15 Awesome 2014 Performances That Deserve Oscars (But Won't Get Nominated)

6. Rene Russo - Nightcrawler

Though Jake Gyllenhaal has been winning most of the acclaim for his terrifying lead performance in Nightcrawler, it would be a huge mistake to forget the contributions of Rene Russo as Nina Romina, the aging morning news director of the TV network where Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal) gets his big break. Russo's character represents in many ways the movie's most pointed and blatant satire of how relentlessly hungry sleazy news media is for attention-grabbing material, usually violent or sexual in nature. Her bizarre and frankly disturbing relationship with Bloom only becomes more intense and sexually charged over the course of the movie, and the creepy chemistry between the two actors only exacerbates this. Russo gives what's easily the best performance of her career here, and given how little she's been in of mention lately outside of the Thor films, hopefully it might give the talented actress a much-needed publicity boost. Sexy and extremely intimidating, Russo should've been campaigned harder for what is easily the softest acting category this year. She did win the San Diego Film Critics Society's award for Best Supporting Actress this week, though, so it's not all bad.