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

New Trailer for EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE

With the production of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, I always had one concern: the role of Oskar Schell. The way he's written in the book, with all of his quirks, it seems like it would take someone really special to play the role. Instead of getting an experienced child actor, they decided to pick up Thomas Horn, who won on Teen Jeopardy. This trailer has helped calm and relax me. Any worries are gone, and I expect this film to be absolutely amazing in every way. The film is in good hands as far as the director goes, as Stephen Daldry has been nominated for Best Director with each of his other three films: Billy Elliot, The Hours, and The Reader. I expect he'll earn another nomination for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

After the break, check out the new trailer and the synopsis if you don't really know what it is. The film also stars Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max von Sydow, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, and John Goodman. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close has a limited release for December 25th, and will have an extended release January 20th, 2012.