Damien who?!? No, that's Demián Bichir. His name was a surprise on Oscar morning, but it is warranted. Bichir has been acting for a long time, mostly in his native Mexico, and there he is a well known and well respected name, having been nominated for six Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscar), winning one.
A Better Life got relatively little arthouse distribution in the U.S., but American audiences may know him from Showtime's hit series
"Weeds", where he played the politician/drug lord who first employed Nancy Botwin then bedded her, impregnated her, married her, and eventually tried to have her killed for parts of three seasons on that show. He is excellent as the struggling immigrant in
A Better Life, so quality isn't the issue. The surprise came in that he had been nominated or recognized in virtually none of the other awards shows or critics prizes during the season (though he was nominated for the SAG Award). Clearly he has absolutely no chance of winning, but it's rather wonderful he managed a nomination.
I think it's probably safe to assume that even the most casual Oscar watcher realized Demián Bichir had never been nominated for an Oscar before, but I think lots of film fans of all stripes were surprised to learn that Gary Oldman had never been nominated. Gary Oldman? Surely he was nominated for
Sid & Nancy or
Prick Up Your Ears? How about
JFK or
Bram Stoker's Dracula?
Immortal Beloved or
The Contender? Not
Harry Potter, not
Batman, not even
Léon or
True Romance...not
nothing?!? How is that even possible? Not sure, to tell you the truth, but it is how it shook out for him. So now, at fifty-three, he's nominated at long last for
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The big screen adaptation of John le Carré's influential novel had a bit of a let down, in that it didn't get Picture or see any of its other numerous stars (including Colin Firth or John Hurt) get any nominations. But Oldman did make the cut, thank goodness. The great Alec Guinness of course already brought George Smiley to life in two famous BBC mini-series, but as indelible as that portrayal is, Oldman managed to find ways to inhabit Smiley and make him his own. Very still, unemotional character most of the time, and it's great to see Oldman, who is so well known for some of his more over-the-top characters, get to shine as somebody so quiet. But after waiting this long for a nomination, I fear he's going to have to wait even longer, still, for a win.
I like brad Pitt. A lot. I know he's too good looking and he gets to bang Angelina Jolie and all of that, so Schadenfreude should kick in...but I still like him. I've also always thought he was a good actor, who often didn't really get his due (probably because he's so good looking and gets to bang Angelina Jolie). But this is third Oscar nomination, the others coming as Supporting Actor in Gilliam's
12 Monkeys and as the lead in David Fincher's
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Brad is effortlessly charming in
Moneyball, and he does bring the emotional backstory of regret and wasted potential to life very nicely. But as good as Brad is in it, it's hardly got a very high degree of difficulty. So while it's nice that he is getting recognized - and remember, this is the same year he also played the father in Malick's Best Picture nominee
The Tree of Life, so there may be some kind of unofficial phantom boosting for that, as well - I don't think this is in the top five performances of his career, and there were probably better choices among this year's crop. So no chance of winning, hope to see him here again, and next time let's pray it'll be a more complete performance.
Jean Dujardin is one talented dude. If you haven't seen
The Artist or anything else he's been in yet, he has the dashing good looks of an old time matinee idol like Errol Flynn or Tyrone Power, but he is also as goofy and physically talented a comedian as you've ever seen. George Valentin, his fictional movie star in the Hollywood of the 1930s just as the transition into Talkies changes the town, is absolutely perfect for him. If it had just been a one-note comedy, a sketch about Silent movies, it would have been very funny but not garnering the kind of attention it has since it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, where Dujardin took the prize as Best Actor. While
The Artist is fun and funny, it also has a heart and a soul, and through this black and white love letter to cinema there are also some darker edges, and emotions other than laughter. Yeah, I'll admit it, I cried during this movie. In fact, I've cried in the same spot all five times I've seen it. A movie that is this different, this inventive, this funny, this clever, this toe-tappingly good, this joyous, AND it can make you cry...well, it's no wonder it is the favorite for Best Picture, and Dujardin's performance is absolutely central to its success.
Talk about somebody I have tried in vain to hate. George Clooney is impossibly good looking, he's rich, he's successful, he jets around the world and has sex with a bevy of stunningly beautiful women at his villa on Lake Como in Italy. But he's also very funny, honestly self-deprecating, philanthropic, and just generally an awesome fella. I want to be jealous of him, hate for the sake of hating, but he's just too damn cool. He
is the most interesting movie star in the world. Clooney turned fifty last year, and with his grey hair and playing his age he's as appealing as ever, maybe even more so! This is George's seventh overall Oscar nomination, also nominated this year as the co-writer of
The Ides of March's screenplay (in which he also starred and directed). This is his fourth nomination for acting, fairly recently losing in the Best Actor category for both
Up in the Air and
Michael Collins, but he won for his first nomination, a decidedly non-movie star turn with extra weight and under a big beard in
Syriana. I think you'd have to say
The Descendants is the best of his movie star roles, so if he gets another Oscar for it, good on him. And who doesn't like George Clooney?
I think you'd have to consider Clooney the early favorite, but don't dismiss Jean Durjardin. Even though
The Artist isn't in French, it's a (mostly) Silent movie so 99.9% of the dialogue is given on title cards, Dujardin is undeniably a Frenchman. There have only been three of his other countrymen ever nominated for Best Actor, and only one of them was nominated for a French-speaking role. That was also the most recent, Gérard Depardieu as
Cyrano de Bergerac, at the 1991 ceremony (Jeremy Irons won for
Reversal of Fortune). The others were Frenchies working in Hollywood, Charles Boyer in
Fanny (1961) and Maurice Chevalier, twice, for
The Big Pond (1929) and
The Love Parade (1930). None of those three men won the Oscar for Best Actor, so Dujardin would be the first if he pulls it off.
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