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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In Before the Buzzer: My Picks for Best Supporting Actress

Let me just get this out of the way before I dive right in: These are not my predictions of who I think will win because 1. That would be way too easy this year and 2. It's not as much fun. So here goes, the following are who I want to win, from least to most.

5. Penelope Cruz- Nine
Being the best thing about a film like Nine, which was so desperately trying to be great while failing at all levels, is a bit like being the least covered in snow in a blizzard. I was so excited for this movie, partially because of Pene, but also because of Dame Judi and Grand Dame Sophia, but it really missed the boat. Pene has her Oscar, and for the time being Julianne Moore for A Single Man and not she should be in this position.

4. Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
I'm so glad she got recognized for this role, because she really is terrific in everything I've ever seen her in (Down to the Bone, The Departed, even Orphan!), but the sad truth is that she should be nominated for Best Actress and I think she was chosen to be pitted against her costar just so she could get a nomination as Best Actress is an otherwise crowded categories will several snubs already. Matching George Clooney in charm and wit is not an easy task, and for that she has already won.

3. Mo'Nique- Precious
Clearly going to win- and deservedly so. I've been trying to decide whether she or Christoph is more of a lock in their respective category. I really love her as a comedian and host of VH1's Charm School, and her transformation from comedienne to amazingly aggressive actress is extraordinary. The whole movie rested on her performance and she delivers.

2. Maggie Gyllenhaal- Crazy Heart
Yay she finally got nominated! I'm a bit of a minority in the Oscar pickers community in that I thought the supporting cast from Crazy Heart (she and Colin Farrell) gave stronger performances than Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake. We'll go there later. Maggie's character could have been a gigantic cliche but instead she is filled with soul, longing, ambition and love. I doubt she has even a tiny kitten's chance of winning, but hopefully she can settle for her first nomination.1. Anna Kendrick- Up in the Air
Anna's Natalie Keener is easily my favorite character of the year (even more than Julia Child!). My criteria for favorite character usually goes as follows: 1. Realism- could she walk off the screen and actually exist in real life? 2. Is she multi-dimensional- does she do more than just be the male lead's love interest or plot stimulator? and 3. Does she hold in her own- do you leave the theater remembering her character or does she fade away? The sharp delivery of her incredible dialogue gave her character the assumed confidence it needed to compete with Clooney, yet her moments of hesitation toward the end gave her the vulnerability necessary to show she was not the cold terminator after all. In an interview Anna summed up her character perfectly by saying that (paraphrasing) her character was trying hard and thought she could be Faye Dunaway in Network, only to find out that it was not to be.

Images found via Google search.