Best Actor 2014

My top choices in the order I would place them on my Academy ballot if I were allowed to vote. In other words, this is my top five, but I acknowledge that this list is already influenced by awards buzz, and the actors who I think would theoretically benefit the most from my vote are at the top.

JOHANNES BAH KUHNKE, Turist (Force Majeure)

JUDE LAW, Dom Hemingway

BRAD PITT, Fury

CHANNING TATUM, Foxcatcher

MILES TELLER, Whiplash

Also loved:
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Masaharu Fukuyama, Like Father, Like Son (そして父になる)
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Tom Hardy, Locke
Tommy Lee Jones, The Homesman
Yiftach Klein, Policeman (השוטר‎)
David Oyelowo, Selma
Tom Schilling, Oh Boy (A Coffee in Berlin)
Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner

Apologies to:
Ryan Reynolds (The Captive), Niels Arestrup (Diplomatie), James McAvoy (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby), and Toni Servillo (Viva la Libertà), whose films I have not yet seen but will see soon.

Related:
My Best Actor Picks from past years (2004-2013)