It's easy to lampoon her strange corrupted woman-child niche in the movies but you can't argue that she doesn't know how to sell it.

Finalists: Jenn Murray negative nancy "Dolores" in Brooklyn who the other girls hate -- even kind Eilis. But we love her stink-eye

Semi-Finalists : Lindsey Moser "Convenience Store Clerk" (Magic Mike XXL); Meryl Streep "Emmeline Prankhurst" (Suffragette); Julia Jakab "Ella" (Son of Saul); Eva Birthistle "Georgina" in (Brooklyn)

Wanted to Include: Marcia Gay Harden's hilariously agressive mom but perhaps in too much of the movie given the finale. I made room for her in line reading because it was mandatory.

"I'm not crying!"

One of the broadest characters in Spy but he's just hilarious and a perfect foil to both McCarthy's shit talking and Rayna's rank-pulling as this Swedish henchman

Finalists: Keegan Michael-Key "Hugo" in Tomorrowland; Michael Cyril Creighton "Joe Crowley" in Spotlight;

Semi Finalists: Jon Bernthal "Ted" in Sicario; And two of the absolute best and easy to overlook performances this year since they fall between regular "supporting" and maybe wouldn't have been in the movie with different editing decisions but

Please Note: Not to be too film-nerdy/first world awards problems but this category is so hard each year. It's worth doing to highlight great work but it raises all kinds of issues about both access to movies for rewatches (it's so easy to misremember characters with minor roles ) and what it even means to have minor roles. Two performances I deeply loved this year that were probably too big for the intentions of this category were Jamey Sheridan's subtly damning Jim Sullivan in Spotlight (3 or 4 scenes) and Peter Sarsgaard's indelible sweaty Brian Halloran in Black Mass (4 scenes but feels like less because the screen time is so short). But damn those are two beautiful pieces of acting. Maybe I shoulda listed them in Supporting Actor?

 "I'm going to go sell some cars."

"Not what you are and not what you intended."

"What a stupid fucking retarded toast. You're delightful."

 "I didn't knit them!"

Please note: This category will now be retired. It's always so hard to do and I've realized it would be more satisfying to make in list form for each super quotable movie or for the best overall performances. So it'll be around next year but no longer in film bitch awards form.

-All Movie 

A natural with an expressive face and a beautiful handle on the character arc

Finalists: Raffey Cassidy gave such memorable face as the robot girl of Tomorrowland; Abraham Attah was great in Beasts of No Nation but with child and teen stars you never know - will it be a one off?;

Semi-Finalists: Desiree Akhavan eccentrically sexy and sly in Appropriate Behavior; Dakota Johnson already in demand after the blockbuster 50 Shades of Grey but she was even better in Black Mass; Maika Monroe anchoring the critical horror darling It Follows; and Kitana 'Kiki' Rodriguez was quite funny in Tangerine

Two Notes: Since Jacob Tremblay was nominated for Best Actor he was not eligible here. Since we've loved Teyonah Parris for years on Mad Men and missed her semi-breakthrough in Dear White People (oops) it felt a bit odd to pit her against people we were seeing or noticing for the first time.

Though it's an old school star vehicle in one way, in another it provides a richly warm and comic tapestry of friends and family. MORE ON THIS ENSEMBLE

Blanchett, Mara, Chandler, Lacy, Paulson, Magaro, Smith, Crowley, Lardin, and more...

Rare is the love story this generous to everyone in which the peripheral players's broken hearts are inextricable from the story's depth

The men work their boys club insularity to great effect with exactly the right actress on the inside/outside.

Spotlight wouldn't soar high if the titular team didn't feel so well oiled, devoted, and interdependent MORE ON THESE PLAYERS

McCarthy, Law, Statham, Byrne, Janney, Baccarin, Cannavale, Hart, Lee, and more...

Comic camaraderie abounds and there seems to be a competition for funniest. Nobody wins except the audience.

Finalists: Diary of a Teenage Girl, Tangerine

Semi-Finalists: Chi-Raq, Ex Machina, Joy, I'll See You In My Dreams, Magic Mike XXL,

Finalists: Tangerine, Ex Machina, Girlhood 

Semi-Finalists: Steve Jobs, Chi-Raq, Carol, Mustang