http://www.awardsdaily.com/2011/12/gold ... more-46034

Great to see all of this love for Drive and Shame.

They always nominate so many actors and films per category. Waters everything down a bit, but also results in cool surprises throughout. Lisa Féret's nomination for Mozart's Sister, for example. A small, but very winning performance in a movie almost no one saw. Nice to see this type of turn recognized.

Nice to see love for The Guard, a very well-written and enjoyable comedy. Brendan Gleeson is terrific in it.

Best of all, they nominated Tom Hardy, whose fierce, devastating turn in Warrior is still sitting atop my personal Best Actor list.

On a sour note, I'm disappointed they snubbed Kirsten Dunst and Felicity Jones despite the wide Best Actress field.

They should have nominated Colin Farrell for Fright Night. He's so good in it. A far richer and more pleasurable performance than his amusing, but slim extended cameo in Horrible Bosses.

I was surprised by the omission of Dunst with so many nominations. At least Elizabeth Olsen got recognized here. Ready to admit Olsen has a better shot than Dunst and Jones at taking the fifth Best Actress slot? I personally don't think Jones has a chance at all, but Olsen and Dunst are pretty neck-and-neck, with Olsen having a slightly better chance.

Best Actress Oscar race:

1. Streep
2. Davis
3. Williams
4. Close
5. Mara
6. Theron
7. Jones, Dunst, Olsen...who knows? The only reason one might put Olsen slightly ahead is she once seemed so strong in the race.

Jones is the strongest of the three, IMO. Because she's my favorite of the three. And because she was mentioned by the National Board of Review, a big Oscar precursor.

NBR...Golden Satellites...the scales definitely tip in one way.

I'm still not sold on Theron. For a Golden Globe, yes, but not an Oscar. I'm wondering if even Close could get shut out.