RacsO Awards 2009: Actress

In the Running: Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia), Ellen Page (Whip It)

I am so sorry: Tilda Swinton (Julia)

OK. I am cheating again, I usually don't like it when an award giving body extends their nominations to more than five, but now I am following that because, this has just been a really good year for actresses, at least for me.

Finalists

Rustica Carpio
Lola

I heard that Rustica Carpio was just second choice for this role. But I think Carpio just proved that she deserves the role. She was heartbreaking-ly real and I fell so hard for her performance, I was crying with her. She did all she can to earn a big sum of money just so she can make amends. I think her role was hard to like, because she is after all protecting a criminal. But I fell hard for her, really hard.

Abbie Cornish
Bright Star

I was really happy that early on in the year that she is getting noticed for her work in "Bright Star", she should because she was phenomenal in it. But then as the year ends the buzz died. And it got me saying: "What the fuck?". She was perfect as Fanny Brawne, and she should have raked in heap of awards for her performance, and she did not and it got me saying again: "What the fuck?". She should have gotten a spot in the best actress nod because she was way better than anyone nominated in that category.

Kim Hye-Ja
Mother

From the first weird dance opening to the heartbreaking ending, the performance given by Kim Hye Ja was monumental and beyond perfection. Like Rustica Carpio in "Lola", Hye-Ja in "Mother" did all she can to find out who really did who. And when she found out what really happened, she did what she had to do to cover things up. Foreign actresses sometime get noticed by the Academy, and it is a shame that she did not get any awards traction for her performance other than the Asian Film Awards.

Anita Linda
Adela

Even if Anita Linda did not speak a word in "Adela" the performance would be groundbreaking as it is. Whenever I speak of her performance in this movie, I run out of adjectives to say in superlative admiration and praise of her work. Linda is 80ish years old and is appearing in one movie after another, she should be, especially when she is giving one helluva performance after another.

Kelly O'Neill
Kisses

Young actors and actresses barely get noticed nowadays, but if they actually have seen "Kisses", it is hard not to be impressed and be a fan of Kelly O'Neill. Watching her felt like I am seeing a major talent that needs another performance like this, kinda what I felt when I was watching Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement". If Max Records gets the award for best young actor of the year, Kelly O'Neill wins best young actress of the year.

Che Ramos
Mangatyanan

How Che Ramos created the character of Laya in "Mangatyanan" was quite a remarkable feat. He had layers of barriers over layers of barriers ready to ward off people trying to get in. She was hurt, hurt as a child and grew a tough skin when she grew up. Che Ramos shows now sign of someone who is in her first movie. This is one of the breakthrough performances of the year and I can not wait to see what she does next.

*** OK I cheated again, TIE, I KNOW! Sue me! But if I were to pick, one winner it would be Carpio