Oscar Index: Day-Lewis, Chastain, Jones & Hathaway Lead In Final Stretch

 

Best Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis’ fait accompli nomination is at this point your Oscar pool’s safest bet. “The Anglo-Irish actor has already won a landslide of critics’ awards for his crafty portrayal of Abraham Lincoln;” wrote Time’s Richard Corliss. “The other nominees are simply his honor guard.” Tom O’Neil, founder of GoldDerby.com, proclaimed that Day-Lewis was a “shoo-in to win” back in October! The most surprising omission in this category was John Hawkes in The Sessions. Many expected that the impolitic Joaquin Phoenix had sabotaged his own Oscar chances, but as Corliss further noted, “If you want to be invited to the party, be sure to badmouth the hosts.” But this one’s done. As for the remaining categories, The Los Angeles Times’ Glen Whipp offers, “Outside of Daniel Day-Lewis losing, anything remains possible.”

1. Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
2. Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
3. Denzel Washington (Flight)
4. Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
5. Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Actress

Here we have Oscar night’s most irresistible human interest story: Amour’s Emmanuelle Riva, who turns 86 on Feb. 24, the night of the Academy Awards ceremony, and Quvenzhane Wallis, now 9 — she was 6 during the making of Beasts of the Southern Wild) — are the oldest and youngest nominees ever in this category. Jessica Chastain, though, has the early edge as “the motherf***er” who found Bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty. She is the film’s driving force of nature and has established herself in varied roles as a character actress of Streep-like virtuosity. Of the actors nominated for Silver Linings Playbook, Jennifer Lawrence has the best shot of winning, but her youth could work against her with those who still think she has more dues to pay. For now, she is “the actress whose career achievements we can’t wait to see unfold,” Corliss wrote. But Riva has her champions. In Contention’s Kris Tapley called hers, “the year's best performance, a brave portrayal in the actress's twilight year.”

1. Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
2. Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
3. Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
4. Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
5. Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild

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