Due respect and congratulations to the six women who earlier today were nominated for Best Actress by the Critics Choice AssociationThe Eyes of Tammy Faye‘s Jessica Chastain, The Lost Daughter‘s Olivia Colman, House of Gucci‘s Lady Gaga, Licorice Pizza‘s Alana Haim, Being The Ricardo‘s Nicole Kidman and Spencer‘s Kristen Stewart.

Five of the above were also nominated for the Golden Globe Best Actress award (i.e., Alana Haim didn’t make the cut).

The CCA nominated Haim for having tapped into something genuine and grounded and non-actressy, but CCA voters can’t tell me with a straight face that Haim gave a more affecting and relatable performance than Cruz did. C’mon…

All of the above connected (Gaga especially with paying audiences), but HE and the Movie Godz are again declaring that elbowing aside Penelope Cruz‘s just-right turn in Pedro Almodovar‘s Parallel Mothers was a wrongo — it really was. There’s no question in my mind that Cruz gave the year’s finest female lead performance — none whatsoever.