This or That?: Performances of 2010's

Ryan Gosling: Drive
Willem Dafoe: At Eternity's Gate
Joaquin Phoenix: You Were Never Really Here
Saoirse Ronan: Lady Bird
Bradley Cooper: American Sniper
Laura Dern: Twin Peaks: The Return
Emma Stone: The Favourite
Naomi Watts: Twin Peaks: The Return
Jake Gyllenhaal: Prisoners
Leonardo DiCaprio: The Revenant
Margot Robbie: I, Tonya
Scarlett Johansson: Under the Skin
Nicole Kidman: Lion

Ryan Gosling: Blue Valentine or Drive - no contest, BV is his best one so far
Willem Dafoe: The Florida Project or At Eternity's Gate - excellent in both but there's just more for him in the latter
Joaquin Phoenix: Inherent Vice or You Were Never Really Here - two awesome ones but I turn to the more comedic one here
Saoirse Ronan: Lady Bird or Little Women - amazing turns but her Jo is just awe-inspiring
Bradley Cooper: A Star is Born or American Sniper - good in both, more to do in the former
Laura Dern: Wild or Twin Peaks: The Return - lol, no contest
Emma Stone: The Favorite or La La Land - two great performances, toughest choice here
Naomi Watts: Birdman or Twin Peaks: The Return - e a s i l y
Jake Gyllenhaal: Prisoners or Enemy or Stronger - meh in Enemy, very strong in Stronger but his best one thus far is Prisoners
Leonardo DiCaprio: Shutter Island or The Revenant - appreciate both but the latter is more reserved and yet more powerful
Margot Robbie: Bombshell or I, Tonya - both are fine, not too special though, but Tonya gives her more to do
Scarlett Johansson: Marriage Story or Under the Skin - I don't think her performance in Under the Skin is all that...it's mostly blank face
Nicole Kidman: Lion or The Killing of A Sacred Deer - neither are that interesting but Lion is just boring

Ryan Gosling: Blue Valentine or Drive
Willem Dafoe: The Florida Project or At Eternity's Gate N/A
Joaquin Phoenix: Inherent Vice or You Were Never Really Here
Saoirse Ronan: Lady Bird or Little Women
Bradley Cooper: A Star is Born or American Sniper
Laura Dern: Wild or Twin Peaks: The Retun N/A
Emma Stone: The Favorite or La La Land
Naomi Watts: Birdman or Twin Peaks: The Return N/A
Jake Gyllenhaal: Prisoners or Enemy or Stronger
Leonardo DiCaprio: Shutter Island or The Revenant
Margot Robbie: Bombshell or I, Tonya
Scarlett Johansson: Marriage Story or Under the Skin
Nicole Kidman: Lion or The Killing of A Sacred Deer N/A

These aren't all supposed to be their two best performances of the decade, right? They are very interesting matchups and some really tough calls.

Ryan Gosling: Blue Valentine or Drive - easily his best

Joaquin Phoenix: Inherent Vice or You Were Never Really Here - two of his lesser films to me, but he was fun in IV in an out of type role

Saoirse Ronan: Lady Bird or Little Women - I just preferred Lady Bird overall, but she was great in both so this could go either way

Emma Stone: The Favorite or La La Land - Two incredible and very different performances, so this is really tough, but I'm going to go with La La Land because she fits the role like a glove, whereas The Favourite is a real 'performance' performance, if that makes sense

Jake Gyllenhaal: Prisoners or Enemy or Stronger - My least favorite film of the three, but also the one that gives Jake the most to do

Leonardo DiCaprio: Shutter Island or The Revenant - I honestly don't think he really sold it in The Revenant, especially next to Tom Hardy because he was too miscast. Shutter Island is underrated IMO, even if it's sort of melodramatic/campy, it nails what it's going for, and DiCaprio is on an electric roller coaster

Margot Robbie: Bombshell or I, Tonya - This is tough, I give her the win for Bombshell but she's still sort of iconic to me in I, Tonya. In both roles she makes pretty yucky characters incredibly likable. Going with Bombshell because she made me cry

Scarlett Johansson: Marriage Story or Under the Skin - Her role in UTS is inherently limiting while in MS her character was naturally much more human

Nicole Kidman: Lion or The Killing of A Sacred Deer - Similar to above, TKASD doesn't give Kidman room to show her stuff as Lanthimos' style is inhibiting to actors, even though overall it's a much better film than Lion

Ryan Gosling: Blue Valentine. Drive is a piece of shit.
Willem Dafoe: NS At Eternity's Gate.
Joaquin Phoenix: Inherent Vice. Why aren't his superior work (The Master and Her) options?
Saoirse Ronan: Lady Bird, though I don't like either of them. Brooklyn is her best by far.
Bradley Cooper: NS American Sniper.
Laura Dern: NS The Return.
Emma Stone: The Favourite, though she was good in LLL too.
Naomi Watts: NS The Return.
Jake Gyllenhaal: Never seen any of these three.
Leonardo DiCaprio: The Revenant. Shutter Island is a piece of shit.
Margot Robbie: I, Tonya
Scarlett Johansson: Under the Skin
Nicole Kidman: NS Killing of a Sacred Deer.

Ryan Gosling: Blue Valentine or Drive. Never looking in catatonic state was this hypnotic, one of his best
Willem Dafoe: The Florida Project or At Eternity's Gate. To me this is the ultimate on screen Van Gogh 
Joaquin Phoenix: Inherent Vice or You Were Never Really Here. I like loose Phoenix a lot
Saoirse Ronan: Lady Bird or Little Women. not particularly impressed by them though
Bradley Cooper: A Star is Born or American Sniper. Not sure how that accent is gonna look in retrospect
Laura Dern: Wild or Twin Peaks: The Retun. Hands down
Emma Stone: The Favorite or La La Land. Hands down. 
Naomi Watts: Birdman or Twin Peaks: The Return. Not among my favourite performanes from her this decade tbh
Jake Gyllenhaal: Prisoners or Enemy or Stronger. Yeah, even over his looney from the same year
Leonardo DiCaprio: Shutter Island or The Revenant. if this were a survivor episode, I'll pick the other one
Margot Robbie: Bombshell or I, Tonya. Hands down. 
Scarlett Johansson: Marriage Story or Under the Skin. Both are great
Nicole Kidman: Lion or The Killing of A Sacred Deer. Sentimental Kidman is poison to me.

Ryan Gosling: Blue Valentine or Drive
Willem Dafoe: The Florida Project or At Eternity's Gate (nearly tied) 
Joaquin Phoenix: Inherent Vice or You Were Never Really Here 
Saoirse Ronan: Lady Bird or Little Women
Bradley Cooper: A Star is Born or American Sniper
Laura Dern: Wild or Twin Peaks: The Retun
Emma Stone: The Favorite or La La Land
Naomi Watts: Birdman or Twin Peaks: The Return
Jake Gyllenhaal: Prisoners or Enemy or Stronger
Leonardo DiCaprio: Shutter Island or The Revenant
Margot Robbie: Bombshell or I, Tonya
Scarlett Johansson: Marriage Story or Under the Skin
Nicole Kidman: Lion or The Killing of A Sacred Deer