It's funny with both of these categories you kinda get a microcosm of how the Oscars categories go most years. It's either a fun, unpredictable race that could go either way or it becomes a race where the winner is predictable and we get to watch as they act super surprise that they won the award.
But both the races this year feature actors that audiences have loved and respected over the years. You get the sense from both of these categories that whoever wins their respective awards that it is going to be long overdue for them.
So with that in mind, let's look at the categories:
BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore - Still Alice
Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon - Wild
For awhile, this category looked like it could be one of the most unpredictable ones to pick in a long while. Then Julianne Moore started winning every major acting award this season and slowly it has started to feel like it is Moore's to lose. To be honest, it would not be a bad thing at all. Moore is a very respected actor. The list of classic film's she has been in is endless. She also has been nominated four times and has not won yet. This very much is in her favor. Marion Cotillard's nomination was a nice surprise for her work in Two Days, One Night but she is the film's only nomination. Felicity Jones really did great work in The Theory of Everything. It is the kind of performance that announces that someone has arrived on the scene. But her co-star Eddie Redmayne is getting most of the awards attention, so she will have to settle for the nomination. Early in the year, it seemed like Rosamund Pike would be a contender for her stellar work in Gone Girl. But she is the film's only nomination and as noted before, some members of the academy really hated the movie. Reese Witherspoon on the other hand gave her best performance in years in Wild. Any other year, she would win this easily. It is just a subtle, brilliant performance. But two things stop her. One, the movie has not really caught on with the public in the way a lot of people thought it would. And she has won an Oscar before in 2005 for Walk the Line. Take that into account, and becomes clear that Julianne Moore is going to be walking up to the podium for her first Oscar trophy.
Should Win and Will Win:
BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell - Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper - American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton - Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
This is the fun category of the night. Everyone in this category is very much liked by audiences and critics alike. With that being said, I am going to admit to a personal preference here: I want Michael Keaton to win this. I have been a big fan of Keaton's for years. Not just Batman, but with his work in Beetlejuice, Clean and Sober, Pacific Heights, Night Shift, The Nice Guys, etc. He has been an actor who for years as been able to go between comedy and drama very easily. That is not an easy thing to do at all and to see him get noticed finally is a great thing. Is it enough to win though? Well the competition is stiff. Bradley Cooper has the advantage of being in the most popular film in the category, American Sniper. His portrayal of military sniper Chris Kyle is a heartfelt and emotional performance. It is also impressive that this is Cooper's third year in a row of getting an Oscar nomination. But for as huge as the film as been, so has been the controversy over the facts and the politics of the film. Academy voters will probably be too scared of giving Cooper an Oscar here. Steve Carell was also impressive in Foxcatcher as John Du Pont. But the character is very unlikable and considering who Carell is up against in this category, that hurts. Benedict Cumberbatch is the superstar of this category for sure. Ladies love him and he has been in several popular movies and television shows over the past couple of years. His work in The Imitation Game as the gay mathematician Alan Turning is usually the type of part that wins Oscars easily. But for some reason, the film has not caught on in a way that one would think that it would. And then there is Eddie Redmayne. The performance he gives in The Theory of Everything is an extraordinarily physical one. He really makes you feel the effects that ALS has on Professor Stephen Hawking. It is not cheesy in the slightest bit. Redmayne has a good chance to win, but there is also a feeling that his performance is the type that we have seen from past winners before. Keaton has the benefit of being in a movie that lived or died on his performance. Birdman was a unique film in that it went from comedy to drama and back in the blink of an eye. Keaton handled all of this with ease at times. Because he has the harder part to play, Keaton will win Best Actor. Let's just hope we can get a Beettlejuice sequel because of this now!
Should Win and Will Win:
That is it for the post. Tomorrow, I will have a look at Best Director and then Friday, a look at the Best Picture race.
- Hash
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