1. Rene Russo (Nightcrawler) Instead Of Meryl Streep (Into The Woods) - Best Supporting Actress
Yes, it's true that women over 40 have a hard time in Hollywood. Unless, that is, they're Meryl Streep, in which case they're guaranteed an Oscar nomination every single time they make a movie, regardless of the quality of the film (see: The Iron Lady) or even the quality of the performance (see: August, Osage County). And so, Meryl makes her annual appearance at the Oscars in 2015 for turning up in Disney's singalong-a-Sondheim trashfest Into the Woods, director Rob Marshall's latest attempt to make a relatively adequate film. After three wins and a record 19 Oscar nominations - that's more than any actor or actress in history - it seems fairer to just discount Meryl altogether and give anybody else who's up for it a chance from now on. Rene Russo, for example, would have made a good 'other than Streep' contender for Best Supporting Actress this year. Russo - who is superb as a ruthless yet brittle news station chief in Nightcrawler - has never been nominated for a single Oscar and, at 60-years-old, might never get another chance at a nomination, because any half-decent upcoming role that happens to be available for a woman her age will likely just go to Meryl Streep.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
