Men films in a while, but based on the first viewing of each, this is the one I enjoyed the most. I really enjoyed Thor as well.

That will do it for the 2011 Movie Achievements Awards. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my Academy Award predictions which I'll have out Thursday.