Steven Soderbergh, Director x 2

Steven Soderbergh delivered one of the best movies of the year back in February, Erin Brockovich. A great real life story that left audiences feeling empowered and glad to have seen it. What we wrote then holds even now. If Erin had been ready for the 1999 deadlines, it would have scored a statue for star Julia Roberts and an easy nomination for Best Picture. It would have been enough to stop there, but Soderbergh paired a dynamite cast with a great, serious script and delivered Traffic. Every actor worth their salt put their egos on hold for this movie, one of the best of the year. When one man delivers two "Best Of" titles, there's no real competition.

But these directors came close: Cameron Crowe for Almost Famous; Philip Kaufman for Quills; Ang Lee for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Michael Winterbottom for The Claim.

Geoffrey Rush, Best Actor (Quills)

Our choice had a lot to do with the actor's effect on the overall movie. One potential Oscar nominee was spectacular all by himself on an island, but that's an acting exercise, not an overall best performance. Rush, gave us a battle of both psychological and physical wills in Quills, as the Marquis de Sade in his last days versus Michael Caine as the captor determined to break his spirit however possible. There is humor and pathos in the iron fist in a velvet glove performance.

And close behind: Kevin Costner in 13 Days; Russell Crowe in Gladiator;
Forest Whitaker in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai; Michael Douglas in Wonder Boys; George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?; Tom Hanks in Cast Away

Ellen Burstyn, Best Actress (Requiem for a Dream)

There is no way you will come out of Requiem for a Dream humming a happy tune. Burstyn's role, as an elderly woman who gets hooked on speed so she can drop a few pounds to fit into a dress, is a heartbreaker. For the first time in years, there was a real battle.

And close behind: Joan Allen in The Contender; Gillian Anderson in House of Mirth; Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich; Renee Zellweger in Nurse Betty

Joaquin Phoenix, Supporting Actor x 3

In each case the supporting actor is supposed to set up a base to let the principals kick some royal booty, as Joaquin Phoenix did for Geoffrey Rush in Quills. Then you get the performances where not only does the actor do the job, he also leaves you walking out of the theater remembering his name. That was the case in Gladiator, with Phoenix playing the sniveling backstabbing Emperor Commodus. Finally you get the occasional movie where the supporting actors outshine the principals, which was the case with The Yards, Phoenix' best performance of the three.

Other performances of note: James Caan in The Yards; Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire; Albert Finney in Erin Brockovich; Philip Seymour Hoffman in Almost Famous; Gary Oldman in The Contender

Frances McDormand, Supporting Actress (Almost Famous)

Domineering and possessive mom faces the day when the bird must leave the nest. "And don't do drugs" is as much a demand for control as an expression of a mother's love.

Ditto for: Faye Dunaway in The Yards; Kate Hudson in Almost Famous; Madeline Kahn in Judy Berlin; Kate Winslet in Quills