2013 Muriels: Best Lead Performance (Female)

Every year, there's at least one winner I don't see coming at all. If you had asked me on December 31st who was going to win this category, I would have said Greta Gerwig without hesitation. And yet there she is, coming up short at fourth. Fourth! You crafty voters always find ways to keep me in suspense.

Third place:



Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine [143 points / 21 votes]

Second place:



Julie Delpy, Before Midnight [155 points / 25 votes]

And your winner...



Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue Is the Warmest Color [190 points / 29 votes]

"Let's stop for a moment and try to mentally block out the hardcore sex scenes in Abdellatif Kechiche's controversial Blue Is the Warmest Color. Tough to do? No kidding. But those momentum-stopping, feminist-ire raising segments aside, what you have is this tense, sensuous and - if I might add - powerful depiction of young love by two incredibly capable actresses: a certain Ms. Adèle Exarchopoulos and her ready-and-willing co-star, Léa Seydoux. For what it's worth, the intense (but doomed) union between Exarchopoulos' lower-middle class, sexually curious teenager and Seydoux's older and more experienced artist figure is one of the most affecting and tenable love stories of the year by, in my view, the two best female performances of this year (Seydoux got my personal vote for Best Supporting Actress). When the two of them, on screen, look into each other's eyes it's simply magic, and when Exarchopoulos leaves the gallery without Seydoux at the end, you know it really is over between them - most likely forever - but neither will forget the relationship. Exarchopoulos has admitted she had to "lose herself" in the role - if losing oneself creates an indelible, artistic performance such as this, lose away ladies. Lose away." -- Matthew Lotti

See the full results.