- Amy Adams – Enchanted - Nikki Blonsky – Hairspray - Ellen Page – Juno - Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose - Helena Bonham Carter – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Amy Adams
Amy Adams’ new movie Enchanted has cast a spell over the box office mixing live action with animation.The latest offering from Disney tells the story of Giselle who, on her wedding day, is thrown into the real world of New York by the evil queen.But when she begins to fall in love with the divorce lawyer who came to her aid she begins to wonder if a storybook view of romance could survive in the real world.Adams is superb as Giselle who manages to prance and dance, witter and warble through the whole picture with enough energy to power a small village.

Since her Oscar nomination in 2005 for her role in Junebug Adams has been surprisingly quiet but rounds of the year off with a bang.

2008 also looks like it’s going to be a great year for her starring in Charlie Wilson’s War with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman: Sunshine Clearing and Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day.

Nikki Blonsky

Niki Blonsky was one of 2007’s great breakthrough performances as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray.

With an assured vocal performance she filled the screen lighting up every scene that she was in.

Set in 1960s Baltimore overweight teenager Tracy Turnblad dreams of dancing on the Corny Collins Show a dream not shared by her mother Edna.

Edna hasn’t left the house since 1951 due to embarrassment about her weight and she fears that her daughter will be ridiculed and left disappoint because of her size.

Soon Tracy is fighting amber for te Miss Hairspray title, calling for intergration as well as trying to win the heart of Link, the most popular boy in school.

Nikki will next be seen in Queen Sized, a TV movie, and Harold.

Ellen Page

Ellen Page is another young talented actress who really has made an major impact this year with Juno after being well received for her film Hard Candy about eighteen months ago.

Juno is a clever sixteen year old girl who, after her first sexual experience, discovers that she is pregnant.

What follows is a string of adult decisions for the young over the welfare of her and the baby.

She decides that she will have the child adopted and finds childless couple Mark and Vanessa who are longing for a child.

Page is terrific in the role as this film surprisingly handles the delicate subject of teenage pregnancy and adoption in a very grown up manner.

Marion Cotillard

Marion Cotillard is the first international actress to be nominated in this category for her role as singer Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose.

The film, directed by Olivier Dahan follows the life of Edith, the Little Sparrow, between 1916 – 1963 from her time as a street singer, to concert halls, to fame.

The music biopics always do well when the awards season comes around and this year appears to be no different.

This movie is a sweeping melodrama with Marion Cotillard giving her heart, body and soul to the role as the troubled singer whose body is ravaged by alcohol and drugs.

Marion Cotillard has already received Best Actress Award from the Boston Society Film Critics and the LA Film Critics association for her role.

Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter is the second international actress and the only Brit to make the list for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy.

This is her fourth collaboration with partner and director Tom Burton and the third time she has worked with Johnny Depp.

In Sweeney Todd she plays the role of Mrs Lovett who makes ‘the worst pies in London.’

She helps Todd, formerly Benjamin Barker who has returned to London after being falsely imprisoned for fifteen years, get revenge on all the people who have ever wronged him in a bid to reach Judge Turpin who took away his wife and daughter. It’s important to remember that Helena Bonham Carter is not a trained singer and under went five months of lessons to prepare for the role.

And while neither her nor Johnny Depp are exceptional singers they both pull the vocals off competently.

Like Depp Bonham Cater is always attracted to the more obscure, less mainstream roles and it has seen her appear in some great movies including Fight Club .

Tip to win Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical – Marion Cotillard.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw