One person you won't get to see win an Oscar this year, even if she does win, is Dame Judi Dench. The six-time nominee (and the only actor to make the crossover from the Pierce Brosnan Bond films to the Daniel Craig Bond films) is unable to attend this year's ceremony because she will be having a knee operation. Apparently she is fine with missing the event, though, and told reporters not to bet on her to win for her performance in Notes on a Scandal. Of course, nobody in their right minds would bet on anybody but Helen Mirren for the Best Actress trophy. Still, it is always nice to see Dench at these things.

It would also be nice to see her win in the Best Actress category at some point. Although she won a supporting Oscar in 1999, for Shakespeare in Love, she also deserves the honor of winning a lead prize. In many ways, she is like Meryl Streep -- dependable, always amazing and often nominated, but perhaps appreciated enough already as one of our 'great actresses' that the Academy feels no obligation to recognize her any further. Hopefully this isn't really the case.