And the Oscar goes to…..Leonardo (or will it be Christian Bale)

Catching a good movie on TV along with opportune timing rarely happens these days as Aurko is now nearing the terrible-two phase. So when I chanced upon The Fighter (yeah I watched this 2010 movie few days back) when Aurko was fast asleep, was like a rare treat for me. And what a movie it turned out to be and what a performance Christian Bale delivered. I have been obsessed with him ever since. You might say, what’s new in that aren’t we all have a thing going for him lately. Maybe I am a little late in recognizing his charm as he slowly sneaked up on me by playing weird Dicky Eklund. Though, I have not seen much of his movies apart from the Batman series and American Psycho and never thought much of him irrespective of the views people have of him. His evident arrogance and bad-mouthing audio was just a turn-off for me in the past. I know I am not the right one to judge his acting when I have not seen his body of work or his critically acclaimed The Machinist. But hey! This is my blog and I can rattle on. So I didn’t like the guy in the past. I disliked him when I saw him forget his wife’s name in the Oscar speech—now who does that? How can you forget your wife’s name? Can a wife ever forgive such a gaffe on such a momentous occasion? 

Now that the countdown for Oscars has already begun, the speculations are rife that anyone between Leonardo Di Caprio and Matthew McConaughey will get the Oscars. They both were excellent in WOWS and Dallas Buyers Club respectively. Everyone's keep saying "Leo is overdue and will now finally win for Wolf of Wall Street". (I can only roll my eyes to that logic). I love Leo, I know he is a fine actor and deserves one. But just because this is Leo's 4th nomination and Matthew's first it doesn't mean Leo will win because the Academy feels bad for him for that, right? And I have heard Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave is amazing, although I have not seen the movie. This year we probably have the most competitive looking Oscar Best Actor Male race in a long time. There is no clear frontrunner (Thank God, Daniel Day Lewis is not in the list). But my mind says it will be Leonardo/McConaughey, although in my heart I wish Christian Bale will get it for American Hustle. Not because he gained a beer belly (he lost weight in The Fighter too) to play con man Irving Rosenfeld or that I have finally warm- up to his charm but for his fanatic immersive approach to the character. He stands out in his portrayal of Rosenfeld: his multi-layered, dysfunctional functionality is a sight to behold in American Hustle.  His proclivity for self-transformation is what struck-a-cord with me in both American Hustle and The Fighter. I am keeping my finger cross for him.

What about the ladies? Who else but Cate Blanchett, I say. I felt so sorry for her neurotic character in Blue Jasmine; I guess that speaks volume about her acting in the movie. Amy Adams is another strong contender for the race. Let’s see, February is the month to check out all the Oscar nominated movies, hope this year few of my favs will nab the Academy.