1.
George Clooney for The Descendants
Born: 6th May, 1961 - Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Previous Oscar acting recognition: 2006 - Best Supporting Actor for Syriana (win); 2008 - Best Leading Actor for Michael Clayton (nom); Best Leading Actor for Up In the Air (nom);
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: Alexander Payne directed movies are always very good and they always feature great performances from their casts and The Descendants is no exception, serving as a marvelous acting showcase for George Clooney, who plays a father who tries to reborn from a family tragedy and start a new life. Seeing George Clooney playing a father for the first time made critics going crazy and audiences paying a ticket, but the truth is that he delivers the best performance of his career in this movie, deserving all the awards recognition and Oscar buzz he have been getting since last month. Hollywood and audiences just love Clooney and since he got a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Drama, two SAG Award nods (Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Actor) and two Critics' Choice Awards noms (Best Acting Ensemble and Best Actor), he's the clear front-runner of the Best Actor Oscar race! A moving and simply beautiful performance from one of the biggest living movie stars... the Academy isn't able to resist to Clooney's (acting) charms - he has his spot in the Best Actor nominees list guaranteed!
2.
Jean Dujardin for The Artist
Born: 19th June, 1972 - Paris, France
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: Being the talented star of The Artist (the most acclaimed movie of the year) changed Jean Dujardin's life, who went from almost unkown actor to Oscar contender thanks to his amazing Cannes winning performance as a silent movie. In fact, there's nothing around Dujardin's Oscar buzz but merith. The AMPAS has a long-time affair with France and since Marion Cotillard (who played Édith Piaf in La vie en rose) defeated Julie Christie (who played an Alzheirmer suffering old woman in Away From Her) in the Oscar Race for Best Actress of 2007, I can see Dujardin as a major (French) threat for some movie stars that are considered locks in the Best Actor category - I'm talking about George Clooney and Brad Pitt. He got a Golden Globe of Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical nomination (which he'll win, almost for sure), two SAG Awards noms (Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Actor) and two Critics' Choice Awards noms (Best Acting Ensemble and Best Actor), so, it seems that the awards are in love for both him and the movie, making Dujardin a very likely Best Actor Oscar nominee (and I would love to see him as an Oscar winner, to be honest)!
3.
Brad Pitt for Moneyball
Born: 18th December, 1963 - Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA
Previous Oscar acting recognition: 1996 - Best Supporting Actor for Twelve Monkeys (nom); 2009 - Best Leading Actor for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (nom);
Oscar snubed performance(s): 2006 - Babel
Oscar chances comment: One of the most famous men in the world, Brad Pitt delivered the two best performances of his career this year in Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life and in Moneyball, for which one he's getting a lot of Oscar buzz! Pitt brings soul to what could be a "cold" movie about baseball and he serves as a really nice leading man. His performance is subtle and moving, the dialogue written by Aaron Sorkin only helps him and there are people who think it is time to give an Oscar to Brad Pitt for his consistent work and enviable body of work and, in fact, he's doing well in the awards season (really well, indeed!). He got a Golden Globe, a SAG and a Critics' Choice Award and a lot of critics' organizations awards nominations, winning the prestigious New York Film Critics Circle Award of Best Actor, and since he showed us great acting this year and since he's a two-times Oscar nominee who was snubed for Babel and did an awesome job in Burn After Reading and in Inglorious Basterds, I think Pitt is a lock in the Best Actor nominees shortlist.
4.
Michael Fassbender for Shame
Born: 2nd April, 1977 - Heidelberg, Germany
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): 2008 - Hunger
Oscar chances comment: Michael Fassbender can be called the rising star of the moment, the hit man or simply one of the most interesting and talented actors of his generation working and 2011 was such a great year for his career: Jane Eyre, X-Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method and Shame. When all the Oscar attentions were around his fine performance in A Dangerous Method, Fassbender won the Volpi Cup of Best Actor of Venice Film Festival for his "tour de force" in Steve McQueen's Shame, where he plays a sex-addicted. The movie was one of the most acclaimed in Venice and the awards have been recognizing Fassbender's amazing and raw performace, which it created a strong Oscar buzz around him and getting an Oscar nomination is extremely likely for him, in spite of all his sex scenes and nudity in the movie (the Academy seems to be more receptive about women doing nudity). But he's a fresh face and some talented performers (mostly men) have to wait a big couple of years in order to get an Oscar nod from the Academy, so things may just not happen for him, which would be such a shame!
5.
Ryan Gosling for Drive
Born: 12th November, 1980 - London, Ontario, Canada
Previous Oscar acting recognition: 2007 - Best Leading Actor for Half Nelson (nom)
Oscar snubed performance(s): 2007 - Lars and the Real Girl; 2010 - Blue Valentine
Oscar chances comment: Gosling was the victim of one of the most atrocious Oscar snubs I remember, when the Academy didn't nominate his raw and moving performance in Blue Valentine, but Mr. Gosling answered the Oscar voters back with an amazing 2011! He starred in Clooney's The Ides of March and spread magic in Crazy, Stupid, Love, but it seems that his best Oscar chances are in Drive, where he plays a quiet and mysterious stunt driver who gets involved with L.A. gangsters. While he got a Golden Globe for Best Actor - Drama, for the wrong movie (The Ides of March), the Critics' Choice Award nomination and the traction Drive have been gaining in the Best Picture category benefit him, for sure! His work in Drive isn't his best performance, but it is his hardest role and he was amazing (I mean, he's so expressive without even saying a word and staying calm), and I think the AMPAS will be "We are so sorry for your snub last year", "You give us an amazing 2011!" and "Since you are the best of your generation..." and nominate him!
