A new day, a new category to unpack, and it's finally time to talk about the supporting characters! The parts that add a little flavor to an Oscar-caliber film, enhancing and elevating a star's performance and making a great film even richer. The Best Supporting Actress category is always a personal favorite of mine, so let's begin there. The men can wait!

Bérénice Bejo, The Artist

There's something really impressive about the way Bérénice Bejo perfectly portrayed a silent film star without being cartoony, or giving the impression that she was doing some ironic parody of the genre. It was just a bubbly, endearing tribute to the pre-talky era, and whether or not you know the first thing about silent movies, it was undoubtedly one of the nicest surprises of the year.

Jessica Chastain, The Help

As much as I loved seeing all those returning nominees in the Best Actress category (with one very notable Rooney Mara exception), I'm absolutely loving all the newcomers in the Supporting Actress category. Jessica Chastain burst onto everyone's radar this year in a multitude of roles, and was a force to be reckoned with as a ditzy, vulnerable outcast in The Help. And that scene where she got drunk and vomited all over Miss Hilly's fancy charity benefit was the stuff of bully comeuppance dreams.

Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Let's hear it for comedy! While everybody seems to like to focus on the, umm, food poisoning scene in this movie (and understandably so), I don't think I laughed more at the movies this year than I did watching McCarthy's work in that epic plane scene. I must say, I watch a lot of crime procedurals, but I've never enjoyed a discussion about weapons being concealed in body cavities quite that much. Nice work, madam.

Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

You played a man and shared the screen with Glenn Close, in a year positively overflowing with wonderful female performances, and people still make a point of raving about your work in Albert Nobbs? I've loved you since Tideland, so I'm very happy to say that that is some powerful stuff, Ms. McTeer.

Octavia Spencer, The Help

What a success story. After years of paying her dues in small parts in film and television, Octavia Spencer got to blow everybody's minds playing Minny Jackson, maker of The Pie That Shall Not Be Named. How's that for an upgrade?

Your thoughts on the Best Supporting Actress nominees? Leave them in the comments! And if you want more Oscarist, follow me on Twitter!

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