Following a 3-part Best Picture rundown and a Best Actor roundup, I continue my occasional series highlighting Oscar contenders in various categories by turning to perhaps the most competitive one of all in a very competitive year:

2010 is one of those years when you almost wish the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences could have created 10 slots for Best Actress, just as they did for Best Picture. Usually it’s hard to even fill the Best Actress ballot with five legitimate contenders because of the normal sorry state of strong roles for women, particularly in studio films. But this year there’s clearly something in the water and some performances which, in another year might have actually won, likely will not even end up with a nomination this time around. That’s how fierce this competition is. One key reason could be that some of the top contenders like Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, and Tilda Swinton also took the reins of their projects and moonlighted as producers in order to shepherd difficult material that might never have made it to the screen otherwise. Here’s the alphabetical lineup of hopefuls and their Oscar chances as we head into Thanksgiving:

NICOLE KIDMAN in RABBIT HOLE (Lionsgate) – No one in this group has consistently taken more career risks with chancy material than Kidman, but her touching work her as a mother trying to cope with the loss of her 4 year old son is the best work she has ever done on screen and that includes her Oscar winning The Hours. With Lionsgate acquiring the film in Toronto, the only question that remains is how deep can they campaign this after others have gotten a head start. OSCAR CHANCE: Although she won just 8 years ago, stars like Fonda , Field , Foster and Swank all won second Oscars in this category in even less a time span. This year’s comeback Kid-man, don’t count her out of pulling an upset.

- Read the full article and list at Deadline.com