Oscar Nominees: Best Actor in a Leading Role

My predictions: 4/5, picking Ethan Hawke over Dafoe
My ballot: Come back in February!
The nominees: Christian Bale (Vice), Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

I was cringing, waiting for the snub of someone fully expected to make this list, like James Franco was last year. But, instead, we just saw the two likeliest misses not make the cut – John David Washington and Ethan Hawke – while their films performed about as well as people thought. The surprise inclusion is Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate), one of two acting choices also nominated last year. He did a good job as Vincent Van Gogh, but, like Sam Rockwell, his turn in “The Florida Project” was far superior. The rest of the list is completely expected: Golden Globe winner Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Globe and Critics’ Choice winner Christian Bale (Vice), Viggo Mortensen (Green Book), and Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born), whose day was not nearly as good as everyone thought it would be.

My current bet to win: It’s possible Cooper gets this as a consolation prize but I think that Bale may have eclipsed Malek as the winner due to reception of his film.