Best Supporting Actress

Career Oscar nominations for acting:

Amy Adams: Junebug (2005), Doubt (2008), The Fighter (2010), The Master (2012).

Sally Field: Norma Rae (1979 – winner), Places in the Heart (1984 – winner), Lincoln (2012).

Helen Hunt: As Good as it Gets (1997 – winner), The Sessions (2012).

Anne Hathaway: Rachel Getting Married (2008), Les Miserables (2012).

Jacki Weaver: Animal Kingdom (2010), Silver Linings Playbook (2012).

Absolutely not for Jacki Weaver; it’s the slightest role in the bunch.  The superlative Amy Adams has just gotta win one of these things and soon, but not this year: She didn’t get the crucial SAG nod, and she didn’t have enough to do in this film to justify a win.  It was lovely to see Helen Hunt return to the race after a rocky post-Oscar film career, but for this former winner (as well as quadruple-Emmy winner), the nomination is its own reward.  Sally Field has film-goers divided; some find her interpretation of Mary Todd Lincoln devastating, others find it too histrionic.  With so many looming repeat-winners, it’s unlikely this double Best Actress winner would pick up a supporting trophy.

And then there’s Lil’ Annie Hathaway.  She’s had a steady rise to the A-list, from bit-player in a nominated film (Brokeback Mountain), to co-lead (The Devil Wears Prada), to nominee in her own right, and this definitely feels like her Golden moment.  Like Jennifer Hudson’s winning work in Dreamgirls, she gave an emotional performance punctuated with a show-stopping, full-throated power ballad of heartbreak, and she did hers in an unedited close-up.  Done and Done.

Prediction and Personal Pick: Anne Hathaway, The Miserables!