Oscars predix: Who's ahead in the best actor derby

Already our savvy forum moderators gave us their gutsy Oscars predix for best picture and lead actress. Now these pundits come out swinging over the lead actors' slugfest: Chris "Boomer" Beachum, Matthew "Boidiva02" Cormier, Darrin "DoubleD" Dortch, Robert "Rob L" Licuria, Andrew "andrew" Pickett and Paul Sheehan. Read the reax of our regular forum posters here.

Personally, my own picks are Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Colin Firth and Viggo Mortensen. I'd like to add Freeman to my lineup too, but I have a hunch that it's probably an emotionally reserved role, like Nelson Mandela in real life, and maybe even a supporting one. I have a sneaky suspicion that Warner Bros. is pushing Freeman in the lead category for "Invictus" so he doesn't compete against costar Matt Damon, who is being shoved down to supporting so that he doesn't compete against his rival lead performance in Warner Bros.'s "The Informant!" Just a suspicion. No proof — yet. But this Damon setup looks a lot like the same mess involving Leonardo DiCaprio caught between clashing Warner Bros. films "The Departed" and "Blood Diamond."

LEAD ACTOR	Beachum	Cormier	Dortch	Licuria	Pickett	Sheehan
Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"			X		X	X
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"	X	X	X	X	X	X
Matt Damon, "The Informant!"		X		X
Johnny Depp, "Public Enemies"		X
Daniel Day-Lewis, "Nine"	X	X			X	X
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"	X		X	X	X	X
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"	X		X			X
Viggo Mortensen, "The Road"		X
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"	X			X	X
Sam Rockwell, "Moon"				X
Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man"			X

Photos from left: Morgan Freeman in "Invictus" (Warner Bros.), Colin Firth in "A Single Man" (Weinstein Co.), George Clooney in "Up in the Air" (Paramount)

Oscars predix: Who's ahead in the best-actress derby

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