BEST PERFORMANCES OF 2013 (MOVIES & TV)

His performance in "Dallas Buyers Club" is the very best acting you'll see this year!

Let's just get AMERICAN HUSTLE out of the way! Lawrence blew me away! So funny & tragic, but she somehow shows a look of smarts in her eyes. It's like she knows exactly what she's doing.

Her accents, fake names, and wardrobe are astonishing. In AMERICAN HUSTLE when we discover why she's become a crook, Adams establishes why.

In AMERICAN HUSTLE Cooper plays a guy on the right side of the law who is just as much (if not more) a hustler than those who admit to be. The silliness & comic moments in his performance are genuine.

Bale's combover alone in AMERICAN HUSTLE is Award worthy. What I loved about Bale's portrayal was that his character is, by all means, not what society would deem attractive. He's overweight, overbearing, and though he tries faking it--he's pretty much bald. But he has these people in his life who cling to him & desire to have him around. Quite frankly, I would too. His performance is one of magnetic proportions.

One of 2013's best performances. In SAVING MR. BANKS, Thompson plays prickly author of Mary Poppins. She is hesitant to sell movie rights to Mr. Disney to say the least. She demands to be a part of every aspect of the film--from music, characters, casting, you name it. And she makes the production team steam. That is until Disney discovers why Mary Poppins is so important to Travers. The story is not as whimsical as first thought. It's a tale of her tragic childhood, and all these characters actually existed. Triumphant.

Should we get 12 YEARS A SLAVE out of the way? Ejiofor is a revelation of a true actor with much in his future! (I can't believe this is the guy who stole the show from the movie "Kinky Boots" years ago!

Her finely nuanced performance is honest, if sad (as it's intended to be).

If you can take a likable actor & make him despicable, even hated, you have a great actor!

Wow. Give her more to do in more movies in the future!

Working under Woody Allen's script & direction, Blanchett delivers one of her finest performances yet.

Thinking of BLUE JASMINE, I was pleased to see Sally Hawkins get an Oscar nomination! Her less neurotic character oozed unconditional love, and I felt it!

Without Cannavale's oafish charm, we'd not have had an anchor in BLUE JASMINE. Great acting indeed, when the most rational character seems to be the doofus of the bunch.

Unfathomable that Hanks' performances in SAVING MR. BANKS (as Mr. Walt Disney) & CAPTAIN PHILLIPS seemed to give him a double chance at the Academy Awards. Nominations didn't happen. The performance in CP was solid throughout, but the last 20 minutes were so anguished he should have that nomination at least!

Leto came out of left field from a 4 year acting hiatus and gave us the beauty of finding a true person clinging to life through his stereotypical role which he broke the rules & made his character more than a gay drag queen...he made her fragile & human.

The entire (massive) cast of AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY was supreme! But three of its players stand out, beginning with Julia Roberts playing at her bitter, foul-mouthed best!

Seeing Streep do anything is a gift. Playing a cancerous, hateful, lost woman, who has lost any sense of family values is nothing new either ("One True Thing"--cancer, "The Devil Wears Prada/"Death Becomes Her"--hateful, "Sophie's Choice"--lost, "Marvin's Room/"Kramer vs. Kramer"--family issues). Somehow in "August: Osage County" she plays a woman so believably broken and selfish, she only can deal her "loved ones" with brutal honesty, so brash that the viewer finds it amusing. She's done it again.

Martindale has generally always been a "bit-actress". But AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY gives her a chance to shine. She has her issues we discover (shockingly), and she is no better than the rest of the players in the film. She just does it so convincingly.

Garner (who deserved a nomination for "Juno") is much of where the heart of DALLAS BUYERS CLUB begins. As the film starts we see harsh, bigoted, ignorant characters until she comes on screen showing how much she selflessly cares for her patients, even the ignorant ones. She holds a key in influencing the bigoted characters see things differently. And she does so with a believable grace.

Most of HER rests on the shoulders of Phoenix's very capable shoulders.

WOLF OF WALL STREET seems like an overstuffed slap in the face. I admired it, but didn't love it (poorly marketed). But one can't deny DiCaprio's charming performance filled with debauchery & crime. He played it perfectly. (Why he didn't win in 1993 for "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" is a travesty!)

