BEST ACTRESS?
In several years the Motion Picture Academy has stubbed its toe selecting the Best Actress. 2006 was not one of those years; Helen Mirren was an absolute lock for her portrayal of the Queen. But, alas, it has not always been so.
Let’s start with the worst goof. In 1952, Julie Harris was just brilliant as gawky, coming-of-age Frankie, a reluctant Member of the Wedding. This wonderful film still fills us with emotion today. And yet, she was bypassed for the very pedestrian Shirley Booth for Come Back, Little Sheba.
I am not a huge Katherine Hepburn fan, and she did win a fistful of Oscars (four). Heck, Cate Blanchett won an Oscar just for portraying Hepburn in The Aviator (2004). And yet, I think Hepburn was obviously slighted at least twice. All the way back to 1935, Bette Davis won for Dangerous, not really her finest hour. Ms. Hepburn was just luminous as Alice Adams. She will absolutely break your heart. Then in 1955 the screeching Anna Mangnani won for Rose Tattoo, when Ms. Hepburn should have won for her role as the American schoolteacher on a romantic holiday in Italy in Summertime. 
One year when Ms. Hepburn did win, in 1967 for the stale and cliched Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner?, there were at least two better performances. I would go with either Anne Bancroft as the legendary Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, or Faye Dunnaway as the trashy female killer in Bonnie and Clyde.
There was a very strange result in 1994, when Jessica Lange won for the very mediocre Blue Sky. This is a bad movie and not a good part for Ms. Lange. Perhaps this was one of those “it’s her turn” deals. Anyway, the Academy by-passed Jody Foster’s remarkable performance as Nell. And yes, I realize Ms. Foster had already won twice by then. 
The most recent Oscar gaffe in this category occurred in 1999, when Hillary Swank won for Boys Don’t Cry, a pretty good performance in a really hateful movie. I would go with Annette Benning as the feral real estate agent in American Beauty.
Last year Brie Larson won as the imprisoned mother in Room and I don’t really have a problem with that. But- Saoirse Ronan’s performance in Brooklyn is just a  miracle of acting. If you haven’t seen this great film, well, you should!
A couple more Oscar boners: 1943- Jennifer Jones for The Song of Bernadette instead of Greer Garson for Mrs. Miniver; 1941- Joan Fontaine for Suspicion over Bette Davis for The Little Foxes (check out the scene in which Ms. Davis just sits there while her dying husband cries for help!).
All of the movies in this column are available on  DVD and for streaming. All are for mature audiences.