| Can someone be "due" an Oscar if they haven't hit 30 and their go-to hoodie is pink? What if that someone has spent his career making one classic movie after another, seven of which have been Oscar-nominated for best picture? |
| We're about to enter the season of Chalamet, an actor some find endearing, others annoying. |
| This year, is he undeniable? |
| I'm Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. Ready for some lead actor Oscar power rankings? Cue up something from Iran's Olivia Newton-John as we step into awards season's Xanadu. |
| You know the drill. Let's start the countdown. |
1. Timothée Chalamet, 'Marty Supreme' |
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| (A24) |
| When Chalamet won the Screen Actors Guild Awards' lead actor prize earlier this year for playing Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown," he gave a rousing speech telling the world that he was doggedly "in pursuit of greatness." Now Chalamet is starring in "Marty Supreme," playing Marty Mauser, a ping-pong hustler dreaming of, yes, greatness! Marty, like Timée, can't stop, won't stop until he reaches the top. There's an overlap too in the unorthodox methods employed by both actor and character. Promoting "Marty Supreme," which opens Christmas Day, Chalamet has gone on Instagram Live in an elaborate skit to brainstorm marketing strategies for the movie. Earlier, he generated a frenzy when he led a team of ping-pong-ball-helmeted co-conspirators into a New York pop-up for "Marty." Who knows what he will do next. He's as unpredictable as his adrenaline-fueled movie. And that's endearing and/or annoying. You decide. |
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2. Leonardo DiCaprio, 'One Battle After Another' |
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| (Warner Bros. Pictures) |
| DiCaprio owns one Oscar. He had to eat raw bison liver to get it. But that's no worse than, say, having to attend the Critics Choice Awards. He has been nominated seven times, and probably should have been nominated even more. He definitely should have more than one Oscar. His live-wire performance as the amoral stock trader in "The Wolf of Wall Street" is one for the ages. He's excellent too as the burned-out dad in "One Battle," and if he won his second Oscar for that movie, who would argue? (Other than Timée's fans, obvs.) One of these years, the academy will have to stop taking DiCaprio for granted. Why not now? |
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3. Michael B. Jordan, 'Sinners' |
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| (Warner Bros. Pictures) |
| Robert Redford received one Oscar nomination as an actor. It came for "The Sting," a blockbuster so big that, for once, the academy could not ignore its golden-haired co-lead. I mention this because Jordan, like Redford, is a true movie star who also happens to be a very good actor. In "Sinners" he plays identical twins and brings out the nuanced differences between the brothers in ways that can get lost in all of the glorious chaos of the movie. At the very least, Jordan earns his first nomination this year. If it comes in the wake of other recognition, all the better for his Oscar chances. |
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4. Wagner Moura, 'The Secret Agent' |
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| (Victor Juca) |
| Kleber Mendonça Filho's political thriller has just started a very limited platform release, and it's a movie that could really start building momentum in the coming weeks as critics groups weigh in. The New York Film Critics Circle planted the flag early, giving Moura its lead actor honor for his star turn as an ordinary man hiding from an oppressive military dictatorship in 1977 Brazil. Actors branch voters don't always reward restraint, but Moura's sense of calm in the midst of an absolute nightmare carries the movie with a power that lingers. |
5. Ethan Hawke, 'Blue Moon' |
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| (Sabrina Lantos/Sony Pictures Classics) |
| With Hawke and George Clooney headlining contending films this year, we have two of the most enjoyable storytellers making the rounds, charming voters and reminding us why we've enjoyed watching their work for the last four decades. In "Blue Moon," Hawke plays the gifted, troubled lyricist Lorenz Hart, an alcoholic working out his insecurities as his longtime writing partner, Richard Rodgers, celebrates the success of "Oklahoma!" on opening night at Sardi's. The movie reunites Hawke with filmmaker Richard Linklater, a longtime collaborator who entrusts his actor to handle loads of dialogue and tight emotional turns. |
6. Joel Edgerton, 'Train Dreams' |
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| (Netflix) |
| Clint Bentley's delicate period drama about a logger clinging to a world that has vanished has built something of a cult following after landing last month on Netflix. Edgerton probably utters the same number of words in the entire film as Hawke expels in the opening two minutes of "Blue Moon." But, like Moura, he is integral to the movie's spirit, exuding a quiet grace that is extraordinary. |
7. Jesse Plemons, 'Bugonia' |
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| (Focus Features) |
| Yorgos Lanthimos' punishing black comedy could get lost this season. Critics groups will ignore it for better movies, and its despairing misanthropy makes it a difficult film to embrace. Still, even its detractors admire the acting from its gifted stars, Plemons and Emma Stone. Plemons' sad, single-minded conspiracy theorist is a terrifying creation, filled with the sort of foreboding that Plemons seems to conjure with ease. |
8. George Clooney, 'Jay Kelly' |
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| (Netflix) |
| First, let's pour one out for Dwayne Johnson and Jeremy Allen White, once considered shoo-ins for nominations until "The Smashing Machine" and "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere" opened to decidedly mixed receptions. Both figure to be invited to the Globes, a ceremony that offers a generous 12 slots for lead actors, another reason not to take the show seriously. And that brings us back to Clooney and his meta turn as an A-list actor having an existential meltdown in "Jay Kelly," a movie that arrives today on Netflix. Maybe it will pop. After all, how many times can you watch "Stranger Things"? |
