2011 Best Actor Oscar

And the nominees are...

Javier Bardem, Biutiful

Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Colin Firth, The King's Speech

James Franco, 127 Hours


Who'd get your vote? Surprises? Snubs?

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Sadly, I haven't seen any of the nominated performances. I doubt Jeff Bridges will take it though, given last year's win for Crazy Heart.

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I was shocked when I saw that Javier Bardem received a nod. He definitely deserves it and this shows, for me atleast, why the Golden Globes are such a joke.

Anyway, my money is riding on Firth, but Javier deserves it. How does this work? Who we think WILL win or who we want to win?

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If I had a dollar for every existential crisis I've ever had, does money really even matter?

Voter's choice. This ain't binding.

Jeff Bridges deserves to win but they'll probably give it to Colin Firth.

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"Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and like it, never really care for anything else thereafter." - Ernest Hemingway

Colin Firth will win because actors playing real people especially monarchs are had to beat.

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It reminds me of a toilet paper on the trees
- Paula

I voted for Colin Firth.

Colin Firth DESERVES to win.... he's great in the movie.

GRRRR.....

Firth will take this one home.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Colin Firth, The King's Speech

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Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

Colin Firth all the way for us Brits.

Man, I'm torn between Firth and Franco. I think I might have to go Firth.

While all five are good performances, this is Colin Firth's to lose.

I don't really understand the still steady stream of disrespect for Jesse Eisenberg from so many sources, but for my money his nomination is well earned. I've liked him since Roger Dodger and The Squid and the Whale, and after his real breakout 2009 with Adventureland and Zombieland he finishes it off with the lead in a David Fincher movie that has become an awards favorite. He has little chance of winning an Oscar himself this year, but as the quiet, introspective center of The Social Network he deserved a ticket to the show.


James Franco is charting new territory by being an Oscar nominee and host at the same time. His turn in 127 Hours is one of those gripping one-man shows like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, only he had the extra challenge of being stationary most of the time. I first noticed Franco in "Freaks and Geeks", and while he has an interesting and oddly varied resume an Oscar nomination didn't seem like it was coming anytime soon. But he is magnetic in Danny Boyle's movie. I wouldn't give him favorable odds to actually win it this year, but he certainly earned the nomination. But if somebody is going to upset the heavily favored Firth, Franco will be the dark horse to do it.

Javier Bardem was one of the few surprises nomination morning. Not because he isn't a good actor, but because Iñárritu's Biutiful didn't have a lot of Oscar buzz coming in, and it was impossible to know if enough of the acting branch had watched their screeners or enough of them were in Cannes last May. This is Bardem's third nomination, his first being Before Night Falls (losing to Russell Crowe in Gladiator?!?) and the second bringing him the trophy for No Country for Old Men. I haven't seen Biutiful yet (opens here this Friday), but I have no doubt Bardem turns in quality work. But will it be so outstanding that he'll become only the second Best Actor to win for a foreign language film (the first being Roberto Benigni in 1998)?


Jeff Bridges just won Best Actor last year for Crazy Heart, and if he wins again he'll be just the third repeat Best Actor winner, joining Spencer Tracy (1938 and 1939) and Tom Hanks (1994 and 1995). Bridges' mumbling, growling, disheveled Rooster Cogburn is a lot of fun, but even though Wayne got his "career achievement" Oscar for playing the same character forty years ago, I don't get the feeling the Academy is going to go for Jeff again this time, not so soon. I love True Grit and am glad Bridges got the nom, but I think that's the extent of the honor this year.

Colin Firth was nominated just last year for A Single Man (his first career nom), a very good if very understated performance, and he ultimately lost out to Bridges. Looks like he'll return the favor this time. His work as King George VI battling his speech impediment on the eve of World War II is funny and touching and he gets to show off a bit. Firth is a very well-liked import, and The King's Speech looks to be the right role at the right time for the fifty-year-old. He's won most every major award leading up to the Oscars, making him the heavy favorite, and if you bet against him you'll be betting against the house.

I love Jeff Bridges, but what the hell is Jeff Bridges doing in there.

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Firth deserved it last year. Eisenberg deserves it this year. Franco makes up a trio of excellent lead performances. I love Bridges, but he doesn't deserve much consideration. I haven't seen Bardem's film (he is a fantastic actor of course).

I reckon/hope Colin Firth will get it

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You cannot have it both ways. A dancer who relies upon the doubtful comforts of human love can never be a great dancer. Never. (The Red Shoes, 1948)

The Academy loves the portrayal of Monarch's on screen, it's Firth's to lose.

Some of the other good to greatish performances this year that didn't make it include Robert Duvall who in Get Low was undermined a bit by a script with an anticlimactic third act, Ryan Gosling proving again he's one of the best around in Blue Valentine, Aaron Eckhart as a grieving father trying to reconnect with his wife in the Rabbit Hole, the movie was a little hollow but Michael Douglas was terrific in Solitary Man, I thought Ben Stiller distilled his essence perfectly into a refreshingly unsympathetic Greenberg, Philip Seymour Hoffman was his usual perfect in his directorial debut Jack Goes Boating, I'm not really a Jim Carrey fan but his manic insanity was actually just right for the bizarre romantic con man fantasy of I Love You Phillip Morris, and for my taste Leonardo DiCaprio was stronger and more emotionally true in Scorsese's Shutter Island than in the blockbuster Inception.

I bet Gosling owns Blue Valentine. It's a shame he wasn't nominated because I can imagine him being as good if not better than every single one of those guys nominated this year.

I am a massive fan of Ryan Gosling, and he is very good of course, as usual...but I'd rank it behind his work in Lars and the Real Girl and Half Nelson. It is actually Michelle Williams who owns Blue Valentine, it's her finest work.