Welcome to Oscars Week! The 88th Academy Awards will air Sunday, at 8:30 p.m. EST on ABC. While we anxiously await the telecast, the Scholars team makes their pics with the same fervency most reserve for Fantasy Football Drafts. We’ll be posting in the approximate order the statuettes are handed out; today we start with Best Supporting Actor.
And the nominees are…
- Christian Bale, The Big Short
- Tom Hardy, The Revenant
- Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
- Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
- Sylvester Stallone, Creed
All of the nominees are fine actors, even Stallone, whose nomination is overshadowed by the shameful fact that Creed has been otherwise screwed out of deserving nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. Christian Bale’s performance in The Big Short was also fine, and Ruffalo did a great job in Spotlight, but neither actor stood out as greatly as Tom Hardy in The Revenant.
The award absolutely must go to Hardy, who is a terrifying, mighty hellion in The Revenant. Hardy (much like Ruggalo) has a way of committing fully to a film, regardless of its quality (Legend) or absurdity (Mad Max). Hardy practically stole the film from Leonardo DiCaprio, who himself deserves to go home with the Best Actor prize. Let’s start a tense night right with a little praise for Tom Hardy.
