'Amelia' not only performance worthy of Oscar nod

This is how bad things have gotten. There's some speculation that Hilary Swank might actually get an Academy Award nomination for her performance as aviator Amelia Earhart in "Amelia."

Make no mistake about it, the two-time Oscar winner was the one decent thing in the otherwise unmemorable and less-than-impressive biographical drama.

Other actresses that seem like a sure bet at this point to receive Best Actress nods are Meryl Streep, who was so good as Julia Child in "Julie & Julia," and Abbie Cornish, the brightest star in the underseen but worthwhile "Bright Star."

And to be fair, there are quite a few, seemingly Oscar-primed things on the horizon.

Among these are "Coco Before Chanel" (Audrey Tautou), "An Education" (Carey Mulligan), "The Lovely Bones" (Saoirse Ronan, Susan Sarandon and Rachel Weisz), "The Men Who Stare at Goats" (Jeff Bridges and George Clooney), "Nine" (Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and more), "Pirate Radio" (Philip Seymour Hoffman), "The Road" (Viggo Mortensen) and "Up in the Air" (Clooney again).

But here are a few other performances that may not be on a lot of Oscar voters' radars but which deserve to get some serious, awards-season consideration:

Alycia Delmore, "Humpday": The controversial nature of the "mumblecore" comedy-drama might hurt the newcomer. But she was a revelation in it.

Joaquin Phoenix, "Two Lovers": Forget his many eccentricities or his bizarre appearance on night-time talk shows, Phoenix was heartbreaking in this unheralded drama.

Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker": Bizarrely, the acclaimed Iraq war thriller was released by its studio in the middle of summer. Renner was unforgettable as a bomb-solving soldier, though.

Maya Rudolph, "Away We Go": The former "Saturday Night Live" cast member has shown off some impressive singing and comedy skills, though this movie revealed that her dramatic chops aren't too bad either.

Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds": The veteran Austrian character actor already won a trophy at this year's Cannes Film Festival for his performance as a villainous Nazi, arguably the movie's best character.

Rachel Weisz, "The Brothers Bloom": Another performer who showed off a different side, the Oscar winner was a delight in the screwball comedy/caper film.

e-mail: jeff@desnews.com