It’s the day before the Academy Award nominations are announced and it occurs to me that, although it’s been a great year for actresses — with more than the usual number of contenders for the top nomination — it does seem odd that so many of the contenders are really good in films that aren’t very good.
Viola Davis’ “The Help” is a pretty decent movie but three of the other actresses who seem to be shoo-ins for best actress nominations — Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady,” Michelle Williams in “My Week With Marilyn,” Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs” (which opens Jan 27) — fit that description. Although each of those three makes interesting, surprising choices, the movies that contain them are stodgy and poorly developed. (The same can be said for Charlize Theron, who probably will just miss out on a nomination for “Young Adult”). Of the top contenders, I’d argue that only Tilda Swinton, whose “We Need to Talk About Kevin” will hit theaters here February 3, is a great actress in a great or near-great film.