Review: “Soldate Jeannette”
"I'm going to watch this funny movie, 'Jeanne Dielman,'" the protagonist of "Soldate Jeannette" bizarrely announces -- and indeed, the most flattering read of Daniel Hoesl's striking but inscrutable…
Guy Lodge
Review: “Fire in the Blood”
A basically constructed but rivetingly researched examination of the global fight for affordable antiretroviral therapy against Western pharamaceutical companies, whose restrictive patent laws amount…
Jacki Weaver in 'Silver Linings Playbook'
Weaver's nom is one of the year's most surprising, demonstrating both the extent of the film's popularity in the Academy and the high standing the Australian character actress has gained among her…
Amy Adams in 'The Master'
Why she will win: With four noms in eight years, Adams has become something of an Oscar perennial, but she's still awaiting her first win.
Jessica Chastain in 'Zero Dark Thirty'
Very much an actor's actor, Chastain shoulders one of the few best picture nominees expressly constructed around a strong female protagonist.
Sally Field in 'Lincoln'
The beloved veteran hasn't received so much as a nom since winning her second Oscar 28 years ago, and her redoubtable Mary Todd Lincoln is a reminder of the talent that's largely been confined to the…
Helen Hunt in 'The Sessions'
Hunt benefits from having the most screen time of all the nominees: her warm, lived-in turn as an unorthodox sex therapist is arguably a leading performance.
Anne Hathaway in 'Les Miserables'
It's impossible not to affected by Hathaway's turn as the picked-upon Fantine.
Emmanuelle Riva in 'Amour'
As a stroke patient looking helplessly on as her body progressively fails her, Riva's performance carries both an emotional wallop and a high degree of technical difficulty.
Jennifer Lawrence in 'Silver Linings Playbook'
Two years after her first nomination for "Winter's Bone," Lawrence consolidated her next big thing status in 2012, first by headlining the blockbuster "Hunger Games" franchise-starter, then by…
