Smackdown

So the category now is Best Actress and the year is 2004. This was a really strong year, still the weakest nominee managed to win somehow. So the ranking:

1.Imelda Staunton in Vera Drake: The Academy loves the Brits, but always at the wrong time. Why couldn't she win for this compelling and heartbreaking performance. Her character Vera Drake, is an incredibly hard one to play and Staunton managed to solve it magnificently. From the beginning to the very end, you just cannot take your eyes off her and boy she's so real. Imelda Staunton disappears completely and you see a desperate woman, trying to prove that she only wanted to help young women. This performance is one of the best ones that Oscar ever nominated. Shame on them for not giving her the award.
Grade:*****

2.Catalina Sandino Moreno in Maria Full of Grace: This was a fantastic and incredibly heartbreaking breakthrough. She plays a 17-year-old pergnant girl who becomes a drug mule in order to live. It was interesting to watch a girl become a responsible woman and of course her scene in the toilet of the plane was unforgettable. I guess those minutes will always stay with me: the desperation, the sadness and biterness is communicated by Moreno so thrillingly that you will become speechless when you witness it. Ground-breaking performance, which easily could have won as well.
Grade:*****

3.Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind: I can't help it but sometimes I felt that this performances is mostly adored because the character, Clementine is so extraordinary and this is probably the only film where Winslet is neither naked nor having rough sex. I like this performance just as much as Winslet herself and she is exceptional in most of the scene, but the first time I watched this movie, I felt that something was missing from this performance. Other than that, she's great and has some great moments and I love this woman so my
Grade:****

4.Anette Bening in Being Julia: This is probably the most enjoyable nominee of the bunch. Bening manages to put on a funny and delightful performance as Julia Lambert, the aging superstar of the London stage having an affair with a young man. Of course she's not as brilliant as Bette Davis was as Margo Channing, but who expected her to be? Lots of people are disappointed that she lost, but I really don't think that this is Oscar-worthy acting. But it's definitely nomination-worthy, so I have no problems with it.
Grade:***

5.Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby: OK, I hate this win because it's useless. Was she great enough? NO. If she wasn't great, was she overdue then? NO. Than what was the reason? I am not saying that I hate Swank, because I do NOT, since she managed to give one of the greatest performances ever in Boys don't Cry. I just think that Million Dollar Baby is a very phony and sentimental movie and her acting in it is simply good. I still cannot explain this win, but why did they give it to her when there were four other more deserving nominees? I still cannot understand.
Grade:**

Overall, this was a very-strong year and either Staunton or Moreno could have won. But let me add, that I think this year was the worst for Oscar EVER. None of the main winners were deserving (only the screenplay awards).