- BEST ACTOR
The AMPAS tasted Christian Bale for the first time back in 2010 in David O. Russell's The Fighter and he got his first Oscar nomination (and win)... And since then the Oscar voters have embraced him by nominating him three more times so he can be considered an Academy's darling and one of the best working actors alive - it's no surprise he entered this year's Oscar talk thanks to his role as Ken Miles in James Mangold's Ford v. Ferrari, which can easily materialize in a fifth Oscar nod for Bale. Away from the Oscar voters attentions, DeNiro might have his best role since his Academy Award nominated turn in 2012's Silver Linings Playbook: this time he re-teams with Martin Scorsese for The Irishman, playing Frank Sheeran, an American labor union official with links with a criminal family (do you remember Scorsese "gave" 3 Oscar nominations to DeNiro, right?). Then, there's Tom Hanks who is still looking for his first Oscar nomination in acting since 2000's Cast Away - after that atrocious snub for 2013's Captain Phillips - and it seems he has found a juicy role as the charismatic American TV personality Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a movie about the friednship between Rogers and a journalist. The never-nominated Jamie Bell, who has already impressed us in Billy Elliot or Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, seems to have found a meaty role and he's said to deliver an amazing performance as an ex-skinhead who looks for redemption in Skin... TIFF 2018's critics raved his performance and the AMPAS loves this real-life stories of redemption and tolerance: I see good prospects for Bell! For the fifth spot, I considered Adam Driver, who's still fresh from Oscar love (his first nod for 2018's BlacKkKlansman) and he'll benefit from Stars Wars: Episode IX popularity - which combined with a Sundance-loved performance in political drama The Report or the yet to see (yet so promising) Untitled Noah Baumbach Project, a comedy-drama about a divorce, Driver seems to be in the best conditions to get a second nomination.
1. Christian Bale, Ford vs. Ferrari
2. Robert DeNiro, The Irishman
3. Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
4. Jamie Bell, Skin
5. Adam Driver, The Report and Untitled Noah Baumbach Project
As other serious contenders: Gary Oldman can shine alongside Meryl Streep in a drama about the Panama Papers (The Laundromat), but since he's fresh from Darkest Hour Oscar win, the AMPAS might want to give a nod to another one; Zac Efron is said to deliver a transformative and magnetic performance as the charming psychopath Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, but he still is the boy from High School Musical and a not-serious Hollywood sex symbol; Mark Ruffalo stars in the upcoming Todd Haynes (Carol) project as a corporate defense attorney who takes on an environmental lawsuit, which can be a juicy role, but it also screams Erin Brockovich (which might not be bad, to be honest); Himesh Patel seems to be a charming lead in Danny Boyle's Yesterday, but given the not-so-serious movie tone, it will need to be a critical darling and a box-office hit in order to Patel enter the Oscar talk; and Fernando Meirelles is directing The Pope for Netflix, starring Jonathan Pryce as Pope Francis, which looks perfect to me, but the AMPAS is still trying to resist Netflix and they never went for Pryce before (and he works in movies since 1976).
6. Gary Oldman, The Laundromat
7. Zac Efron, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
8. Mark Ruffalo, Untitled Todd Haynes Project
9. Himesh Patel, Yesterday
10. Jonathan Pryce, The Pope
NOTE ABOUT: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker - The trailer makes DC's Joker look like the least entertaining superhero movie... but it also makes it look like the most intriguing and edgy take on a comics' character. The descent into madness of the man who becomes the mad Gotham criminal Joker, Phoenix seems to have the role (and deliver the performance) of a lifetime! But the AMPAS doesn't buy these kind of performances... and the only exception was Heath Ledger's posthumous nomination and win for playing Joker in The Dark Knight.
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