You haven't seen the movies. You haven't even done the requisite research on Margaret Thatcher to judge Meryl Streep's role in The Iron Lady. You don't even really understand why Glenn Close is dressed in drag for Albert Nobbs yet. But you do know that Meryl Streep and Glenn Close are very likely to garner nominations for Best Actress at the next Oscars, exhuming a battle that began in 1987 when Cher beat both of them for a statue. Without any knowledge of the films' quality, who are you rooting for?
I can't quite decide whose story should culminate with a walk to the 2012 Oscar dais yet. Glenn Close still hasn't picked up an Oscar after racking up five nominations in the 1980s. Meryl Streep -- the high priestess of acting, accents, and most other forms of sorcery -- has two Oscars and 16 nominations, but she's lost the past 12 nods to everyone from Shirley MacLaine and Geraldine Page to Hilary Swank and Sandra Bullock.
Bottom line, both actresses will win an/another Oscar in their lifetimes. The Academy Awards are nothing if not a bow to zealous statisticians, and Streep's peerless reputation warrants at least one more Oscar -- if not two -- to compete with Katharine Hepburn's record of four. (I'm rooting for a Streep triumph in August: Osage County, whenever that finally happens.)
Close -- who has earned three Tonys and three Emmys -- is owed an Oscar even more than recent gimmie recipients like Alan Arkin and Kate Winslet. Problem is, both Streep and Close are mounting extremely traditional Academy bait featuring dramatic makeovers and/or high-profile historical figures; I'd prefer they both play juicier comic roles.
In the meantime, I'm choosing to root for Close; Fatal Attraction's star performance is just as worthy of hardware as Moonstruck's, and for that Close deserves immediate compensation. What say you?