One Category at a Time: Actress

For those of us who absorb movies and writing thereof on a year-round basis, one of the defining stories of 2015 has to be how many of the year's best pictures were female-centric stories. It's fitting then, that in a (sadly) uncharacteristic role reversal, the category of Best Actress is far more competitive than that of Best Actor, which is comparatively lackluster. But even with a wealth of quality (which mirrors my own personal ballot quite closely), there's one name that has emerged as the bona fide frontrunner.

My Award Nominations: Actress

No dearth of quality options to choose from, as the women's category was way more competitive than the men's for a change of pace. So competitive, in fact, that a couple of legit contenders saw their campaigns sneakily shuffled to the supporting category for lack of room in this one. You'll see no such fraudulence from me, but it forced me to make some heartbreaking omissions. My Best Actress selections are:

Thoughts on Brooklyn

The film is quite lovely. It's not quite so ravishing or melodramatic as to make one swoon, but I kinda like that about it. It's simply a classically told, beautifully made romance filled with sincere, expressive performances. Saoirse Ronan's star turn as a timid immigrant turned savvy woman about town should have no problem finding awards love this season, but here's hoping the treasure that is Julie Walters doesn't go entirely forgotten. She's absolutely dandy as an ornery boardinghouse matron, and leaves a more lasting impression than her relatively little screen time would suggest. This is the sort of role that aught to be recognized in Supporting Actress nominations (not co-leading ladies posing as supporting players to avoid internal competition).

The whole thing -- nicely directed by John Crowley -- flows very gracefully. Nick Hornby has a way of distilling the spirit of his source text and channeling it into succinct, visually astute scenes. After having been passed over for what was last year's finest adapted screenplay, here's hoping the writers branch of the Academy can atone.

Early Oscar Predictions: The Actresses

The annual complaint about Best Actress being a less competitive field than that of their male counterparts is perhaps more believable at this early predictive stage when scoping out potential contenders – It's no less false, it's just that the great, underrated female performances of the year haven't even been seen yet. Still, you don't have to look far to find a whole bunch of leading ladies that show a lot of promise for their upcoming films.