The Best Actor Nominees (Courtesy of Oscars.go.com)
The lead categories were kind of left wanting this year, but there are at least five men (and one boy) who could have been nominated for supporting actor. Let’s look at both.
Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale (The Big Short)
Tom Hardy (The Revenant)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
Who Will Win: Sylvester Stallone
Who Should Win: Tom Hardy
Easily the most competitive of all the acting categories this year, I think Steve Carrell (The Big Short), Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Jacob Tremblay (Room), Paul Dano (Love and Mercy), Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton) and anyone from Spotlight all gave nomination-worthy performances, but there can only be five nominees and one winner. Mark Rylance as the Soviet spy had a chance, but he doesn’t get enough screen time to secure his place at the top. Sylvester Stallone won the Golden Globe and is the odds-on favorite to win for a performance that is 50% Rocky and 50% Mickey from the original, an amazing combination that made audiences fall in love with the Rocky series all over again. But in a movie that was supposed to belong to Leonardo DiCaprio the best performance in The Revenant is Tom Hardy’s. Hardy’s John Fitzgerald is a snake in the grass, completely loathsome, and far more captivating than Leo, who spends most of his time laying around. My heart wants Sly to win, but if I am being honest the award should go to Tom Hardy.
Best Actor:
Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
Matt Damon (The Martian)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)
Who Will Win: Leonardo DiCaprio
Who Could Win: Leonardo DiCaprio
While Matt Damon makes The Martian an entire letter grade better and Michael Fassbender is magnetic, if not entirely accurate in Steve Jobs, but this is Leo’s year. DiCaprio’s lack of Oscar has been the running joke around Hollywood for a while now, which is crazy to consider, since he is easily one of the best leading men out there. Even right now I am having trouble thinking of a single bad performance. The Revenant, however, isn’t one of his best performances. Off the top of my head, Leo was better in Blood Diamond, Catch Me If You Can, Shutter Island, and The Departed. Interestingly, Martin Scorsese, director of The Departed, won his own long overdue Oscar for that very movie, though that wasn’t his best picture. The Academy sometimes give these awards to whom they believe are due after a long career of amazing work, and that’s what is happening here. In a year of mediocre to good performances in the category Leo is probably the best of the crop to which this award was destined; it just took a while to get.
Who do you think will win? Let me know your predictions. And tomorrow we tackle the granddaddy of them all, Best Picture.
Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale (The Big Short)
Tom Hardy (The Revenant)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
Who Will Win: Sylvester Stallone
Who Should Win: Tom Hardy
Easily the most competitive of all the acting categories this year, I think Steve Carrell (The Big Short), Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Jacob Tremblay (Room), Paul Dano (Love and Mercy), Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton) and anyone from Spotlight all gave nomination-worthy performances, but there can only be five nominees and one winner. Mark Rylance as the Soviet spy had a chance, but he doesn’t get enough screen time to secure his place at the top. Sylvester Stallone won the Golden Globe and is the odds-on favorite to win for a performance that is 50% Rocky and 50% Mickey from the original, an amazing combination that made audiences fall in love with the Rocky series all over again. But in a movie that was supposed to belong to Leonardo DiCaprio the best performance in The Revenant is Tom Hardy’s. Hardy’s John Fitzgerald is a snake in the grass, completely loathsome, and far more captivating than Leo, who spends most of his time laying around. My heart wants Sly to win, but if I am being honest the award should go to Tom Hardy.
Best Actor:
Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
Matt Damon (The Martian)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)
Who Will Win: Leonardo DiCaprio
Who Could Win: Leonardo DiCaprio
While Matt Damon makes The Martian an entire letter grade better and Michael Fassbender is magnetic, if not entirely accurate in Steve Jobs, but this is Leo’s year. DiCaprio’s lack of Oscar has been the running joke around Hollywood for a while now, which is crazy to consider, since he is easily one of the best leading men out there. Even right now I am having trouble thinking of a single bad performance. The Revenant, however, isn’t one of his best performances. Off the top of my head, Leo was better in Blood Diamond, Catch Me If You Can, Shutter Island, and The Departed. Interestingly, Martin Scorsese, director of The Departed, won his own long overdue Oscar for that very movie, though that wasn’t his best picture. The Academy sometimes give these awards to whom they believe are due after a long career of amazing work, and that’s what is happening here. In a year of mediocre to good performances in the category Leo is probably the best of the crop to which this award was destined; it just took a while to get.
Who do you think will win? Let me know your predictions. And tomorrow we tackle the granddaddy of them all, Best Picture.
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