Thursday, July 21, 2011

State of the Race - July Predictions: Best Actor

My Predictions
George Clooney "The Descendants"
Leonardo Dicaprio "J. Edgar"
Jean Dujardin "The Artist"
Michael Fassbender "A Dangerous Method"
Gary Oldman "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

Other Contenders - Brad Pitt "Moneyball" or "The Tree of Life", Tom Hanks "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", Michael Shannon "Take Shelter", Jeremy Irvine "War Horse", Daniel Radcliffe "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2", Ryan Gosling "The Ides of March", Matt Damon "We Bought a Zoo", Patrick Wilson "Yound Adult", Anton Yelchin "Like Crazy", Sean Penn "This Must Be the Place", Johnny Depp "The Rum Diary", Paul Giamatti "Win Win", Woody Harrelson "Rampart", Brendan Gleeson "The Guard", Ewan McGregor "Beginners"

Commentary - This one has a lot of big names that will need to be sorted through. George Clooney and Leonardo Dicaprio return to the race with two big buzzed projects. The Descendant's trailer is okay, and Eastwood has not hit the mark in a couple of years though so neither is safe. A Dangerous Method's trailer is also a little eh? but I really hope that Michael Fassbender is good enough to get some recognition, which is long overdue. The trailer however for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, looks great, and Gary Oldman, who has been flirting with Academy recognition might finally score a nod. In my last slot I am going with a film festival favorite, and a foreign contender in Jean Dujardin. We'll have to see how American audiences respond, but he could get an Oscar nod ala Marion Cotillard a couple of years ago. However, if you look at the other contenders there are so many big names like Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks, and others, so this race is far from over.

2 comments:

  1. If critics respond well to A Dangerous Method then Fassbender will get nominated. But I'm not sure why his recognition is so long overdue. I think a majority of the possible nominees this year have had more impressive careers and haven't recieved enough recognition (Oldman, Gosling, Wilson, Pitt, Giamatti...)

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  2. Maybe "long overdue" was a little over the top, I am just a personal fan of his, and have loved many of his roles. I just hope that A Dangerous Method brings him some awards glory. That doesn't mean I don't think that all of the ones you mentioned haven't also been wrongly ignored.

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