Sunday, November 15, 2009

Next!

Emil Jannings, Warner Baxter, George Arliss and Lionel Barrymore. Wallace Beery and Fredric March simultaneously. Charles Laughton, Clark Gable and Victor McLaglen. Paul Muni and Spencer Tracy². Robert Donat, Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper and James Cagney. Paul Lukas, Bing Crosby, Ray Milland and Fredric March, who was worth returning to. Ronald Colman, Laurence Olivier, Broderick Crawford, José Ferrer and Bogie. 'Coop' again. William Holden and Marlon Brando a few years late. Ernest Borgnine, Yul Brynner and Alec Guiness. David Niven, Charlton Heston and Burt Lancaster. Maximillian Schell, Gregory Peck and Sidney Poitier who made history. Rex Harrison, Lee Marvin, Paul Scofield, Rod Steiger, Cliff Robertson and 'The Duke'. George C Scott though he refused. Gene Hackman. Marlon Brando by way of Sacheen Littlefeather. Jack Lemmon, Art Carney, Jack Nicholson and (posthumously) Peter Finch. Richard Dreyfuss, Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro and Henry Fonda. Ben Kingsley, Robert Duvall, F Murray Abraham, William Hurt and Paul Newman who waited way too damn long. Michael Douglas and Dustin Hoffman (this time more humbly). The British Invasion of Daniel Day-Lewis, Jeremy Irons and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Al "Hoo-Ah" Pacino and Tom Hanks twice over. Nicolas Cage before the fall. Geoffrey Rush, Jack coming back and Robert Benigni leaping on chairs. Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington and Adrien Brody, the youngest of them all. Sean Penn, Jamie Foxx, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Forest Whitaker. Return trips to Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Penn before _________ ?


Hmmm
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28 comments:

mrripley said...

I looked at your april fool predicts and it seems only fremman has some chance and that made me think nat has to get 1 out of 5 in april so i kept freeman plus clooney n firth 'cos we have heard/seen them then bridges for career honours,i thought about renner as a newbie nominee then realised firth is the newbie so in goes day lewis and i think lewis wins the globe too unless bridges or clooney or both go in mus/com.

so my 2009 best actor nominees

clooney
freeman
firth
day lewis
bridges

Murtada said...

I think you nailed it with your 5. You are right either Nine or Invictus would probably disappoint.
Is it me or best actor this year kinda boring? More going on and probably a surprise or two in Supp actor.

Robert said...

I can think of a Con for Bridges (sadly cause I love the man). Actors who aren't huge stars don't win for movies that go so unnoticed.

And I still feel good about Day-Lewis. I think your argument is very solid, but if the Academy's unending amazement at singing was enough to get Johnny Depp on the list...

Unknown said...

I suspect Viggo Mortensen will make huge gains in this race after 'The Road' premieres next week. The film itself is excellent, but it's nothing without him. It's his strongest performance by a mile, and he's at least better than Clooney in 'Up in the Air.' (And far better than Renner... I can't comment on the other potentials since I haven't seen them yet.)

Alex Constantin said...

well, definitely not Clooney! :) too soon. and it's not like he's brilliant or something, right?!

I agree with the 5 nominees the 1st poster mentioned. i had viggo before bridges came in the race

julianstark said...

My Actor predictions match up with mrripley's: Bridges (frontrunner?), Clooney, Day-Lewis, Firth, and Freeman

I'm hoping that Robert Downey, Jr. can sneak in there for one of his leading performances, but that's looking like a slim-to-none already

Guy Lodge said...

As breezy and charismatic as Clooney is in "Up in the Air," I find it hard to imagine him WINNING for a riff on his own persona. Jack can, but I don't know if George is quite there yet.

And I fear the Academy might find Firth too quiet and his film too remote -- and as well-liked as he is, I'm not sure how due the voters will think he is.

I haven't seen "Crazy Heart" yet, but if the performance is everything I've gathered it is, I wonder if there's going to be a race at all.

NicksFlickPicks said...

I'm with Guy. Without having seen the film, and running only on political and Oscar-historical logic, I kind of can't see how Bridges could lose.

NATHANIEL R said...

well i think Bridges is going to win, too... don't get me wrong. I just think it's not a done deal at all given the very late release and the minor film.

but yes, Oscar Logic totally screams BRIDGES at this point.

dinasztie said...

