THE 2009 LULUs: StinkyLulu's Best Supporting Actresses of 2009

Continuing a tradition begun just last year, I offer the 2009 LULUs - recognizing those actresses at the edges who most impressed me in 2009. Once again, the LULUs embrace the perennial question of "what's too big" and "what's too small" to be considered "supporting" actressness and, to that end, the LULUs offer recognition in three supporting actress sub-categories: Long Form, Short Form, & Traditional Scale. Each category acknowledges the different work being done by the increasingly broad array of performances that find themselves, rightly or wrongly, gathered under the umbrella of "Supporting Actress." (Please note that -- as of this writing -- I have yet not seen the following films and, thus, do not rank performances contained therein: The Messenger, In the Loop, Public Enemies, The Stoning of Soraya M., The Maid, The Last Station, etc.) So, without further ado...

Best Supporting Actress - Long Form
excellent performances from women at the center of their films,
in what might arguably be leading (or co-leading) roles

Emily Blunt - Sunshine Cleaning
Keeps it simple; makes it great.
Marion Cotillard - Nine
An unfailingly generous performance.
Penélope Cruz - Los Brazos Rotos/Broken Embraces
This portrait -- of an actress who seems to star in (but who somehow stays "at the edges" of) everyone else's story -- soars with comedic light while plumbing devastating depths.
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Steady verve and ready wit anchor this memorable breakthrough performance.
Mélanie Laurent - Inglorious Basterds
A deft, haunting and deceptively beautiful portrait of rage-curdled grief.

* * * * *

Best Supporting Actress - Short Form
memorable work by women in a mere handful of scenes

Mariah Carey - Precious
Solid. Sincere. Shows the glimmer of formidable chops.
Julianne Moore - A Single Man
A delirious, messy blast of color and life.
Rosamund Pike - An Education
Undeniably dim. Brilliantly witty. Utterly believable.
Carrie Preston - Duplicity
Preston's precision and pluck scene-steals the movie right out from under her megawatt costars, if only for that moment or two.
Deborah Rush - Julie and Julia
A tiny, inconspicuous performance that somehow stirs great depths of feeling within both the film and its star's turn.

* * * * *

Best Supporting Actress - Traditional Scale
a pivotal character, essential to more than a handful of scenes,
though in less than 30% of film's total screen time

Penélope Cruz - Nine
Staggering. Sexy and tragic (while delivering the only genuine laughs in entire the movie).
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Gorgeous and glib yet also heartbreakingly human.
Kerry Fox - Bright Star
A stirring, sweet and cliché-smashing portrait of sensible motherlove.
Mo'Nique - Precious
Not since Carrie has a mother's "love" been so voracious, so vicious, so contradictory, so monstrous yet so real.
Olivia Williams - An Education
An uncommonly subtle, complex characterization of an all-too familiar character.

* * * * *

The LULUS
StinkyLulu's Best Supporting Actresses
my favorites, in roughly descending order

1. Penélope Cruz - Broken Embraces
2. Mo'Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
3. Olivia Williams - An Education
4. Kerry Fox - Bright Star
5. Mélanie Laurent - Inglorious Basterds

BUT, lovely reader, what do YOU think?
Please share your thoughts in comments.