One Category at a Time: Supporting Actress

Of the four acting categories, this is definitely the one that feels like it's in the most flux. The four televised precursor awards having been split between two actresses; one who has made a fresh splash on the scene with a staggering dramatic performance accompanied by charming speeches on the red carpet and at the award podium, and another coming off a recent Oscar win and reveling in a flashy comedic turn. Let's take a look at them (oh, and the other three) after the cut.

One Category at a Time: Actress

All of the acting categories seem more or less set in stone at this point in the season, but none more so than Best Actress, which features a career-best performance from a previous Oscar winner who is all but assured of winning her second. It's somewhat a shame that this race is such a done deal, considering how exciting it could have been. Think about it: Four previous Oscar winners and a beloved five-time nominee hungry for her first win, among whom three Best Picture nominees are represented... sounds on paper like it should be a nail-biter, but instead it's one of the biggest locks in the top categories. But we can really bellyache so much when the winning performance is this good? I don't think so.

My Award nominations: Supporting Actor

The story of the year seemed to be more about the leading men (and that's fair), but there was still some excellent work from the supporting ranks. Read about my five picks for the Best Supporting Actors of 2013 after the cut.

Review - August: Osage County

The Weston family takes dysfunction to a whole new level in John Wells' August: Osage County, based on Tracy Letts' Pulitzer and Tony winning stage production, and adapted for the screen by the playwright himself.

I use the term “adapted” very loosely, because August: Osage County demonstrates very little adaptation in its transition between mediums. The only significant alteration is a divisive new ending tacked on by notoriously editorial executive Harvey Weinstein, which doesn't exactly cast a vote of confidence in Letts' originally dour conclusion. But by most accounts from the Broadway crowd who were fortunate enough to see the play in its intended form, the two-act structure and abundance of spiny dialogue therein has been preserved for the film, virtually to the letter.