So we've covered Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Song. Now, it's time to turn our attention to Best Actress. And the nominees are:

• Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married;
• Angelina Jolie for The Changeling;
• Melissa Leo for Frozen River;
• Meryl Streep for Doubt; and 
• Kate Winslet for The Reader.

In Rachel Getting Married, Anne Hathaway plays Kym, a recovering addict who is released from another trip to rehab just in time for her sister's wedding. Hathaway does a great job, making the audience sympathetic to a character who probably isn't all that likeable. It's a departure from the feel-good movies Hathaway has made in the past and she gives a credible performance. I hope she'll keep taking on diverse rolls because she's incredibly watchable. But I don't think she'll win the Oscar this time.

Angelina Jolie surprised me with how good she is in The Changeling. She plays Christine Collins, mother of a nine year old boy who disappears one day and reappears a few months later. Only, the boy who shows up isn't her kid. Jolie plays Collins as a quiet, demure, single mother, which makes the moments when she loses it even more powerful. I forget sometimes just how good Jolie can be beacause her beauty and the sideshow aspects of her life are distracting. She definitely deserves the nomination this year, but she won't win. 

Melissa Leo is nominated for her role as Ray Eddy in Frozen River. She's unflinchingly hard. So much so that you really don't want to like her. She's mean and racist and she lies a lot. But she's fighting like hell to take care of her two sons, so you end up giving her credit. The movie is more depressing than The Wrestler, which I really didn't think was possible. It's difficult to watch, but Leo is great, as is her co-star Misty Upham who could have been nominated for a supporting role. As good as she is, Leo is the longest shot to win.

In Doubt, Meryl Streep is great, as usual. Her portrayal of a nun who is the principal of a Catholic school in the Bronx of the 1960s is so severe that it gave me grade school flashbacks of scary nuns, and I'm a non-Catholic who attended public school. Streep is an Academy favorite and Doubt cleaned up in the actor and actress categories. Her strongest competition is Kate Winslet, and there's a strong possiblity that Streep will take home the award.

The Reader is a great movie and I think David Kross deserved a nomination for his role as the young boy seduced by Hanna Schmitz, played by Kate Winslet. The story is riveting and disturbing and Winslet is good. But I didn't think she was great. Watching Angelina Jolie in The Changeling, I forgot I was watching Jolie and concentrated on the story. Watching The Reader, I never forgot I was watching Winslet. She was good, but I don't think she deserves to win.

In the end, it's going to come down to Winslet and Streep, and I think Winslet will walk away with the award. She's an accomplished actress, so I won't freak like I would if Brad Pitt won for Best Actor. But in my opinion, Winslet isn't as deserving as the other nominees.

Tune in tomorrow for Best Supporting Actress.