
Jessica Chastain

Zero Dark Thirty



Jennifer Lawrence

Silver Linings Playbook



Emmanuelle Riva

Amour



Quvenzhané Wallis

Beasts of the Southern Wild



Ty Burr says ...
Lawrence had a stellar year a great performance in Playbook and a blockbuster hit with The Hunger Games and she has the momentum. Still, dont discount the Academys love of aging movie icons, even when theyre French. Quvenzhané Wallis may have been six 6 when she made Beasts, but its a real performance; Watts, by contrast, delivers a triumph of technique that, like much else in The Impossible, has trouble touching the heart.
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Will win
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook -
Should win
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
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Shouldn't be here
Naomi Watts, The Impossible -
Was robbed
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone

Janice Page says ...
Jessica Chastains Zero Dark Thirty swagger might have some pull here. But Lawrence has the clear momentum, not to mention a knack for delightful acceptance speeches. If age plays a factor, it would be something to see Riva collect a well-earned Oscar (on her 86th birthday, no less) for her harrowing portrait of dementia.
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Will win
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook -
Should win
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
-
Shouldn't be here
Naomi Watts, The Impossible -
Was robbed
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea