In light of the recent Golden Globe nominations announcement, we at Player Affinity bring you our newly updated Oscar analysis for Best Supporting Actor. A race that favors previous nominees and generally shuns new talent, we’re looking at a race stacked with veterans.
The Locks
Albert Brooks and Christopher Plummer are the only genuine locks. People were impressed by Brooks’ villainous turn in Drive, as he’s generally known for his comedic performances. Plummer, at 82 years young, gave the performance of a lifetime in the subtle comedy Beginners as a newly openly gay father.
With nominations at the Golden
Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards, Kenneth
Branagh feels like a lock for his bombastic role in My Week with Marilyn as Sir Laurence Olivier. However, the movie
hasn’t had as much luck on the precursor circuit as Beginners and Drive. Even
so, he’s still likely for recognition.
The Field
Aside from those top three, things get very complicated. For quite some time, I’ve been thinking that Max von Sydow would be a nominee – even a potential winner – for Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but the film screened very late, and he’s only been mentioned for a minor award or two. Something tells me that he’ll make the cut in the end, but for right now, it’s a long shot.
Most have chalked up Moneyball as Brad Pitt’s time to shine,
but what about Jonah Hill? Comedic
actors making a dramatic turn in a well-received Oscar contender often make the
cut. There’s also Nick Nolte in Warrior. Once a seemingly major
contender, the sports drama floundered at the box office, but Nolte rallied
with mentions from the Broadcast Film Critics Association and, more
importantly, the Screen Actors Guild.
The Dark Horses
Armie Hammer impressed the Screen Actors Guild’s nominating committee with J. Edgar, and since Leonardo DiCaprio’s a likely nominee, one wonders if Hammer could ride his coattails to a nomination. Meanwhile, Viggo Mortensen surprised for a Golden Globe nomination for A Dangerous Method, David Cronenberg’s psychoanalysis drama that many believed to be out of the running completely.
Brad Pitt, who’s also a major player in Best Actor for Moneyball, could make an indent here for The Tree of Life. Martin Scorsese’s Hugo has picked up lots of steam as of late, as has supporting star Sir Ben Kingsley . However, the precursors haven’t been too kind to him. Lastly, Patton Oswalt went for a more serious performance in Jason Reitman’s Young Adult and earned raves, but the awards recognition hasn’t poured in for him just yet.
Glad to bring you this week’s Oscar update. Check back again next week for more coverage, and head here for the overall predictions post made earlier.