Annette Benning   Janet McTeer   Julianne Moore   Meryl Streep   Hillary Swank

Best actress

The nominees: Annette Bening, "American Beauty"; Janet McTeer, "Tumbleweeds"; Julianne Moore, "The End of the Affair"; Meryl Streep, "Music of the Heart"; and Hilary Swank, "Boys Don't Cry."

If Swank doesn't win, they should just turn off the cameras and send everyone home. She not only delivered the most intense, multi-dimensional performance of the 1990s, she arrived on the scene via the gutter-level launching pad of "Beverly Hills 90210." Her work in "Boys Don't Cry" is nothing short of a revelation. Since the Academy pointedly disregarded her brilliant director, Kimberly Peirce, Swank seems close to a lock.

But watch out for Bening, even though she was twice as shrill in "American Beauty" as she needed to be. Once again, the Academy loves ambitious overstatement. Moore will surely win one day, but not this time, and McTeer's award is the nomination itself. Streep -- whose contract apparently stipulates that she gets a nomination the minute she signs on the dotted line -- is a genius. But she was slumming in a movie that's way beneath her abilities.

My vote: Hilary Swank by several country miles. I'll strongly consider boycotting next year's awards if she loses. » Next category