Oscar Volleys: Best Actress is a bloodbath

The Oscar Volleys are almost over. Today, Cláudio Alves, Elisa Giudici and Nathaniel Rogers discuss the Best Actress race...
CLÁUDIO: Say what you want about the merits of Best Director or Best Picture's intrinsic importance, but we all know that Best Actress is where it's at. Certainly here, at The Film Experience, where a love for actressing and a love of cinema are often inextricable. And this year, we have one hell of a race, a good old-fashioned nail-biter that will only be resolved once that envelope's opened.
Will it be a rare triumph for horror and a legitimization of an oft-dismissed talent? Will it be a newcomer's moment to shine, riding the wave of love for her frontrunner film? Will it be an international goddess whose Golden Globe win remains one of the season's biggest and most delightful shockers, breaking decades of Oscar precedent? And what about the persona non grata among us? How will the room react to her glorification as a nominee, even if a win seems out of the question? So many mysteries…