I actually feel remarkably confident about the potential lineup considering how early we are. From either the reviews we already know or early WOM, Streep, Sidibe, Mulligan, and Cornish all look very likely at the moment. With three relatively unknown, I think the fifth spot will go to a star, someone like Bening, Swank, and Swinton.

If released this year, I'm adding Julianne Moore into the mix this year for A Single Man!!

The thing that still bothers me with Amelia is the rating. It's PG right? Where's the meat in that. I'm curious who was the last actress to win for a PG performance.

If released this year, I'm adding Julianne Moore into the mix this year for A Single Man!!

Abbie Cornish

plz win oscar

Lively, engaging than (mostly) potent. Oscar bound.

(alternate 7 word review)
Mirren’s nomination chances? Golden.
McAvoy’s deflowering? Priceless.

(38 word gripe)
Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren and James McAvoy all have lead roles in this film. Paul Giamatti, Anne Marie Duff, Patrick Kennedy and Kerry Condon are the supporting players of note... but Oscar campaigns will do what they will.

Could this suddenly become the year of Sandra Bullock?

A little less than a month ago I traveled to the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank to see a film called "The Blind Side" starring Bullock that, frankly, I wasn't expecting much from. Sometimes nice surprises happen.

This is the kind of inspiring and solid upbeat studio release (directed by John Lee Hancock) that could, and should, put Bullock firmly in the race for best actress. This could be her "Erin Brockovich." Just like the film that earned Julia Roberts her Oscar, this is a true life story about Leigh Anne Tuohy, an unstoppable force of nature who persuades her very white Southern family to take in a virtually homeless African American teen named Michael Oher (played by newcomer Quinton Aaron). This unusual "adoption" leads to a brand-new life for the boy and sends him on his way to eventually becoming an All-American football star.

Like the far more visible (at least media-wise) "Precious," it's a story of a person lifted out of his or her own personal ghetto, who uses hope and an indomitable spirit to prevail against all odds.

Aaron and the rest of the cast, which includes Tim McGraw and Kathy Bates, are just fine. But it's Bullock, burning up the screen as an upscale Southern woman who finds her heart and soul, who should finally earn some awards attention. It's easily her best screen work since her underrated supporting turn in "Crash," but she has yet to appear on anybody's short list of best actress candidates. (This writer excluded.)

"The Blind Side," together with her romantic comedy box-office smash "The Proposal," should make 2009 this star's most memorable year ever. (The less said about "All About Steve" the better.)

In fact, I've been told by sources at last week's ShowEast exhibitors convention that the movie played like gangbusters there. One top distribution exec for a rival studio actually told me that it could be classified as a great film if it were only about 10 to 15 minutes shorter. It does run long and could lose some of the football footage, but it never loses its grip on the audience thanks largely to Bullock.

Playing a real-life person is always helpful in awards season, particularly when that person can run around to media to say how authentic the portrayal is. It certainly worked with Brockovich's praise of Roberts, and I imagine Tuohy will do the same thing for Bullock.

It's entirely possible Bullock could even end up with two Golden Globe nominations this year if all the cards line up, one for actress in a comedy or musical for "The Proposal" and one for actress in a drama for "The Blind Side." And in the ever-fluid lineup of best actress Oscar candidates this year she has a real shot if Warners gets it out there to the acting community.

The major negative in this scenario is the film's Nov. 20 opening, directly against Summit's expected blockbuster "New Moon." It could get buried in the rubble that juggernaut leaves behind. Still, underdogs, which "Blind Side" undoubtedly is in this case, sometimes find a way to rise to the top.

It's called word of mouth.