Every Best Actress Oscar Movie Winner Of The 21st Century Ranked

Who should have won: Julianne Moore - Still Alice.

Julianne Moore has long been established as one of our greatest actors, churning out countless remarkable performances since her big break in 1995's Safe. It was with Still Alice, though, that she finally received the industry credit she deserved.

As Alice Howland, a linguistics professor who must contend with a fresh Alzheimer's diagnosis following her 50th birthday, Moore has never been better, embodying Howland's confusion, sorrow, and denial with stark authenticity and heartbreaking physicality.

With every passing scene, Moore brings Howland's diagnosis to life with urgency and fright, at once internal in her anguish and frantic in her desperation. It's a vital portrayal of acceptance and an all-too-frequent disease, and Moore never slips.