CHUD: 2011 OSCARS THREAD - Best Supporting Actor

Hawkes deserves it, making so much more of a less flashy role, but Bale's playing the exact kind of blatantly obvious oscar bait character the academy cream themselves over. Bale may have been the reason I found The Fighter worth watching, but Hawkes was absolutely fucking electric.

Maybe I'm a sucker for inspirational sports movies, but I've seen several movies with Wahlberg, Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo that during that film, the emotional intensity was so raw that, for the first time in a LONG time, I genuinely forgot the world-famous actors in these roles, Bale in particular. I think a lot of us have had charming junkies in our families who just slowly ended up that way that they were unknowingly enabled by their family's support, and I think Bale nailed this.

Irrelevant to him deserving an award, I think this was especially weird, because Bale is such a super serious method acting who's been doing this since he was a child, and I felt like his performance had to come from some sort of horrible lived-in feeling, some sort of knowing-ness of that lifestyle. I liked Hawkes quite a bit in "Winter's Bone," but Bale is a guy I had seen in dozens of movies by now, and here he was, making me forget all of them.

I thought Geoffrey Rush was pretty good, as he tends to be, and was probably the highlight of The King's Speech. Renner too with The Town, his last scene was pretty grand. Not sure what Ruffalo's doing there, though. He certainly was... handsome in that movie.

Rush, perhaps unfairly loses some points because he didn't do anything unexpected in The King's Speech. He just was his usual brilliant selfWinter's Bone hasn't come out over here yet, so I have to give it to Bale. People get unfairly hung up on his physical stuff and fail to mention how much the characters in The Fighter, The Machinist and Rescue Dawn are different.

Plus I think the Oscar may actually loosen the guy a bit. I think there's a more fun and charismatic performer side to him that his weird focus is keeping in check.

This is the hardest category since they were all so great.  I listed John Hawkes in this poll but could just as easily put Christian Bale in there, not just for this role but for his incredible body of work.  Every single one of these actors is worthy.  John Hawkes just blew me away in Winter's Bone.

Bale!

I just watched Winter's Bone yesterday. Hawkes was great but I would never put him above Bale. This category is Bale all the way.

Personally I'd argue Hawkes does a lot more with a lot less, but Bales going to get this, it's exactly the kind of loud, ostentatious performance of the sort of character and story the Academy eats up with a spoon that it'll be a miracle if anyone else wins. Yes yes, I get that that's what the person he's playing was very much like, but that doesn't change it being perfect oscar fodder. 

The academy never reward subtle and understated when there's someone else going loud and showy.