- Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)
- Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)
- Julianne Moore (Still Alive)
- Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
- Reese Witherspoon (Wild)
WHO SHOULD BE HERE: Jenny Slate (Obvious Child)
Recently I wrote an article about how Oscar nominated female performances come from bad movies. We shouldn't need to watch bad movies in order to see a great female performance. Obvious Child is the perfect example of a film that is not only enjoyable to watch, but also has an Oscar-worthy performance by stand-up comedienne Jenny Slate. While Slate's Donna Stern is an up-and-coming stand-up comedian and therefore isn't melodramatic or serious all of the time (although Slate does give a good cry when the script needs her to), this is the type of performance that anyone can relate to. It's the sort of nuance performance that seldom gets recognized, but is the performance The Academy really should be praising. Even better, those who watch Obvious Child "just to watch Slate's performance" will be treated with a lovely Indie date night flick.
THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS ON THE NOMINATIONS:
JULIANNE MOORE (STILL ALICE): Julianne Moore deserves an Oscar both for her work in Still Alice as well as for her 25+ year career. I know in theory you're supposed to just solely view the performance as it is and give awards based upon that (although you can make the argument that Moore gives the best acting performance of the year); however, I don't want to live in a world where Julianne Moore doesn't have an Academy Award. From Boogie Nights and Short Cuts to Don Jon and The Kids Are Alright, Moore has shown us what a phenomenal actress she truly is. In Still Alice, Moore plays a linguistics professor who suffers from early onset Alzheimer's Disease, and if you've ever loved someone with this horrible disease, you know what an incredible, incredible job Moore did in the film.
Click here for my full review of Still Alice
REESE WITHERSPOON (WILD): On one hand, I respect the hell out of what Reese Witherspoon is doing and I would much rather she keep doing interesting projects like Wild than dumb rom-coms like This Means War and How Do You Know?. However, on the other hand, I want her to actually *do* interesting projects as Wild was one of the most boring films I've seen in 2014. Wild feels like a movie meant to get her an Oscar nomination versus Reese being in pursuit of making a good movie. I strongly dislike any films made just to win Oscars. Filmmakers and producers like what Witherspoon is starting to do should just set out to make a good movie, and if it truly is good, the awards will follow. What's even worse, I thought Witherspoon was just okay in the film.
Click here for my full review of Wild
ROSAMUND PIKE (GONE GIRL): Even since critics saw Gone Girl Rosamund Pike has been receiving Oscar buzz, and for the longest time I didn't get it. Maybe some of it had to do with my disdain for writer Gillian Flynn and how she wrote this terrible, bonkers character and maybe some of it had to do with the inner cynic in me. But then I read an article about how producer Reese Witherspoon was set to play this role, and then I realized very few actresses could have done what Pike did and still made Gone Girl what it was. Not only did Witherspoon make the right decision by stepping down, but I can't imagine many others pulling off this role as successfully as Pike did. If you liked Gone Girl like how most of America did, then you need to give Rosamund Pike an Oscar nomination.
Click here for my full review of Gone Girl
MARION COTILLARD (TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT): I haven't seen Two Days, One Night and I'd imagine that everyone who Tweeted that Jennifer Aniston was snubbed for her performance in Cake thanks to Cotillard hadn't seen Aniston's film. Frankly, those same people probably hadn't seen Two Days, One Night either. I know many people expected Aniston to get the "fifth nomination slot" because she earned a Golden Globe and a SAG nomination for her work, but I wonder how many voters of even those nominating bodies had seen Two Days, One Night?. Truthfully, even if for some reason Cotillard does this win award, I'll never see the French film, but from what I've been hearing from those people who have seen both Cake and Two Days, One Night, Cotillard gave the better performance, Plus, in 2015, is there any doubt that Marion Cotillard is a better actress than Jennifer Aniston?
FELICITY JONES (THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING): There are many, many, many things that I hated about The Theory of Everything, but Felicity Jones' performance was not one of them. Frankly, I think Jones' acting blew Eddie Redmayne's out of the water. Jones brought such warmth and compassion to a thankless role and she made you care for this character whereas Eddie Redymane just acted like he had a disability.
Click here for my full review of The Theory of Everything
IF I HAD AN OSCAR VOTE:
- Anne Hathaway (Interstellar)
- Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
- Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
- Jenny Slate (Obvious Child)
- Shailene Woodley (The Fault In Our Stars)
WHO SHOULD WIN (ENTIRE ELIGIBLE FIELD): Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
WHO SHOULD WIN (ACTUAL NOMINEES): Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
WHO WILL WIN: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS YEAR'S BEST ACTRESS NOMINEES? DID YOU EVEN BOTHER TO SEE FILMS LIKE WILD OR STILL ALICE? LET US KNOW ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE!
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