Academy Award Nominations: Best Supporting Actress

I'm not going to bother with a complete list of Oscar nominations because by this time, you've probably already seen them. (In case you haven't, here you go). Instead, I figured I'd just take one category at a time, starting with Best Supporting Actress, since that's the only one for which I've seen every nominee.

Here are the nominees, followed by the number of awards each has won already this year, from various critics' societies (a breakdown of who won what from whom can be found here).

Adriana Barraza for Babel: 1
Cate Blanchett for Notes on a Scandal: 6
Abigail Breslin for Little Miss Sunshine: 5 (2 for Supporting Actress, 3 for Performance by a Youth)
Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls: 18 (11 for Supporting Actress, 7 for Breakthrough Performance)
Rinko Kikuchi for Babel: 4 (3 for Supporting Actress, 1 for Breakthrough Performance)

Hudson is clearly the favorite to win, though her fellow nominees all delivered strong work. Effie is really a leading role in Dreamgirls, and Hudson gets as much screen time as Beyonce Knowles. But Knowles is a Big Star, so she got the above-the-title billing and the right to a (non-existent) Leading Actress nomination. And to be fair, she did make The Pink Panther and Goldmember.

Of all the nominees, Kikuchi impressed me most. Her character was the most heartbreaking in Babel and her story the most compelling, both because of her extraordinary performance. Barraza was just as good, but I didn't believe for one second that her son would dump her in the desert with two children in the middle of the night.

Cate Blanchett is one of my favorite actresses of our generation. In 2006, she turned in equally strong work in Babel, the little-seen (and even littler-appreciated) The Good German and Notes on a Scandal, for which she is nominated. Her versatility is reminiscent of Meryl Streep's. But, like Streep, Blanchett is so consistently good that she may never get another Oscar. We expect her to be great, and aren't surprised when she is. She'd have to have another perfect vehicle like Elizabeth to really wow the Academy.

Breslin is the heart and soul of Little Miss Sunshine and her performance showed remarkable range. Consider her reaction to the news that she qualified for the pageant, the silent way she comforts her brother along the side of the highway, and her joyfully oblivious striptease. This is a cute little girl who can also act - which is always a nice surprise. (As a totally random side note, I saw LMS at a preview screening that was followed by a Q&A with the film's directors. One guy raised his hand and compared Breslin with a "young Dakota Fanning." Please.)

Front-runner: Jennifer Hudson
Upset-that-wouldn't-surprise-me: Abigail Breslin
I would vote for: Rinko Kikuchi

The Overlooked:
Catherine O'Hara, For Your Consideration
Sharon Stone, Bobby

Anyone I've left out?