Best Leading Actress 2014

5. Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night
I adore Marion Cotillard as an actress very much, but this is probably her most boring work in years. She is realistic, she handles all the emotions quite well. But it's just a copy of real life and that's it. She doesn't help the film from its deadliness. In fact I would nominate her, but for a a better work she gave in The Immigrant.

4. Reese Witherspoon - Wild
Reese Witherspoon was well cast in this role and she handles a difficult role very well. She has to carry the entire film on her shoulders and has got a good chamistry with her co-stars, as well as with the random people she meets during the hiking. Her voiceover is fitting for the film's purposes and her flashbacks are realistic. This is a performance I don't have many complaints to, just that she might be a bit forgettable (a long time period after watching the film you won't remember her, nor the film itself).

3. Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything

This is an unshowy part and she is technically just a facility to let the male lead shine. But Jones makes the most out of it. She is charming, likable, has a great chemistry with her colleagues and she gives a very heartbreaking portrayal of a suffering, but loving wife.

2. Julianne Moore - Still Alice
I won't complain about this Oscar win, even though it was a one for an overdue actress and the film was nothing more, than a vehicle to make her finally win. But Moore is wonderful in the film. The development of an Alzheimer disease is perfectly showed and weren't there for a few overacted moments, this would be a flawless performance.

1. Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl
What a performance! At the first sight it might seem conventional, but underneath it's a layered portrayl of a woman, who has got her needs and willings and weaknesses. She was so mesmerizing throughout the whole film, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She created a real human being and it's an extremely difficult character to pull of . She handles all the twists and secrets wonderfully and is able to bring humour into her portrayal.

My nominees:
1. Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl
2. Amy Adams - Big Eyes
3. Jessica Chastain - The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
4. Marion Cotillard - The Immigrant
5. Julianne Moore - Still Alice

Best Leading Actress 2014: Julianne Moore - Still Alice

Still Alice is a very fine film that made a strong impact on me. It shows how an disease can change you and according to my past health issues it touched me deeply. But I realize that as a film, it was not a special one. It's one of those films that are just as good, as their leading performance. Fortunately, Moore was really great.
This is a very difficult character to play. (Interesting thing is that both of this year's leading acting winners had very difficult thing to do, because they had to play disease, though both of them had a different issue to solve.) At the beginning of the film, Alice is relatively healthy. There are only some small circumstantial evidence about some starting disease. But at the end of the film we see Alice at an absolute breakdown, when her illness is controlling her absolutely. This change is very slow and it is not an easy thing to stay realistic in this reinvention. But Moore is so great that we are not even realizing the change. It is not that she would underplay it, but she really sensitively shows the little steps that the Alzheimer's disease is making. As an example of this change, the first scene of the film shows Alice lecturing. And then, later in the film, when the disease is advanced, she has a speech in front of other people affected by it. The difference is very big and Moore handles it quite great.
What I really adore about this performance is its authencity. Many scenes are very subtle, but Moore finds something interesting in them and transports it into her performance. For example the scenes at the doctor are simply fantastic. He asks her some questions and before she answers, we can absolutely see her thinking about it. What is also perfect about it is the way she tries to look as healthy, as possible. That is probably just the way everyone would react and Moore is perfect in showing this.
Disease as such would certainly affect your personal life. That's why it's very important to have chemistry with your co-stars. Her husband is played by Alec Baldwin and I must admit that I didn't like him very much. He was very bland in his role and I think he didn't really catch what would a man in his situation have to go through. But his chemistry with Moore is surprisingly very good. It might be because it's really difficult to not have chemistry with Julianne Moore. Also her chemistry with her children is very good, though the direction doesn't really focus on them, except from the one played by Kristen Stewart. It would be Stewart's chemistry with her siblings that I would have had complaints to, though she was really very good in her role, as well.
Though Moore was authentic most of the time, there are a few moments in which she overacts a bit. It's some kind of habit of Moore's that she always has a few scenes throughout her performance that are overacted. For example even her SAG clip was one of those moments. But that is really a negligible mistake and to me it's even sympathic...

Next Year: Best Leading Actress 2014

The Nominees:
Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore - Still Alice (predicted winner)
Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night
Reese Witherspoon - Wild
Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl

So, this year's nominees are announced now. We have a surprise (Cotillard) and some snubs (Aniston, Adams), but anyway. Who do you think will win? What are your predictions for my pick? What are your nominees and winner? Tell us in comment!