I was reading The Film Experience the other day and I saw the Nathaniel ranked the Oscar nominations this past decade. Not one to let a list go unresponded to, I thought I’d lend my hand. Rather than take the time to rank all the performances, I decided to share the nominations that I consider Great and those that are the worst, cause it’s too crazy to rank 120 names.
Anyways here are what I think the best and worst Oscar nominated performances are this decade so far.
GREAT (from greatest to slightly less great)
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Jean DuJardin, The Artist
Viola Davis, The Help
Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Amy Adams, The Master
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Sally Field, Lincoln
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
WORST (from least worst to the worst of the worst)
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Jonah Hall, Moneyball
Laura Dern, Wild
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
HAVEN’T SEEN
Marion Cotillard, Two Days One Night
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyer’s Club
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
June Squibb, Nebraska
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyer’s Club
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game