Ethan Hawke

I should begin by saying that there’s a good chance that Ethan Hawke will win an Oscar later tonight.  He’s been nominated for Blue Moon.  When this Oscar season began, he was definitely the front runner.  As of late, the momentum seems to have shifted toward Michael B. Jordan or perhaps Timothee Chalamet but still, one should not totally discount Hawke’s chances.  If Hawke does lose tonight, I have no doubt that he will be nominated in the future and eventually, he will win.  It’ll be long overdue.  As you can probably guess by the picture at the start of this post, I’m one of those people who thinks that he definitely should have won for Boyhood.

Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell finally received his first Oscar nomination for The Banshees of Inisherin but he lost the award to Brendan Fraser.  Farrell is not an actor who has always gotten the respect that he deserves.  Especially early in his career, he was often miscast.  Much like Matthew McConaughey, he was often dismissed as just being a pretty boy until he met a director — in this case, Martin McDonagh — who truly understood how to best utilize Farrell’s screen presence.  As In Bruges, Banshees and The Penguin showed, Farrell is essentially a character actor in a leading man’s body.  My hope is that Farrell will win his first Oscar between now and 2036 and that he’ll give a memorable acceptance speech.

Brendan Gleeson

Speaking of The Banshees of Inisherin, how does Brandan Gleeson only have one Oscar nomination to his name?  Now, to be clear, I don’t begrudge the fact that Gleeson lost to Ke Huy Quan.  Quan had a wonderful personal story, gave the best performance in the overrated mess that was Everything Everywhere All At Once, and his acceptance speech was truly touching.  That said, my sincere hope is that the Academy understands that Gleeson is long overdue an Oscar.  Hopefully, that will be corrected soon.

Kurt Russell

Kurt Russell is one of those actors who I just can’t believe has never been nominated.  In a few days, Kurt Russell will be turning 75.  He’s been a popular actor for most of his life but he’s not getting any younger.  So, get with it, Academy!  I don’t care what his next film is.  I don’t care how big the role is.  Give Kurt Russell his Oscar!

Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise has had an interesting career.  He went from being a teen idol to a character actor to a somewhat disreputable celebrity to finally reemerging with the Mission Impossible films as one of our last true movie stars.  One need only watch Top Gun: Maverick to see the type of charisma that we’re going to miss once it’s gone.  Later this year, Cruise will be starring in Digger.

Sylvester Stallone

Seriously, how many times does this man have to play Rocky and Rambo before the Academy finally gives him the award that everyone secretly wants him to win?  Give Stallone his Oscar!