If I Had A Ballot: My Academy Award Nominees (Acting)

I will never understand how the driving topic of the past year was how weak of a year it was for actresses. There must've been a thousand think pieces published by dozens of outlets on how embarrassingly dry the respective actress categories were as opposed to the men's.

But I would argue, that this was a marvelous year for actresses, that is, if you were able to look past Oscar's own playing field, which leaves little to be desired for what they determine to be Oscar-worthy roles/performances. Once you open your surroundings, you'll find a wealthy field of contenders, each with a more interesting, complex turn than the last. I think it's fair to say that the industry failed women, not so much Hollywood.

This year, we watched Scarlett Johansson as a silent alien seductress, Jennifer Aniston as a pill popping, chronic pain victim suffering from depression, Anna Kendrick as a modern and complex princess Cinderella, and Reese Witherspoon traveling the P.C.T. finding her long-reported missing inner leading lady along the way. And that's only scratching the surface of what women did this year, I did't even mention Rosamund Pike's unforgettable Amazing Amy, or Meryl Streep's incomparable Witch.

And despite that male-centric Best Picture field, there were also deeply moving, enjoyable projects either made by a woman, or told women's stories. An honest, refreshing look into abortion ("Obvious Child"), a critique of the music industry and the selling of sex and the 'female pop star' ("Beyond the Lights"), a period piece starring a woman of color in the title role ("Belle")... the list goes on.

Not to say that it wasn't a great year for the boys, because who will be able to look back and not remember Michael Keaton in "Birdman" or David Oyelowo in "Selma"? Two of the greatest performances in recent history that will most definitely be discussed and studied for years to come. But a lot of the celebrated turns by men this year, I found, to land pretty flat. I loved Eddie Redmayne in "Les Miserables" as much as everyone else, and sure, his transformation into Stephen Hawking was brilliant... but it left him little to no room to actually turn in a performance.

But I digress, I've procrastinated long enough. My choices in the acting contenders are:

If I Had A Ballot: My Academy Award Nominees (Acting)

It's always disappointing during Oscar season to root for a contender all year, only to find they've been ignored, in favor of a flashier, less impressive contender. It happens every single year... 2011's Best Actress snub of Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia and Charlize Theron in Young Adult still stings a little too much... Alas, that's the fun in creating your own ballot; you get to include your favorite performances, maybe some that didn't make it in the real awards race.

Admittedly, I started this back in December and have revised it at least 5 times (too many performances to choose from!) It's been a very good year despite some of Oscar's less inspired choices, which tended to be drawn from the Best Picture nominees only (with some exceptions, but still should not have ultimately been in their respective lineups) or from Oscar's own favorite pool (Streep? Did she really need another nomination in the year of Adele Exarchopoulos?)

In any event, while the Academy tends to select their favorites, I consider a wider pool of nominees from films the Academy think they're too good to watch, though we do tend to overlap in some cases (in such a rich year, it's hard to ignore the truly great performances). 

So, without further adieu, I give you my Acting Ballot!!