Still Alice seemingly came out of nowhere. Premiering at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, the film received minimal buzz beforehand, but upon its debut, Moore's performance became one of the biggest headlines coming out of Canada with Moore an instant Best Actress contender. Fast forward five months later and not only is Moore's performance in the film still around in the Best Actress conversation, but she remains the presumed frontrunner to win the Oscar itself. In Still Alice, Moore plays Dr. Alice Howland, a linguistics professor who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at a relatively young age. The film which also features the likes of Alec Baldwin and Kristin Stewart, is said to deal with the family's coping of Alice's deteriorating mental health. While Moore's performance has received universal praise from the critics community, the film itself has received mixed-to-positive notices, but then for a role like this, the Academy's reception of the film is actually pretty irrelevant. As crude as it may sound, playing someone who is diseased or disabled is a big plus in the eyes of the Academy. Even films that have been maligned by critics and audiences alike have managed to secure their actors Oscar nominations when they play characters with either physical or mental disadvantages. The Academy's Acting Branch seems to give high marks for degree of difficulty when their fellow thespians take on these types of roles. There is also the fact that Moore herself is a four-time Oscar nominee who has yet to win the Academy Award. Moore is highly regarded among critics and her fellow actors, so even if some Academy members aren't totally enthralled with her performance in Still Alice, they may still vote for her in order to see her win her first Oscar. Narratives can be key in any Oscar race and a narrative for Moore's Oscar victory is one any publicist would die for. However, unlike some of this year's other acting races, Best Actress might not be as predictable as some pundits would have you believe. Julianne Moore in undoubtedly the favorite at the moment, but watch the race closely through January and February as it may evolve into a much tighter affair than anyone is expecting. How would you rank this year's Best Actress race? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
A film fanatic at a very young age, starting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and gradually moving up to more sophisticated fare, at around the age of ten he became inexplicably obsessed with all things Oscar. With the incredibly trivial power of being able to chronologically name every Best Picture winner from memory, his lifelong goal is to see every Oscar nominated film, in every major category, in the history of the Academy Awards.
