Now that we’ve changed the calendar, it means that we are just days away from the Golden Globes and the Oscar nominations being announced. Let’s start the awards season analysis by looking at the Best Actor race, which was once supposed to be a race that was already decided.
Like last year’s Best Actress race - which was dominated by Cate Blanchett’s Blue Jasmine performance from day one, the 2015 Best Actor race has been dominated by one performance. Michael Keaton announced that he is still around in Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Birdman, in which he took a slightly autobiographical role.
As Riggan, Keaton stars as a former action movie star. He made three movies as Birdman, but turned his back on the franchise, just like Keaton himself did after Batman Returns. Years later, Riggan is working hard to mount a Broadway play to gain respect. But he’s battling his own inner demons.
While Keaton hasn’t been exactly missing in the two decades since he played Batman (seriously, check out his performance in Jackie Brown), Birdman showed a new side of the star. The Academy loves comeback stories and honoring one two years in a row would be justified. Last year, Best Actor went to Matthew McConaughey, who was awarded more for his McConaissance than his performance in Dallas Buyers Club (although that was a great performance on its own).
Keaton has some truly incredible talent to face, including two young British stars who will definitely be nominated. Eddie Redmayne’s performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything is the best part of his film, while Benedict Cumberbatch does a fantastic job as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. If Cumberbatch wins, it will be like Jennifer Lawrence’s Best Actress win for Silver Linings Playbook. The Academy may just want to honor a star on the rise again.
The final two slots are more open. David Oyelowo seems like a shoe-in for Selma, since he is the first actor to get to play Martin Luther King Jr. in a major Hollywood production. Steve Carell’s nomination for Foxcatcher doesn’t feel as concrete as it was earlier in 2014. Oscar Isaac could be nominated for A Most Violent Year if the Academy still feels bad about forgetting his Inside Llewyn Davis performance. In any other year, Jake Gyllenhaal would be the real frontrunner for his incredible performance in Nightcrawler.
The true wild card, though, is Ralph Fiennes for The Grand Budapest Hotel. Despite constantly giving great performances, Fiennes hasn’t been nominated for an Oscar since The English Patient. Wes Anderson gave him a role that only he could perform and Fiennes excelled at the comedy. Sadly, it does seem like Fiennes will be on the outside looking in, even if Grand Budapest gets other nominations.
The Golden Globes are on Sunday. The Oscar nominations are announced on Thursday, Jan. 15.
image courtesy of Peter West/ACE/INFphoto.com