Oscars 2014: Best Actor and Best Actress
I say this every year, but modern cinema is blessed with an abundance of high-quality acting talent. You can argue about whether the movies themselves are better or worse than they used to be—I’d suggest that it’s a bit of both—but the caliber of the actors is as good as it’s ever been.
BEST ACTOR
NOMINEES
Steve Carell—Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper—American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch—The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton—Birdman
Eddie Redmayne—The Theory of Everything
WILL WIN
Carell and Cumberbatch are out. American Sniper somehow became a phenomenon late in the season, so it’s possible Cooper could pull an upset here, but his name hasn’t been mentioned as regularly as either Keaton or Redmayne. If you’re pegging Birdman to rip through Sunday’s entire show, then Keaton is the pick here. But as well as Birdman has performed on the circuit, I don’t think it’s ever achieved a Slumdog Millionaire-level of momentum. Redmayne won the Trinity—again, that’s scooping awards at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors’ Guild—and more importantly, he plays a famous historical figure with a physical disability, thereby hitting two of the Academy’s sweetest spots. Eddie Redmayne wins his first Oscar.
