Best Actor
- Bruce Dern, Nebraska
- Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street*
- Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
- Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
- Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Toughest category of all. I think these are the guys who will make it in though. Leo is the wild card, but the hype and buzz surrounding Wolf was so loud in the window of the voting period, and there is a lot of passion and admiration for the performance in certain circles, so I do think he edges out Robert Redford, who was not nominated at SAG or BAFTA. He could honestly still make it in on respect, but I'm going to predict Leo gets it. And the rest of the guys I think are safe, but if they really, really loved American Hustle, Christian Bale could sneak in here somewhere (he was nominated at every other major precursor), I just don't know who he'd replace. It's even possible that he's the one who takes Redford's slot and not Leo. Or he could knock out any one of the other five. It's the most competitive category by far.
Best Actress
- Amy Adams, American Hustle*
- Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
- Sandra Bullock, Gravity
- Judi Dench, Philomena
- Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
Basically the one call I'm making here is to say Amy Adams will push out Meryl Streep. It's a risky call to make, but I think the American Hustle love peaked at the right time and will carry her through. The rest are safe, maybe Emma Thompson was a bit vulnerable, but I doubt it. This is probably the lineup.
