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

11. Kristen Stewart - Still Alice

Kristen Stewart has had one hell of a year, that's for sure. She has given at least three performances this year that could be deemed awards-worthy, namely her turn as a nervy Guantanamo Bay guard in Camp X-Ray, as a movie star's tortured assistant in Clouds of Sils Maria, and finally, as Lydia, the daughter of a woman suffering with early-onset Alzheimer's (Julianne Moore) in Still Alice. Though the lion's share of the praise has understandably gone to Moore, who is likely to walk all the way to the Oscar podium, Stewart also earned some of the best reviews of her career. It seems like Stewart's status as an expressionless Internet meme means that she has to work harder than pretty much any of her contemporaries to earn audience respect, but it's hard to argue with the brilliant work she turns in here. While at first her acting student character might appear to be a stereotypically entitled, whiny teenager with no view of the real world, the screenplay and Stewart's subtle performance allow Lydia to become a living, breathing person. Several magnificently affecting dialogues between Stewart and Moore are among the movie's best moments, and right to its heartbreaking final scene, Lydia appears to be the character with whom Alice shares the most meaningful connection. Hopefully Stewart's wonderful performance here can further dispel the unfair and unjustified online hate clique surrounding the former Twilight actress.