Golden Globe Best Actress

Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, the Academy Award-winning duo behind The Hurt Locker, reteam for this drama detailing the hunt for Osama bin Laden, which stars Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain as the intelligence expert who dedicated a decade of her life to tracking down the world's most wanted terrorist. In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the CIA began interrogating suspected Al Qaeda agents across the globe in a bid to locate the elusive bin Laden. Upon arriving at a CIA black site and witnessing the brutal interrogation tactics firsthand, driven operative Maya (Chastain) aids her unpredictable colleague Dan (Jason Clarke) in gathering the intelligence that will help bring their target to justice. Over the course of the next decade, numerous false leads and dead ends make the search seem more futile than ever. Meanwhile, numerous suicide bombings across the Middle East and Europe hint that Al Qaeda won't go down without a fight. Then, just when it seems as if the trail of clues has finally dried up, an old piece of evidence leads Maya to a suspect who may work directly for the man charged with planning the worst act of terrorism ever committed on American soil. Joel Edgerton, Edgar Ramirez, Mark Strong, Chris Pratt, and James Gandolfini co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A 1960s-era Mississippi debutante sends her community into an uproar by conducting a series of probing interviews with the black servants behind some of her community's most prominent families. Skeeter (Emma Stone) has just graduated from college, and she's eager to launch her career as a writer. In a moment of inspiration, Skeeter decides to focus her attention on the black female servants who work in her community. Her first subject is Aibileen (Viola Davis), the devoted housekeeper who has been employed by Skeeter's best friend's family for years. By speaking with Aibileen, Skeeter becomes an object of scorn to the wealthy locals, who view her actions as directly challenging to the established social order. Before long, even more servants are coming forward to tell their stories, and Skeeter discovers that friendship can blossom under the most unlikely of circumstances. Bryce Dallas Howard co-stars in a touching tale of race relations based on author Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel of the same name. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Academy Award-winner Kate Winslet stars in director Todd Haynes' five-part, made-for-HBO miniseries charting the hopes and heartaches of a single, middle class, Los Angeles mother as she fights to win her daughter's affections during the Great Depression. Guy Pearce, Evan Rachel Wood, James LeGros, Mare Winningham, Melissa Leo, and Hope Davis co-star in a film based on the 1941 novel by author James M. Cain. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Mark Wahlberg stars in Paramount Pictures' inspirational docudrama exploring the remarkable rise of Massachusetts-born, junior welterweight title winner "Irish" Micky Ward. A determined pugilist whose career in the ring was shepherded by his loyal half-brother, Dicky (Christian Bale) -- a hard-living boxer-turned-trainer whose own career in the ring was nearly sent down for the count due to drugs and crime -- perennial underdog Irish Micky rebounded from a disheartening series of defeats to win both the WBU Intercontinental Lightweight title and the WBU Light Welterweight title thanks to a fierce combination of determination and hard work. David O. Russell directs from a script by 8 Mile's Scott Silver and Paul Attanasio (The Bourne Ultimatum). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Mick Jackson teams with screenwriters Christopher Monger and William Merritt Johnson to tell the story of autistic icon Temple Grandin, a woman who refused to let her disorder limit her true potential. Adapted from Grandin's own writings, the film allows the audience to experience the world much like she does while recounting her colorful life and remarkable achievements from childhood to adulthood. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Nora Ephron adapts Julie Powell's autobiographical book Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen with this Columbia Pictures production starring Amy Adams as an amateur chef who decides to cook every recipe in a cookbook from acclaimed celebrity chef Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep) in order to chronicle it in a blog over the course of a year. Streep's Devil Wears Prada co-star Stanley Tucci re-teams with the actress as Child's husband. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Monster's Ball producer Lee Daniels follows up his 2005 directorial debut, Shadowboxer, with this adaptation of author Sapphire's best-selling novel about an overweight, illiterate African-American teen from Harlem who discovers an alternate path in life after she begins attending a new school. Clareece "Precious" Jones is only a teenager, yet she's about to give birth to her second child. Unable to read or write, Clareece shows little prospect for the future until discovering that she has been accepted into an alternative school. There, with a little help from a sympathetic teacher (Paula Patton) and a kindly nurse (Lenny Kravitiz), the young girl receives something that most teens never get -- a chance to start over. Mo'nique co-stars in an inspirational drama featuring the debut performance of screen newcomer Gabourey "Gabbie" Sidibe. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Suburban wife and mother Tara Gregson (Toni Collette) juggles her family and career while suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder. It's never a dull moment in the Gregson household as the various identities may appear on any given day -- and range from "T", a flirtatious and spunky teenager to "Buck," a gun-loving male alter -- all while her supportive husband Max (John Corbett) and their two teenaged children, Kate (Brie Larson) and Marshall (Keir Gilchrist), try to lead as much of a "normal" life as possible.

Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes star in The Hours director Stephen Daldry's haunting period drama concerning the relationship between a 15-year-old German boy and a mysterious woman twice his age, and the way that it grows doubly complex when the man reencounters the woman years later and discovers a shocking truth about her past. Based on author Bernhard Schlink's best-selling novel of the same name, the film opens on the character of Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) in middle age -- cold, remote, and emotionally withdrawn. It then moves back in time to 1950s Berlin, where ailing teenager Michael (now played by David Kross) has fallen ill with fever, and is discovered in the street by Hanna, a woman in her thirties. After Michael recovers, the two immediately lapse into a torrid affair and Michael falls prey to the confusion of his own burgeoning sexuality. Their liaisons are often marked by Hanna's request that Michael read to her (hence the title). Later, when Michael returns to Hanna's flat and finds it deserted, her absence becomes an emotional blow for which he is completely unprepared, and indeed, scarred for life. The film then moves forward in time by eight years. Michael -- now a law student -- walks into a courtroom and comes across Hanna, one of a series of Nazi prison guards being tried for murderous war crimes during World War II. As he watches her on the witness stand, memories of their past experiences together bring him to the point of realization concerning a startling, long-buried truth about Hanna -- and Michael knows that if he divulges this information, it could modify the prison sentence handed out and dramatically alter her fate. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Todd Haynes' unconventional biopic of the legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan features different actors playing the part of the Minnesota native at various stages of his remarkable career. Among the actors playing the singer are Cate Blanchett, who portrays the man during his Don't Look Back era incarnation; Heath Ledger, as an actor playing one of the fictional Dylans in a movie within the movie; Christian Bale, as the Dylan beginning to chafe at being associated so strongly with political causes; Richard Gere, portraying the post-motorcycle accident period; and Marcus Carl Franklin as the young Dylan who passed himself off as the second coming of Woody Guthrie. Each section of the film not only has a different lead actor, but offers different looks that reflect various aspects of popular culture at the time. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Filmmaker Atom Egoyan -- a longtime onscreen collaborator with the gifted young actress Sarah Polley (The Sweet Hereafter) -- executive-produced Polley's directorial debut, Away from Her, starring Julie Christie, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy, and Wendy Crewson. Adapted by Polley from a short story by Alice Munro, this small-scaled two-character drama concerns Grant (Gordon Pinsent) and Fiona (Christie), a long-married couple, well into their golden years, who are much in love and connected to one another on every level. "Soul mates" in the purest sense of the term, the two feel a sense of ease and tranquility in their rural home. But when Fiona's memory begins to slip away and she insists on being taken to a rest home, the decision stirs up torrents of guilt and regret in Grant's heart. The rules of the center only complicate matters, as they forbid visitation and communication with Fiona for an interminable period of time. He determines to support his wife at all costs, even if must happen at the expense of his own peace of mind. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Director Bill Condon brings Tom Eyen's Tony award-winning Broadway musical to the big screen in a tale of dreams, stardom, and the high cost of success in the cutthroat recording industry. The time is the 1960s, and singers Effie (Jennifer Hudson), Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose), and Deena (Beyoncé Knowles) are about to find out just what it's like to have their wildest dreams come true. Discovered at a local talent show by ambitious manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), the trio known as "the Dreamettes" is soon offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of opening for popular singer James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy). Subsequently molded into an unstoppable hit machine by Taylor and propelled into the spotlight as "the Dreams," the girls quickly find their bid for the big time taking priority over personal friendship as Taylor edges out the ultra-talented Effie so that the more beautiful Deena can become the face of the group. Now, as the crossover act continues to dominate the airwaves, the small-town girls with big-city dreams slowly begin to realize that the true cost of fame may be higher than any of them ever anticipated.

~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi