Signatures: Best Actress 2008

Adam of Club Silencio here with another look at my favorite actresses and their distinguishing claims to fame.

For this very special (very slapdash) installment of "Signatures," I'll be taking a look at the "Signature" moments of the five Best Actress nominees and what came of their glorious Oscar night. Just as the nominees were read gracious speeches by other acting legends, I too offer the equally esteemed comments of a nameless blogger.

Kate Winslet

What a win! Time for a victory lap. And since I just discussed Kate's "Signatures," read that fast-paced post instead. I'm pretty sure it was my offer of good spirits and Gatorade that cosmically led to Kate's Oscar win anyhow. And now that scene from Extras rings of even more truth since her Holocaust-drama performance did finally snag the Oscar. Plus, Kate in a habit further rubs in her victory over Meryl's Catholic doubts.

Anne Hathaway

Anne's "Signature" seems to be that of self-abuse. Be it going through hell to get Meryl Streep a copy of Harry Potter, returning from rehab for an angry sister's wedding/counseling/multicultural event, or falling for a man who's, well, falling for a man; Anne doesn't take the easy way out. Lest we forget she also signed on to Bride Wars... Anne's so hard on herself, but sometimes it's just beautiful to behold. She won't take her Oscar loss lightly, but she will take another drink.

Angelina Jolie

Her cinematic life, like her real life, has been plagued by questions of sanity. From her breakthrough stint in a suicide clinic to that time spent with Billy Bob Thornton, Angelina's had to prove herself to the public time and again. Now that a large part of her life has been destroyed by the media, it's easier to see the mellow side of Angelina. Maybe it's just age, but something has given her an extra luminescence in recent years. It probably helps to bask in Brad Pitt for an hour a day.

Melissa Leo

Only familiar to her through work in Frozen River and 21 Grams, one could say Melissa's "Signature" is a reasonable head in a crisis... the crisis often being potential abandonment by her on-screen husbands. There's a strength behind her roles as mothers and support systems, for as much as they flail and flounder, there's a humanity not lost with their bad decisions. So how'd Melissa handle her Oscar loss? I hear she hid Kate's Oscar in a duffel bag, only to leave it behind while crossing state lines.

Meryl Streep

The living legend, the marvellous cultural icon. Singer, violinist, cook, comedienne, dramatist, amateur Brooklyn nun... Meryl's resume is a baffling behemoth, and one best saved for a later installment of "Signatures." But one "Signature" worth discussing is her mastery of accents and dialects. She's done Polish, German, Yiddish, ABBA, and she's about to do Julia Child. Unstoppable is Meryl Streep when it comes to the artistic challenge, and fully inhabiting a character that's foreign to her.