2010s: Best and Worst Best Actress Nominees

BEST:
1. Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
2. Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
3. Sandra Bullock, Gravity
4. Naomi Watts, The Impossible
5. Ruth Negga, Loving

WORST:
1. Amy Adams, American Hustle
2. Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
3. Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
4. Natalie Portman, Black Swan
5. Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

I can honestly say this, although I have a few left to see, there isn't a single nominated performance in this category that i have seen thusfar that I would consider bad, so I am absatining from worst.

Best:
1. Saoirse Ronan/Brooklyn
2. Charlotte Rampling/45 Years
3. Natalie Portman/Jackie
4. Viola Davis/The Help
5. Judi Dench/Philomena

Best
1. Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
2. Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
3. Jennifer Lawrence, The Silver Linings Playbook
4. Annette Bening, The Kids are All Right
5. Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Worst
5. Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
4. Amy Adams, American Hustle
3. Sandra Bullock, Gravity (90 minutes of heavy breathing = / = a good performance)
2. Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
1. Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl (easily the most unlikable of the bunch)

Best-

Natalie Portman- Black Swan
Saoirse Ronan- Brooklyn
Brie Larson- Room
Jennifer Lawrence- Winter's Bone
Michelle Williams- My Week With Marilyn

Worst-

Sandra Bullock- Gravity
Cate Blanchett- Carol
Jennifer Lawrence- Joy
Emma Stone- La La Land
Amy Adams- American Hustle

Best
1. Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook
2. Jessica Chastain- Zero Dark Thirty
3. Rosamund Pike- Gone Girl
4. Viola Davis- The Help
5. Emma Stone- La La Land

Once again, not going to do worst.

Best:


1. Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Cate, the Great, at her best, echoing Vivien Leigh in Streetcar and doing wonders with a character that, if played by another actress, could come off as extremely unlikable. 
2. Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
One of the most chilling and fascinating portraits of female psychopathy of all time. Deserves to be side by side with Bates in Misery, Close in Fatal Attraction, and a few others.

3. Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Overall, I think this is a very underrated performance. Lawrence has a great showcase of her acting abilities here: she's funny, over-the-top, vulnerable and heartbreaking. Her great charisma and magnetic screen presence proved her to be a great choice for this role. 
4. Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Huppert dominates the screen in every second, and it's impossible to take your eyes out of her. She's strong, sexy, intriguing, a fascinating character-study. In some scenes, she reminded me of Bette Davis in All About Eve.

5. Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
She carries the film entirely on her shoulders, and delivers a very strong performance. Her character becomes less likable in the second half of the film, but Ronan illustrates her internal conflict perfectly.

Worst:


1. Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
It's not that she's bad. The thing is, more often than not she potrays this woman as a caricature, making her one-dimensional.
2. Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Having read the book, I think Noomi Rapace came closer to the way how I pictured Lisbeth Salander.

3. Brie Larson, Room
The indie version of Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side, as someone said in this forum.
4. Julianne Moore, Still Alice
I love Moore, but it's so difficult to watch her in this. She's good, but it's not an Oscar-worthy (maybe not even nomination worthy) performance.
5. Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
It's very difficult to play someone as beautiful and complex as Marilyn Monroe, and Williams is far from being bad. I have seen a good share of Monroe films and read a lot about her, and I have to say, in some scenes I thought I was seeing the real Marilyn. Her performance ends up being hurt by the lack of a good script and a solid character development.