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: Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night

Many people ask me, why I don't like European or indie films. The answer is very simple. They are too life-like. Why do people watch films, or go to the theatre? So that they can escape reality and watch the other people's problems and enjoy watching it. So what is the purpose in making films, in which we witness the storyline so real and the performance so realistic, that it really seems as if we were watching reality shows? I see that many people worship that, but I only get bored by it. That's why I usually avoid European and indie film, because most of them (I'm saying most, because definitely not all of them) are just too naturalistic.
Unfortunately, Two Day, One Night is exactly that kind of film. Authentic and extremely boring. This one is even so unbearable, that I had moments, when I thought I need to stop watching immediately and never continue again.
Marion Cotillard plays a young woman, who had some psychical issues and therefore she was forced to not go to work. Now she's feeling better and wants to start working again, but she found out the situation is not that easy. It's either her working again, or her colleagues don't get the money bonus. So she takes an utterly exciting trip all around the neighbourhood and tries to explain all of her co-workers, how much she really needs the job.
Cotillard is a great actress. Since her Oscar win for La Vie en Rose she has been snubbed many times. It's a pity she got nominated exactly for this performance, since it's far from her best work since 2007 and it's even further from her most interesting work.
I know, her peformance is technically flawless. And that's it. That is all I can write about this performance, because there is nothing more to it. She copied the real life and now we can see it. The thing is, we don't want to see it. I know it's not her fault and in terms of acting, there can really be no complaint said. But...you know...when I think of this performance, the first word that comes to my mind is not 'perfect', but 'boring'. And that is definitely wrong.
No, I wouldn't nominate this performance, not even by an accident. I think we have Harvey to blame here, because she gave a better (and more interesting performance) in The Immigrant, whose campaign was unaccountably low. In that film she not only gave a better performance, but she even played a better character. This is a strange thing that happens often at the Oscars. An actor has two great performances in one year and he gets nominated for the worse one (e,g. Sean Penn in 2003). But what can we do?
The chances of winning: In fact they are higher than I'd appreciate. She's probably the third. But it would not look good in history, if she won her second Oscar for this particular performance... 

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!