Cinematical's Early Picks for Best Actor 2010

“Love & Other Drugs”, directed by Edward Zwick
"This re-teaming of Venice/Toronto premiere “Brokeback Mountain”‘s not-quite-couple Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway is based on Jamie Reidy’s memoir “Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman.” Gyllenhaal plays said Viagra salesman, who meets and falls in love with Hathaway’s character—who has Parkinson’s Disease (cue Oscar buzz). The film’s trailer has proven quite popular and buzz is already quite high. But 20th Century Fox decided to keep audiences away from “Drugs” until its November release (unless it pops up somewhere else, though that seems doubtful)". Source: www.indiewire.com

Jake Gyllenhaal in Leadville Trail 100 Mile Run on August 22, 2010 (c) Jerell Klaver and Brandon Fuller

"There's a young and cocky Viagra salesman (Jake Gyllenhaal, Love and Other Drugs), a young and cocky internet pioneer (Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network), as well as the young and confused (Andrew Garfield, Never Let Me Go & Keir Gilchrist, It's Kind of a Funny Story). Real-life leftovers from the Dubya years in Jack Abramoff (Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack) and Joe Wilson (Sean Penn, Fair Game). Rebecca Hall and Ben Affleck as Doug MacRay and Claire in "The Town" (2010)

Killers both fictional (George Clooney, The American & Ben Affleck, The Town) as well as real and potentially innocent (Sam Rockwell, Conviction). And then trailers that are practically the first step to highlighting eventual Oscar campaigns (Jim Broadbent, Another Year; Stephen Dorff, Somewhere; John Malkovich, Secretariat)
Who will go lead and who will go supporting will factor in later as well and we're still waiting to get our first looks at Jeff Bridges (True Grit), Matt Damon (Hereafter), Johnny Depp (The Tourist), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), James Franco (127 Hours) and Christian Bale & Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter. Some we'll be seeing in full in Toronto next month, where I will also catch up with Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling as Cindy and Dean in "Blue Valentine" (2010)

IF THE NOMINATIONS CAME OUT NEXT WEEK (IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE)
1. Robert Duvall "Get Low"2. Leonardo DiCaprio "Shutter Island" or "Inception"
3. Michael Douglas "Solitary Man"4. Ben Stiller "Greenberg"
5. Michael Caine "Harry Brown"

THEIR TOP COMPETITORS (BASED ON TRAILERS ONLY)
1. Stephen Dorff "Somewhere"2. Sam Rockwell "Conviction"
3. Jim Broadbent "Another Year"4. Jake Gyllenhaal "Love and Other Drugs"
5. Kevin Spacey "Casino Jack"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: IF THE NOMINATIONS CAME OUT NEXT WEEK (IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE)1. Mark Ruffalo "The Kids Are All Right"2. Bill Murray "Get Low"
3. John Hawkes "Winter's Bone"
4. Richard Jenkins "Eat Pray Love"
5. Ben Kingsley "Shutter Island"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: THEIR TOP COMPETITORS (BASED ON TRAILERS ONLY)Diane Lane and John Malkovich as Penny Chenery and Lucien Laurin in "Secretariat" (2010)

1. John Malkovich "Secretariat"
2. Bob Hoskins "Made In Dagenham"Naomi Watts and Josh Brolin as Sally and Roy in "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger"

3. Josh Brolin "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" or "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger"
4. Tom Wilkinson "The Debt"
5. Jeremy Renner or Chris Cooper "The Town"
Source: www.cinematical.com