A Year In Advance Oscar Predictions 2014: Best Actress

My picks for Year in Advance Oscar Predications continue with a look at Best Actress. There are definitely some familiar faces on my list this year, with no less than 3 out of the 5 women that just competed in this category this past year. Is it too soon for them? Well, one of them is named Meryl Streep, so...And Oscar favorites Cate Blanchett and Amy Adams will be hard to ignore with these roles. Throw in an It girl about to have a busy year and an underrated actress set to potentially hit big with an anticipated adaption of a wildly popular book and you have the actresses that make up my early choices.

Best Actress

Amy Adams Big Eyes

Cate Blanchett Carol

Rosamund Pike Gone Girl

Emma Stone Untitled Cameron Crowe Film

Meryl Streep Into the Woods

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Amy Adams Big Eyes

The Role: Adams plays real-life artist Margaret Keane who created kitschy paintings of children with large eyes that became all the rage in the 1960's. The only problem was that her husband (Christoph Waltz) took all the credit for their creation and success. After their divorce, she sued him for plagiarism and the case made its way all the way to federal court where the two had  to compete in a live paint-off.

Why She'll Be Nominated: With 5 nominations and no win yet, Adams is rapidly approaching "overdue" territory. She just received her first nomination in this category for American Hustle where she was seen as the only viable option to dethrone Cate's inevitable victory, so it seems like we should start seeing a "Give Amy the Oscar" campaign happening very soon. Big Eyes is being directed by Tim Burton who is usually hit or miss with the Academy, but he's reunited with the writers of his biggest award winner, Ed Wood. The film is also being distributed by The Weinstein Company who will no doubt be heavily campaigning for Adams. Amazingly, all of Adams' previous nominations were for fictional characters. So perhaps the key to the win is this based-on-a-true-story tale.

Cate Blanchett Carol

The Role: The recent Best Actress winner plays Carol Aird, a wife and mother in 1950's New York City that starts a romantic and sexual relationship with a young shop girl named Therese (Rooney Mara). While in the midst of a divorce from her husband, Carol and Therese embark on a road trip out West.

Why She'll Be Nominated: Although she just won her second Oscar (out of a total 6 nominations) it's safe to say that the Academy likes her. They really like her. Maybe another nomination back-to-back is a little much, but the reason I think she'll land another so quickly is because of the pedigree of the film and the potential of the role. Blanchett is reteaming with her I'm Not There director Todd Haynes, a man that knows his way around a period piece, but more importantly knows his ladies. This is his first project since directing Kate Winslet to an Emmy win in Mildred Pierce and he's also adapting the film from Patricia Highsmith's novel The Price of Salt. The last time Cate appeared in a Highsmith adaptation we got her scene-stealing role in The Talented Mr. Ripley. With The Weinstein Company behind this one as well (Harvey won't stop until he gets credit for ALL the nominations!), my only hesitation in predicting this is that it starts filming this week in Ohio and may not be ready in time for the end of the year. 

Rosamund Pike Gone Girl

The Role: The British actress takes on the role of Amy Dunne, a former New Yorker that moves to her husband's home state of Missouri after he loses his job writing for a magazine. Amy despises her new life in Middle America and her marriage becomes strained with her husband (Ben Affleck). On the day of their 5th wedding anniversary, she goes missing...

Why She'll Be Nominated: Rosamund Pike has been steadily working for years in supporting parts of prestigious films where her costars get all the credit (Pride and Prejudice, An Education, Made in Dagenham). Hopefully with this film (she won the part over such big name stars as Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman, and Reese Witherspoon–who is a producer on the film), she will have the chance to have her profile elevated and stand out for her talent. It sure doesn't hurt that Gone Girl is based on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn (who adapted her work for the big screen and apparently drastically changed the ending). But the main potential to catch Oscar's attention is the involvement of director David Fincher at the helm. His past three movies (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo) have all scored acting nominations and with Amy being the most complex and juiciest part, it seems like a safe bet that Pike will be continuing that nomination streak.

Emma Stone Untitled Cameron Crowe Film

The Role: In a film that was at one point titled Deep Tiki (um, good thing we're still searching for a title), Stone stars in this Hawaiian set romantic dramedy as Air Force pilot Captain Allison Ng. She teams up with a disgraced US weapons consultant (Bradley Cooper) to oversee the launch of a spy satellite. 

Why She'll Be Nominated: 2014 is looking to be a busy year for Emma Stone. She has no less than 4 major films debuting this year, starting with the sure-to-be-huge sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man, the lead in Woody Allen's 1920's set Magic in the Moonlight (which could potentially help her awards traction), the first comedic film from Oscar nominated directer Alejandro Gonzaléz Iñárritu, Birdman, and this film, that could be her best shot at her first Oscar nomination, from Academy Award-winning writer/director Cameron Crowe. Crowe's most recent films haven't exactly fared well with Oscar the way his previous efforts have, but this film sounds more along the lines of Academy favorite Jerry Maguire and less like We Bought a Zoo. And for some reason, I'm getting a very Silver Linings Playbook vibe from it (maybe that's just because of the presence of Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper) and that film was loved by the Academy in a big way. The film also stars Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, and Alec Baldwin, but it seems like Stone, who is well-liked in the industry and seems poised for a nomination soon, especially as the object of affection in this adult rom-com, is the best bet for recognition. (Hey, it worked for Jennifer Lawrence.)

Meryl Streep Into the Woods

The Role: Careful the choices you make, Children will listen...to Meryl Streep as a signing witch that curses a Baker and his Wife to remain childless. She also just happens to have Rapunzel locked in a tower and is really just looking for the potion to turn her young and beautiful again (much like every actress in Hollywood). 

Why She'll Be Nominated: Eh, perhaps you didn't see the name? It's Meryl fucking Streep. She gets nominated for everything! (I know that's not technically true, but it's a pretty safe bet that if she's in something that's being released at the end of the year and even remotely Oscary–she's getting a nomination.) Director Rob Marshall brings this musical fairy tale to life adapted from the Stephen Sondheim Broadway show. Bernadette Peters, who played the Witch in the original production, didn't manage a Tony nomination (although Vanessa Williams did in the most recent Broadway revival), but the role is the show's flashiest and the Witch has all the best songs ("Last Midnight" and a new one written just for Meryl and the film). And perhaps you didn't notice that Meryl Streep will be playing the part? Plus she gets to play both haggard, old wench and glamorous diva in the same performance. So, should I put her down for double nominations for this role?

Other Possibilities: Jessica Chastain Miss Julie, Angelina Jolie Maleficent, Nicole Kidman Grace of Monaco, Carey Mulligan Far From the Maddening Crowd, Reese Witherspoon Wild