90th Academy Awards: Best Actor

Oscars 2018: Best Actor

With the Academy managing to get the winner of the Best Actor category absolutely spot on last year, with Casey Affleck's performance in Manchester By The Sea one of the best on-screen character depictions I have seen in recent history, the spoils this year all seem to be heading in the direction of Britain's own Gary Oldman, whose portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour is one of uncanny excellence, a performance with much more credence and power than simply stating it's Oldman's "turn" to win an Oscar after being seemingly snubbed for previous nominations in a similar vein to Leonardo DiCaprio's seemingly odds on win for 2016's The Revenant. With Daniel Day Lewis shining as always in his so-called final role as Reynolds Woodcock in Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread and Daniel Kaluuya creating his own personal waves in Jordan Peele's Get Out, either performers would be worthy of awards success, whilst Timothée Chalamet and Denzel Washington fill up the remainder of the ballot paper for Call Me By Your Name and Roman J. Israel, Esq. respectively. In regards to missed nominations, Christian Bale's outstanding performance as Captain Joseph Blocker in Hostiles has been shockingly snubbed in every major awards ceremony worldwide, whilst the more out-of-there mind could argue Vince Vaughn's career changing role in Brawl In Cell Block 99 could easily have seen recognition too. Anyhow, here are the main points: 

Winner - Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)

Personal Favourite - Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)

Nomination Snub - Christian Bale (Hostiles)

88th Academy Awards: Best Actor

Best Actor

Could this finally be the year. Howard Hughes in The Aviator. Sorry, Jamie Foxx deserves that this year. How about Billy Costigan in The Departed? I'm afraid not. But how about my roles in either Django Unchained or The Wolf of Wall Street? Once again, I'm afraid not Leonardo, you just aren't good enough to deserve an Oscar. Fine. I'll find a director who will put me through sheer hell and force me to cut open a horse and sleep inside it, proper Luke Skywalker style from The Empire Strikes Back. Of course, I'm sure this isn't how the life of Leonard DiCaprio actually played out after countless times of Oscar betrayal but it does seem that his dedication to his role in The Revenant was that of a man giving all he possibly can in order to claim what has bypassed his clutches in the past. Everyone and their mum's believes it is time for Leo to win his Oscar and if somehow such did fail to occur this year, I fully believe the Leo supporting masses would violently and swiftly burn the Dolby Theatre down to the ground with Leo being the sole survivor of such a terrible tragedy. 

Extreme I know, but without even looking at the betting for this years' Best Actor category, it is obvious that Leo is the firm favourite. In fact, it is such a safe bet I would recommend putting your life savings on it. Trust me, I know these things. If however you are not privy to the odd bet or two and believe that the Oscars will continue to starve DiCaprio of his glory, the other contenders for the award include Bryan Cranston for Trumbo, Matt Damon for The Martian, Michael Fassbender for the brilliant Steve Jobs and Eddie Redmayne for the not-so-brilliant The Danish Girl.  As for those who may have been overlooked, Fassbender, if not for Steve Jobs, would have been nominated for his role as Macbeth in Justin Kurzel's cold-blooded adaptation of the Shakespearean classic, whilst it was a shame Samuel L. Jackson wasn't recognised for his eye-locking performance in The Hateful Eight, one which kept the film intriguing and captivating for its' ridiculously over-long runtime. Also, what about Jacob Tremblay's simply stunning performance in Room? Sure he's only nine but Tatum O'Neal won an Oscar at the age of ten. One to ponder upon anyhow. Here are the nominations: 

Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant

Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs

Bryan Cranston - Trumbo

Matt Damon - The Martian

Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl

Next Time: Best Actress!