Having seen Proof, I really am hoping Paltrow receives a nomination. She's fantastic in it.

I would love it and I think her chances are strong enough. From what I heard, her performance is truly impressive and the competition isn't exactly stellar... she can get a nomination a la Keisha Castle-Hughes and even win à la Anna Paquin.

After seeing Knightley in Pride and Prejudice, I think it would be criminal not to give her at least a nomination. Performances like that should not be ignored under any circumstances.

Well... Reese has already won so everyone is just fighting for scraps.

Not sure how good Witherspoon is in Walk the Line, but she was in the best romcom I have seen in over 1 1/2 years (Just like Heaven), so I am all for her getting it.

Witherspoon is *really* good in walk the line. Her awards are really deserved.

Witherspoon at least deserved a nomination for Election a few years back. Good karma.

Well, I don't think a nomination would be just scraps. I don't think Knightley's performance is Oscar worthy, and I don't care nearly enough for these awards shows to consider it a robbery if she's ignored.

I basically want as many people to see her in this film as possible, and award recognition will help. She was really good in the film.

I didn't think she was truly amazing. I thought she was very good and in this year, "good enough" to win the award. I'm not putting her down, and I think she did outshine Pheonix (whom I would say excelled in his character only in the performing scenes), but I can't imagine her winning for that performance. The year is in her favor though, so I don't know what to say.

I hope I'm not too blown away by Huffman's performance because I don't want to bag on Reese

It's depressing that after Huffman, Witherspoon, and Knightley this category is so empty that Judi Dench & Charlize Theron are likely nominees for movies that were both critical and box office disappointments. 2005 was a weak year for movies in general, but the severe lack of strong lead female roles/performances is sad to see, especially when the lead male category is so strong. I hope it's not a trend that continues this year.

The problem is with the lack of good lead drama roles for females. There are still plenty of opportunities in romantic comedies for females, but in drama, except for making them look ugly or doing sex change, Hollywood is running out of ideas for strong female lead. One of the reasons Ziyi continues to hang around, despite what many think of her performance is because the role itself is really juicy and unlike any other this year.

GO KK

The Oscars are a very liberal event, and have demonstrated their inclusiveness in recent years - therefore I predict that Zhang Ziyi will be nominated for best actress - if for no other reason than so that older Academy voters can assuage their yellow fever by seeing what kind of hot gown she shows up in...