Best Female Performances of 2014

In this double feature, I will be counting down the best acting performances given by both male and female actors. They are separated by gender, because I really struggled to put a great male performance up against a great female performance and call it. So I have split them, and below you will find the top ten performances given by actresses, with an honorable mention.

This is all leading up to my Top Movies of 2014, which will be published in the days to come.

HONORABLE MENTION:  Meryl Streep- The Witch- Into the Woods

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Meryl Streep can do no wrong, and that's been proved time and time again. From the moment her name was attached to Into the Woods, the Oscar rumors began circulating. As you may remember, I did not like the movie. I thought it lacked a message, but I felt that the Witch had everything the movie needed. She had the inner struggle, she had the comedy, she had the great music numbers. She was the most memorable and compelling character in the film. Few deny she has serious acting talent, but it takes skill to escape a mediocre movie's pull and come out with a great performance.

Quote: "Stay a child while you can be a child."

#10. Scarlett Johansson- Lucy- Lucy

Lucy was actually the first movie I reviewed. Woman gets implanted with a drug, and she can use 100% of her brain. It's a wild head-trip of a movie, but one that deserves a lot of praise for its execution. It plays by its own rules. I could've given it to her for really enhancing her Black Widow role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But this is her highlight in my opinion. It solidifies her ability to drive a movie. It's definitely a straight-up action role, but her performance is able to stay grounded while her character is going all over the place.

Quote: "Ignorance bring chaos, not knowledge"

#9. Rene Russo- Nina Romina- Nightcrawler

I'm not going to lie. I had no idea who Rene Russo was going into Nightcrawler. I left the film thinking: "Who was that?!" I was informed that this was Rene Russo, and she was a big action star in the 80s in movies like Lethal Weapon. But she'd disappeared from the spotlight. Well, she's back. As Nina, she plays the corrupt TV executive that fuels the lead character's criminal acts, and it's all to get her the best headline and pay. She's scheming, and an intriguing character who thinks she is good, but is actually quite nasty and horrible. It's definitely a criticism of the entertainment system.

Quote: "Think of our newscast as a screaming woman, running down the street with her throat cut."

#8: Sienna Miller- Taya Kyle- American Sniper

I'm right there with everyone when it comes to American Sniper love. I thought the movie was fantastic, and I applaud Bradley Cooper's performance. But where's the attention for Sienna Miller? She was just as good as he was! Her role was equally as complex, and maybe even harder, as she could have come off as a stereotype or an unlikable character (think of the wife from Breaking Bad). Yet she's the one you sympathize with. I think Miller does a phenomenal job as Taya Kyle, and brings something to every single scene she's in. Without Sienna Miller, it'd be a very different movie.

Quote: "If you think that this war isn't changing you you're wrong. You can only circle the flames so long."


#7. Shailene Woodley- Hazel Grace Lancaster- The Fault in Our Stars

Shailene Woodley starred in not one, but two YA fiction adaptations. She played Tris Prior in Divergent, and Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars. But it's the latter that made the resounding impact with viewers. As Hazel, she plays a teenager losing her battle with terminal cancer. While at first negative, her romance with another teen affected by the disease shows her how important she and her life are. It's the role that could be done wrong very easily. Luckily, Woodley does everything right, and then some. She'll likely make you tear up, if not downright bawl in this heartbreaking turn.

Quote: "You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and for that, I am eternally grateful."

#6. Felicity Jones- Jane Hawking- The Theory of Everything

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
Felicity Jones has a huge accomplishment with her role in The Theory of Everything. She plays the wife of Stephen Hawking, and her role is someone who could easily be a hated character. The film tackles a very tough subject of divorce, but Jones' performance as Jane Hawking is what really respectfully pulls it off. She gives such a subtle and tender performance, that you can't hate her, because she is able to give her reasons why she and Stephen will not work out. And when you think about it, that's easier said than done. Alongside Eddie Redmayne, who's giving a powerhouse performance, she's able to stand her ground and make the same impact with her character.

Quote: I have loved you. I can make this work. But I will no longer. I'm truly sorry for this inconvenience."

#5. Keira Knightley- Joan Clarke- The Imitation Game

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Keira Knightley is such a good actress. I've probably seen her in only a handful of movies, but I've still been able to classify her as simply incredible with all of her work. My personal favorite performance of hers is in Atonement, but she does not disappoint here, where she plays Joan Clarke, the brilliant mathematician working in Bletchley Park to crack the Enigma code. In the start of the movie, I didn't get the hype around her performance, but I left the theater in awe of what I just saw. She's subtle, but not subtle in the same way. A nuanced but showy performance that's incredible.

Quote: "You wish you were normal? The world is an infinitely better place precisely because you weren't born normal."

#4. Reese Witherspoon- Cheryl Strayed- Wild

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
Reese Witherspoon is an actress who is almost all of the time a standout in every movie she touches. Wild is no exception, and here, she's the star of the show. In this true story based on the memoir, she plays a woman struck with huge tragedy, who hikes 1,000 miles to escape her life, find closure, and redeem herself. It's an incredibly heartbreaking premise, but Witherspoon brings just enough hope to her role to keep spirits alive, and make it a very compelling movie. You'll laugh at her, you might cry with her, but you'll ultimately leave the movie feeling like she taught you something about life.

Quote: "How wild it was to let it be."

#3. Emma Stone- Sam Thomson- Birdman

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
I've always been a fan of Emma Stone. From Easy A, to The Help, and even her outings as Gwen Stacy in the Spider-Man movies, I've loved her work. I've been waiting for her to get her big movie, one that she can steal the show and earn the respect she deserves. I'm happy to say in Birdman, she does that and SO much more. She plays the drug addict daughter of a fading movie star, and she's as foul-mouthed and short-tempered as they come. While she comes off as rude and unattractive to most everyone she meets, you can see the struggle she has, and Stone conveys this sometimes through just facial expressions. It's a complex role, and she gives one heck of a speech in the first half of the film.

Quote: "You're scared to death, like the rest of us, that you don't matter. And you know what? You don't. Get used to it."

#2. Rosamund Pike- Amy Dunne- Gone Girl

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
There are three sides to the story in Gone Girl. His, Hers, and the Truth. And Amy's story is very different from her husbands. Who's the true crazy person in their relationship? Pike is able to portray a wife and woman who denies all stereotypes, and instead makes her own twisted ones. She's able to nail every single scene, and no matter how shocking or disturbing, your eyes are glued to her. Her "Cool Girl" monologue is the stuff of infamy now. She lost weight, she gained weight, she transformed her mind and body to play this very complicated character, and she deserves to be rewarded. She's the one who sells the Nick and Amy story, and she's the one who sold the tickets too.

Quote: "You think you'd be happy with a nice Midwestern girl? No way, baby! I'm it"

#1. Patricia Arquette- Mom- Boyhood

NOMINEE: ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Boyhood is a movie that the cast had to commit to. A week every year, for 12 years, to tell this incredible story of a boy growing up. It's almost as much about parenthood though, as it is about boyhood. Arquette plays the mother, who struggles to navigate a tough divorce and keep her children happy. You see her struggle with her kids, with her ex, and with herself to try and find a place for her children when she doesn't even know where she will end up. With two more failed marriages with abusive husbands, she doesn't even know what will happen when her son leaves for college. She's grown up with him, and while he knows what he's going to do, she doesn't. It's the deep kind of role that the whole movie gravitates around. She's won a Golden Globe, and she deserves an Oscar.

Quote: "I just thought there would be more. More than this, and more to me. And here I am, alone."