Oscars 2014 Predictions: Best Actor

Hello, Bloggers, as I said yesterday when I made my predictions on who will be nominated for Best Actress at next year's Oscars, I will do my predictions on who I think will be nominated for Best Actor and who will possibly be dark horse contenders and here we go:


Bruce Dern, Nebraska: Bruce Dern's performance in Nebraska recently made a splash at Cannes Film Festival when we won the award for Best Actor, and because the Cannes Film Festival is one of those top festivals that generates awards buzz, Dern's win could generate some Oscar buzz as well. There is still some debate as to whether or not Dern's role is leading or supporting but because he won Best Actor at Cannes, I'm putting him in the Lead category. Plus, there are leading performances that get put in the supporting categories and vice versa.

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street: Leo DiCaprio could possibly score his fourth Oscar nomination and third nomination for Best Actor. One reason is that it's another Scorsese project, and because Scorsese is a staple at the Academy Awards, that could easily work in DiCaprio's favor. If he's nominated, whether or not he'll actually win remains to be seen as the Academy might feel because he is 38, he's got time to score the coveted golden statue.

Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips: Tom Hanks actually has two movies coming out that are getting awards buzz: Captain Phillips and Saving Mr. Banks, which I will discuss when I go over my predictions for Best Supporting Actor. But in Captain Phillips, he very much is the lead. A few factors that could favor Tom Hanks are the "it's been a while" factor, as the last time he was nominated was back in 2001 for Cast Away, and the fact that Captain Phillips is based on a true story, which is one type of film that the Academy warms up to.

Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station: While Fruitvale Station was a huge hit at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film, there is plenty of buzz surrounding its breakout lead actor, Michael B. Jordan. Because Beasts of the Southern Wild won the Grand Jury Prize last year and went on to receive Academy Award nominations this year, including one for its lead actress Quvenzhane Wallis, the same thing could happen to both Fruitvale Station and to Michael B. Jordan.

Matthew McConaughey, The Dallas Buyer's Club: While Matthew McConaughey has had a successful career, right now his career is on a hot streak as he is doing several indie projects to prove that he is an artiste as well as a marquee name and is working with directors like Steven Soderbergh and Martin Scorsese, and has just signed on to star in Christopher Nolan's upcoming project Interstellar. But the one movie that is sure to guarantee him Oscar buzz is The Dallas Buyer's Club, where he plays a real life AIDS victim named Ron Woodruff. All the weight that he has lost for this movie to make himself look like a real AIDS victim could easily pay off and lock him a nomination, as undergoing serious physical transformations has favored actors like Tom Hanks when he won for Philadelphia and was nominated for Cast Away, Robert De Niro when we won for Raging Bull, and Charlize Theron when she won for Monster.


Here are some dark horse contenders that the Academy may not say "Neigh" to:

Christian Bale (American Hustle)
Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (Twelve Years A Slave)
George Clooney (The Monuments Men)
Forest Whitaker (The Butler)
Michael Fassbender (The Counselor)
Joaquin Phoenix (Her)
Robert Redford (All Is Lost)

So, those are my predictions on who I think will be nominated for Best Actor, and next I will discuss who I think will be nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but until then, thanks for reading!