This year, we had a runaway winner in the Best Supporting Actress, and she just happens to be a rising star who was the very best part of a small, indie film. Amy Adams portrayed the enthusiastic, very pregnant Ashley in Junebug. She is the sister-in-law of protagonist Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz) and wife of the petulant, angry Johnny (Ben McKenzie). Despite never having met her new sister-in-law, Ashley instantly loves Madeleine and treats her as though they are best friends. And even though Johnny seems to have little interest in a future as a husband and a father, Ashley is thrilled about the prospect of new motherhood and just knows that once the baby is born, everything will be just fine. It is her unbridled optimism that carries the film, a slice of Southern family living that feels genuine and true.

Coming up in second place is Taraji P. Henson of Hustle & Flow. Her soulful performance as Shug, a pregnant prostitute who has a soft spot for her pimp, DJay (Terrence Howard) is quiet, yet powerful. When she is asked to provide the vocals for a song that Djay is recording, she is at first timid. Soon, though, she finds her voice and in that moment, also reveals a strength that had previously been invisible.

Michelle Williams had previously shown signs of brilliance in films like The Station Agent, and with Brokeback Mountain, she really comes into her own. Williams plays Alma, the wife of Heath Ledger's Ennis Del Mar (the two are husband and wife in real-life as well), and ably demonstrates all of the hurt and pain that come upon her as suspicions about her husband's relationship with fellow cowboy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) begin to become more and more troubling. Williams is developing into a fine actress and her performance in Brokeback Mountain might just be the most impressive of the bunch.

The same actress occupies both fourth and fifth place. We recognize Catherine Keener first for her supporting role in The 40 Year-Old Virgin, where she played Trish, the woman who the titular character finally finds the courage to ask on a date - although as their relationship develops, he doesn't quite have the guts to inform her of his "situation". She's a wonderful romantic counterpart for Steve Carell, and her character is someone who could easily be your next-door-neighbor. Keener also receives our applause for her portrayal of Harper Lee in Capote. Lee was Truman Capote's cousin and his dedicated companion in the investigation of the murders that led to the book In Cold Blood. Keener lets Philip Seymour-Hoffman run away with the film by infusing Lee with a plainness and simplicity that are a fine counterbalance for the main character's ostentatious nature.

As for Anna Faris, she receives notice here for her role as Samantha James, a crazy, dim-witted and sex-crazed pop star. She tosses in a touch of Paris Hilton and combines it with Jessica Simpson to achieve the effect, as she did previously when she emulated Cameron Diaz in Lost in Translation. Faris is tremendous when it comes to these goofy sort of supporting roles, and she certainly delivers the goods.

The seventh place spot goes to Sandra Bullock, who manages to counterbalance her awful performance in Miss Congeniality 2 with this more impressive one. She plays the wife of the local district attorney, a woman who is embittered and suspicious when it comes to people of different races. In a movie that deals very effectively with the impact racism has on a variety of different types of individuals, her crisis of conscience is a key moment of the film.

Perennial BOP favorite Patricia Clarkson finds our favor for her small role in Good Night, and Good Luck. She plays Shirley Wershba, a woman who is trying to keep her marriage to fellow co-worker Joe (Robert Downey Jr.) a secret from CBS, their employer. While their story isn't critical to the action of the film itself, it does offer up an interesting commentary on the role of women during the time period.

We'd be remiss if we didn't throw some love Summer Glau's direction. She is the true centerpiece of Joss Whedon's Serenity, the character that propels all action. Without her canny performance as River, the movie would never have succeeded. She can switch from whimpering child to badass weapon in an instant, and maximizes her abilities as a professional ballerina in scenes where she is simply walking as well as those where she is a one-woman, bar-fighting gang.

Rounding out the top ten is Shirley MacLaine, who is the grandmother of Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette in Curtis Hanson's In Her Shoes. Her instincts when it comes to playing an out-of-touch woman trying to get to know her family are sublime, as always. It is her presence in the film that is most noteworthy, and while In Her Shoes is in fact a chick flick, there is a depth of emotion between her and her two co-stars (particularly Diaz) that really works.

Just missing the top ten for supporting actress were Rachel McAdams for Wedding Crashers, Hustle & Flow's Taryn Manning, Ann Hathaway in Brokeback Mountain and Emily Blunt from My Summer of Love. (Kim Hollis/BOP)

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