Countdown to the Oscars: Best Supporting Actor

the nominees for best supporting actor are:

matt damon, invictus
woody harrelson, the messenger
christopher plummer, the last station
stanley tucci, the lovely bones
christoph waltz, inglourious basterds

let me begin by saying we should not be in store for many surprises come oscar night. everything seems to have fallen into place with only an odd new voting system for best picture potentially upsetting the givens.

and in no category may this be more true than best supporting actor. okay.... maybe best supporting actress. but that's tomorrow.

christoph waltz's explosive turn as colonel hans landa in inglourious basterds manages to overshadow a film filled with tarantino irreverence. beyond the dialogue. beyond the slickness of production. beyond brad pitt.... waltz raises basterds. he brings nuance. he brings evil. but beyond that.... he brings weight to the story.

waltz has won every major critics award from the new york film critics circle to the los angeles film critics association. he's won the broadcast film critics and the national society of film critics awards. he's taken home the golden globe and the screen actors guild. he even won the gold at cannes.

i mean, seriously... who can stop him?

this is matt damon's first oscar nomination since his oscar nomination for acting and oscar win for writing good will hunting 12 years ago. and in invictus he is overshadowed by morgan freeman's mandela.

this is actually woody harrelson's second oscar nomination. he was nominated back in 1996 for best actor for his work in the people vs. larry flynt. the academy often likes to award prior nominees but the messenger was seen little and i expect harrelson would come in a distant fourth in the final ballot.

then you have stanley tucci garnering his first nod for the lovely bones. unfortunately, bones is such a mess of a movie it might be difficult for academy voters to find any way to stomach rewarding the film. no, tucci's nomination is more, finally, a recognition of his talent.... it also probably helped that he turned in an equally impressive performance in another mess of a film: julie & julia.

and speaking of a long overdue recognition of talent: christopher plummer, at age 80 and after 5 decades of making movies, garners his first nomination this year with the last station. there was a time (not long ago) when the supporting categories were often used more as a lifetime achievement award than an honor bestowed upon the most deserving performance. perhaps in the 70s or the 80s, possibly even the 90s, plummer would have been given the gold simply for his life's work.

but the academy has moved away from that and has, somehow, found a way to honor (more often than not) the most deserving.

perhaps plummer's nomination - which is much deserved, i'd like to add - will be honor enough for him after all these years. and there just may be a lifetime achievement award for him in the near future.

but this year... i think the academy will once again get it right.

will win: christoph waltz, inglourious basterds
should win: christoph waltz, inglourious basterds

e.