My Picks for Best Actor

Best Actor is really stacked this year. If these five roles were nominated over the course of five different years I could see each one winning. Unfortunately, there can only be one.

5. Morgan Freeman- Invictus
Morgan Freeman is clearly the only working actor allowed to play Nelson Mandela, and he does a perfect job. If he had not already won two Oscars I would say he was a shoo-in but alas, he is surpassed by flashier and career-defining performances this year.

4. Jeff Bridges- Crazy Heart
In a few long hours he will probably be crowned Best Actor, but not for this role. Mr. Bridges has had such a wonderful career that his fellow actors will probably have decided that "it's time" for him to win. It's unfortunate that it is for this and not something else (The Dude!) but I'm not too bitter, and on the bright side it is not as similar to The Wrestler as I feared it would be.

3. Jeremy Renner- The Hurt Locker
When he first comes onscreen (replacing Guy Pearce, no less) I was convinced he was going to play his role the cowboy caricature way, but he quickly dispelled any thought of that. I cannot imagine any other actor playing his role, and giving it the kind of treatment he does. He redefines the American soldier cowboy formula by making his character intense and modern enough where you truly cannot tell whether or not he really is suicidal, or just an addict who has picked a horribly dangerous drug.

2. George Clooney- Up in the Air
This is his career-defining him-at-his-peak performance, and it's a damn shame he won't win. He makes it look effortless, which may be to his disadvantage, but he somehow makes a movie about firing people funny (at least to me). His character could have easily been villain of the year but he makes Ryan Bingham multi-dimensional and, in the process, likable and human. Whereas most voters are looking at Jeff Bridges's entire career when they vote for him, those voting for Clooney are looking singularly at this performance, perhaps as it should be.

1. Colin Firth- A Single Man
I consider Colin in this role a firm career resurgence, as he was previously as likable as could be in romantic comedies and dramas, but he never really got to stake a movie on his performance alone. He brings such a soul to this character that you forget that he is, in fact, trying to kill himself, and instead focus on the fact that he is reuniting with his one true love, however backward that may be. His marriage with Matthew Goode is easily the most believable coupledom of all those onscreen marriages this year (beating out my number 2: Meryl & Stanley), which makes his thought-process all the more believable. Again, I cannot imagine another actor performing this role to the level that he has.

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My Picks for Best Supporting Actor

5. Stanley Tucci- The Lovely Bones
For the life of me I do not understand why Mr. Tucci was nominated for this and not Julie & Julia, or any of his previous wonderful roles. It cannot even be said that he was playing against type by playing a serial killer, because he plays one much more convincingly and eerily in The Pelican Brief. My biggest problem with his character is not even his fault, and that is the atrocious hair, makeup and contact lenses that they gave him. I understand that they wanted to make him look completely average, but those lenses were so incredibly distracting that I wondered why they could not just stick with his regular brown eyes. Nominating him for Julie & Julia would have been inspired, as he has proven he is one of the only actors who can hold a candle to La Streep, and together they create a wonderful and believable marriage, where he balances out her infectious energy, whereas in The Lovely Bones he is lost in the otherwise muck of the movie.

4. Christopher Plummer- The Last Station
It's hard to compare anyone to Helen Mirren and Christopher is no exception. Her character's explosiveness is hard to counter, but Christopher does as best he can by creating a quiet and almost giddy soul in Tolstoy. Best Supporting Actor was stacked this year, and I'll take a time out from critiquing Christopher to say who I think should have been nominated instead of him and Stanley: Anthony Mackie from The Hurt Locker and Alec Baldwin from It's Complicated. I think they are the only two who could have made this a multi-horse race instead of a one stallion win (Christoph). But I digress.

3. Matt Damon- Invictus
He plays a convincing sports hero/leader without making him seem saintly, which is a welcome relief. And he holds his own against Morgan Freeman, the only actor here on out allowed to play Mandela. I think Invictus got an unfairly bad rap and I'm not sure why, but Matt's performance is definitely worth seeing and worth recognizing.

2. Woody Harrelson- The Messenger
Being introduced to Woody's character and then discovering that he is a full-blown alcoholic midway through is almost shocking- his character is so strong and intimidating- he seems unaffected by reporting the deaths to next of kin- realizing that he is, in fact, a vulnerable person is a triumph of Woody's abilities as an actor, and he's the only person besides Christoph who I would want to win.

1. Christoph Waltz- Inglourious Basterds
Supervillians kind of have a lock on Best Supporting Actor at this point, and Christoph's Hans Landa is no exception. He makes speaking quadrilingually look easy and seamless, and his quiet moments are his most terrifying. Plus, anybody who is that into milk and dairy products in general is a character I can get behind. I'm torn between picking the opening as his triumphant scene or where he confronts Bridget von Hammersmarck, knowing full well that he will be turning himself in shortly. More than any of the other nominees in this category, I wanted to learn and see more of Christoph than what IB shows. Here's hoping for a prequel/sequel!

Images via Google search.