The Red Band Project

With only a few more days left till the Oscars, it’s time to take a look at the two main acting races and give you my thoughts on who I like to take home the awards.

Best Actress

For the Best Actress race I have to go with my girl Natalie Portman. As our protagonist for the story, her decent into insanity had me believing I was watching someone come apart at the seams. Her portrayal of Nina in Black Swan made me question what exactly was going on in the film. From her peculiar traits, to her lack of self confidence, as well as her paranoia; it all had me wondering just exactly who this girl was. She made me feel for her at those moments when she was a sympathetic character in a crazy world.

On everyone else . . .

• Annette Bening: I feel like Julianne Moore could also fit onto this list with Annette Bening for being one of the two moms in The Kids Are All Right. And of course I say (or is it write?) that with the utmost respect that both of these women who give fine performances in this film. Is she believable as a lesbian mom in an awkward situation? Yes, there’s no denying that and you even see the trouble in her eyes at certain points during the film. I think the biggest part of why she’s in my number two spot is because she just didn’t move me as much as Portman’s performance did.

• Jennifer Lawrence: She definitely has the troubled teenager look down cold with her performance in Winter’s Bone. There are a lot of scenes in this film where you can feel the weight of the world on her shoulders as she essentially is both mother and father to her two younger siblings and even her mother. A good performance and definitely worthy of this nomination.

• Michelle Williams & Nicole Kidman: Did not view Blue Valentine or Rabbit Hole.

Best Actor

Out of the three performances for Best Actor that I saw, I’m going with Colin Firth for his portrayal of King George VI in The King’s Speech. As I mentioned in my Best Picture post, Firth’s George is someone every moviegoer can relate to as all of us at some point have had to speak in front of other people, so we identify with his plight in some way. Throughout the film his performance almost makes it seem like if he isn’t able to give his speech, Hitler will win the war. It’s that vulnerability that makes him my Oscar favorite.

On everyone else . . .

• Jeff Bridges: To be quite honest, I didn’t see anything all that special with his performance in True Grit. As the old loose cannon of a law man Rooster Cogburn, yeah I felt that he could have been that guy, he just didn’t do enough in my opinion. And he doesn’t get any points for garbling his lines either.

• Jesse Eisenberg: Eisenberg was great as the Facebook godfather Mark Zuckerberg and definitely hit all the right notes that Sorkin and Fincher gave him, however I felt that Firth just gave a little bit more.

• Javier Bardem & James Franco: Did not view Biutiful or 127 Hours.

A little later . . . Supporting Actors & Actresses.