One Category at a Time: Supporting Actor

In most instances, the foundation of support behind Best Picture nominated films is a considerable factor in predicting Oscar winners in other categories. And in some instances, a completely different narrative takes hold that makes such things irrelevant. We may be seeing that this year in Best Supporting Actor, which houses four performances from Best Picture nominees, yet the frontrunner represents his movie's sole nomination.

Review - Avengers: Age of Ultron

Like the return of the swallows to Capistrano or the swarming of the Monarchs from Mexico, the arrival of spring each year is announced with almost natural periodicity by the flocking of moviegoers to the new episode of Marvel Studios' comic book superhero spectacular! Studio head Kevin Feige could probably set his own watch to the volume of ticket receipts pouring in, having masterminded the most lucrative business model in the industry; An interconnected series of lean, lighthearted action films that play to the people's love of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), the mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and an ever growing cast of other costumed do-gooders.

All signs would suggest that the fandom's appetite to see Earth's mightiest heroes teaming up again would be as insatiable as it was the first time they hit the big screen together in 2012's box office champ The Avengers. Writer-director Joss Whedon returns for this hotly anticipated sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and wastes no time in giving the public what it wants, kicking off the super-squad's newest adventure with that 'money shot' you've already seen a hundred times in the trailers and TV ads:

One Category at a Time: Supporting Actor

I've already opined on how boring the Best Supporting Actor Oscar race is this year. The exact same five names have been almost unanimously nominated across the board, and fringe contenders didn't even bother to campaign. Perhaps they figured that it wasn't even worth gunning for a nomination when the eventual winner has been cut and dry for months.

My Award Nominations: Supporting Actor

Onward we march in my drawn-out unveiling of 2014's best cinematic achievements. Today the focus is on Best Supporting Actor.

Unlike in my recently unveiled Best Original Screenplay ballot, I find there is a dearth of quality in this category. I'm sure you'll immediately notice that my top five are nearly identical to the SAG, Globes, BAFTA, and Oscar slate (save for one obvious non-contender who should've received more consideration anyway). It's not that I particularly enjoy lining up with the everybody else, but I couldn't find a whole lot of alternatives that I felt okay nominating myself. When different groups are in this much agreement at the nomination stage, it's often an indicator of a weak year.

But enough griping, because these five performances are still excellent -- whether or not they had any competition:

Review - Foxcatcher

If you're a fan of the sport of wrestling, you may be familiar with the story of the Schultz brothers, a pair of Olympic champs who caught the eye of a millionaire philanthropist following the '84 L.A. Olympics.

But you needn't be a wrestling buff to appreciate this stranger-than-fiction true story, brilliantly dramatized by Cannes prize winner Bennett Miller in Foxcatcher. Just like his swell previous feature Moneyball, what Miller has achieved here is a sports movie that's not actually about the sport, but about something far bigger and more elusive. Incidentally, like Moneyball was in 2011, Foxcatcher is also one of the finest films of the year.

Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) is obsessed with being the best, but doomed to never feel like the best. Even his Olympic gold medal seems outshone by that of his older brother Dave (Mark Ruffalo), whose personal life is far more fulfilled.

Dave is more famous, a better wrestler/coach, a happy family man, and still quietly exudes his protective instincts towards his baby bro. A beautifully staged sparring sequence early in the film between the two brothers tells us everything we need to know about their relationship with hardly a single word of dialogue.

Review - The Avengers

The summer movie season officially kicks off with The Avengers, Marvel's grand culmination of its last four years of superhero movies, skillfully assembled by fanboy idol Joss Whedon from four distinct Marvel franchises into one fantastic whole.

We – that is to say, those of us who've been keeping up with Marvel's steady output of summer superhero spectacles since 2008 – already know the cast: Robert Downey Jr. as ego-maniacal billionaire Tony Stark (Iron Man), Chris Evans as quintessential soldier Steve Rogers (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth as hammer-wielding Norse god Thor, Jeremy Renner as enigmatic archer extraordinaire Clint Barton Hawkeye, Scarlet Johansson as expatriate Russian super spy Natasha Romanov (Black Widow), and Samuel L. Jackson as cycloptic S.H.I.E.L.D director Nick Fury. Replacing Edward Norton as Bruce Banner is Mark Ruffalo, whose ease with playing “laid back” makes a smart juxtaposition with the green ball of rage that it The Hulk.

One Category at a Time: Supporting Actor

What more is there really to say about this category? Or any acting category for that matter? The same four performers have won the BFCA, Golden Globe, and SAG awards and will all probably continue on to take the Oscars.

There's only one possible scenario I can envision in which Christian Bale does not win this; a bona fide sweep for The King's Speech. If the voters really are as lazy as that when they have their ballots in hand, and vote for the film in every category, Geoffrey Rush can ride that pony all the way to podium. But that's not gonna happen. Performances are one thing that Academy members will vote for based on their own merits, rather than the merits of the film. That, or they vote for whichever star they like, and the way Bale's been walking the rope line and charming his way through the circuit, I can't see him not winning this. It also helps that his performance is by far more complex and fully realized than Rush's good-humoured but comparatively thin one.

Oh yeah, John Hawkes, Jeremy Renner, and Mark Ruffalo are all nominated too, but they're just along for the ride, which is too bad because they delivered some of the finest performances of the year, all of them making my own top five. Renner had us on edge all the way, Hawkes nailed nastiness and goodness all at once, and Ruffalo made easy-going look so much easier than it truly is! I really wish any of them could have won something this year, but you can't derail Bale!

Will win: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Runner-up: Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Should win: Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Should have been nominated: Ed Harris, The Way Back

My Award nominations: Supporting Actor

Best Supporting Actor:

CHRISTIAN BALE in The Fighter:
I can't fault Bale for stealing the show away from its own central character, Micky Ward, because he just steals it so well! He delivers a memorable portrait of drug addiction, blind selfishness, and staunch denial that stem from years of living with unfulfilled dreams. He plays brilliantly off of his costars, as they play brilliantly off of him.

MICHAEL FASSBENDER in Fish Tank:
This is a slippery, tightrope-walking performance that constantly shifts and wiggles around in our mind. It's easy for us to love Fassbender's character at first, and it's still hard for us not to love him as the film's sticky sexuality starts to play itself out. It's simultaneously bold and understated work from one of the finest actors working.

ED HARRIS in The Way Back:
In an age where awards are naturally attracted to performances that live by flash and overt displays of emotion, it's so satisfying to behold a settled, sincere performance that's more emotive because it's so understated. Harris' lived-in portrayal of Mr. Smith is as calm but layered as any performance I've seen this year.

JEREMY RENNER in The Town:
The live wire of The Town's sprawling ensemble, Renner makes you tighten your grip on your armrest every time he's on screen. The unpredictability of his performance pays off in numerous and surprising ways, from the tensely soft-spoken conversation he has with Affleck and Hall, to his comedic final actions in the climactic shootout.

MARK RUFFALO in The Kids Are All Right:
Ruffalo's performance is relaxed and naturalistic, slipping into the character with a disarming ease that misdirects us from his own insecurities, namely his reluctance to truly grow up and start the family he wants but lacks the commitment to create. His crushing final scenes perfectly convey his character's vulnerability and regret.

Just missed: John Hawkes, Winter's Bone