MAMMA MIA, MERYL... WHAT'S IN A NAME?

I've now seen all but one of the 14 films which, between them, have produced this year's 20 Oscar nomination for acting.

The odd one out is Courtney Hunt's Frozen River.

A smuggling drama set near a little-known border crossing, it has earned Melissa Leo a best actress nod.

Other than its appearance at the London Film Festival last year, Frozen River doesn't appear to even have a future UK release date.

But I still think that Meryl Streep will win best actress for Doubt, after a year in which she also turned Mamma Mia! into the UK's biggest ever crowd-pleaser.

This is her 15th nomination and she's in danger of losing out for the tenth time in a row if she doesn't beat Kate Winslet (for The Reader), Angelina Jolie for Changeling and Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married.

But, I often wonder, would Ms Streep have had all of these plaudits if she'd been called... Beryl?