We're in the homestretch now! Only three days left and, frankly, on Sunday night, I'm going to be more concerned with whose dress is pretty than who actually wins. But for now, let's soldier on.

The nominees for Best Supporting Actress are:

• Amy Adams for Doubt;
• Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona;
• Viola Davis for Doubt;
• Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; and
• Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler.

In Doubt, Amy Adams plays a young nun, teaching at the Catholic school where Meryl Streep plays the principal, in the parish where Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays the priest. I'm not sure why Streep is in the Best Actress category when both Adams and Hoffman are nominated for supporting roles. It seemed to me that all three had equal screen time and each of them were equally responsible for taking the audience on a journey of confusion and mistrust. But alas, a nomination for Best Supporting Actress is what Adams will have to settle for, and in her role as Sister James she shows that she's got the dramatic chops to match her considerable comedic and musical talents.
 
Before giving my opinion on Penelope Cruz's performance as Maria Elena, the crazy ex-wife, in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, I should disclose that I can't stand Woody Allen or his films. He's skeezy and his movies are boring. Not just looking-at-your-watch-half-way-through boring but making-a-mental-checklist-of-all-the-things-you-could-have-been-doing-instead boring. So, in the midst of this boring movie is Penelope Cruz. She's pretty. She can act. Meh.
 
I feel pretty much exactly the same way about Taraji P. Henson, who was so outstanding in Hustle & Flow. She plays the woman who finds Benjamin Button as a newborn after his father abandons him for being an aberration. She's fine in the role, but the movie is horrible, so meh.
 
And guess what! Ditto on Marisa Tomei. I'm not sure whether this was just a bad year for movies or a bad year for women in supporting roles in movies, but aside from the two actresses nominated for Doubt, the rest just aren't that remarkable for me. Tomei does an okay job playing a stripper who only strips because she needs money to raise her son. To be fair, I did walk out of The Wrestler with about a half hour to go, so maybe she was really great in the end.
 
Viola Davis has to win. She just has to. Watching Doubt, I was on the edge of my seat. The tension is like an electric current spilling out from the screen into the theater. Amy Adams, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Meryl Streep bring the film closer and closer to resolution while making the viewers change their minds again and again about what is really going on. And then, Viola Davis steps in as Mrs. Miller. She has one scene, and that sad fact might prompt the voters to bestow the award on another nominee. But nobody's performance is better than Davis's. In one scene, she portrays love and fierce protection of her son, who is the only black student at Meryl Streep's Catholic school. In one scene, we see her frustration with the barriers for African Americans in the 1960s, her fear that this might not be the worst barrier that her son will have to face, her resignation of the way things are, the trade offs that she is willing to make as she tries to keep her son safe. She's simply amazing. She deserves to win and she deserves to be cast in roles that have her on screen for much more than one scene.
 
Coming up on Friday: Best Supporting Actor

Until then, take a look at the previous categories:

Best Picture

Best Actor

Best Actress

Best Song