Oscar Nominee Analysis: Best Actress

Best Actress

Glenn Close

Albert Nobbs

Meryl Streep

The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams

My Week with Marilyn

Rooney Mara

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Viola Davis

The Help

The biggest snub here is Tilda Swinton for her performance in We Need To Talk About Kevin. The reviews for her performance are glowing, and I was really shocked to see that she was the one who was left out. The battle for that last spot would have been between her and Rooney Mara for her daring portrayel as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I really can't argue with the snub though, as I've seen Dragon Tattoo twice, and each time the best part of the film was Mara. Another snub was Charlize Theron, who starred in the Jason Reitman dark comedy Young Adult, in which she was pretty much, well, a total bitch. This will be a very, very tough battle between all of the nominees. Each nominee, aside from Rooney Mara, is really just Oscar bait. Glenn Close plays a man in Albert Nobbs. Michelle Williams plays the iconic Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn. Meryl Streep plays the lone female Prime Minister of Britain in the awful film The Iron Lady. And Viola Davis plays the help during a time of racial tension in, well, The Help. This will be an exciting battle, and one that I'm not sure I'll be able to predict.

Films I Haven't Seen: Albert Nobbs; My Week with Marilyn

Snubs:

Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

Charlize Theron, Young Adult

Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia

Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Robert Duvall joining Tom Cruise in ONE SHOT; Rooney Mara being cast in the OLDBOY remake?

I know absolutely nothing about the film One Shot. All I know is Tom Cruise is starring in it, and generally, that would leave me a tad worried. But. BUT. After actually looking into what this film is all about, I'm actually pretty interested. Richard Jenkins joined the cast last week, and now Variety reports that Robert Duvall is now on board. Count me in. According to Variety, Duvall has a small but pivotal role which is significant to Tom Cruise's character Jack Reacher and his investigation into a sniper accused of murdering five people. I guess this is probably where I post the synopsis for the film, which will be directed by Christopher McQuarrie based off of the novel by Lee Child's.

Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me.

And sure enough, ex—military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. He knows this shooter–a trained military sniper who never should have missed a shot. Reacher is certain something is not right–and soon the slam-dunk case explodes.

Now Reacher is teamed with a beautiful young defense lawyer, moving closer to the unseen enemy who is pulling the strings. Reacher knows that no two opponents are created equal. This one has come to the heartland from his own kind of hell. And Reacher knows that the only way to take him down is to match his ruthlessness and cunning–and then beat him shot for shot.

The film will be released February 8, 2013, and also stars Rosamund Pike and David Oyelowo. After the break I'll go over the rumors involving the Oldboy remake.