Oscar Nominees: Best Actor in a Leading Role

My predictions: 4/5, picking Taron Egerton over Pryce
My ballot: Come back later this week!
The nominees: Antonio Banderas, Leonardo DiCaprio, Adam Driver, Joaquin Phoenix, Jonathan Pryce

Here we have one of the biggest – and only – surprise snubs of the day in the form of Taron Egerton (Rocketman), who was nominated by SAG and even won at the Globes, where he beat Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), which ended up being the second most-nominated film. I wasn’t as taken with Egerton’s performance as others, so the snub doesn’t sting for me, but I wouldn’t have minded seeing him here. Another Globe and SAG honoree, Christian Bale (Ford v Ferrari), didn’t place, even with his film getting four nominations. The silver lining is that Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes) managed to get in, which is wonderful, though, sadly, Eddie Murphy (Dolemite Is My Name) didn’t merit a mention, and his film was completely shut out, which is a real shame. Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory) was the other non-sure thing, and he’s here along with his film in the International Feature race. No one is surprised to see Adam Driver (Marriage Story), and expected winner Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), whose film ended up as the nominations leader with eleven bids.

My current bet to win: With his film out front, Phoenix feels unstoppable.