Oscar Nominees: Best Actor in a Leading Role

My predictions: 4/5, picking James Franco over Washington
My ballot: Come back in February!
The nominees: Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name), Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.)

Here we may have our top snub – certainly what I consider to be the most unexpected and lamentable omission. Since winning the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical, Franco has been the subject of much negativity because of accusations of sexual misconduct. I can understand why people didn’t vote for him, but similar situations haven’t prevented Casey Affleck, Mel Gibson, and Roman Polanski from getting nominated. To me, he gave one of the best performances of the year, and it’s unfortunate that he’s not here for the sake of the quality of the turn. I’m also not impressed that Washington made the cut for a role and film that doesn’t compare to his previous work, and would have loved to see Jake Gyllenhaal make a surprise return to the race instead. Both Day-Lewis and Oldman saw their films surge ahead with strong takeaways, and Chalamet and Kaluuya’s films performed well also. Even though Franco’s not on it, this list isn’t too shocking.

My current bet to win: I think Oldman is still a lock.