Bullock did NOT deserve to win for "The Blind Side". But her turn in GRAVITY astonished me! Not only a flawless film, but a plot driven almost solely by Bullock. She let us into her claustrophobic world & even established a back story (not through flashbacks either). We rooted for her though we knew not what she was going back to on Earth. Tough performance!

Oprah, aside. We all know she's a great actress--now somebody give her a better part to play. Whitaker was THE reason to see LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER. It was even better than his Oscar winning turn in "Last King of Scotland". He so subtlety and humbly played a man who worked his way past career & family issues to become just what he wanted...esteemed. Even when recognized he did so humbly. It was astonishing.

Only a few things need to be said: PHILOMENA is brilliantly written. And two more words: JUDI DENCH...

THE COLOR PURPLE was the moment I realized that, as an actress, Winfrey was a force to be reckoned with. Years later with BELOVED I was again assured. Her turn in LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER was amazing because she discarded her Oprah persona & became her character. Had it been a meatier role, I think an Oscar nomination would have been.

I've watched Dern through the bad ("Down Periscope") and the good ("Coming Home", "Big Love"). Have always rooted for him & his everyman quality. His boozing Woody in NEBRASKA who is slipping into dementia is believable & tragic. Yet--we still root for the poor fella.

Sqibb's face tells a story of its own in NEBRASKA. The sadness in her expressions shows her longing & true love for a man she may be losing. Perfect.

ALL IS LOST featured very little human interaction or dialogue. When Redford did speak (yell) it was in anger, entwined with eff-words. His journey is desperate and despairing. We NEED him to make it out because Redford makes us feel like we're with him in the hell he is experiencing.

The Oscars wouldn't be complete without a true villain in tow. Abdi's frightening performance is one of gusto & severity. The way he & Tom Hanks play off each other is marvelous in CAPTAIN PHILLIPS.

When I heard that Douglas was set to play Liberace in BEHIND THE CANDELABRA, I was unsure if he had that much ability. I was wrong. Douglas becomes Liberace in all ways: looks, mannerisms, and all.

Much like Matthew McConaughey (in "Dallas Buyers Club"), Damon broke his stereotypical typecast playing Michael Douglas' protege in BEHIND THE CANDELABRA. Because of Damon's fine work, the film became a story about two sad souls, not just a story about Liberace.

It seems fitting to put Gandolfini on this list as an homage to his career. But whether he passed or not, he'd be here. His humble, endearing work in ENOUGH SAID is pure gold. Rest in peace.

Her nuanced performance in ENOUGH SAID is her movie-best thus far. Her divorced character facing empty nest syndrome is enough to give her to fly with. Then we are presented with a possible new love (and other complications), and she plays it with doubt. Loved her honest performance.

This woman can do no wrong. In AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM, she plays a vicious nun in an insane asylum governed by cruel people with selfish motives of their own. Yet Lange take her Sister Jude character and breathes a life into it that, while cunning, lets us see why she does such unfathomable deeds to people who don't deserve it. By the last 4 episodes, we are rooting for Lange's success though she doesn't deserve it. I actually weeped at her sweet demise.

Rabe's portrayal of a pure nun who becomes possessed by the devil in AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM was the picture of innocence lost. She flips between good & evil so flawlessly.

Peters was given a challenging part to play in ASYLUM. He's the innocent one who is at the mercy of the asylum's reprehensible staff. We see him evolve from a weak, meek boy into a tricky, strong man who is bent on escaping & bringing down the evil in the asylum. Watch out for Peters--he's going to be big.

She appears twice on this list. Her lesbian reporter in ASYLUM is a force to be reckoned with. She is convincingly broken down several times only to arise again to finish what is undone. Amazing work.

Her darkly gorgeous Angel of Death in ASYLUM enamoured me. Whenever she was present, I could not take my eyes off of her. She has that much force in her acting.

If you're searching for "Babe"'s Farmer Hogget, don't sniff around here. Cromwell's "doctor" in ASYLUM is nothing but terrifying. He murders, but even worse, he experiments on the unfortunate allowing, even enjoying, their suffering.

This is becoming an AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM list, I realize. But its ensemble was so flawless. Quinto's redeemable doctor seems so authentic. It slowly dissipates into the most menacing thing you could imagine. The transition is seamless.