Best Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio – It seems like only yesterday Leo was a homeless ruffian named Luke on “Growing Pains.” Who would have thought that that young kid would one day be bigger than the star Kirk Cameron? The answer is no one. No one would have thought that. Million to one odds. You ask one million people, “Who’s bigger in ten years, Kirk or Leo?” They all say, “Oh, Kirk, without a doubt. There is no way he’s going to fade into obscurity while Leo becomes an Oscar nominee.” All of them would be wrong. Except one crazy guy who didn’t understand the question. Flash forward and Leo’s drawing Kate naked on a big boat in the biggest movie ever. Then he does a string of epic films including this year’s The Departed and Blood Diamond. And the Academy nominates him for the movie no one saw. Maybe it was because the accent was tougher to pull off.

Peter O’Toole – According to IMDB.com, O’Toole has been in over 75 movies in his career. Now, if I may, I would consider myself a movie “buff.” I’ve seen quite a few films. Of Peter’s very lengthy list of films, I have seen a total of a half of a film. Not half of his list… about an hour and a half total. I fell asleep during Lawrence of Arabia, and that’s my exposure to his entire body of work. And that includes this movie that I’ve never even heard of (Venus). And, strangely enough, the man is also 75. The man is nominated for an Oscar on his death bed after an extensive career and the best I can do is “Um, yeah, never heard of him.”

Ryan Gosling – I actually did see this movie though, Half Nelson. And I think I might be the only one I know who saw it. I definitely was glad to see him nominated because he’s definitely an underrated and fantastic actor. He won’t win this year. It's probably too early in his career, but he’ll definitely get many other chances. But I’ve got my eye on you, Gosling. I like the cut of your jib.

Will Smith – Now I could go on a rant here about how Will Smith is a joke of an actor and I could never take him seriously. I could start by making fun of his breakout role as the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I might even quote a few cheesy lines from his action movies like Independence Day or Bad Boys. And if I wanted to really bring out the big six shooters, I’d bring up Wild Wild West. But I wouldn’t do that; only because this is supposed to be about his latest film Pursuit of Happyness, which he’s nominated for, and I'm surprised there isn't an accompanying rap song. And I won’t get distracted that Microsoft Word is putting the squiggly red line under the word Happyness. Again, because it’s about his performance and subsequent nomination. By the way, his son plays the little boy in this movie and he’s adorable.

Forest Whitaker – It’s a lock. Forest Whitaker will be taking home the Oscar for his performance in Last King of Scotland. I saw this movie and he did an amazing job. He’s highly favored to win and rightfully so. But just to be fair, since I joked about the other guys… he directed Waiting to Exhale.