2nd most Oscar noms for an Actress WITHOUT a win

Amy is among my top three. Amazing isn't the word. Unusually gifted doesn't do her justice. I have no other words or phrases that I can use that can explain Amy's unique talent.

I love how she is this shy, unsure of herself interviewee and "BAM", she gives these amazing, convincing performances.

Roger Ebert wrote about Amy that she "takes a standard role and makes us value it."

But the thing is, you have this small group, maybe eight actresses, that are all great. So what do you do?

Look at Emily Blunt for instance (I'm a fan by default due to her husband being my favorite actor. It's a package deal  ). She is another rarity but rarely ever gets a nod. I think Emily has acted in every genre and gets sparkling reviews for all of her roles. The same as Amy.

Amy just blows people away with her gift.

You wonder what do theses actors/actresses have to do to be recognized?

I gave up on the award shows because there have been too many times the outcome is so off the mark it's aggravating.

Many of those actors have only been in a few roles, played their part well and "Ding. ding, ding" here come the statues. Then you look at the screen and wonder what in the world were these people thinking?

Bottom line cinemaddix, I agree with you 100%. I just express myself in a very elongated way ha, ha.

Adams is very gifted, but I wouldn't necessarily say that she's "long overdue."

She's very good, but I think the Academy has been rather generous in giving her nominations in a ten-year period. She's very lucky that she's never been snubbed in quite a few "snubable" performances and by that I mean that a lot of her nominated performances have never been the strongest in the bunch (and even the objectively strongest performance of a category doesn't always win). I think that's also a symbol of what makes an actress/actor long overdue. When a performance like Glenn Close's or Julianne Moore's in 1988 and 1998/2003, respectively, is not awarded the Oscar - despite it being a monumental and timeless one - that's how I interpret this "long overdue" label starting to build for certain performers. I don't think critics have singled out any one specific performance of Adams' in the past ten years as being absolutely the finest of the year. Each year she's been nominated there has arguably been a better performance than hers or one in the same league, at least:

(2006 - Weisz and Williams were mostly singled out); (2009 - Davis stole a lot of the supporting thunder for that one, but I do think it was Adams' best chance thus far); (2011 - Leo, but an otherwise neutral year); (2013 - Hathaway with a gap before Field in 2nd); (2014 - Blanchett, by a long-shot).

I'd say actresses like Glenn Close and Annette Bening are "long overdue" because their careers have been consistently amazing for over twenty years and their nominations have been spread out, too. It's logistically more appalling to think someone like Glenn Close has not been given an Oscar rather than Amy Adams.

This is not to say that Adams does not deserve an Oscar for the work she's done, but she's hardly overdue when all of her work has been so recent; being overdue signifies longevivity. She keeps churning out work, so I'm sure she'll get her award at some point. I can see her pulling a Julianne Moore and possibly getting a commemorative/career-type Oscar for a role like Julianne Moore did two years ago.

Id like to see a few other ladies receive the Oscar first ; Annette Benning, G Close, Michelle Williams, Diane Lane, Michelle Pfieffer, J Chastain. Kirsten Scott Thomas, Jamie Lee Curtis, E Blunt, Katherine Keener, Clea Duvall, Toni Cholette, Rachel Griffiths, hell even C Ricci and K Dunst

Cynthia Nixon too

Agreed, great list!

Can you believe how long it took Julianne Moore to receive an Oscar! She was Annette Benning two years ago and Close will deserve a life-time achievement Oscar before she's deceased. I was surprise with Withserspoon's Oscar win when she won. I never saw the film but I did see Wild she starred in recently and that's reaffirmed my confidence in her. I mean, really, there's plenty of great actresses, but what's better than a single well acted film is a long-line of superior acting - ongoing. Some actresses have been great in a film and then the next one your left baffled by their talent or perhaps just talented director queuing. Any other woman come to mind for you?

I'm also thinking of Laura Linney, Laura Dern and Joan Allen - seen them in some impressive roles. And Sig Weaver Alien woman :)

I'm looking forward to having Naomi Watts win one (she should have her third nomination since she was snubbed for Mulholland Drive). I also think Rachel McAdams could win with the right material. Angela Lansbury is overdue and Sally Hawkins needs one, too! Jessica Chastain is my absolute favorite, so I'm hoping Miss Sloane pushes her over the competition this year.

Personal choice/favorites?
Julianna Margulies now that she can do films without a television show and Gaby Hoffmann, who has started to break out again with supporting roles in more mainstream films and her Amazon show since her 00s hiatus. They're pretty spectacular and nuanced.