Since the begining of the Academy Awards actors and actresses have been seperated. The past decade saw some of the strongest acting jobs of all time now heres my list of the top 10 male performances of the decade.

10: Brad Pitt- Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). When someone like Brad gives a performance where he plays an old man and a young man, at the same time. There is nothing to go off of but your talent and imagination.

9:Johnny Depp- Blow (2001). This was an awesome movie. In it Johnny Depp delivers his best performance. Sadly he wasn't nominated for an award.

8:Jamie Fox- Ray (2004). This guy is a grammy winning rapper, and was the star of In Living Color. For him to switch gears and win an award for playing Ray Charles is something of a miracle.

7: Jaoquin Pheonix- Walk the Line (2005). Anyone who gets me to like a country singer is a winner in my book.

6: Bennicio Del Toro- Traffic (2000). In a movie with so many great performances and no main character it must be hard to shine above the rest. Bennicio makes his co stars look like joke actors in this movie.

5: Phillip Seymour Hoffman- Capote (2005). I've been a long time fan of his. In this movie he tottally transformed into this character he played. I'm glad the academy agreed with me in giving him an award.

4: Denzel Washington- John Q (2002). "I am not going to bury my son!" Even though I don't believe he deserved the award in Training Day, it's always a treat to see Denzel lose his cool.

3: Daniel Day Lewis- There Will be Blood (2007). Proof that complete dedication to your role will pay off in the end.

2: Russel Crowe- A Beutiful Mind (2001). Beutiful movie. You watch this movie and try to tell someone he wasn't good in it. You will feel guilty for ever doubting him as an actor.

1: Sean Penn- I Am Sam (2001). I'll never understand why people don't like this movie. Then again critics hated A Wonderful Life when it came out. Sean Penn plays a father with the mental capacity of a seven year old, and in it he must fight to regain custody of his seven year old daughter (played by the incomperable Dakota Fanning). He didn't get the award but he did go on to win 2. 2003 (Mystic River) and 2008 (Milk). so at lest the Oscars have made up for it.