The 8th annual edition of The Metropolis Times’s most popular feature is here!  We’ve got some new faces, and a bit of trivia – for the first year, three of the ten winners played Queen Amidala’s handmaidens in the Star Wars films.

This year I’m eschewing the traditional apology.  Rather than awkwardly attempting to justify this sort of list-making with feminist theory, I’ll just flat out admit it’s objectifying, claim irony, and demand that you be offended.  That’s a lot more than you got from Sucker Punch.

We countdown from 10th hottest to 1st hottest… you know, to add suspense as you scroll down.

10. Christy Lemire
At first it seemed easy to stereotype Lemire as the “fun one” on At the Movies, with Ignatiy Vishnevetsky reminding everyone to eat their veggies.  But Lemire more than holds her own, and often leaves Vishnevetsky sputtering.

“For even Zack Snyder, this is some nonsense.” 

9. Ellie Kemper
Kemper’s Erin is another example of a small, one-note role that expanded into a full role; one of the only ones left on The Office.  It’s all thanks to Kemper’s talent.

“Planking is one of those things where, hey, you either get it or you don’t. And I don’t, but I am excited to be a part of it!”

8. Aubrey Plaza
Parks and Recreation has developed into one of the best sitcoms on TV.  Plaza’s sarcastic character in particular would be the easiest to Flanderize.  But, Plaza’s just talented enough to keep that from happening.

“Horizons are dumb, never broaden your horizons.”

7. Maria Spiropulu
Spiropulu is an experimental physicist at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.  Morgan Freeman is better at explaining her work than I am.  It boils down to explaining what other dimensions probably look like.

“What we’re learning is that, at the very large scale or the very small scale, space and time are dynamic. What is happening at those scales, we cannot explain. So we have to wonder, do these scales hold some extra dimensions?” 

6. Hermione Granger
Emma Watson has dropped in and out of school more often than Harry Potter dropped out of Hogwarts.  Now, she’s all grown up, and Deathly Hallows Part 2 didn’t try to pretend otherwise.

“Good morning!”

5. Rose Byrne
Byrne has just missed the list for a few years, but she catapulted up the standings this year, with roles in Insidious, X-Men and of course, Bridesmaids, one of the best films of the year.

“Khob-kun-Ka, khob-kun-Ka.”

4. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
Princess Kate is using her position as style icon (and  as Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Philip Louis, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Stratheam, Baroness Carrickfegus) and to campaign for UNICEF and to fight world hunger.

“I will.”

3. Keira Knightley
2011 was a quiet year for Ms. Knightley, but she’s playing the titular role in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina in 2012.  Not a big Joe Wright fan, but I do like Tolstoy.

“Katharine Hepburn and Vivien Leigh are my heroes. Not because of their ability, but because of their perseverance.” 

2. Natalie Portman
Portman won her first Academy Award in 2011; a well-deserved honor for playing a psychotic ballerina in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.

“I just want to be perfect.”

1. Tina Fey

Portman got closer than anyone has so far to dethroning Ms. Fey.  But then I remembered that Tina Fey doesn’t just act – she also writes.  And produces it.  Bam.

“Usually everyone around here makes me feel like Hitler, but today I feel like… Hitler in Germany.”