Best Actress 2009

[mayukh]

This is a horrible lineup. Bullock could be, at best, likable (as she is in some of her comedies), but I'm still sincerely puzzled as to how this performance, in this particular non-movie, this win, even happened. It's really the Academy's lowest point.

I can't for the life of me see why Streep deserves a win other than for the paucity of candidates here – it's a totally light performance, and I don't think she ever "becomes" Julia Child (though, in her defense, the film never allows her to).

Mulligan's stardom is one I absolutely don't get, and Sabin is spot-on in his criticism of her – I don't for a second believe that this innately perceptive girl would be so naive as to fall for that man. Star-making, luminous, heartbreaking – I just don't see it.

In Sofya Tolstoy, Helen Mirren gets a plum role that makes use of her interesting, mature sexuality. It's nice work.

Hers is very much a passive performance, but watching Sidibe react so organically to the characters around her (many of whom I think exist purely for sensationalist purposes in this bloated, overdirected film) feels more real than anything else in the film. I haven't really been impressed by her attempts at being a comedienne, but I can't deny that she was very fine in this role.

I'm not sure who good alternates are – I was really pulling for Cornish, but Bright Star lacked much idiosyncrasy. The Stoning of Soraya M is one of those movies I genuinely despised so I can't really consider Aghdashloo.

[Jim20]

ACTRESS
Zooey Deschanel, (500) Days of Summer
Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
**Carey Mulligan, An Education**
Maya Rudolph, Away We Go
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

[bizarre]

My choices:

1. Birgit Minichmayr, in "Everyone Else"
2. Carey Mulligan, in "An Education"
3. Rifka Lodeizen, in "Can Go Through Skin"
4. Vera Farmiga, in "Orphan"
5. Sylvie Testud, in "Lourdes"

6. Bae Doona, in "Air Doll"
7. Nina Ivanišin, in "Slovenian Girl"
8. Charlotte Gainsbourg, in "Antichrist"
9. Lotte Verbeek, in "Nothing Personal"
10. Gabourey Sidibe, in "Precious"

[Hustler]

Streep

[Eric]

Sidibe

[Reza]

Voted for Mulligan here although I have yet to watch Mirren's performance from this bunch.

Still need to catch up on many female performances in order to compile my top 5 .....Swinton, Cruz, Agadashaloo, Cornish etc.

[Damien]

Streep. Sidibe would also be a decent choice, the other three, indecent.

[Mister Tee]

Can't cast an honest vote till The Last Station hits DVD. Streep is the pick out of the other four, but I'll hold off for now.

Yeah, I really don't think there's much point talking about this one.

[ITALIANO]

Haven't seen Mirren yet, so voted for Mulligan. I'd love to know the names of those who voted for Bullock (ok, one must be Van Helsing).

[Sabin]

Mulligan is miscast, far too firebrand and independent to convey the innate wishy-washiness of her character. And Sidibe isn't given an opportunity by the cheese of Daniel's approach. Haven't seen Mirren. Flip a coin and I go with Mulligan through no fault of Sidibe's.

[dws1982]

Not much to say. Haven't seen Mirren but voted for Sidibe.

[The Original BJ]

Since most of our commentary on these performances is pretty fresh, I'll just stick to: the splendid Carey Mulligan gets my vote by a very wide margin.

[Big Magilla]

From Mary Pickford to Greer Garson to Elizabeth Taylor to Diane Keaton to Helen Mirren, the Best Actress Oscar, as have most acting Oscars, has been given as frequently for personal popularity as it has for work well done. Sometimes the two coincide, sometimes they don't.

I don't think anyone would call Sandra Bullock's performance in The Blind Side great acting. It was a popular performance by a popular actress in a popular film in a year when most of the really good performances were in films few people, including Academy members, saw.

Among those that were overlooked: Tilda Swinton in Julia; Shohreh Aghdashloo in The Stoning of Soraya M.; Hiam Abbas in Lemon Tree; Nisreen Faour in Amreeka; Abbie Cornish in Bright Star; Michelle Monaghan in Trucker and Penelope Cruz in Broken Embraces.

Among the actual nominees, I liked Helen Mirren's portrayal of the histrionic Sofya Tolstoy in The Last Station even more than Meryl Streep's perfectly delightful Julia Child in Julie & Julia, though either would have been a decent choice. Indeed, Streep, as we all know, surprisingly won the lion's share of precursors and was Bullock's only real competition as Oscar season drew to its inevitable conclusion.

Of the two newcomers, I liked Gabourey Sidibe's victim of parental abuse in Precious more than I did Carey Mulligan's spoiled schoolgirl in An Education, but they were both decidedly also-rans this year even though Mulligan's BAFTA victory seem to give her last minute momentum.

Without Swinton or Aghdashloo in the race, my vote goes to Mirren.