We are getting to the big three awards now so lets kick these off with our ranking of the last 10 "Best Actress" Oscar winners. Why waste anymore time and lets jump right in shall we?:
10. Helen Mirren "The Queen" (2007)
Queens.....why do great actresses feel this need to play these boring, one-note parts? Fantasy queens sure i get that but historical ones? Not even an interesting one either here by Helen Mirren, at least in "Elizabeth" there was intrigue and actions scenes. "The Queen" revolves around the aftermath of Princess Diana's death and what response, if any, the British Royal Family would have. Sounds like a real barn burner doesn't it? Anyway last place for me in this category.
9. Kate Winslet "The Reader" (2009)
Again guilty of a mortal movie sin but i didn't see this movie so can't really speak to it. Moving on.....
8. Sandra Bullock "The Blind Side" (2010)
OK so this role is fun, Bullock is sassy and in your face as Leigh Tuohy, a tough Texas mom who, after seeing Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a friend of her son and a promising football prospect, walking shivering down the street offers him a place to stay. The movie is about the family making Michael one of their own and the struggle/triumph that leads to. Not your typical Oscar winning performance here as it seems it was given more for a mixture of hype/everyone loving Sandra Bullock then actual on screen work but Bullock is still very good here. Her "no nonsense" demeanor and sense of wanting to do whats right was believable and the movie itself is pretty good, in addition to a relatively light year of competition, was enough to take home the gold. Good for her.
7. Reese Witherspoon "Walk The Line" (2006)
Everyone just thinks about Joaquin Phoenix for this movie, and for good reason, but it was actually Reece Witherspoon as June Carter Cash who took home the Oscar for her performance. Doing all her own singing I'm sure helped but her portrayal as June, a highly successful/feisty yet vulnerable woman in love with a man who is on a path to self destruction is really very touching. She wants to help but at a certain point realizes she can't without herself being dragged down too, the conflict she feels since she is truly in love with Johnny Cash is really quite moving. Even more so when you see the chemistry the two have on stage early on and later once they're married. Witherspoon perfectly embodies the wholesome on stage and not entirely so off June Carter Cash and certainly earned her award.
6. Meryl Streep "The Iron Lady" (2012)
Meryl Streep as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher....almost seems a bit too on the nose but needless to say perfect casting. Streep perfectly embodies the legendary British political figure, or at least insofar as i know she does. She brings the toughness that begot the title of the film but is also able to show her humanity and softer side. Fully fleshing out a character who can seem one-note at times in history. Streep once again proving why she holds the record for most Academy Awards for women.
5. Jennifer Lawrence "Silver Linings Playbook" (2013)
The movie that started the award winning behemoth that is Jennifer Lawrence, or at least during awards season that is. Now i myself thought she was better in "Winters Bone" but that's not relevant here. What is relevant is how Lawrence took the world by storm with her performance as Tiffany, a young widow with depression and sex issues who forms a relationship with bi-polar Pat (Bradley Cooper). Lawrence is extremely charming and off center in the role. Her chemistry with Cooper is palpable and shows us why the two have worked together so often since then. Lawrence pulls off the damaged character flawlessly and you really feel the tragedy she's had and hows it lead her to who she is today.
4. Marion Cotillard "La Vie en Rose" (2008)
Biopics are usually the easiest route to an Oscar but when you can pull of the win in your first Hollywood movie, fend off one of strongest list of nominees in recent history ("Juno" Ellen Page, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" Cate Blanchett, "Away from her" Julie Christie, "Savages" Laura Linney) and do so in a movie that's about a 1930's French singer well then brother you know you've done something special. The film about the life of Edith Piaf is at the same time heartbreaking and inspiring. Seeing the tough life this woman led and how it all translated into her voice is fabulous. The way we can see all the hardship and loss turned into her music and how it eventually leads to her death, you simply can't look away. Cotillard loses herself in this performance and its easy to forget she's acting at all, a sign you've truly done something special. If you're usually wary of foreign movies just ignore that and go check this one out asap.
3. Cate Blanchett "Blue Jasmine" (2014)
This is not a happy movie everyone lets just get that out of the way, nut its packed with great performances lead by Cate Blanchett who is gives a tour DE force performance. Considered by many to be a take-off on "A streetcar named desire" Blanchett has the Blanche Dubois roll and plays it to perfection. Whether she's playing role as the high class, rich lady of Jasmine's past or the post nervous breakdown, muttering to herself Jasmine of later in the movie Blanchett makes you believe every second of it and shows why she's one of the top actresses in Hollywood today. You feel anger/disgust at Jasmine for the things she does and how it effects those around her but at the same time you pity her by the end when you see the ruin she becomes in the end. A hard switch to make but Blanchett pulls it off beautifully. Amazing performance
2. Natalie Portman "Black Swan"
We all knew Natalie Portman could act but i don't think anyone was expecting a performance like this. Portman play Nina, a ballerina and a member of the prestigious New York Ballet Company who is willing to give everything, including her sanity, in order to become "Prima Ballerina" and star in the company's newest production of "Swan Lake". She must prove to the company's new Director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassell) but also fend off a challenge from the young and sexy new member of the company Lily (Mila Kunis). Portman dives into Nina headfirst and simply disappears into it. Showing a girl who's hold on sanity slips further and further as the stress mounts closer to opening night in her quest for perfection. Portman puts on display the entire spectrum of emotions, from anger to joy, sadness to lust and does so flawlessly. We ourselves feel like we're losing our grip as things occur around Nina that are impossible and we're not sure we're seeing either. This is so much more then a movie about ballet, its a psychological thriller set in a ballet world and the way that "Swan Lake" is used as both the plot of the movie and the ballet to be performed in the movie is masterful. If you haven't seen "Black Swan" you're missing out on one of the great performances of all time. Go see it, Which brings us too.....
1. Julianne Moore "Still Alice" (2015)
My soul still hasn't recovered from this movie that's how effective it is. The story of a woman who is one of the top linguists in the world slowly falling prey to early onset Alzheimer's is going to stick with you long after you're done watching. Moore is transcendent as Alice, the mentioned linguist, who after having a few bouts of memory loss finds out she has irreversible Alzheimer's and the rest of the movie is us watching her fall prey to her disease. While initially confident she can manage the disease slowly but surely everything that makes her who she is is taken away from her, even her mind itself. She goes from a woman who is at the top of the academic world for languages to someone who can't more then grunt by the end. Words can't even describe how you feel watching this slow decline, it goes beyond sadness and crying and enters the souls crushing territory that lets you know you've had an experience. Seeing Moore not even being able to take her own life because she can't remember how is one of the most painful moments I've ever had watching a major motion picture. Tears just stop at a certain point as they no longer can express how you feel, simply magnificent. Julianne Moore gives one of the ALL-TIME great performances here and is easily the top performance by an Actress in the last 10 years.
Written by Jacob Maracle (https://twitter.com/TheDrizzle37)
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