Academy AwardsTop 5 Best Supporting Actresses: 2006by Rebecca Murray The Best Actress category was a difficult one to fill out this year, however there is no shortage of fine performances from actresses in supporting roles. While I've listed five, it would have been extremely easy to pad out the list to a full ten.
Honorable Mentions - Rinko Kikuchi, Elisha Cuthbert, Toni Collette, Pell James, and Lola Duenas
Brittany Murphy's such a chameleon that it's easy to lose track of all the amazing performances she's turned in over the past decade. But I can guarantee you won't soon forget her work in writer/director Karen Moncrieff's The Dead Girl. Murphy's heartbreaking as a drug-addicted prostitute who's only dream is to take care of her young daughter. Jennifer Hudson doesn't just steal Dreamgirls away from the film's other Dreamettes - Beyonce Knowles and Anika Noni Rose - she also grabs the spotlight from Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy. When Hudson belts out the show-stopping number And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going you know you're witnessing the birth of a star. American Gun slipped quietly in and out of theaters sans any fanfare and that's a real shame. The subject matter is touchy - gun violence in America (hence the film's title) - but don't let that stop you from checking out this fine film on DVD. Marcia Gay Harden portrays a mother dealing with the fact one of her teenage sons turned a gun on his classmates before killing himself, and her performance is authentic and riveting. In a cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, and Gael Garcia Bernal, it's the stunning performance of Adriana Barraza that's the most memorable. Barraza's so good in Babel she may have you reaching for your tissues. Barraza plays Amelia, a maid left to care for the children of a rich San Diego couple while they're off vacating in Morocco. Tragic circumstances force Amelia to take the two young kids in her charge down to Tijuana for a wedding. Of course, that's the wrong decision and life as she once knew it is over for Amelia. In a case of life imitating art imitating life, Catherine O'Hara's garnering awards for her performance as an actress who thinks she may be up for an Oscar. Christopher Guest's For Your Consideration is a wicked stab at the annual award show frenzy and O'Hara (one of Guest's frequent collaborators) is hilarious and touching at the same time in Guest's latest film. | 
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