It's easy for Amy Adams to get overshadowed by the tornado that is Christoph Waltz in Big Eyes, but she gives a very empowering performance.  She starts the film out as a very meek women content with taking a backseat to her husband as he claims credit for her artwork.  As the film progresses, Adams' character begins standing up for herself.  It's a very powerful message especially during a time when women were often treated like second class citizens.  Adams is one of the more reliable actresses working today and while her performance isn't as strong as some of her past films like The Fighter or American Hustle, it shouldn't be overlooked.

I've seen Essie Davis in a lot of films dating all the way back to the Matrix sequels, but I've never really taken notice of her name.  You can imagine my surprise once I saw how great she was in The Babadook.  Davis' performance might be the strongest lead performance of the year for me.  Since the Academy rarely honors horror films, Davis was unfortunately left out of the list of nominees. That's a real shame because she is simply amazing as a frazzled single mother at her wits' end trying to balance a job she hates and a problem child.  Oh, then there's the book that may or may not have brought a demon into their house.  Like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, Davis' portrayal is terrifying as a woman that is slowly unraveling.

Prior to seeing The Theory of Everything, I wasn't familiar with Felicity Jones in the slightest.  Eddie Redmayne is getting most of the attention for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking, but it might just be Jones' performance that impressed me the most once the credits rolled. She really does carry most of the film once Hawking gets sick and loses his ability to talk.  As Hawking's wife Jane and primary caretaker, she shows the kinds of tolls that can have on a marriage and one's life.  Jones exhibits a side of the woman that is really powerful.  She has this inner strength that wasn't going to let her husband give up. If it wasn't for Jane's unflinching devotion, Hawking wouldn't be alive today.

You're not going to find any spoilers here, so I won't be going into a ton of detail on Pike's performance.  Just see the film and decide for yourself.  Trust me though, it's mesmerizing. Rosamund Pike's portrayal of Amy Dunne is one of those performances that I can't imagine anyone else playing.  I'm not sure why Gone Girl was left out of most of the Oscar nominations, but Pike was a guaranteed nomination as soon as the film came out.  At least the Academy couldn't screw that up.

Shailene Woodley has turned in some very good performances in her short career.  She first got Hollywood's attention in The Descendants and then was solid as the girl-next-door in The Spectacular Now.  This year she gives a heart-breaking performance as a teenager dying of cancer in The Fault in Our Stars, a film based on the young adult hit novel.  It's unfortunate that Woodley is more well known for playing the lead character in the Divergent series, an action franchise that hardly lets her show what a great actress she is.  Regardless of the mediocre Divergent franchise, Woodley is destined to have a great career.  She has a down-to-Earth quality to her that makes her easy to relate to.  I know many will be turned off by the plot of Fault in Our Stars, but it's worth seeing for Woodley's performance alone.