Oscar: In Focus (Best supporting Actress/Actor)

Best Supporting Actor/Actress

I have now seen all the nominated supporting performances. Well, some of RDJ's in Tropic Thunder, the DVD kept freezing. I think I am edumacated enough to discuss his performance.

Best Supporting Actress
My Pick:Penelope Cruz (Vicky Christina Barcelona)
Will Win: Sneaking suspicion that it may go to Taraji B. Hensen (Ben Button)

BSA is a pretty strong category this year. No one was terrible, though I don't think Amy Adams' (Doubt) consistent but irritating 2-note performance deserves to be here. Taraji B. Hensen was good as the woman who cares for poor abandoned babyman Ben Button, but she didn't really transcend the crappy, racist, sexist slop they gave her to work with. Marissa Tomei made her stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold role in The Wrestler work, which took some doing and Viola Davis was quite extraordinary in Doubt, taking a deeply problematic, stereotype-filled role and making it cohere into a compelling character. My pick is Penelope Cruz in Vicky Christina Barcelona, (which is so much better than you think it will be, btw,)because she is fucking awesome and inhabits her character so fully, seemingly effortlessly. I loved watching her.

Best Supporting Actor
My Pick: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Will Win: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

Look. Death aside, he completely deserves it. I am a little torn, as Josh Brolin was fucking awesome in Milk. I almost chose both for my pick, but that's a cop out. If I was in the academy I'd only get one vote. I give the edge to Heath largely just cuz he was in his movie more, and had more space to do more awesome stuff. But Josh was perfect in every second of every scene.

Michael Shannon made me want to see more of him with his performance in Revolutionary Road, he was fun to watch in his shitty, shitty role (in the suburbs in the 50s it takes a man who has been institutionalized to break through that repression and Tell It Like It Is with the wisdom of Teh Crazee, did you know?) But he didn't blow my mind the way Heath and Josh did. Phillip Seymor Hoffman was good, as always, in Doubt but by the end he was kind phoning it in. PSH phoning it in is better than most actor's best second of their best day, but still. I don't get--strike that, I don't concur with the hoopla around Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder. He's a v. good actor, but so far as I saw this was not the brilliant breakthrough its touted as. I'll save the blackface controversy commentary til I've seen the whole movie--I have plenty to say but can't make a final call on what is exactly is going on til then. I don't mean a final call on whether I like it or not, I doubt the rest of the movie will shift my thumbs up. And I only saw about 20- minutes. so maybe RDJ deserves the Oscar, who the fuck knows. I'm comfortable taking my chances.