It’s Sandra Bullock vs Meryl Streep in the Oscar Race for Best Actress, But Is an Upset Possible?
Everyone expects Oscar to officially make Sandra Bullock America’s Sweetheart for her breakout dramatic performance as a strong, Republican wife, mother and inspiration to African-American football giant Michael Oher in The Blind Side. OK, Bullock was good, I’ll give you that. And she’ll probably win unless Meryl Streep sneaks by and wins for playing chef Julia Child in *Julie and Julia*. I’m better than OK about that since Streep (this is Oscar nomination No. 16 — a record) gave the better performance.
But please people, is that all there is? I mean look at the other nominees: Dame Helen Mirren is going for a bookend Oscar to match the one she won for The Queen in The Last Station. And then we have two newcomers.
Travers Vs. Travers: Should Indies or Blockbusters Win at the 2010 Oscars?Gabourey Sidibe made a dazzling debut playing the title role in *Precious* as a fat, illiterate, HIV-positive Harlem girl who gets knocked up (twice) by her daddy, brutally battered by her mother and laughed at by a world eager to pound abuse on her 16-year-old ass. Her performance brims with grit and amazing grace and digs aspiration out of buried dreams. Who’s for Gaby?
My personal pick would be Carey Mulligan, 24, the British actress whose sensational, starmaking performance as a 16-year-old virgin seduced by an older man in *An Education* ignited film festivals from Sundance to Toronto. The incandescent Mulligan is a major find who makes the girl’s journey from gawky duckling to sad, graceful swan an unmissable event. I talked to Mulligan for my ABC Popcorn show — click here for what she had to say.
And now it’s time for you to have your say: Who really gave the Oscar-worthy performance as Best Actress this year?
More on the 2010 Oscars:
Download Peter’s Oscar ballot (complete with his picks) and enter to win the Best DVDs of 2009:
Download Peter Travers’ 2010 Oscar Ballot (Right click and choose “save as”)