Best Actors and Supporting Actors

The nominations are in and according to the Academy of Motion Pictures, the best actors in a leading role in 2011 were:

• Demián Bichir as undocumented day laborer Carlos Galindo in “A Better Life”
• George Clooney as embattled land baron Matt King in “The Descendants”
• Jean Dujardin in as silent movie star George Valentin in “The Artist”
• Gary Oldman as espionage veteran George Smiley in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
• Brad Pitt as Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane in “Moneyball”

The word is it’s between Clooney and Dujardin. Why, we don’t know, and it’s just our opinion, but we fail to see what makes the Descendants and its cast Oscar-worthy. Not saying it was a bad film, but we don’t see what makes it rise to Oscar level.

And,  here are the nominees for Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

• Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
• Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
• Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
• Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
• Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

If it goes by acting, we’d give it to Kenneth Branagh for his portrayal of Sir Laurence Olivier. In this interview, Branagh tells how he never met Olivier but did write to him and clipped something the legendary actor told him on his dressing room mirror during the filming.