The TV Addict 

Robert Downey Jr., IRON MAN/TROPIC THUNDER
Between his pitch perfect performance as Tony Stark in IRON MAN, and his hilarious spoof of method actors in TROPIC THUNDER, this has undoubtedly been the Year of Robert Downey Jr. Seriously, the Chinese should break tradition and insert the first human into their long list of “Year of [Insert Animal here]” because that’s how awesome he was this year.

Heath Ledger/Aaron Eckhart, THE DARK KNIGHT
The double whammy of Heath Ledger’s Oscar worth performance as the exhilaratingly anarchic Joker and Aaron Eckhart’s deceivingly simple portrayal of a white knight who violently and tragically falls from grace are a large part of what made THE DARK KNIGHT so damn good. They both helped make clear the two things Batman can never become. Also, their performances reminded us of what we’re missing out on with Ledger’s passing, and how horribly overlooked Eckhart is as an actor (and even is in this film).

Ben Burtt, WALL-E
Because WALL-E’s voice was really only a series of robotic noises, one might not be inclined to call it a performance in a traditional sense. Nevertheless, when you have a character like WALL-E who is nevertheless a seemingly living breathing, enchanting little creature because of those sounds that are indistinguishably human, someone is doing something right. That someone is Ben Burtt, the man behind the robotic voice, without whom the movie wouldn’t have been half of what it turned out to be.

Jack Black, KUNG-FU PANDA
An early fan of Jack Black, I’ve found his brand of mania has become increasingly ingratiating. So color me surprised when his voice-work in KUNG-FU PANDA proved to be not only refreshingly restrained, but surprisingly sensitive, emotive and dramatic. He lent a lot of pathos and emotion to what could have been a lame kid’s movie character.

James Franco, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
As an actor who has always seemed at ease moving between styles of performances and genres (though mostly dramatic) who knew he would seem most at ease, and at his most natural playing a somewhat dimwitted but nevertheless charming, loveable and constantly at ease drug dealer. It was impossible not to root for the gracious, friendly Saul, and that was all because of Franco’s work.

Richard Jenkins, THE VISITOR
Though I have tried my best to include only performances from the more mainstream offerings of this summer, I had to mention sensitive, understated Richard Jenkins’ Oscar worthy performance in one of the best films of the year – Thomas McCarthy’s fantastic THE VISITOR.

Steve Carrell, GET SMART
Yes, maybe the rest of the film might have had some issues, but as a fan of the original television show, Carrell fit in perfectly in Don Adams’ shoes. Besides, I think at this point I’d even pay to see Carrell go all Andy Kaufman and just read “The Great Gatsby.”

Ron Pearlman, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
Because I would also watch Pearlman as Hellboy read “The Great Gatsby” as long as he threw in an “Oh, crap” here and there, or at least drunkenly sing-song the words.