Mo'Nique, Precious, Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (16)
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air (4)
Samantha Morton, The Messenger (1)
The wrinkle here is that Mo'Nique — whose day jobs are stand-up comic and TV host, and who gives the kind of smoldering performance the Academy loves to reward — is a brassy, unpredictable sort, and has not endeared herself to the industry. Her acceptance speech could be part Moms Mabley, part Hugo Chávez.