State of the Race: Best Supporting Actor

Initially I thought this was going to be a a boring category, but a lot of interesting contenders are emerging. Unlike last year where the late, brilliant Heath Ledger was a shoo-in, this year seems to be pretty interesting, precursors will determine who comes out a frontrunner. Right now, we know a few are already contenders. Christoph Waltz was brilliant as a Nazi in Inglourious Basterds, and since day one has been a contender. I feel that he is the performance from the first half that stays with us the entire season. We also know from screenings that Robert Duvall in The Road, and Richard Kind in A Serious Man. Duvall has the legend status, and supporting roles tend to be havens for character actors and comedic performances a la Kind. Alfred Molina is getting rave reviews for An Education, but it remains to be seen whether Mulligan will outshine him so much that people forget; that goes for Peter Sarsgaard as well. Stanley Tucci has two big performances, and if The Lovely Bones proves to be as good as it looks, he is a shoo-in for a nomination, and there are a lot of people in Hollywood who have been waiting to give this guy the recognition he deserves. Right now, I am going with a guy, who although he is an Oscar winner, has never won an acting Oscar, and has two baity roles with a lot of potential. Of course I'm speaking of Matt Damon. If Invictus is loved by the Academy as previous Clint fare, I think he becomes the frontrunner. Other major contenders include Christopher Plummer for "The Last Station" (A huge possibility), Christian McKay "Me and Orson Welles", Paul Schneider "Bright Star", and Anthony Mackie "The Hurt Locker".

Nominees as of now:

Matt Damon "Invictus" (Winner)

Robert Duvall "The Road"

Alfred Molina "An Education"
Christoph Waltz "Inglourious Basterds"

Stanley Tucci "The Lovely Bones"