One of my favorite categories -- after Supporting Actress, of course, and right ahead of Adapted Screenplay. And I have to commend both 2014 and 1971 for the strength of their lineup. Even if not everybody made it to my personal ballot, I still find the overall list to be well above-average. Both years.
Here's to the ladies who...
...go back and forth between determination and humiliation. They're capable, haunted, and don't want to have to beg and plead to maintain their existence.
(Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night / Glenda Jackson in Sunday Bloody Sunday)
...doggedly pursue a fresh start, as they sometimes face, sometimes escape their past. Too many strangers have seen them naked; they're getting their self-control, self-worth, and confidence back!
(Reese Witherspoon in Wild / Jane Fonda in Klute)
...live every moment with the threat of disease destroying their family, their household, and their legacy -- and refuse to let it defeat them.
(Julianne Moore in Still Alice / Janet Suzman in Nicholas and Alexandra)
...stick to their guns, even as the world around them gives them every reason and opportunity to abandon their cause. It's not about stubbornness; it's about love.
(Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything / Vanessa Redgrave in Mary, Queen of Scots)
...are in control of every situation, even if the man in their life thinks otherwise.
(Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl / Julie Christie in McCabe & Mrs. Miller)
More thoughts on the 70s gals, after the jump....
