Best Actress

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

First of all, what a kick-ass line-up! The lack of quality starring roles for women often leads to a dud or two in this category, but all five of these performances are exceptional.

Mara is the only one who definitely won’t win. She’s too new, and as with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Oscar may wait until the third installment to bestow their crown. Williams is definitely going to win before this decade is over, but this year she is overshadowed by the veterans.

Close could squeak in because it’s her sixth nomination and still no wins, though with her introverted character and small-scale film, it’s certainly an uphill battle. Some argue that Streep should win her third statuette because it’s “been awhile” since her last. Ridiculous. She was typically awesome, but her film was not well-received.

True, The Help has inspired many complaints: Some white characters are let off the hook too easily, while other white characters get too much credit for the black characters’ struggles. The film will be honored, though, for the piece it got resoundingly right: The weary, lived-in performances of its stars, standing in for generations of African American women who never saw themselves honestly and humanely portrayed on film. Beloved actress Viola Davis will win, everyone will bawl their eyes out, and it will be awesome.

Prediction and Personal Pick: Viola Davis