Oscars 2014: Who Should Win The Best Actress Award? Brit Dame Judi Dench Takes On Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Amy Adams | HuffPost

OSCARS 2014: Who Should Win The Best Actress Award?

Caroline Frost— The Huffington Post UK

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The Oscars are coming! The little gold statuettes are being polished as we speak, ready to be handed out on Sunday evening in Los Angeles.

Each day this week, we'll be asking who should be collecting one of the prized gongs in each of the acting categories, and then finally wondering who'll be walking off with the big one - Best Film.

Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins have both been nominated for 'Blue Jasmine'

We've already discussed whether anyone can beat Jared Leto for Best Supporting Actor, and whether it'll be Lupita Nyong'o, Jennifer Lawrence or even Julia Roberts to win Best Supporting Actress.

Today... one of the strongest fields of the night, that of Best Actress in a Leading Role.

The sentimental vote says: Dame Judi Dench was charming AND moving in 'Philomena', in her turn as the sweet-tempered Irish lady determined to find her son, taken from her by nuns and sold to American parents. And, let's face it, she worked a darn sight longer and harder than she did in 'Shakespeare in Love'. So, if she got an Oscar for THAT, then she should surely go home with one this time around.

The critics say: They're pretty much divided between the eye-rolling narcissism of Cate Blanchett's Blue Jasmine, and Sandra Bullock's lonely return to 'Gravity' in Alfonso Cuaron's extra-terrestrial adventure. It's a toss up between Blanchett's mastery of dialogue and subtle, demonised interaction with her fellow humans, and Bullock's solitude and monologues as she's left properly, possibly permanently alone, with alone her thoughts. Both sterling performances, but Blanchett's sub-texts just about steal it for me.

The bookies say: Cate Blanchett seemingly a shoo-in for 'Blue Jasmine' after her victories at both this year's BAFTAs AND Screen Actors' Guild ceremonies. She's a safe bet at between 1/25 and 1/50 odds - so not much money to made there for the average punter. Amy Adams coming in a not-close second place at around 18/1, with Sandra Bullock in third. The surprise outsider is Meryl Streep, coming in at odds of between 49 and 80 to 1. Oh well, she hasn't got the mantel-space for it, any road.

What do YOU say?

Stay turned for all our live Academy Awards coverage from late Sunday evening and all through the night.

Oscars 2014 Nominees

Best Picture — "American Hustle"(01 of44)

Best Picture — "Captain Phillips"(02 of44)

Best Picture — "Dallas Buyers Club"(03 of44)

Best Picture — "Gravity"(04 of44)

Best Picture — "Her"(05 of44)

Best Picture — "Nebraska"(06 of44)

Best Picture — "Philomena"(07 of44)

Best Picture — "12 Years a Slave"(08 of44)

Best Picture — "The Wolf of Wall Street"(09 of44)

Best Actor — Christian Bale, "American Hustle"(10 of44)

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Best Actor — Bruce Dern, "Nebraska"(11 of44)

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Best Actor — Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Wolf of Wall Street"(12 of44)

(credit:AP)

Best Actor — Chiwetel Ejiofor, "12 Years a Slave"(13 of44)

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Best Actor — Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers Club"(14 of44)

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Best Actress — Amy Adams, "American Hustle"(15 of44)

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Best Actress — Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine"(16 of44)

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Best Actress — Sandra Bullock, "Gravity"(17 of44)

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Best Actress — Judi Dench, "Philomena"(18 of44)

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Best Actress — Meryl Streep, "August: Osage County"(19 of44)

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Best Supporting Actor — Barkhad Abdi, "Captain Phillips"(20 of44)

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Best Supporting Actor — Bradley Cooper, "American Hustle"(21 of44)

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Best Supporting Actor — Michael Fassbender, "12 Years a Slave"(22 of44)

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Best Supporting Actor — Jonah Hill, "The Wolf of Wall Street"(23 of44)

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Best Supporting Actor — Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club"(24 of44)

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Best Supporting Actress — Sally Hawkins, "Blue Jasmine"(25 of44)

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Best Supporting Actress — Jennifer Lawrence, "American Hustle"(26 of44)

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Best Supporting Actress — Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years a Slave"(27 of44)

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Best Supporting Actress — Julia Roberts, "August: Osage County"(28 of44)

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Best Supporting Actress — June Squibb, "Nebraska"(29 of44)

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Best Animated Feature — "The Croods"(30 of44)

Best Animated Feature — "Despicable Me 2"(31 of44)

Best Animated Feature — "Ernest and Celestine"(32 of44)

Best Animated Feature — "Frozen"(33 of44)

Best Animated Feature — "The Wind Rises"(34 of44)

Best Director — David O. Russell, "American Hustle"(35 of44)

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Best Director — Alfonso Cuarón, "Gravity"(36 of44)

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Best Director — Alexander Payne, "Nebraska"(37 of44)

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Best Director — Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave"(38 of44)

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Best Director — Martin Scorsese, "The Wolf of Wall Street"(39 of44)

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Best Foreign Language Film — "The Broken Circle Breakdown" (Belgium)(40 of44)

Best Foreign Language Film — "The Great Beauty" (Italy)(41 of44)

Best Foreign Language Film — "The Hunt" (Denmark)(42 of44)

Best Foreign Language Film — "The Missing Picture" (Cambodia)(43 of44)

Best Foreign Language Film — "Omar" (Palestine)(44 of44)

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Blue Jasmine is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD. Watch the trailer below...

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