Best: George Clooney

It's hard to imagine a day when George Clooney won't be popular. The man recalls iconic movie stars of the past, movie stars like Clark Gable, Cary Grant, even James Stewart to a certain extent, with his ability to not only take on interesting roles that vary from comedy to drama to satire to Coen (the Coen brothers get their own category), but also to age gracefully and oh-so-debonair on-screen. He handles tabloid fodder with a winking wit, and though he moves his girlfriends around more than the Jolie-Pitts do households, we're not here to talk about his love life. He's a fine actor (with an Oscar for "Syriana") and gifted filmmaker in his own right (with "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and "Good Night, and Good Luck."), so he's got nothing to prove. But this year has been especially terrific for the dashing movie star, with three wonderful pictures and performances under his belt. "The Men Who Stare at Goats," based, quite crazily, on a true story; Wes Anderson's stop-motion work of beauty, "Fantastic Mr. Fox," in which his voice is so deliciously Clooney that we almost forget we're watching a fox on-screen; and Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air," a movie that's already been buzzed as the major Oscar contender this year, not just for Best Picture, but also for Best Actor for Clooney. Yep. It's good to be the King. (Paramount Pictures)