- Best Actor
Most Likely Winner: George Clooney as Matt King in The Descendants. A complex role, Clooney plays a man dealing with his wife's coma and impending removal from life support, dealing with his two daughters he is not close with and finding out his wife is cheating on him. It involves doing so much its almost more than one role. Clooney pulls off a very difficult ask.
Backup Pick: Jean Dujardin as George Valentin in The Artist. And competing with Clooney is the man they call the French Clooney. A silent role as a falling movie star who refuses to enter into 'talkies'. It's very difficult to capture attention without talking and that alone is enough to warrant a prize.
Most Deserving (My Pick): Gary Oldman as George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I love Gary Oldman. I think its criminal he was never nominated before. For him to win for a spy movie adapted from a John Le Carre novel would be the coolest thing ever.
- Best Actress
Most Likely Winner: Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. This movie was super-dull and the only thing that keeps interest is Streep being amazing. As she always is. She is spot on as Thatcher, or at least what I imagine Thatcher is like, which is more difficult to portray than actuality.
Backup Pick: Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark in The Help. I think she had to share attention a bit with Octavia Spencer otherwise she would have been first pick. Playing a black maid in Civil Rights era Mississippi, she manages to convey the slight hope mixed with heavy sadness of the time.
Most Deserving (My Pick): Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark in The Help. As much as I like Michelle Williams as Marilyn Munroe, I'm guilty of picking drama over comedy in this respect.
- Best Supporting Actor
Most Likely Winner: Christopher Plummer as Hal Fields in Beginners. Sometimes you forget he's not the lead. Playing a man who comes out after the death of his wife and explores the gay lifestyle, then is diagnosed with cancers and succumbs to it. Its all about Hal.
Backup Pick: Jonah Hill as Peter Brand in Moneyball. I've heard Max Von Syndow in Extremely Loud and Extremely Close is the real backup, but I haven't seen that, so no idea. Hill was impressive as assistant GM, managing the perfect backup to Brad Pitt's Beane, which is much as I imagined the office at Oakland was in 2002.
Most deserving (My pick): Christopher Plummer as Hal Fields in Beginners. The best supporting actor award has been pretty much a sure award for years now because there's always an undisputed best of. This time is no different.
- Best Supporting Actress
Most Likely Winner: Octavia Spencer as Minny Jackson in The Help. As I mentioned before, she stole all the scenes she was in with a dominating performance. Compelling and convincing in the role.
Backup Pick: Berenice Bejo as Peppy Miller in The Artist. This is the other kind of supporting role, playing the perfect backdrop to the main performer. And Bejo facilitates the main performance perfectly allowing for memorable input without taking the attention.
Most Deserving (My Pick): Octavia Spencer as Minny Jackson in The Help. Too good not to win
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