The tightest possible margin in our voting, and in the history of the Calvins, gives Best Supporting Actress to Virginia Madsen for Sideways, who would also be an easy choice for the comeback performance of the year.

After emerging as one of the biggest sex symbols of the '80s, Madsen fell into - let's face it - a little bit of obscurity for the past ten years or so, until Alexander Payne came knocking with the role of Maya, a wine aficionado working at the restaurant frequented by Sideways' main characters. Even with a plum role in this year's indie sensation, Madsen lifted it above the required, making Maya seem like less of a saint and more of a real person, who you actually could see falling in love with a twerp like Paul Giamatti. Michael's little sister has done well.

In every race this close, someone has to be the one who unfortunately comes up short, and in this case it's Cate Blanchett who misses winning by a single point for her role in The Aviator. Practically chanelling Katharine Hepburn in her days as a paramour of Howard Hughes, Blanchett was a force of nature in a role that was both hilarious in its portrayal of a larger than life Hollywood legend, and touching as she pulled back the mask to reveal the truth behind it.

Leaving aside that nasty Star Wars business, I don't think there's a role that Natalie Portman couldn't knock out of the park. She takes third place this year for her role as Alice the stripper in Closer, which marked her burst into truly adult roles instead of ingenue psuedo-adult parts. The youngest of the four main characters in the film but perhaps the wisest (though beyond her years, I still must add), Portman is the anchor of the film, truly giving it its meaning at the end.

In fourth place is perennial nominee for *something*, Meryl Streep. Playing the main villainous role in The Manchurian Candidate with gusto, you'd say she stole the film, if you weren't already expecting her to run away with it anyway. This is the second time Streep has finished in the top five in this category, taking fifth two years ago for Adaptation.

Tthe fifth spot goes to another actress who can pretty much do no wrong, Joan Allen in The Bourne Supremacy. Investing her CIA agent role with decency and morals, she managed to create a plausible third "side" in the film, neither Bourne's, nor the CIA's. Allen remains an actress we love to see in anything.

Sixth place falls to Kristen Dunst in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, just one of the several cast members we loved in this film. The youth movement continues with Emma Watson in the latest installment of the Harry Potter franchise, who is quickly becoming the standout performer of the series. Following her is Cate Blanchett again, for her dual role in Coffee and Cigarettes where she played both "Cate Blanchett" and her own cousin in a hilarious scene. Blanchett had a pretty good year overall here, with a third role from The Life Aquatic scoring points outside the top ten.

Another Sideways actress, Sandra Oh, appears in the ninth position. As the fiery, passionate and dammit, sexy, foil for Thomas Haden Church, Oh gives the movie some much needed spark and acts as the catalyst for the final redemptive third of the film. She is tied with Saved!'s Eva Amurri as the main voice of rebellion in this enlightened take on youth and spirituality.

Notable near misses outside the top ten include the two other Oscar nominees in this category, Laura Linney for Kinsey and Sophie Okonedo for Hotel Rwanda, Regina King for Ray, as Ray Charles' troubled mistress, a movie-stealing Irma P. Hall in The Ladykillers, and Natalie Portman's co-star in Closer, an actress whom you may have heard of by the name of Julia Roberts.