The Ten Greatest Oscar Winning Performances

Well, the 2012 Academy Award nominations have been announced. As usual, there were some pleasant surprises and a few snubs here and there, as well as a handful of curious choices. I was thrilled that The Tree of Life was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. It was great to see Gary Oldman finally get an Oscar nod - long overdue. And it was nice to see a purely comic performance get a nod with Melissa McCarthy's turn in Bridesmaids. Very surprised at Leonardo Dicaprio's snub for J. Edgar, and mildly surprised that Albert Brooks didn't get a nomination for Drive. I was downright miffed at the snub of The Adventures of Tintin for Best Animated Feature, and why only two nominees for Best Original Song?

As we movie buffs continue to contemplate this year's batch of nominees, I thought I would present another Top Ten list in honor of the Academy Awards. This list will feature the ten best Oscar winning performances of all time - in my opinion, of course. I'm sure there will be much disagreement with some of the performances on this list (or ones that were left off this list). I look forward to your feedback and opinions!

10. Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (Best Supporting Actor - 1990) - Pesci's portrayal of Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas is chilling and humorous at once. He is playing a pure psychopath in the guise of a mafia "goodfella", yet we love this character, and we are sad to see him knocked off in the end. What makes him so likable? His twisted sense of humor - yes. His loyal devotion to his friends - yes. But ultimately it is Pesci's ability to give this character a soul and a heart. Easy choice that year for Best Supporting Actor.

9. Mo'Nique in Precious (Best Supporting Actress - 2009) - Mo'Nique is startling as the abusive Mary in Precious. She personifies everything that is wrong with the welfare system and an example of the very worst in a parent. You absolutely hate this character and everything she stands for, until a revealing interview with a social worker. This scene, near the end of the movie, is an acting powerhouse as Mo'Nique does the impossible - makes you feel empathy for Mary. This was a performance that came out of nowhere and was easily the best acting by any actor that year.

8. Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (Best Actress - 1939) - Leigh is front and center in this four hour long epic and all-time American classic. The auditioning for the role of Scarlett O'Hara is Hollywood legend, with Leigh more or less coming out of nowhere to take this lead part. Scarlett O'Hara is arguably the most famous movie character of all time and this is thanks in large part to Vivien Leigh's masterful performance as a pampered Southern belle forced to become independent during the Civil War. Leigh simply carries this great movie!

7. Sean Penn in Mystic River (Best Actor - 2003) - Most would contend that Sean Penn is the greatest actor of his generation, on par with Robert DeNiro and Marlon Brando. Penn won his first, and much deserved, Oscar for his role as Jimmy Markum in Mystic River. He gives a multi-layered performance as an ex-con whose teen daughter is the victim of a brutal murder. Watching Penn work his way through the pain, torment, and ultimate revenge of his daughter's death is riveting at every turn.

6. Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Best Actor - 1975) - Nicholson fully established himself as one of the great actors of his generation with his portrayal of Randal McMurphy in Cuckoo's Nest. It was a part made for Nicholson's style of acting and he made the most of it. What makes this performance so special is Nicholson's ability to fuse subtleties into the character of a manic extrovert. And despite the original selfish nature of McMurphy, it is his care for his fellow inmates that leads to his downfall. Nicholson simply shines in every moment of this movie.

5. Hillary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (Best Actress - 1999) - I love great performances that seem to come out of nowhere! Never has that been more the case than with Swank's powerful performance as "Brandon Teena" in Boys Don't Cry. Prior to this movie Swank was best known for her lead role in The Karate Kid III. Who knew that Swank had a performance so full of depth and nuance in her. There is a very fine line in playing a role of the opposite sex - one wrong move and it becomes a cheesy or unintentionally humorous performance. Hillary Swank never takes a misstep at any point in this movie, and , in fact, creates a completely sympathetic and tragic character.

4. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (Best Actor - 2007) - Day-Lewis's performance as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood is perhaps the best example of quiet intensity ever put on film. Daniel Day-Lewis has always been an intense actor, but that intensity is reigned in and incredibly focused in this role. He is exceptional as a man slowly driven to loneliness, isolation, and murder because of his desire for wealth and power. It is the quiet intensity of his performance that makes the final act violence so startling in the last scene. One of the great powerhouse performances of all time.

3. Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice (Best Actress - 1982) - The movie Sophie's Choice, as a whole, is just okay, but Streep's performance absolutely towers over the material. Sophie is perhaps the most wounded, psychologically damaged character ever put on screen. Streep masterfully peels away layer after layer of this character, giving the audience a deeper and deeper understanding of her psyche. The scene in which Sophie must make her "choice" is one of the most soul shattering scenes I have ever seen, and Streep conveys the deep emotions of the scene with just a look. Nobody could have played this role as well as Streep.

2. Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man (Best Actor - 1988) - Ironically, I am not a huge Hoffman fan, and I am just lukewarm on Rain Man as a whole. But I cannot deny that Hoffman's performance as Raymond Babbitt is one that few, if any, actors could have achieved. Hoffman was already a well established star and Oscar winner, yet you completely forget that you are watching Dustin Hoffman in this movie. He absolutely disappears into this role. I am not sure if there has ever been a portrayal of a disability or mental illness as realistically portrayed as Dustin Hoffman's performance here.

1. Charlize Theron in Monster (Best Actress - 2003) - Never has an actor completely disappeared into a role more than Charlize Theron did as Aileen Wuornos in Monster. Her performance as real life serial killer Wuornos is about as complete and transcendent an acting job as there as ever been. Theron gives depth to a character that could have been one dimensional, and elicits a sympathy that few serial killer characters have ever received in the movies. Viewers are left feeling nothing but pity and empathy for Wuornos, and wonder and awe for Theron.

There you have it. Let the debate begin! There are many honorable mentions, some of which are the following: Luis Rainer in The Good Earth, James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy, Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce, Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives, Walter Huston in Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Gary Cooper in High Noon, Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird, Paul Scofield in A Man for All Seasons, Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe?, Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl, Jane Fonda in Klute, Robert DeNiro in The Godfather, Part II, Jon Voight in Coming Home, Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter, Meryl Streep in Kramer vs. Kramer, Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull, Ben Kingsley in Gandhi, Linda Hunt in The Year of Living Dangerously, F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus, Anjelica Huston in Prizzi's Honor, Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, Denzel Washington in Glory, Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, Gene Hackman in Unforgiven, Holly Hunter in The Piano, Martin Landau in Ed Wood, Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking, Geoffrey Rush in Shine, James Coburn in Affliction, Halle Berry in Monster's Ball, Adrien Brody in The Pianist, Tim Robbins in Mystic River, Helen Mirren in The Queen, Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men, Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds, Natalie Portman in Black Swan.

I look forward to hearing from you! Until next time, "Here's looking at you, kid."