The Oscar goes to...

The day is nearing as the Academy will unveil their winners. We'll preview the biggest categories as the date draws near. For now lets get into the acting categories.

Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

I have put a lot of importance on the guild awards in past post and that may be due to the fact that 19 of the 20 nominees are from the SAG awards, so apparently the Academy does as well. Morgan Freeman may be on this list because he has been prepping for the roll since birth (I imagine his parents having sex and imaging their future son will look similar to a historic political figure). But his accent blows it immediately, he may have phoned in some of the effort he usually puts in because he thought Nelson Mendela gets the award easy. Meanwhile, Clooney wasn't so much acting as he was playing himself, which is why he was so comfortable in the role. A suave sexy man with confidence and charm who doesn't like to be tied down. This award should go to Jeff Bridges as the down and out performer, making a comeback (sounds eerily familiar to a wrestling movie with Mickey Rourke). The only performance that could play upset is Jeremy Renner who seamlessly flowed throughout the movie from heroic soldier to psychotic junkie looking for an action fix.


Best Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Bastards

A lot of great performances in this group. Woody Harrelson does outstanding in The Messenger and Stanley Tucci certainly has paid his dues but this race was over in August when Quentin Tarantino introduced us to the Jew Hunter. Once the first chapter was over you knew Waltz would be nominated. By the end of the movie he had the award well in his grasps. This is the biggest lock of the 4 acting categories.


Best Supporting Actress:
Pelelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'Nique, Precious

This is the only category that does not sync up with the SAGs as Maggie Gyllenhaal was able to sneak in and take away Diane Kruger's nomination for Inglorious Basterds. Kruger churns out a much better performance in Basterds. It appears Gyllenhaal has Bridges to thank, his performance was so strong it made her look better. Many writers wanted to see Julianne Moore get her fifth career nomination for A Single Man but it didn't pan out for her. Vera Famiga and Anna Kendrick both did amazing jobs in Up in the Air but their shared appearance in this role will split the voters so they're out. Mo'Nique will come out the winner here but not before learning quickly to adapt to the acting circuit. Many of the older members of the Academy tried to keep her from being nominated for not showing up to some of the pre-Oscar events, stating she needed to be paid for her appearances. She has since apologized and been rubbing elbows where elbows need rubbing. In her defense she probably didn't know the importance of showing up to these events and assumed the award was based solely on the performance, silly comedienne.


Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Sine
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

This is the closest race in the four categories. For a while many predicted it would be Maryl Spreep vs. Carey Mulligan but Bullock and those who worked on The Blind Side campaigned hard for her during the nomination selections. That has dropped Mulligan from real contention. Bullock has the edge as her movie is also nominated in the best picture category. Streep is charming as Jilia Child and has been nominated for an Oscar for a record 16 times. But she has not won since 1983 in Sophie's Choice. It would be real nice to see her win for this cute little comedy. Bullock has never been nominated and her campaign for the Oscar has been praising Meryl Streep. Bullock has stated that she believes Streep will win which is brilliant on Sandra's part. Humility is something rarely seen in Hollywood and by praising a legend like Streep she is charming many of the Oscar voters. This is also the first time someone has been nominated for an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year as she sports a similar wig/hair-doo in All About Steve. I want to see Streep with her third Oscar but I think Sandra wins.

For an in-depth look at the Best Actress category check out Kiel Servideo's My Roarin Twenties as we will team up to discuss the Oscar season. Let me hear what you think as well.