2007 Diva Cup Awards: Best Actress

Before I get started, let me just say that this was am incredibly hard choice to make in narrowing this down to 5 nominees. If you think Sophie had a hard choice to make, then you have no idea the mental anguish I went through in my elimination process. I don't understand why people keep saying that all the good female parts are gone because I consistently find Best Actress a hell of a lot more interesting than Best Actor (that could also be the actressexual in me). There were 8 genuinely strong, terrific performances that floated around my Top 5 for awhile and I literally had to toss a coin to decide between number 5 and 6.

And the nominees are...

Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose
At once, both an outstanding, once-in-a-lifetime performance and an extremely polarizing one which has no doubtedly caused friendships to fail and caused deeply committed actressexuals to divide into heavily debated and vilified camps. For me, Cotillard's performance is one of a true movie star, going for broke with the up and down nature of the role- something Crawford and Davis in the 40's no doubt would have done.
Key Scene: "Marcel! Oh Marcel!"

Jodie Foster as Erica Bain in The Brave One
From my original rant: "[The Brave One] felt less like a vigilante film than one in which all of the security and complicity that Jodie Foster's Erica Bain has known before a brutal attack which killed her fiancee and left her in a coma has suddenly been erased. At first it is fear that replaces the security, but eventually it becomes an unleashing of one hell of a violent streak. She doesn't know where it comes from, but becomes a part of her all too quickly and easily (there is a great voice over that Erica gives while leaving one of the scenes of her crime in which she questions herself as to why she didn't just show them the gun so they would back off instead of shooting them straightaway). As this woman with a mission, Jodie Foster gives a career-best performance."
Key Scene: Discovering the drug smuggler Terrence Howard has been trying to convict for years in the elevator.

Nicole Kidman as Margot in Margot at the Wedding
Kidman's never been known as a "funny" lady (just go see Bewitched and The Stepford Wives for proof), but in Margot at the Wedding the most risk-taking (and possibly finest) actress of this decade finds the bitter and uncomfortable humor in her absolutely awful character.
Key Scene: The speaking engagement at the library

Ellen Page as Juno MacGuff in Juno
Page has the unenviable task of turning Cody's delicious dialogue into something that both sets Juno apart as a character and makes her a real human being. That she pulls it off without so much as breaking a sweat is further proof of the brilliance of this performance.
Key Scene: The abortion clinic

Tang Wei as Wong Chia Chi in Lust, Caution
This is a film debut?! Forgive me if I'm a bit stunned, because in Lust, Caution Wei absolutely shines with a kind of maturity most actresses in their 30's haven't yet achieved. I can't wait to see what she does next.
Key Scene: Easing into her "role" with Mrs. Yee

If Only There Were Six: Julie Christie, Away From Her No, this is not revenge against all the Cotillard-bashers who instead championed Christie. You don't know how much I wanted to include this one. This is, as a matter of fact, the direct result of a coin toss which allowed a certain actress in and Christie out. That doesn't mean I don't like Christie's performance any less- in all of its subtleties, it's one of monumental impact.

Rest of the Top 10: Carice van Houten, Black Book...Amy Adams, Enchanted...Nikki Blonsky, Hairspray...Keira Knightley, Atonement

BRONZE
Jodie Foster, The Brave One

SILVER
Tang Wei, Lust, Caution

GOLD
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

2007 Diva Cup Awards: Best Sexpot

And the nominees are...

Keira Knightley as Cecilia Tallis in Atonement
James McAvoy as Robbie Turner in Atonement
They're sexy on their own, but together, the screen almost melts away with their sexual chemistry.

So Hott: The library sex scene

Marisa Tomei as Gina in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
The only way Tomei's Gina knows how to communicate is through her body and what a body that is.

So Hott: Walking around in nothing but panties, her hips definitely don't lie.

Carice van Houten as Rachel Stein/Ellis de Vries in Black Book
As a spy using her body to lead the Dutch resistance against the Nazis, van Houten proudly flaunts her body and provides the sexy edge that makes Black Book work so well.

So Hott: Her first sexual encounter with Muntze (Sebastian Koch) was so lusty (I can't believe I'm going to say this) I got a little excited down there. I don't think I can recall a previous heterosexual couple in film that did that for me.

Tang Wei as Wong Chia Chi in Lust, Caution
Wei also plays a spy who uses her sexual prowess to get information, but her sexuality is subtler than van Houten's and becomes more pronounced as Lust, Caution goes on.

So Hott: Any of her sex scenes with Leung (except for maybe that anal rape scene...what is it with Ang Lee and anal rape?)

If Only There Were Six: Julia Roberts as Joanne Herrig in Charlie Wilson's War For a strong Christian woman, she definitely dresses a little more on the liberal side. And that wig was a masterpiece.

Rest of the Top 10: Zac Efron, Hairspray...Taraji P. Henson, Talk to Me...Gerard Butler, 300...Michelle Pfeiffer, Hairspray

BRONZE
Marisa Tomei

SILVER
Tang Wei

GOLD
Carice van Houten