Best Actor
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Fox
No contest. Nominees Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln Joaquin Phoenix, The Master Denzel Washington, Flight Should win: There are some great performances in this group. Bradley Cooper does the impossible of making his grating personality actually sympathetic in Silver Linings. Hugh Jackman sings! Joaquin Phoenix holds a film with a totally original character in The Master. And Denzel is entirely believable as ever playing an alcoholic pilot in Flight. But one performance just so completely inhabits the character that it is impossible to ignore. No one has taken on a feature length portrayal of America's most titanic and mysterious president on the big screen in 70 years, and the reason is clear. Stepping into a statue is generally death for most performers. But Daniel Day-Lewis becomes the part so completely, that you push all the statuary out of your mind and while you are watching the film, you are with a real, tormented and troubled man thrust into great times. Will win: There are lots of reasons why in theory DDL could lose: he's won too many times already (two Best Actor trophies sit on his mantle); Oscar is moving away from stuffy historical pieces and favoring, hipper, younger sorts roles of late; Jackman sings - and he's a former Oscar host; it's their chance to acknowledge The Master. But all of these could be's will come to naught on Sunday night. It's Daniel Day-Lewis.
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