All season long, two prominent Oscar players have straddled the uncomfortable line between aligning with the supporting and leading categories. One appeared in approximately two-thirds of her film's running time, most of it not merely the center of attention but arguably the black hole of attention; her handlers gunned for a Best Actress nomination, no doubt confident that "female lead in Mike Leigh's newest film" translates to instant Oscar buzz. The other appeared in all but the final three or four minutes of her film (when an older actress took over the role for a "30 years later"-style coda), but admittedly spent significant chunks of that running time making room for her male costar's grizzled, drunken antics; her handlers pushed her for a Supporting Actress berth. Both won various awards and nominations in their chosen categories, but now all the buzz surrounding these two particular races is whether the latter, Hailee Steinfeld, can pull off a Keisha Castle-Hughes miracle, which we now believe she can. All the while, virtually no one even mentions the name of the former, who would've probably been a slam dunk if she'd switched category allegiance. The hard lesson for Another Year's almost certain also-ran Lesley Manville to learn from this: Don't you dare, even when both the relative centrality and overtly showy nature of your role would justify the placement, stiff up in class when you could just as easily slum. Manville will be punished for daring to do the right thing, whereas True Grit's Steinfeld will be doubtlessly rewarded—and, we think, in the correct category—for feigning modesty about her chances among the big girls. Of course, it doesn't hurt that youth helps in Oscar's distaff categories—a double-edged sword which only actually cuts those who play women who openly lust after men 10 to 15 years younger than themselves. Continue Reading »