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6.
Leonardo DiCaprio for J. Edgar
Born: November 11, 1974 - Hollywood, California, USA
Previous Oscar acting recognition: 1994 - Best Supporting Actor for What's Eating Gilbert Grape (nom); 2005 - Best Leading Actor for The Aviator (nom); 2007 - Best Leading Actor for Blood Diamond (nom)
Oscar snubed performance(s): 2006 - The Departed; 2008 - Revolutionary Road
Oscar chances comment: Mr. DiCaprio is a movie star, no matter how many people hate him, that's a fact. Mr. DiCaprio starred a Clint Eastwood biopic and played J. Edgar Hoover, that's another fact. Mr. DiCaprio delivered a great performance as J. Edgar Hoover, that's not a fact, because it can be discussed, but I do agree! Well, I kind do understand how DiCaprio is getting so much Oscar buzz for his work in J. Edgar, but, I mean, I don't think he really needs another Oscar nomination that won't lead him to a win, specially when there are other contenders (Oldman or Gosling, for example) who need/deserve a Best Actor nomination better than him and some Oscar voters may think this way as well. He has one of the best bodies of work comparing with all the other actors of his generation, he's a really good dramatic actor and his performance in Eastwood's latest can be called a "powerhouse". He got a Golden Globe, a SAG and a Critics' Choice Award nominations, but he wouldn't be the first being snubed by the Academy after getting these nods and since J. Edgar itself disappointed critics and audiences...
7.
Michael Shannon for Take Shelter
Born: 7th August, 1974 - Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Previous Oscar acting recognition: 2009 - Best Supporting Actor for Revolutionary Road (nom)
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: Shannon's performance as a man who may (or may not) be a schizophrenic in an indie (paranoia) thriller gained him raves in Sundance, in Cannes, in Toronto and everywhere around the globe and created a strong Oscar buzz around what seems to me to be one of the best performances of 2011! He already got a "surprise" Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road and while an Oscar nod for Take Shelter wouldn't be a surprise in the true meaning of the word, it would be interesting to see how a "not so famous" actor got his second Oscar nomination without the recognition from Golden Globes, SAG or BFCS, AGAIN! While I'm not too confident about his chances, I've no doubt that he delivers an Oscar-worthy performance in Take Shelter and sometimes Oscar voters go for performances in acclaimed independent productions, so Shannon can still having Oscar hopes!
8.
Gary Oldman for Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy
Born: 21st March, 1958 - London, England, UK
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): 1987 - Prick Up Your Ears; 1990 - State of Grace; 1994 - Léon: The Professional; 2000 - The Contender
Oscar chances comment: Oldman is one of the best living actors and having no Oscar nomination in his curriculum vitae is one of the Academy's shames. He plays George Smiley, the central point of one of the best espionage dramas of the last 10 years, and he collected raves for his brilliant, quiet, mysterious and restrained performance, but the movie didn't become that Oscar buzzy... Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy may be too cold and restrained for audiences and AMPAS members and Oldman's performance isn't as SHOWY as other contenders', but he benefits from the SO OVERDUE factor, which is what keeps the traction around his performance alive! Golden Globes, SAG Awards and Critics' Choice Awards snubed his work, but he will be a BAFTA nominee (for sure!), which makes a nod for Oldman not that likely, but it stills being possible. How many years we need in order to see Gary as an Oscar nominee? Maybe one month...
9.
Demián Bichir for A Better Life
Born: August 1, 1963 - Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): none
Oscar chances comment: I can see Mr. Bichir getting nominated for the same reasons Samantha Morton (In America), Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace) or Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) got nominated a couple of years ago - the AMPAS seems to have a crush for emmigration/immigration stories. He plays an illegal immigrant who only wants to build a better life for him and his son and only God knows how people feel sympathy for this kind of characters. Bichir's Independent Spirit and surprising SAG Award nominations generated solid Oscar buzz around his performance in A Better Life, but with such a Best Actor race starred by really talented movie stars, Bichir's chances are a bit lower than what the role and the critical acclaim premised, but he has reasons to still hoping an Oscar nomination.
10.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt for 50/50
Born: February 17, 1981 - Los Angeles, California, USA
Previous Oscar acting recognition: none
Oscar snubed performance(s): 2009 - (500) Days of Summer
Oscar chances comment: In my opinion, Joseph Gordon-Levitt delivers one of the best performances of the year in 50/50 as a young man who finds he has cancer and since he's overdue for an Oscar nomination, I can see some Oscar voters having him in mind for being part of the Best Actor nominee's shortlist. While he doesn't have the such a strong Oscar buzz as the previous contenders listed, I believe the "rising star" status and his upcoming projects (Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, Spielberg's Lincoln or Tarantino's Django Unchained) will make wonders for him! Golden Globes nominated him in the Best Actor - Comedy or Musical category and Hollywood Film Festival named him Actor of the Year so... Plus, he has an enviable body of work and he was already snubed for his charming performance in (500) Days of Summer, but he stills being a long shot in this race!
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