Supporting Actor Lineup (Now With More Psychological Problems!)

When I covered actor, supporting actress and actress, I combined all the competitors into one fictional composite character... but with this category, what's the point? The only thing you must know (if you don't already) is that this guy has serious psychological issues. Whether he's a mathematician, a pedophile, a super villain, a politician or an acclaimed actor, he's just plain nuts! Mental disturbances = your surest way into the Oscar race (if you have a penis. For actors with vaginas, the rules are a bit different)


Over at the Supporting Actor Page there's detailed silly theorizing as to how each contestant got nominated as well as a poll that pleads for your take on this race (preference wise. After all, we all know what to predict). Who do you think gave the best performance? Robert Downey Jr, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michael Shannon, Josh Brolin or the late and greatly missed Heath Ledger? Or here's a better question for the comments... who comes in second place for you?

Personally I was annoyed at first with PSH taking up space yet again but I think it's a very solid lineup when all is said and done -- any line up with three genuinely inspired performances (and two of them off preferred genres at that) is worthwhile. I wasn't completely sold on Michael Shannon's performance either actually (in Revolutionary Road) but I've loved him since he went completely starkers for the great play Bug here in NYC so I'm glad he's now winning mainstream attention.

Coming Soon #12: "BUG"

Coming Soon But Not Soon Enough
#12 Bug (Lions Gate. Supposedly arriving in December)

The cropped Avedon photo to your left appeared in full frontal glory in The New Yorker [NSFW version] back when Tracy Letts' play "Bug" was all the rage Off Broadway a couple of seasons ago. I don't have to tell you that Richard Avedon is a great photographer but what I love about this photo is the way it catches so much of Bug the play; the exposed actors (not just physically, mind you) and the paranoid hostility projected from its insular love affair. The stars were Michael Shannon (who will reprise his role in the film) and Shannon Cochran. Ashley Judd will be taking over for Cochran in the film.

This story involves a down on her luck woman (Judd) hiding out from her estranged ex-con husband (Harry Connick Jr) and falling in with a sweet stranger (Shannon) who protects her. The play never leaves the woman's hotel room. It starts off very grounded and gritty but lifts off into the surreal in the second act. For those of you who have not had the privilege of attending much live theater, trust me when I say that when you see a great show it packs a visceral wallop. There's a unique potency felt when you're breathing the same air as the storytellers.

Bug's memorable narrative force could make for a corker of a film. But the intense lunatic vibe of its second half was so rooted in theatricality (and close quarters with the audience) that I scratch my head wondering how this'll transfer to the screen. It'll be a high wire act. William Friedkin, the film's director, will need every bit of his 70s Exorcist powers to make it as explosive as it could be. Certainly he'll have to go without the nudity (Hollywood being more prudish than live theater) so Judd and Shannon will have to give extremely naked performances to do full justice to the unraveling souls of Bug.

tags: Michael Shannon, Bug, Ashley Judd, theater, theatre, Harry Connick Jr