Top 10 Supporting Actress of 2014

Time to continue where I left off with Supporting Actresses!

1

Patricia Arquette as Olivia Evans

Boyhood

As much as I am a fan of flashy performances, I'm also a huge fan of subtle yet authentic ones and that's how I would describe Patricia Arquette's performance in Boyhood. It's a real character associated with natural acting and the result? Poignant and amazing.


2
Jessica Chastain as Anna Morales
A Most Violent Year

Jessica Chastain continues to surprise as years goes by. After watching A Most Violent Year, Celia Foote is definitely not the most fun Chastain character anymore. Her turn in this film is such a joy to watch from beginning to end. The wig works for her!


3
Tilda Swinton as Minister Mason
Snowpiercer

Speaking of fun, here's Tilda Swinton as my 3rd favorite performance by a an actress in a supporting role. Snowpiercer is Tilda and this is what I'm talking about in my Arquette writeup that I equally love flashy character performances. Swinton managed to make a despicable villain an adorable one.


4
Keira Knightley as Joan Clark
The Imitation Game

Never a fan of Keira until last year when I watched Begin Again.A few months later I watched The Imitation Game and I think it sealed my love for her. Her accent is so likable, and she made what could be a boring character an enjoyable one.


5
Uma Thurman as Mrs. H
Nymphomaniac

Just watch Nymphomaniac and see for yourself. I mean look at that pic! It's such a crime that she was snubbed by almost every awards guild. I mean...

6
Naomi Watts as Lesley
Birdman

Birdman has a lot of great performances and as for the supporting actresses, in my opinion, Naomi Watts should have been nominated instead of Emma Stone.


7
Rene Russo as Nina Romina
Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhaal's performance wouldn't be as fun and effective if not for Rene Russo's character. Her character, even if she's supposed to be strong, was juxtaposed by her ignorance and Russo captured all of it. Her chemistry with Gyllenhaal is amazing to watch.


8
Meryl Streep as The Witch
Into the Woods

I thought Meryl did a great job as the witch in the movie. It's far from being her best but greatness is always expected and she delivered.


9
Adriana Barraza as Silvana
Cake

Isn't it funny that her name is Silvana in a movie called Cake? alol. Anyway, I thought she was nothing special in most of her appearance in the film until that one scene happened, and voila, she's in this list.

10

Jessica Chastain as Murphy

Interstellar

Jessica Chastain's 2nd sighting in this ranking. She's got a great year but none of her performances got nods in the Oscars. I thought she's one of the best things in Interstellar, both her character and her acting. 

Interstellar

Director: Christopher Nolan

With: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Bill Irwin, Mackenzie Foy, David Gyasi, Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace 

I became a fan of Nolan after watching The Dark Knight and Inception, those two films are up there in my favorite movies chart. I even defended The Dark Knight Rises despite its imperfections. In Interstellar, it's official, I want to have Nolan's brain in a jar along with Darren Aronofsky's and Woody Allen's. Not that I am jumping up and down about it, in fact, it's only during the third act when I started to truly appreciate the film. But the first two was kind of lost to me, or it's the other way around.

That's how Nolan's films work (at least for me). It strays you for how intelligent they are and you'll end up not getting all the right details after watching it. It requires you to either rewatch it or just read summaries and explanations in the web. It takes a while for you to fully grasp his movies and Interstellar is no different. In fact, I think it is his most complicated and emotional film to date.

A thought provoker but also a heart tugger, Christopher Nolan's Interstellar will bring your mind far away to the galaxy but will lead your heart back home where it belongs. It's about a former NASA pilot named Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) who had to leave his family behind to travel through a wormwhole in search for a new habitual planet. As what Michael Caine's character said, "We're not meant to save the world, we're meant to leave it."

Oh boy, I didn't expect it to be as ambitious and as metaphorical as I've imagined it would be that I think it's one of the most grandiose films I've ever seen. It's the embodiment of the phrase 'visually stunning' and behind all that is a concept that's rich in Science and a story about a subject everyone could relate to, love and family. Like the usual Nolan fashion though, the action scenes and its climax dominate the overall persona of the film. The climax especially wherein it completely stopped making sense that I think it's the dealbreaker for its haters, but it's the scene that astounded me the most and therefore, it made me lean towards loving it than loathing it. Those scenes, I said to myself, that's amazing imagination and magnificent vision. There's no problem with being ambitious when you could back it up like how Nolan would do in his films.

What made it even more stellar is the ensemble. You have a charismatic lead in Matthew McConaughey, a laughable yet commanding act by Anne Hathaway, touching performances by Jessica Chastain and Mackenzie Foy (Renesmee hehe) as Cooper's daughter Murphy, and more. The cameos are also terrific. Matthew McConaughey would probably end up on top of my best actor list for 2014 films and it's such a shame because if he didn't win Best Actor for Dallas Buyers Club, his performance in this movie would be a jackpot for him. I'd even dare say that his Cooper is probably his best performance. I do not understand how Nolan intended Anne Hathaway's character to be, but everything about her in the film was fun to watch, and for me cringe is equal to funny. My favorite character in the movie is Murphy, and I give credit to the actresses who played her because they're very good and very likable. Mackenzie Foy and Jessica Chastain are equally rootable in the film and they've overcome the most often cheesy script of Christopher Nolan.

It's not the cleanest film there is. The sound mixing is quite terrible especially in the end. The score is overbearing sometimes and this comes from a huge Hans Zimmer fan. Sure it's memorable and iconic, but it's not one of his most appealing compositions. Overall, I do hate and I do love his tracks.

Despite the flaws and the cheesiness, Nolan created a genius sci-fi drama that will remain as one of the memorable films of the year. The climax still resonates to me and I'm still in awe just by thinking about it. It's astonishing!

Top 10 Movies I Look Forward To this 2014

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