My Pick for Best Actress

5. Helen Mirren- The Last Station
She is so explosive and wonderful in this movie, an exact opposite of her performance in The Queen, but there is no way she is going to win so close to her last win. She completely makes the movie, and every scene seems dry without her, but I still cannot pick her. But she works it.

4. Gabourey Sidibe- Precious
Considering she had never even acted before Precious her talent is really impressive. I'm more excited to see what she can do post-Precious in order to confirm that she is no one-hit wonder. Gabourey cannot compete with Mo'Nique in the movie, but considering her (Mo's) attention-grabbing performance, the level of realness she brings is a welcome balance to Mo'Nique's aggression. Gabourey's honor is being nominated for a first-time performance; quite a rare feat.

3. Sandra Bullock- The Blind Side
A year ago, if you had told me that the star of The Net would win an Oscar, I would have laughed till I peed and then pretended to throw up (on your face, natch). Well, Hell has frozen over and pigs are flying right outside my window because she is the clear frontrunner for Best Actress, and I'm not even mad about it. She does an admirable job in The Blind Side, and the Academy will reward her because she was able to mask her cutesy romantic comedy self and instead be a strong, quiet Southern woman. Is it one of the great performances? Certainly not. Could another actress have played it as well or better? Absolutely. But that does not mean that Sandra does not deserve an accolade for playing a role against-character for her and making you forget that you are watching her in the process. Plus, she gives great speech.

2. Carey Mulligan- An Education
It is shocking to realize that An Education was Carey's first starring role; she is so poised, so sure in the movie that she almost comes across as a seasoned vet who has finally stumbled upon the perfect role. At the ripe old age of 24. While watching it you can see her blossom onscreen, and later I marveled at what a wonderful career she has ahead of her. Comparisons to Audrey Hepburn are unfair and I do not see it, but perhaps instead she can carve out her own niche of strong, clearheaded roles.

1. Meryl Streep- Julie & Julia
Someday Meryl will win the third Oscar she so obviously deserves. In the first few minutes of her role as Julia Child in Julie & Julia, I was genuinely concerned because I thought with that voice and her exaggerated expressions how easily she could become a caricature. Before I even knew it I had fallen in love with her joy and her infectious nature. Beyond that, her real triumph for me in the movie was when she opened a letter. She does it several times, and each time you could plainly see a wide range of emotions in just a flash of a second- hope, fear, vulnerability, strength- and then a quick shrug of shoulders and it was opened, and full emotions runneth over. None of the other actresses nominated even came close to doing so much in such a fraction of time, and thus she proves why she is La Streep.

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My Picks for Best Supporting Actor

5. Stanley Tucci- The Lovely Bones
For the life of me I do not understand why Mr. Tucci was nominated for this and not Julie & Julia, or any of his previous wonderful roles. It cannot even be said that he was playing against type by playing a serial killer, because he plays one much more convincingly and eerily in The Pelican Brief. My biggest problem with his character is not even his fault, and that is the atrocious hair, makeup and contact lenses that they gave him. I understand that they wanted to make him look completely average, but those lenses were so incredibly distracting that I wondered why they could not just stick with his regular brown eyes. Nominating him for Julie & Julia would have been inspired, as he has proven he is one of the only actors who can hold a candle to La Streep, and together they create a wonderful and believable marriage, where he balances out her infectious energy, whereas in The Lovely Bones he is lost in the otherwise muck of the movie.

4. Christopher Plummer- The Last Station
It's hard to compare anyone to Helen Mirren and Christopher is no exception. Her character's explosiveness is hard to counter, but Christopher does as best he can by creating a quiet and almost giddy soul in Tolstoy. Best Supporting Actor was stacked this year, and I'll take a time out from critiquing Christopher to say who I think should have been nominated instead of him and Stanley: Anthony Mackie from The Hurt Locker and Alec Baldwin from It's Complicated. I think they are the only two who could have made this a multi-horse race instead of a one stallion win (Christoph). But I digress.

3. Matt Damon- Invictus
He plays a convincing sports hero/leader without making him seem saintly, which is a welcome relief. And he holds his own against Morgan Freeman, the only actor here on out allowed to play Mandela. I think Invictus got an unfairly bad rap and I'm not sure why, but Matt's performance is definitely worth seeing and worth recognizing.

2. Woody Harrelson- The Messenger
Being introduced to Woody's character and then discovering that he is a full-blown alcoholic midway through is almost shocking- his character is so strong and intimidating- he seems unaffected by reporting the deaths to next of kin- realizing that he is, in fact, a vulnerable person is a triumph of Woody's abilities as an actor, and he's the only person besides Christoph who I would want to win.

1. Christoph Waltz- Inglourious Basterds
Supervillians kind of have a lock on Best Supporting Actor at this point, and Christoph's Hans Landa is no exception. He makes speaking quadrilingually look easy and seamless, and his quiet moments are his most terrifying. Plus, anybody who is that into milk and dairy products in general is a character I can get behind. I'm torn between picking the opening as his triumphant scene or where he confronts Bridget von Hammersmarck, knowing full well that he will be turning himself in shortly. More than any of the other nominees in this category, I wanted to learn and see more of Christoph than what IB shows. Here's hoping for a prequel/sequel!

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