Best Performances from Oscar Nominees – Best Actress

2015 was a great year for actresses, and the nominees are a great mixture of newcomers and veterans.  Let’s have a look at the best performances from this year’s Best Actress Oscar nominees.

CATE BLANCHETT (Nominated for Carol)

BEST PERFORMANCE – I’M NOT THERE (2007)

• It could be argued that Cate Blanchett is the best actress working today.  Every performance she does is great.  No role is a stretch for Ms. Blanchett, making her one of the most diverse and prolific actresses we have.  The most impressive and mind blowing performance from Blanchett was when she played Bob Dylan in a Todd Haynes’ little seen I’m Not There.  You wouldn’t know it’s Blanchett if I didn’t tell you.  Her version of Bob Dylan in the film is by far the most fascinating, complete, and closest to the actual artist.  This performance is just incredible.

BRIE LARSON (Nominated for Room)

BEST PERFORMANCE – ROOM

• Larson, for only being 27, has been making her rounds in the film world for quite a while.  She’s never had a role that showed her full potential until Room.  She really grew up in this film, as a mother who must adjust her son and herself into the real world after they break away from being kidnapped for over seven years.  The maternal bond Larson has with her co-star, newcomer Jacob Tremblay, is perfect.  This is an emotional, powerful performance and one that will get Larson her first Oscar.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE (Nominated for Joy)

BEST PERFORMANCE – SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (2012)

• In the same year Lawrence became a box office sensation in The Hunger Games, she solidified herself as great actress in Silver Linings Playbook.  Lawrence is dynamite in David O. Russel’s masterful romantic comedy.  Playing the tortured Tiffany, Lawrence gives a fully realized performance as she tries to help Bradley Cooper’s Pat overcome his mental illness by just being his friend while also dealing with her own issues.  She’s funny, charming, sad, energetic, and has one of the funniest dance numbers I’ve ever seen in a movie.  I loved that Lawrence won her Oscar for this movie, as it was rightly earned.

CHARLOTTE RAMPLING (Nominated for 45 Years)

BEST PERFORMANCE – 45 YEARS 

• Charlotte Rampling has been making movies for over fifty years.  I am ashamed to admit that her role in 45 Years is the only performance of hers that I really remember.  I know she was in Never Let Me Go (2010) and Melancholia (2012), but the other performances in those films overshadowed hers.  However, her performance in 45 Years is a masterclass is subtlety.  She plays a wife who must keep it together when her husband’s ex-lover dies and he starts acting strange.  There isn’t a scene where she yells and goes wild.  It’s all about the restrain and that is what hooks the viewer.  I may not be very familiar Rampling’s filmography, but I doubt she’s ever been better.

SAOIRSE RONAN (Nominated for Brooklyn)

BEST PERFORMANCE – ATONEMENT (2007)

• She dazzled in this year’s Brooklyn and kicked ass in Hanna (2011), but her performance in Atonement is the role I will forever remember Saoirse Ronan for.  She has the most important role in the film, as the naive Briony accuses a man of a horrific crime that changes the course of their lives forever.  Ronan gives a chilling performance, and one that, in such a short amount of time, has a full character arc.  Starring in this film at just 13 years old, Ronan rightly earned an Oscar nomination for what is one of the best performances from a child of all-time.

What are your favorite performances from this year’s Best Actress nominees?  Comment below of hit me up on Twitter @kevflix.  And don’t forget to like Kevflix on Facebook by clicking right here.