Favourite Male and Female Performances of 2014

Male Performances

Male Performer of the Year:

Jake Gyllenhaal (for three brilliant performances in two films)

Honourable Mentions (In No Particular Order): Steve Coogan - The Trip To Italy, Jonah Hill - The Wolf of Wall Street, Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club, Jim Broadbent - Le Week-End, Russell Crowe - Noah, Jeff Goldblum - Le Week-End/The Grand Budapest Hotel, Tom Hiddleston - Only Lovers Left Alive, Jesse Eisenberg - The Double, Dominic West and Ben Schnetzer - Pride, Alfred Molina - Love is Strange, James McAvoy - The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him, Ciaran Hinds - The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him, Tom Hardy - The Drop/Locke, Bill Hader - The Skeleton Twins, Chris Evans - Snowpiercer, Ben Mendolsohn - Starred Up, Jemaine Clement - What We Do In The Shadows, Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbel - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Mathieu Amalric - Venus in Fur, David Gulpilil - Charlie's Country, Casey Affleck and Christian Bale - Out of the Furnace, Cliff Curtis - The Dark Horse, Al Pacino - The Humbling, Ben Stiller - While We're Young, Aleksei Serebryakov and Roman Madyanov - Leviathan, Bill Murray - St Vincent, Ben Affleck - Gone Girl, Robert Duvall - The Judge, Ewan McGregor - Son of A Gun, Miles Teller and J.K Simmons - Whiplash, Johannes Kuhnke - Force Majeure, Brad Pitt and Logan Lerman - Fury, Eddie Marsan - Still Life, Keanu Reeves - John Wick, Timothy Spall - Mr Turner, Riz Ahmed - Nightcrawler, Pierre-Yves Cardinal - Tom at the Farm, Zach Galifainakas - Birdman, Ethan Hawke - Boyhood and Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game

15. Edward Norton - Birdman

14. Haluk Bilginer - Winter Sleep

13. Toni Servillo - The Great Beauty

12. Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel/The Invisible Woman

11. Brendan Gleeson - Calvary 

10. Oscar Isaac - Inside Llewyn Davis

9. Jack O'Connell - Starred Up

8. Channing Tatum and Steve Carell - Foxcatcher

7. Robert Redford - All is Lost 

6. Antoine-Olivier Pilon - Mommy

5. Joaquin Phoenix - Her/The Immigrant

4. Leonard DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street

3. Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher/Begin Again/Infinitely Polar Bear

2. Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler/Enemy

1. Michael Keaton - Birdman

Female Performances

Female Performer of the Year:

Scarlett Johansson (she WAS everywhere, and nowhere)

Honourable Mentions (In No Particular Order): Judi Dench - Philomena, Lindsay Duncan - Le Week-End, Paulina Garcia - Gloria, Emmanuelle Devos - Domestic Life, Felicity Jones - The Invisible Woman, Rose Byrne - Neighbours/Adult Beginners, Mia Wasikowska - Only Lovers Left Alive, Agata Trzebuchowska and Agata Kulesza - Ida, Patricia Arquette - Boyhood, Marissa Tomei - Love is Strange, Viola Davis - The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her, Sarah Snook - Predestination, Keira Knightley - Begin Again/Laggies, Sidse Babett Knudsen and Chiara D'Anna - The Duke of Burgundy, Naomi Watts - While We're Young/Birdman, Elena Lyadova - Leviathan, Brit Marling - The Keeping Room, Carrie Coon and Kim Dickens - Gone Girl, Reese Witherspoon - Wild, Lisa Loven Kongsli - Force Majeure, Emma Stone - Birdman, Alicia Vikander - Testament of Youth 

15. Imelda Staunton - Pride 

14. Rene Russo - Nightcrawler

13. Karidja Toure - Girlhood

12. Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart - Clouds of Sils Maria 

11. Emmanuelle Seigner - Venus in Fur 

10. Melisa Sözen and Demet Akbag - Winter Sleep

9. Jessica Chastain - The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her

8. Tilda Swinton - Only Lovers Left Alive/Snowpiercer

7. Margot Robbie - The Wolf of Wall Street

6. Essie Davis - The Babadook

5. Gugu Mbatha-Raw - Beyond the Lights/Belle

4. Julianne Moore - Still Alice

3. Scarlett Johansson - Under the Skin/Her/Lucy

2. Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night/The Immigrant

1. Anne Dorval and Suzanne Clement - Mommy

Note: There are a few films I won't get the chance to see this year - A Most Violent Year, Inherent Vice, Selma, The Theory of Everything, '71 and Unbroken - so those performers will be a part of next year's considerations.