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The 10 Best Performances Of 2016 (So Far)

Because of how the cinematic calendar is laid out, it tends to be that many of the best film performances come in the second half of the year. Studios and the distributors just love to get in on the end-of-year awards season race, and the best way to do that is to release the Oscar contenders in the usual peak September to December period.

5) Mary Elizabeth Winstead – 10 Cloverfield Lane

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10 CLOVERFIELD LANE

Before Smashed in 2012 – in the likes of Final Destination 3, The Ring Two, The Thing – there wasn’t much of a clue as to how formidable an actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead could be. These were bad (and badly-directed) films, and movies such as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter ever exactly showcases for great acting. Smashed finally showed the world what Winstead could do though.

Since then, the quality of project has improved for Winstead, but it was in returning to her horror roots this year that the actress shone brightest. 10 Cloverfield Lane is a taut, character-driven horror movie, and Winstead is by-turns mercilessly resilient and convincingly horrified in the face of a monstrous (and similarly rarely-better) John Goodman. Sometimes genre films feature Oscar-worthy performances – 10 Cloverfield Lane is a shining example.