Best Supporting Actor 2012

5. Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook
De Niro has got a fine character in a very good film, but he fails to bring anything into it. There's nothing he did with this character. It's hard for me to even say something about it, for I've seen the film six days ago, and yet I don't remember anything about him. He wanted to play it realisticly, but he was boring and forgettable, instead. I'm sad, because he took place some better supporting performance...

4. Alan Arkin - Argo
Yes, he was there just to be there. His character doesn't have a big purpose, but who cares. He was very nice and likable in all of his scenes, but the truth is he never tried to do something with his role, so that he would be just a little bit memorable. It's also true that he didn't have enough space to shine, but didn't bring much effort to it, either. Another forgettable performance between this year's nominees, but this one was at least funny...

3. Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln

Right now I can't think of anyone, who'd handle this role better than Jones did. It's written as another of the thousands of supporting players that are in Lincoln, it means it's written forgettably. Jones makes this character interesting and pleasure to watch. Though his last scene is destroying his character, he never allows to fully do it and handles it very gently. That's probably what De Niro and Arkin should do with their characters...

2. Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master

Playing Lancaster Dodd, the master of scientologic church, Philip Seymour Hoffman should be charming and authoritative. We all knew he can handle that. But his character also should be full of doubts. Why is he doing all this? He's a normal husband, which loves his family and friends, but why is he doing all of this? Does he really believes in everything he says and does? Should we believe in that? These are the questions his performance makes us ask, but we never get a satisfactory answer...

1. Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

Django Unchained is one of the best films of 2012 and Waltz's performance is one of the best performances of the year. He obviously enjoys playing this character and if an actor enjoys playing his character, so do we enjoy watching his performance. He is funny, charming and adorable. He can be a worthy adversary to the co-stars of the film and the naive simplicity his character handles all of the problems and the way he portrayed it, gives him bonus points...

My Nominees:
1. Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
2. Javier Bardem - Skyfall
3. Dwight Henry - Beasts of the Southern Wild
4. Matthew McConaughey - Magic Mike
5. Leonardo DiCaprio - Django Unchained

Best Supporting Actor 2012: Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook

In Silver Linings Playbook Robert De Niro plays a father of Bradley Cooper's leading character Pat. As I wrote in my review of Jennifer Lawrence, I really liked Silver Linings Playbook. It is quite strange romantic comedy, but it doesn't mean it's bad.
The first time we see De Niro's character is at the beginning of the film, when Pat returns from the hospital. I must say I was a little bit disappointed after it. I've been expecting something really outstanding, something close to De Niro's best performances. When I understood, it's not going to be very juicy part, I was ready to fully enjoy his subtle performance. But somehow I didn't enjoy it very much.
You may say he didn't have many things to do in Silver Linings Playbook. And you'd be definitely right. The only thing he's there to, is to complain about Pat and talk about football. But he has got some scenes, he could use and be more than just 'decent'. For example, the scene he's crying in. It wasn't bad, but I felt as if he was playing a different character in this scene. It doesn't correspond with the rest of his performance.
Even his best scene, in my opinion, is not Oscar-worthy. It's the scene the picture above is from.
I understand what De Niro wanted to do with this character. He wanted to play it realisticly. But it just isn't. Mostly because the script just isn't realistic, but also because of him. Instead of being realistic, he was just lackluster. You really won't remember his performance two weeks after watching the film. And I'm not even talking about the fact, that the chemistry between him and Weaver is really bad.
The chances of winning an Oscar: He's the third. I would be very surprised (and upset), if he won.

Next Year: Best Supporting Actor 2012

The Nominees:
Alan Arkin - Argo
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln (predicted winner)

So, please, comment. Who was snubbed? How would your nominees look like? Who would you like to win? Who do you think I'll let win? And how do you think I'll rate these performances?