Hans’ Oscar Bites

Two previous winners back for another bite at the Academy apple, two veterans getting to attend the dance for the first time in their storied careers, and a Wuthering young stud who literally came to life on screen. Unfortunately, category fraud creep is real and makes it all the more harder to judge supporting performances year after year.

The nominees are:

• Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another
• Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
• Delroy Lindo, Sinners
• Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
• Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value
  In order of preference:

5) Benicio Del Toro (as Sensei Sergio St. Carlos), ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Del Toro’s performance in OBAA is relatively compact, confined to roughly the middle third of the film, but encompasses exactly what a supporting performance should do: lift up the lead performance while leaving an impact on the viewer. Del Toro is introduced alongside our grown-up Willa (Chase Infiniti), emphasizing his important tie to her journey, and ultimately his role in guiding Leo’s path to finding her. Del Toro seems like he’s having a lot of fun with this role, bringing a soothing zen fitting of a sensei (perhaps accompanied by a few small beers).

4) Sean Penn (as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw), ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
A performance that could have gone either way, supporting or lead wise, nonetheless I think Penn does a brilliant job here of crafting such an incredible vile and despicable character that it makes you thankful there isn’t more of him on the screen. Penn embodies such a terrible villain here to the point of making it difficult to separate the actor from the character, but knowing Penn’s politics somewhat makes it go down easier. What’s more, a character that could have come off incredibly cartoonish, now comes off somewhat eerily prescient as we continue to see the horrors of this administration’s ICE leadership unfold.

3) Stellan Skarsgård (as Gustav Borg), SENTIMENTAL VALUE
Sentimental Value scored four acting nominations and the one that I would say anchors them all is Skarsgård (or “Skarsgord” as they say in the north) as an aging patriarchal director. Skarsgård has always been such a steely actor who knows how to balance congenial with gravity, and he showcases all of that talent here that’s gotten him roles ranging from this to Mamma Mia to the MCU to Chernobyl. I dock him a bit for this being very much a lead performance, but understandable that the ensemble would want to highlight our lead actress Renate Reinsve.

2) Jacob Elordi (as The Creature), FRANKENSTEIN
From the halls of Euphoria High School to the grounds of Saltburn and Graceland, the rise of Jacob Elordi from unknown teen actor to Oscar nominee will be studied for years to come by rising actors looking to follow in his giant footsteps. What’s been so great about following Elordi, however, has been actually seeing his growth in acting chops throughout the likes of Euphoria, Saltbur, Priscilla, and now with his Oscar nominated performance here and box office topping turn this weekend in Wuthering Heights. All of his work is onscreen in Frankenstein, in particular his harrowing journey in Chapter 2, the physicality of his movements when he is first born, and especially his voice, which I was shocked to find this out had not been altered by digital means.

1) Delroy Lindo (as Delta Slim), SINNERS
One of the loveliest surprises of nomination morning was Delroy Lindo showing up, after zero notices throughout the precursor season, and over his SAG-nominated co-start Miles Caton. From the moment this film dropped, Lindo’s performance as the alcoholic blues player Delta Slim was being lauded for Oscar laurels and for a while there it didn’t seem like it would happen. Lindo’s hardy seen-everything-there-is-to-see performance plays a role in keeping the young folks grounded in the realities of what happens to Black folks in the south, and ultimately at the end makes his last stand alongside them in a show of generational unity. LIndo has been doing this kind of cakewalk for years and it’s so thrilling to see him finally get recognized, and what’s more for true supporting performance

• WILL WIN: Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value (will very much depend on what BAFTA has to say, but he feels like the spiritual frontrunner right now)
• COULD WIN: Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another (beloved by the critics, could be seen as a chance to give him a second career win)
• SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE: Ralph Fiennes, 28 Years Later