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Best Suspense Dog: The Pit Bull in "No Country for Old Men"

The first rule of this list is: No Dead Dogs. The second rule is: No Dead Dogs. And the third rule is: No Bloody Dog Fights and That Means You Michael "Sicko" Vick. There will be no "Amores Perros" in this house. And no... more "Funny Games," either, no matter what language it's in, thank you very much, Mr. Haneke. But there's always room for an exception. Case in point: the leaping, swimming, bloodthirsty pit bull in Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country for Old Men."

In terms of emotion (mostly terror) and sheer adrenaline, this performance surpasses even Beatrice Straight's five-minute and 40-second Best Supporting Actress Oscar-nabbing turn in "Network." And it's about five minutes shorter. This dog relentlessly pursues its prey (Josh Brolin) downstream with the focus and dogged determination of Tom Cruise running and running and running in "The Firm," but with a more delicate sense of humor. Every time I see "NCFOM" I want to leap up and give this dog a standing ovation, and I would if I wasn't completely out of breath by the end of the scene. (Miramax Films)