The Academy's nominations for Best Actor are

Javier Bardem - BEFORE NIGHT FALLS
Russell Crowe - GLADIATOR
Tom Hanks - CAST AWAY
Ed Harris - POLLOCK
Geoffrey Rush - QUILLS

The Academy and I agree on this one

  I agree with Javier Bardem who both delivered a powerful and brave performance as Cuban writer and exile Reinaldo Arenas. Everybody says Ed Harris is great in Pollock, but the film just opened and I haven't had a chance to see it yet. In fact, it was just released for a single week in December to be eligible for the Oscars. So for me, it's out. Come back next year, Ed. The rest -- what can i say. Geoffry Rush hammed it up in Quills, but jumping on tables and grinning lecherously shouldn't be enough to win a little golden man. I won't even get started on Tom and Russell. Instead, I propose to nominate:

• Mark Ruffalo, for his complex portrayal of a slacker in You Can Count On Me.
• Billy Crudup -- not for the acid-dropping "Golden God" in Almost Famous, but for shooting up heroin in Jesus' Son.
• Michael Douglas as washed-up writer in Wonder Boys. Forget his stuffy conservative performance in Traffic. I prefer him in pink bathrobe, high and hungover, struggling for the next sentence.
• John Cusack, for being absolutely right in the Nick Hornby adaptation of High Fidelty.

Top · Best Picture · Best Director · Best Actor · Best Actress · Best Supporting Actress · Best Supporting Actor · Best Documentary · Best Foreign Film · Best Screenplay (Original) · Best Screenplay (Adapted) · Best Visual Effects

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