Best Actor race
As I see it, this is how the race is panning out right now
1. Gary Oldman - the leader. He is long overdue and his performance in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy looks sensational. He’s doing all those things that we know him for. Loud and nuanced physical behavior, except he scales it down to the tiniest gestures. The man is absolutely genius.
2. Michael Fassbender - runner up. His performance in Shame is really flooring people right now. If the academy can get over the racy material he can be the biggest competition for Gary Oldman this year.
3. Ryan Gosling - RG has had one fuck of a year, pardon my language. He is all over the place. He is charming, funny, and a great actor. His performances are always interesting and he constantly keeps you surprised in a scene, whether he is simply reacting to what another actor says or is doing something himself. Last year, he was unjustly snubbed (arguably should have won for Blue Valetine). The Academy owes him in a huge way. His chance of being nominated is very hight
4. Dicaprio - As much as I hate to say it, Leo will probably get nominated this year. J Edgar is formulated Oscar bait and Leo is essentially playing himself, with a minor attempt at an accent. His performances tend to rely on intense emotional truth, and not character work. The pretty boy is arguably long overdue for a golden man.
5. Tom Hardy - This is more of a wishful thinking choice. Tom probably doesn’t have much of a chance to be nominated, because the film isn’t geared at Oscar audiences. But his performance is Oscar material. Intelligently crafted in the way he chooses the moments and ways to contrast the characters dominant traits and a emotionally raw finish to his character’s arc.
There you have it. An alternative to those old naive predictable Oscarologists. You see them. Screaming Clooney’s name. Screaming Pitt’s name. They’re wrong every year, but they never learn.
