82nd Academy Awards Blogathon: Best Actress

Nominees: Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side, Helen Mirren - The Last Station, Carey Mulligan - An Education, Gabourey Sidibe - Precious, and Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

The Best Actress category has been a bit formulaic for the last decade or so. Usually there’s one nomination held for a newcomer, one for a seasoned vet, one for a brilliant foreign actress, one for a familiar face, and one for Meryl Streep.

This year is a bit different in that we have two newcomers, Carey Mulligan from An Education and Gabourey Sidibe from Precious, (or are we legally supposed to say “Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”?) It’s rare that these freshman efforts ever win, but there’s some serious buzz behind Ms. Sidibe’s performance that might break tradition.

Also in the running is the disgustingly talented Helen Mirren for her role in the Tolstoy film The Last Station. If anyone can match Meryl Streep in talent, Mirren would be the one to do it. In fact, if the Academy wants its ratings up, I would like to see Streep and Mirren drop the gloves and throw some fists. Forget Sam Worthington, that’s the real Clash of the Titans.

And then there’s Sandra Bullock…

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