The nominees for this year were:
Annette Bening in American Beauty as "Carolyn Burnham"
Janet McTeer in Tumbleweeds as "Mary Jo Walker"
Julianne Moore in The End of the Affair as "Sarah Miles"
Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart as "Roberta Guaspari"
Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry as "Brandon Teena/Teena Brandon"

My Ranking:
1. Swank - No contest (well, seeing as Witherspoon wasn't nominated...). She makes a consistently compelling and interesting character out of what could have just been a victim. Powerful and continuously surprising work that shows that Swank DOES have real talent.

2. Bening - Nothing about this performance made me like it at all. She could have tried a more successful approach to the comedy inherent in the character to make it more than a shrill harpy, but she didn't. Her only good scene, imo, was her "I Will Sell This House Today!" breakdown.

-.McTeer
-.Moore
-.Streep

My Personal Ballot:
I haven't seen enough worthwhile performances from this year!

1. Swank
2. Bening
3. Moore
4. Streep
5. McTeer

1) Swank


2) Bening
3) McTeer

4) Moore



5) Streep

Why are these polls only for actresses?

01. Swank
-------------
02. McTeer
03. Bening
04. Moore
05. Streep

With the exception of Swank, this was one terrible lineup.


My ballot:

01. Cecilia Roth, All About My Mother
02. Reese Witherspoon, Election
03. Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry
04. Julia Roberts, Notting Hill
05. Élodie Bouchez, The Dreamlife of Angels

SWANK
________



Everyone else. Swank is really one of the most deserving Best Actress winners of all time (for this performance)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Troy,

pacinofan - i'm going to go thru actresses and then start actor/supporting actor from the top

I am ok with Swank's win. She truely deserved this win...much more than Million Dollar baby.

This is one of the worst Best Actress lineups in Academy history.

With that said, Swank is one of the best wins ever in this category. Such a raw, uncompromising performance.

The other four women, while talented, didn't deserve nods. I recently rewatched "Tumbleweeds" on cable last weekend and McTeer annoyed me. Her performance feels like a caricature. Bening gives such a shrill, ugly, one-note performance. Had she went supporting she would've won. Moore and Streep are fine in their respective films, but the films are terrible.

If only Reese had been nominated for "Election"...

The work she's been putting out lately is so vacuous that it is hard to remember that she used to be one of the best working comediennes in the business. Just watch "Freeway", "Election" and "Legally Blonde!" to see this.

I love American Beauty and always want to reward the wonderful Annette Bening, but it's just not possible...Hilary is too good!

Reese Witherspoon's snub for "Election" was a horrible oversight and if she had gotten the nomination, I might've been prone to give her the win.

#1. Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry
-Previously known as the girl from one of sequels to "The Karate Kid" and a role on "Beverly Hills 90210", Swank definitely proved herself with her role as Brandon Teena/Teena Brandon in "Boys Don't Cry". An amazing performance that was certainly worthy of an Oscar and I wish I could say the same to her win for "Million Dollar Baby", but....I can't.

#2. Annette Bening, American Beauty
-She deserves to have an Oscar on her mantle (and she could've taken it in 2005 without my complaints), but no matter how powerful this performance was, I think Swank just edges her out.

#3. Julianne Moore, The End of the Affair
-Another actress who really needs an Oscar but now, sadly, seems to be going down the path that Glenn Close and Sigourney Weaver have taken. She still has a shot, but it hasn't been since 2003 that she has had anything that actually met awards expectations. As for her performance here, I liked it and liked the movie but this is one of those "based off of one viewing quite a few years ago" situations.

#4. Janet McTeer, Tumbleweeds
-It was an okay performance but it doesn't hold up well.

#5. Meryl Streep, Music of the Heart
-Well....I may go as far as saying that this could possibly be her worst performance, or if not, the worst of her nominated performances, or in her top 5 of worst performances. I love Meryl Streep but out of all of her nominations, this is the only one that I feel should be taken away.

1. Hillary Swank

--- so moving and beautiful!!! Still had Reese Witherspoon in ELECTION and Jessica Lange in TITUS (I can see Lange as a supporting figure as well) had been nominated then I'm not so sure I would choose Swank.

2. Julianne Moore
3. Meryl Streep

---decent

4. Janet McTeer

---watchable

5. Annette Bening

---Hated every second of this performance...Almost the same can be said for Spacey. Eeeeewwww!!!

I only seen Benning & Swank and again it was a toss up b/c I loved both of these performances.

Swank did absolutely nothing for me. I never felt a true connection to her character (save for the amazing Sevigny).

Annette Bening should have won hands down.

1.Hilary Swank
2.Annette Bening
3.Meryl Streep
4.Julianne Moore
5.Janet McTeer

Here ya go:

1. Hilary Swank (NO QUESTION!)
2. Annette Bening
3. Julianne Moore
4. Meryl Streep
5. Janet McTeer

Rankings:

1. Hilary Swank, "Boys Don't Cry" (one of the best lead actress wins bestowed by the Academy; top-ten level)
2. Janet McTeer, "Tumbleweeds"
3. Meryl Streep, "Music of the Heart"
4. Julianne Moore, "The End of the Affair"
5. Annette Bening, "American Beauty"

Swank BY FAR!!!



Bening
Streep


Moore
McTeer

I'm all about Swank's win that year. No one else could've taken it. But the rest of the line-up is quite...underwhelming. Streep was good, as was Bening, I think. But I agree with everyone else asking where was Witherspoon's nom for 'Election'? Horrible oversight.

Swank
Moore
McTeer
Bening
Streep


Swank dominated this category. I bet the final count wasn't as close as everyone thought. Just like I doubt the Cotillard vs. Christie count was not as close.