Sunday, January 28, 2007

Talking Smack: Best Supporting Actors

Melt down this year's nominees for Supporting Actor into one character and you've got a 48 year-old biracial potty mouthed addict with a taste for inappropriate performance.

I've updated the SUPPORTING ACTOR OSCAR with my theories on how they each got nominated, who I think will win (Eddie Murphy still has the lead but can he hold it?) and more...

Who would you choose as the year's best supporting actor? The latest Oscar poll is up. Mark Wahlberg is in the lead at the moment with Jackie Earle Haley coming up fast (a bit of a surprise since New Line has been trying their damndest to prevent any of you from seeing his film). Voting ends Tuesday. What say ye?

14 comments:

Sid said...

My ballot:

Steve Carell, Little Miss Sunshine
Robert Downey Jr, A Scanner Darkly
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Sergi Lopez, Pan's Labyrinth
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

Obviously I'm rooting for Haley or Wahlberg but I won't have a problem if Murphy wins -- he was a close #6 on my ballot.

I wish Robert Downey Jr had found more favor with the critics award groups. At least the indieWIRE poll was kind to him!

Anonymous said...

I think Arkin will be seen as due since he has an edge in the 'body of work' category - not only for his other two Oscar noms but also for Wait Until Dark, Catch-22, Glengarry Glen Ross, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, and so on. Hell, if I were the arbiter of critical taste, I'd throw in Grosse Pointe Blank and So I Married An Axe Murderer, but then that's probably why I'm not.

Anonymous said...

And yeah, if anyone at all had seen A Scanner Darkly, I think Downey would have had a fighting chance.

adam k. said...

I feel like I shouldn't vote in the poll, cause I haven't seen Little Children yet and I'm sure I won't see it by this tuesday. I'm also pretty sure he'll be my favorite in the category... so maybe I'll just vote for him anyway.

Isn't it truly bizarre that the only two cast members in LMS who weren't nominated for ANYTHING this season are the two best ones? How did that happen??? Even Paul Dano got an IFP nom.

I get why they threw Kinnear in lead - and that may have been a good idea to prevent vote splitting - but then why didn't the globes nominate him for best actor? Like over Chiwitel Ejiofor? Bizarre.

I assume that with Kinnear out of the way, LMS's people thought they could maybe pull off a Carrell/Arkin double dip, but for some reason Carrell just never attracted votes. Very strange, since he's exactly the kind of star you'd think they'd love the chance to honor.

adam k. said...

I'd forgotten how much I'm still smarting over the Kinnear globe snub. I didn't think much of it at the time, since we all assumed Jamie Foxx was locked into that 5th spot and the shock of seeing him miss was too much to process on its own. But if he was gonna miss, it really should've been for Kinnear, who was better than any of the real nominees (apart from Cohen).

Also, it just wouldn't made much more "awards sense" if LMS had been like a Squid and Whale thing, with pic/actor/actress, instead of this bizarre pic/actress combo (cause it's not like Collette is the true lead or the standout by any means).

Just had to get that off my chest.

You know, as far as my personal ballot, I could see the four of the LMSers and Haley filling the whole thing. That category's SO vacant this year.

Anonymous said...

My ballot looks like this:

- Carell (Little Miss Sunshine)
- Haley (Little Children)
- Murphy (Dreamgirls)
- Sheen (The Queen)
- Wahlberg (The Departed)

with Wahlberg as the winner

Anonymous said...

adam k - what did you think of Michael Sheen?

adam k. said...

Sheen was good. I just wasn't really enthused enough about him to nominate him for anything. Same, really, with Wahlberg. Maybe I should see The Departed again.

On a second viewing of Dreamgirls, Murphy stood out more as best in show, and you can see that he was clearly the one of his actors trying to give his character real subtlety and dimension. He might make my list. I also haven't seen Ben Affleck. But yeah, my list'd probably end up looking a lot like Nat's. But my love for Little Miss Sunshine makes me want to put Dano and Arkin before Murphy and Wahlberg. Especially Dano. Loved him.

Craig Hickman said...

My ballot:

Steve Carrell (the best thing about a movie I didn't like much at all)

Danny Glover (all he has to do is show up in a film to get my nod)

Eddie Murphy (nice work if you can get it)

Micheal Sheen (see Steve Carrell)

Mark Wahlberg (I just like him. Oh, yeah, he can act, too)

adam k. said...

Danny Glover!? But he did absolutely nothing.

Also, I'm pretty sure Haley would be winning this poll if more people had seen his film. Are people voting for him without having seen him? I haven't voted yet.

Paul C. said...

I'm with you, Nathaniel- I think Arkin will upset. Rare to see a film take both supporting awards, especially with no Best Pic. And Hudson is much easier for them to root for- better story, plus Murphy has kind of bad rep among many in Hollywood.

Also, when you listed former SNL regs who went on to Oscar noms, you forgot Joan Cusack, who was a member of the cast for a year during the lean mid-80s period.

Paul C. said...

Oh wait, never mind about Cusack. Just noticed here there. Most people forget her.

Glenn Dunks said...

Interesting that two of these nominees died about 2 thirds of the way through their films both by overdosing of heroin.

ATM my ballot includes Arkin, Carell (best in LMS show for me), Michael Sheen, Ben Sliney and Stanley Tucci. But I haven't seen a lot of the contenders that there was (Hounsou, Haley, Affleck) and I honestly wouldn't be that devestated about removing Sheen and Arkin, but the others are pretty solid for me. Yes, even Sliney.

Carell... it was sad that he didn't get anything. He was the only cast member to not even be nominated for anything (outside of SAG ensemble). It's like Anne Hathaway all over again!

Supporting Actor is always the category with the thinnest list of contenders for me. It just never really excites me. And with people this year like Pitt and Nicholson being nowhere near deserving... I'm so glad neither got nommed.

Glenn Dunks said...

Oh and I still think Arkin is going to win. He's a movie veteran in the Supporting Actor category! They love that. Plus, if Little Miss Sunshine is going to win Best Picture (which I am strangely thinking will happen) then they need to win at least one more and I think Arkin will be it (plus the screenplay)