Best Supporting Actress

Woody Allen strikes again: For 31 years, he has consistently populated the female acting categories with women from his films, and this year he will send Penelope Cruz to her second nomination. Next there’s Kate Winslet, in this race as a German woman with a mysterious past in The Reader; with this and her starring role in Revolutionary Road, she will jump from a five- to a seven-time nominee in one year. Hey, Kate: If you want to win an overdue Oscar, you have to pick which one to campaign for and stick with it; don’t end up like Julianne Moore, split between Far From Heaven and The Hours and then going home empty-handed! Two more actors from Doubt will command nominations, both Viola Davis, the Tony-winning actress in a brief but harrowing role, and Junebug nominee Amy Adams as the nun under Meryl Streep’s wing. For the wide-open fifth nod, don’t count on Hanna Schygulla, another strange pick from the NSFC, or Rosemarie DeWitt, an early contender (and rare supporting performance with the Title Role) who lost steam. It’ll be one of two classic Supporting Actress roles: a heart-of-gold/last-chance-at-love girlfriend from Marisa Tomei, or a heart-of-gold/source-of-strength Mama from Taraji P. Henson. (You may remember Hensen as the actress who sung the hook on “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” in both the film Hustle and Flow and the performance on the Oscar telecast. I bring up “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” whenever possible. ) It’s a coin-flip decision, but with Benjamin Button poised to pick up more nods than The Wrestler, I’ll call it for Taraji P. Hensen.