State of the...Oscar race

I know that the state of the union address was last night and that not two weeks ago I was talking about state of the union speculation right here on this very blog, but I didn't watch it, didn't listen to it, and didn't read it. I think that a person who pays even a small amount of attention to the world around them knows what the state of the union is. Moreover the president knows that people know what the state of the union is, so the speech, it's just spin. I know that I spend a fair amount of time talking about both politics and spin here so it would be safe to assume I'd be chomping at the bit to write about the state of the union address, but right now I'm preoccupied by Leonardo Dicaprio's chances of finally winning an Oscar this year.

I am aware that Martin Scorsese, also nominated this year, has been snubbed by The Academy for a lot longer than Dicaprio has but I kind of don't care about him. It's true I haven't seen Raging Bull, or Mean Streets, or Goodfellas, but that's because I saw The Age of Innocence and it was the most boring movie ever so I decided not to see anymore Scorsese movies. I have faltered in that resolution a few times over the years. I saw The Color of Money and actually really liked it but I didn't realize until much later that it was a Scorsese. I wavered again with Casino, which didn't do much to change my mind about Scorsese. Then came Gangs of New York, which was also remarkably dull, and The Aviator, which was okay but not good enough to make me think the man deserved an Oscar. Honestly, the only reason I saw those last two was because of Dicaprio.

Now, before you get all up on your high horse and claim that the only reason I like Dicaprio is because he's a cute boy, hear me out. Leonardo Dicaprio's first major film role was Tobias Wolf in This Boy's Life alongside Ellen Barkin and Robert Deniro and he was amazing. As the title of the film ought to indicate (to anyone with one or two brain cells left) Dicaprio was the star of that movie (the lead actor). However, it was Deniro that was nominated (as Best Actor) for that movie, for playing an angry, abusive asshole (a shocking departure from type for him to be sure). The next year Dicaprio was nominated as Best Supporting Actor for What's Eating Gilbert Grape (which he was also amazing in) but lost to Tommy Lee Jones (from The Fugitive???Seriously???). At first I thought it was just the Academy's well known age bias but that same year, 10 year old, Anna Paquin won an Oscar.

Practically every time I see a film he's in I'm blown away by the emotion he's able to capture and convey. He's absolutely, with out a doubt, one of the best actors working in Hollywood and he's consistently been better than most everyone out there since he was 16 years old. He's been in films with acting legends and he not only holds his own, he makes them look almost like amateurs. It's ridiculous that he hasn't won an Oscar yet. Absolutely ridiculous.

I do, also, think that Scorsese deserves an Oscar for The Departed and if he doesn't win then I'll jump on the Scorsese's been robbed bandwagon, but for right now, I just can't get over the fact this is only the second time Dicaprio's even been nominated (as a lead).