2009's Great and Un-Nominated

Tomorrow morning, a lot of very deserving people will get Oscar nominations (for example: Carey Mulligan, Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz, Mo'Nique, Vera Farmiga). Hurrah for them. Before they do, here's my (brief) list of the 2009's Best Performances that have 0% chance of being nominated.

Joaquin Phoenix (Two Lovers)
He claims it's his last role, and it would be a great one to go out on. His portrayal of the depressed, lost, romanticizing dreamer in this great little drama cuts to the bone. It's a performance of personality extremes, but the fine work is all in the nuances.

Rachel Weisz (The Brothers Bloom)
She has scenes where she has to do something like, say, juggle chainsaws. And she has to do it with nonchalance without ever seeming ironic. Weisz somehow completes this nearly impossible task, and with her wicked sense of comic timing, she lifts up the whole movie.

Paul Rudd (I Love You, Man)
From "Jobin" to "Slappin' da bass," Rudd spins laughs out of cringeworthy moments with his total commitment to a guy who's so awkwardly not a "dude" that he wears overcompensation on his sleeve.

Olivia Williams (An Education)
I won't give anything away, but in the third act of "An Education," the teacher played by Williams becomes the voice for the audience. She's so fierce, so honest, and so vulnerable in her wishes for Jenny, that it sends ripples out into not only the world of the characters, but anyone watching.

Ed Helms (The Hangover)
Watch it again and pay special attention to Helms. In a film that's submerged in chaotic, fratboy charms, Helms creates an actual, real character. There's depth--and an all-too-real pathetic sadness--to Stu the dentist. Helms works within the tone of the film, but still gives Stu a real beating heart and he transcends the movie, which otherwise lets each character be a "type."

Ben Whihshaw (Bright Star)
OK, yeah, I loved the hell out of this movie. And a big part of that is because, as John Keats, Whihshaw is soft and sweet and it's through his timidity that we're able to detect his chemistry with Fanny. It's one of the rare performances in which I felt I was actually watching someone in love, and coupled with Keats' famous words, it's a powerful emotional punch.

Alycia Delmore (Humpday)
The role of Anna couldn't have been easy. As the wife of a man who wants to have sex with his (male) best friend as part of an experimental film (it all makes a kind of sense in the context of the movie), Anna could have been too shrill or too arty/liberally "cool with it." Anna is written as a real human being, but Alycia Delmore adds real layers of suburban frustration to this woman that makes her late-night, alcohol-assisted breakdown all the more brutally honest.

Kristen Stewart (Adventureland)
Girl Who Romances Vampires is actually quite the actress when you let her out. Stewart's sad/angry/funny lip-biting vampiness works perfectly in this 80s-set coming-of-age tale. Stewart gives this wayward college girl's private rebellious acts a sense of quiet desperation and, like Jesse Eisenberg's character, we see why her broken spirit is actually part of her charm.

Chris Pine (Star Trek)
It actually reminds me a lot of Harrison Ford in "Raiders of the Lost Ark." It's a broad, pleasing, fun, exciting performance that very few actors can actually pull off. It requires not only boatloads of charisma and screen presence, but a certain winking egotism. Pine's star turn feels almost old-school in how unabashedly joyful--and unapologetically sentimental--it is.

What are the other best unsung performances of 2009?