Oscars 2014 Predictions: Best Supporting Actor

Hello, Bloggers, as I said when I did my predictions for who I think will be nominated for Best Supporting Actress, I would do my predictions for Best Supporting Actor and who could be dark horse contenders, and here they are:

Javier Bardem, The Counselor: While Cameron Diaz is said to have the meatiest role in The Counselor, Bardem is said to have a strong supporting turn with his performance as well, and it seems that he will be up for an Oscar nomination for playing another villain. One thing that I noticed is that whenever Bardem plays a villain, it seems he's obligated to have some kind of funky hairdo, like in No Country For Old Men and Skyfall. In The Counselor, his hair makes him look like a member of the "Jersey Shore" crew. (No insult intended)

Bradley Cooper, American Hustle: Bradley Cooper just scored his first Oscar nomination for Silver Linings Playbook and it seems possible that he could score another nomination for another David O. Russell film. Because Christian Bale is pretty much the lead in American Hustle, Cooper will most likely be up for Best Supporting Actor if there is any buzz surrounding his performance.

Michael Fassbender, Twelve Years A Slave: Fassbender is one of those actors that I hope receives at least an Oscar nomination one day, and while he wasn't nominated for Shame, which I haven't seen yet, I feel that the "powers that be" are holding out for something better and might nominate him twice in the same year: for Best Actor for The Counselor and Best Supporting Actor for Twelve Years A Slave. Both movies I am anticipating highly.

Tom Hanks, Saving Mr. Banks: Another actor who could potentially receive two nominations next year, Hanks could be nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Saving Mr. Banks for one particular reason: He's playing Walt Disney. Not only will playing a real-life person, which is one type of performance that the Academy fawns over, highly favor Hanks, but playing one of the most influential people in Hollywood will certainly help. From what I hear, he has a small part, but as I said when I talked about the likeliness of Vanessa Redgrave getting nominated for Foxcatcher, length has nothing to do with the performance.

Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher: While Steve Carell is potentially going up for Best Actor for his performance in Foxcatcher, we could see Mark Ruffalo going up for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the same movie. For those of you who don't know, Foxcatcher is based on a true story about a paranoid schizophrenic millionaire named Jon Du Pont, played by Carell, who shot and killed his best friend Olympian wrestler Dave Schultz, played by Ruffalo. Since the film seems to revolve on Du Pont's story, Ruffalo will most likely be up for Best Supporting Actor and try to receive his second Oscar nomination and in the same category, as he was nominated a few years ago for The Kids Are All Right.

Now, here are the dark horse contenders that could "trot" their way into the Final Five:

Josh Brolin (Labor Day)
Matthew McConaughey (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Matt Damon (The Monuments Men)
Will Forte (Nebraska)
Brad Pitt (The Counselor)
John Goodman (The Monuments Men)
Alec Baldwin (Blue Jasmine)
Jeremy Renner (American Hustle)
Jared Leto (The Dallas Buyers Club)


So, those were my predictions of who I think will be nominated for Best Supporting Actor and who I think are potential dark horse contenders and next I will discuss the "crème de la crème" award: Best Picture. Until then, thanks for reading!