Chigur in broad daylight telling someone to call heads or tails was more frightening/riveting than anything Ledger did IMO. He did a great job but Bardem could just sit in a room and talk and be menacing.

Although I still say that the best performance last year was Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone. With no makeup or really any change in her look, she became a completely different person. I've been putting a lot of people up on The Wire and when they get to season 2 they are always STUNNED when I tell them Beadie Russell was in Gone Baby Gone. Everyone says the same thing, "Oh, I thought that actress was some local they got." My friends from Boston say that same thing.