Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role
- the Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Brad Pitt
- Frost/Nixon - Frank Langella
- Milk - Sean Penn
- the Visitor - Richard Jenkins
- the Wrestler - Mickey Rourke
Who Should Win?: Langella was fine, but that's it. It's nice to see Richard Jenkins getting some recognition. I don't think he quite deserves the award for this one, but he was good in it, just as he was in Step Brothers and Burn After Reading, and is in pretty much everything he's in. I'm not actually upset about Pitt being here either, though I could maybe think of a few more worthy choices. As much as I didn't like Benjamin Zippers, he definitely did his job in it, and no one else could have appeared by Cate Blanchett's bedside as a young Benji, looking like more or less the perfect man. Now, one can argue that that's just good casting, not good acting, but whatever it is, it gets the job done.
The casting vs. acting thing is also something I've heard a lot of as a reason that Sean Penn's performance is better than Mickey Rourke's, but I don't think I buy it. Penn was great, don't get me wrong, but Rourke should not be punished for working his own demons (as they (who?) say) into Randy the Ram Robinson, he should be praised. No one else could've played the Ram, but that's as much a testament to the awesomeness of Rourke's performance as it is a reflection of his life. Plus I really wanna see how this will be adapted for the Oscars.
Who Will Win?: Maybe the force of the fans of Sean Penn will be too much, but fuck it, Mickey Rourke ftw. The story is just too damn good, and Oscar loves a good story, right? I mean wot else that isn't boring could possibly happen during these awards? Again, if you didn't click on this link a paragraph ago, run don't walk.
Who Got Snubbed: To start, I would rather see both of the fellas from In Bruges there than Pitt or Langella. Martin McDonagh's screenplay was sharp and hilarious, but it takes a certain amount of talent to deliver those lines and not sound stupid. Not a very strong year for lead actor performances I guess, though I haven't seen Hunger or Che. One day Jason Statham will be nominated in this category and I will die a happy man.
Almost dunn. I'll do best Director and Best Pic right before showtime, when I get to Matty's house. Holler.
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