Martin's Movie Review: The Greatest Actresses of the 2000s

No actor is great EVERY time, and I fully admit that all of these ladies had there share of flops. In many instances, I'm looking past the films themselves and focusing on their specific contributions.

Meryl Streep is often called the greatest actress of all time. This may be the decade she made that really difficult to refute.

1. Halle Berry
Berry's beautiful breasts appear at the 38-minute mark in "Swordfish"(sorry, I had to).

Nicole Kidman
This Aussie beauty turned plenty of heads in the '90s("Batman Forever", "To Die For", "Eyes Wide Shut"), before permanently stepping out of Tom Cruise's shadow to embark on a decade that saw her transform into a workaholic Oscar winner. She was a part of 19 films from 2000-09. We don't want to delve into at least half of them("The Stepford Wives", anyone?), but "Moulin Rouge!" and "The Others" got this highly-productive period started off right, positioning her for the Best Actress win for "The Hours" in '02. She spent the next several years grabbing a wide variety of roles, refusing to be predictable("Cold Mountain" and "The Interpreter" were among the highlights). Every one of these films were lucky to have Nicole's name and face on the DVD cover.

Angelina Jolie
Jon Voight's vivacious daughter started the 21st Century as a newly-minted Oscar recipient(she took Supporting Actress honors for "Girl Interrupted") and may have been the Bush era's most-talked about screen siren. Her two "Tomb Raider" flicks were far from great, but the agile Angelina proved that she was game for summer fun. "Gone in 60 Seconds" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" provided just that, to bookend a five-year stretch in which she achieved tabloid omnipresence. However, her formidable dramatic acting talent was on full display in "A Mighty Heart" and "Changling", for anyone that still wasn't convinced. There were hits("The Good Shepherd","Beowulf", "Kung Fu Panda") and misses("Life or Something Like It", "Taking Lives", "Alexander"), but the jolting Jolie was never boring.

Julia Roberts
The leader of the 1990s entered the new millennium with an Academy Award for "Erin Brockovich", easily one of her best films. Roberts worked less as she approached middle age, but "Closer" and "Charlie Wilson's War" proved she was still near the top of directors' wish lists.

Sandra Bullock
The ultimate girl-next-door was probably the hottest woman in Hollywood the year Obama was sworn in, thanks to "The Proposal" and "The Blind Side".

Reese Witherspoon
We all fell for Elle Woods, as well as her fetching June Carter Cash in 2005's "Walk the Line".

Charlize Theron
Did she give the single greatest performance of the 2000s?

Kate Winslet
From "Eternal Sunshine" to "The Reader", Kate's classy work made her worthy of the "Titanic" hype.

Renee Zellweger
Bridget Jones and the 2003 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Cold Mountain" proved that "Jerry Maguire" was no fluke.

This regal redhead ably replaced Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, and appeared in over twenty films in ten years.

The '80s/'90s queen started the decade strong with "What Lies Beneath" and "I Am Sam". But a self-imposed five year sabbatical significantly lowered her stock.