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The nominees for Best Actor are Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart, George Clooney in Up in the Air, Colin Firth in A Single Man, Morgan Freeman in Invictus, and Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker. The actor who'll take home the golden statuette is Bridges, for his laid-back yet moving work in Crazy Heart; the actor who should win is Renner. While Bridges is unquestionably fine in his film (and will win partly because he's never won an Oscar in his lengthy career), Renner's work as Staff Sergeant James is more worthy because he manages to build his character so subtly, yet convey so many emotions. Clooney's work is among his best, certainly, but he's probably going to have to be content to smile politely and clap for the cameras as the Dude accepts his first Oscar.

The Best Actress nominees are Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side, Helen Mirren in The Last Station, Carey Mulligan in An Education, Gaboury Sidibe in Precious, and Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia. The actress who is going to win is, yes, Bullock. I'm a bit shorthanded in this category, having only seen Sidibe and Streep in their respective films, so for the actress who should win, I'm going to go with Sidibe. It's not just that this young woman seems so fundamentally different than her character (a distinction that's not exactly unique for actors), it's that her performance could have easily been taken out of a documentary about the slums of Harlem in the 1980s; her work is that real and heartfelt. Having not seen The Blind Side and not being a fan of Julie & Julia, I'm not sure I'm going to care much about this category's outcome, but put your backing behind Bullock.

The nominees for Best Supporting Actor are Matt Damon in Invictus, Woody Harrelson in The Messenger, Christopher Plummer in The Last Station, Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones, and Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds. The man who will and should win the prize is Waltz, for his multilingual and multifaceted performance as Col. Hans Landa of the SS, a man so feared that he is nicknamed the Jew Hunter, especially by those pesky titular soldiers. Waltz's work is so brilliant mainly because he manages to exude menace without seeming angry, be as charming as a snake, slithering in and out of the action. Moreover, when he's not onscreen, you're sorely wishing for him to return. His win will extend the streak of villainous roles being award the Best Supporting Actor award to three years, but it's a well-deserved achievement.

The nominees for Best Supporting Actress are Penelope Cruz in Nine, Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air, Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart, Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air, and Mo'Nique in Precious. The actress who will win the award is Mo'Nique, as I've been telling you for weeks (though, to be fair, just about everyone's been saying it for as long). I'm going to go a bit against type here, and say that the actress who should win is Kendrick, for her uptight yet perky performance in Up in the Air. Having only seen her previously in the wretched Twilight series, I was wary to watch her against Clooney and Farmiga, but was dazzled by her work in the film. As with Waltz, when Kendrick is not onscreen, I was wishing for her safe return. There's no question that Mo'Nique's work is brilliant and deserving of an award, but Kendrick winning would make me very happy. Unfortunately, the world in which that will happen is not the one in which we live.

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