Eligibility and Voting:
I covered the eligibility and voting for acting awards in my Best Supporting Actress post.
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Nominations:
Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier
- 5th nomination. Each nomination has been in a different category: Best Director (Henry V), Best Actor (Henry V), Best Live Action Short (Swan Song), Best Adapted Screenplay (Hamlet)… and now Supporting Actor.
- Nominated for the BAFTA, SAG, and Golden Globe, as well as 7 other major awards.
- Won the London Critics Circle Film Award.
Although Kenneth Branagh seems to be an underused and undervalued actor… he is probably one of the most talented performers working today. He has a very eclectic resume and if you’ve ever had the privilege of seeing his adaptation of Hamlet you’ll have no choice by dismiss Mel Gibson’s as drivel.
Jonah Hill – Moneyball as Peter Brand
- 1st nomination.
- Nominated for the BAFTA, SAG, and Golden Globe, as well as 2 other major critics’ awards.
Please take a minute and click on the link I provided on Jonah’s name. It’s a vlog entry by Betsy Sharkey, critic for the Los Angeles Times. She does a wonderful job showing the progression of Jonah’s career and how successful his turn in Moneyball really is. She is much more eloquent than I am, so I will let her take the lead. I agree with her point of view 100%.
Nick Nolte – Warrior as Paddy Conlon
- 3rd nomination. Previously nominated for his Leading Roles in Affliction and The Prince of Tides.
- Nominated for the SAG award and 5 other major critics awards.
When I first saw the trailer for this movie I thought… “Really? A movie about Ultimate Fighting? Puke!” Dozens of movies like this come out every year… most of the time they are able to lure an established actor who has been underworked lately, however, they are all crap… however, I am willing to eat my words. The most important thing here to realize is that WWE wresters are not starring in this film… it’s the complete opposite. The juiced-up cage fighters in this film are hardcore dramatic actors. Just look at the two guys who play Nolte’s sons: Tom Hardy (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Inception, and RocknRolla) and Joel Edgerton, who was the breakout star of last year’s Australian film Animal Kingdom. These guys are not meatheads, they are actors. With Nolte fronting this cast, in an area totally up his ally, I am not surprised in the least that he’s made it back onto the Academy’s radar.
Christopher Plummer – Beginners as Hal Fields
- 2nd nomination. Previously nominated in 2010 for The Last Station, this first nomination coming 45 years after he was snubbed for his performance as Captain Von Trapp in Best Picture winning The Sound of Music.
- Won the BAFTA, Golden Globe, and SAG award, as well as countless other critics’ awards.
Christopher is the much deserving front runner this year. His performance as a 75 year-old widower who comes out of the closet five years before dying of cancer is BRILLIANT! You just have to see this film, watch Christopher’s performance… and then try to imagine him singing Blue Danube. I dare you… it’s impossible. All these years later Christopher Plummer is a completely different person, however, still an amazing actor.
Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as The Renter
- 2nd nomination. Previously nominated for his leading role in Pelle the Conqueror in 1987.
- Nominated for three major critics’ awards.
I love Max. His performance in ELaIC was incredible and balances that of Thomas Horn extremely well. Perhaps I just have a thing for folks performing without using words this year… or maybe it just great to see Max back in the spotlight, he has been entertaining American audiences since 1957 when he made the iconic The Seventh Seal and has gone on to give us The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Emigrants, The Virgin Spring, The Exorcist, Three Days of the Condor, Flash Gordon, Dune, Hannah and Her Sisters, Minority Report, Needful Things, and let’s not forget Strange Brew. Max’s career is one of dreams…
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Snubs:
Although I cannot claim a single one of the Academy’s nominations is unworthy, only two of their nominees made my top 5 list: Christopher Plummer and Max von Sydow. Here are my other three, who I consider Oscar worthy:
Ben Kingsley, Hugo, I don’t know why, but Ben was completely overlooked by EVERYONE! I think people just don’t know what to make of Ben… he’s just so damn good all the time in everything he does that folks have become complacent. That he is so consistently good that it’s expected… setting the bar so high that critics simply are desensitized by his brilliance.
Seth Rogen, 50/50, Seth, was also forgotten by everyone. His crude, yet genuine performance in 50/50 is perfect. Yes… Perfect. You have to see it… and if you cringe as foul language you just need to push past it and watch Seth’s unwavering commitment to friendship. There is a scene, partially shown in the linked preview, where Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character locks himself in Seth’s car, calls this therapist, and basically has a breakdown. What the preview doesn’t show is Seth’s contribution to the scene… and that scene is one of the reasons why I think Seth is Oscar worthy. Anyway, after seeing this and Seth’s performance in Funny People… I can’t help but think Seth is probably the world’s best best-friend.
Ezra Miller, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Ezra made #1 on my list this year. At 19 years old, Ezra’s sociopathic, creepy performance rivals that of Ed Norton’s Oscar nominated performance in Primal Fear. This kid was amazingly sinister and brutal. I was aghast and taken back by Ezra’s performance.
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Oscar Trends:
Christopher Plummer is pretty much winning every Supporting Actor honor this year. If he doesn’t win, it will be very surprising.
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Prediction:
- Winner: Christopher Plummer – Beginners as Hal Fields
- Runner-Up: Jonah Hill – Moneyball as Peter Brand
- Wild Card: Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as The Renter
- Unlikely: Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier
- No Chance in Hell: Nick Nolte – Warrior as Paddy Conlon
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