Best Actress
The announcement of Best Actress is the glamour high point of the Academy Awards. From the nominees' red-carpet walks through the bestowing of the statuette, this is when film history meets Us Weekly.
It can produce strange bedfellows (Sandra Bullock comes to mind). But mostly, the moment is about anointing a princess or honoring a queen. At the 83rd Academy Awards this Sunday, the former role will be played by (the very pregnant) Natalie Portman, who leapt to a new level in "Black Swan."
The latter role is taken by Annette Bening, who was a (then very pregnant) also-ran when "American Beauty" swept the 1999 Oscars, and whose role in "The Kids Are All Right" bridged several levels of American female identity.
Jennifer Lawrence made an amazing debut in "Winter's Bone," Nicole Kidman was moving in "Rabbit Hole" and Michelle Williams was heartbreaking in "Blue Valentine," but Bening's turn resonates. Her "Kids" character had the burden of being the film's most adult voice, dealing with a flighty partner, a roguish sperm donor and two teenage children — and Bening delivered beautifully. Joe Neumaier
Best Actor
In 2009, Colin Firth crafted one of the year's most acclaimed performances, as a professor grieving the loss of his longtime partner in "A Single Man." As a first-time nominee, he had a good shot at last year's Best Actor Oscar — except that the award was all but locked up by "Crazy Heart's" Jeff Bridges. This year Bridges will have to smile nobly when Firth ascends the stage for a little professional revenge.
Ironically enough, the night's surest bet lies in its strongest category. Though Firth has emerged the unquestioned front-runner for his sovereign turn in "The King's Speech," each of the candidates offered award-worthy work.
Bridges managed the near-impossible, outdoing the Duke when he stepped into John Wayne's cowboy boots for the Coen brothers' remake of "True Grit." James Franco also rose to a considerable challenge, turning Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" into an unexpectedly compelling experience. As a gifted risk-taker, he should have many more chances to win. This Sunday, he can focus on hosting instead.
Few people watched Alejandro González Iñárritu's Spanish drama "Biutiful," but those who did were devastated by Javier Bardem's portrait of a single father dying of cancer. And everyone saw and admired Jesse Eisenberg's wonderfully nuanced take on Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network." Hopefully he, too, will be back with better odds one day. Because "King's Speech" is likely to sweep on Sunday, and that means Firth will reign supreme. Elizabeth Weitzman
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