Who do you think is the most deserving based on the performance? Bridges, Firth or Clooney?

rubi-kun said...

Isn't Creation not out until 2010? If so, take Bettany out of the top 15 and put Stuhlbarg in.

rubi-kun said...

Or for that matter, Sharlto Copley.

Amir said...

i know there's not a high chance of this happening (on the actress' side), but just playing with the idea in my head:

imagine jeff bridges and julianne moore winning together in one night.
i'm gonna be so overjoyed i'll stop breathing.

Jim T said...

I really don't see Clooney winning for a second time this soon. I think Bridges is the frontrunner and firth has a slight chance. Freeman is also a possibility.

Paul Outlaw said...

Viggo Mortensen, Jeff Bridges, Colin Firth, Daniel Day Lewis and..............George Clooney.

(Although Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Christopher Plummer, James McAvoy, Hal Holbrook, Jeremy Renner, Ben Foster, Robert Downey, Jr., Sam Rockwell or Michael Stuhlbarg in the fifth slot would make me happier.)

Paul Outlaw said...

Viggo or Bridges FTW.

Ben said...

Hmmm... this list seems kind of boring to me right now. Hasn't Best Actor been terrific the past several years? Penn, Day-Lewis, Whitaker, Seymour Hoffman. Not a dud in the bunch.

Michael W. said...

I currently have Bridges, Clooney, Day-Lewis, Firth and Freeman in my predictions and I think Bridges and Firth are head to head.

It will be very interesting to see how the critics awards turns out. I won't be too long before the race truly begins.

cal roth said...

Cage before the fall? Wait and see Bad Lieutenant. Best performance of the year.

Cage is very very very talented. He only needs to be reminded of it.

cal roth said...

Too bas Public Enemies has been forgotten. I love Johnny Depp's performance.

DJ said...

"As breezy and charismatic as Clooney is in "Up in the Air," I find it hard to imagine him WINNING for a riff on his own persona."

Isn't that what he does in ALL of his performances? =)

I still think you're underestimating Day-Lewis. He'll have a huge campaign going his way and, for the most part, has excellent early reviews. I just think the Academy will chew up his being in a musical.

But I agree with your predicted winner. Yay for Bridges!

gduncan said...

I'm really hoping Ben Foster and Jake Gyllenhaal get some attention for the Messenger and Brothers. I'm assuming Jake is the lead in Brothers?? I really would hate to see Clooney get nominated,I'm getting sick of him :( Hopefully Daniel Day Lewis can achieve success with Nine.

The one thing I hate about the Best Actor category is that they do not like nominating the younger actors. With Best Actress, there is no problems with nominating a young actress in her 20's. I can't believe that the youngest Best Actor winner,Adrian Brody, was 29 years old!!

Klemen said...

Well, apparently they're promoting Tobey for lead for Brothers, and Jake and Natalie for supporting.I've seen the original and I can only say huh?They must have changed it quite a lot.Now I feel even more stupid about my early year Portman for best actress prediction.

Alison Flynn said...

Sean Penn before Colin Firth, fingers crossed.

John D. said...

Up in the Air and Inglourious Basterds would be submitted in the Drama category at the Globes. So Clooney and Pitt can't be in the Best Actor Comedy/Musical category.

Towelie said...

Sam Rockwell, please.

Rebecca said...

Even though all the other pieces are in place, I'm having a hard time believing that Bridges is a frontrunner for the run - and I have a feeling he will be snubbed for the nomination. He's a terrific actor in my mind, sure, but I don't feel like he's appreciated for his acting so much. He doesn't seem to be doing much or working hard, and that's what the Academy appreciates. Maybe if 'Crazy Heart' shows him straining more, he can get in - and I wouldn't complain.

I also think Viggo Mortensen is being written off by a lot of predictors a bit prematurely. Even if he doesn't get much awards love, I feel pretty confident that he will add a third truly great performance to his resume - within five years - which is impressive.

Sebastian said...

Kinda cool seeing all the winners listed like that.

Clooney vs. Bridges vs. Firth

Those are the frontrunners now? I'd have to think that Clooney wouldn't be awarded again so fast, Firth gets the "welcome to the club" nod, and Bridges jumps out in front b/c of his past nods. Freeman and Mortensen round out the list? Sounds like a plan to me.

The female acting categories are getting all the press like they always do, but lead actor has the potential to be a nailbiter this year with no far-out-there frontrunners. One to keep an eye on!