Christian Bale may well find himself holding an Oscar this year, but it's not news that he is a fascinatingly intense actor willing to vanish into even the most unpleasant of characters, and there may be no greater example of that than his work as Patrick Bateman, the disgusting lead character in the Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho.  The novel was controversial when published, and for years was considered completely unfilmable.  Some fans would argue that it remains unfilmable, but Mary Harron found a way to make deeply disturbing material just as funny as it should be, perfectly modulating the jet-black satirical voice of the Ellis novel.  Still… without Bale, there's no movie.  He is absolutely perfect as the blank face of evil.