83rd Academy Awards: Best Actor Nominations & Predictions

Oscar is rolling out the red carpet February 27, 2011 for the Academy Awards Ceremony. Here's a little teaser of the Best Actor nominations with my own attempt at a prediction.

Javier Bardem is nominated for his role as Uxbal in Alejandro González Inárritu's dramatic film "Biutiful." Bardem took the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2008 for his creepy role as Anton Chigurh in the Coen Brothers's "No Country for Old Men." Bardem was also nominated for Best Actor in 2001 for his role as Reinaldo Arenas in the biographical film "Before Night Falls."

Jeff Bridges takes a consecutive nomination for Best Actor for his role as Rooster Cogburn in the Coen Brothers's "True Grit." Bridges won the Oscar for Best Actor last year portraying gruff Bad Blake in Scott Cooper's "Crazy Heart." He was also nominated for Best Actor in "Starman", Best Supporting Actor in "The Contender", "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" and "The Last Picture Show." If Bridges takes the Oscar this year, it will be the second time the role of Rooster Cogburn garnered as Oscar, the first being for John Wayne.

Jesse Eisenberg receives his first Oscar nomination for the lead role of Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher's "The Social Network." Eisenberg has already won several Critics awards for Best Actor in the role and if he takes the Oscar, perhaps Time magazine was on to something for naming Zuckerberg man of the year.

Colin Firth gets another chance at Best Actor for his role as King George VI in Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech." He was nominated for Best Actor last year in his role as George Falconer in "A Single Man." Firth has won more Best Actor Critic awards than Eisenberg; perhaps he should stick with playing guys named George.

James Franco is not only co-hosting the 83rd Academy Awards Ceremony, he is nominated for Best Actor in his role as Aron Ralston in Danny Boyle's "127 Hours." Franco joins actors such as David Niven, Michael Caine and Walter Matthau who have been nominated while hosting the Oscars.

Prediction: Colin Firth will probably win it after losing to Jeff Bridges last year. Javier Bardem probably deserves it more, but Firth does completely inhabit the stuttering King George. Jesse Eisenberg will be the one many are pulling for, but his performance is too ambiguous, where Firth gives us exactly what the film is trying to portray. Though my choice would be James Franco, who owns the screen on his own merit for the entire film. "127 Hours" completely depends on and succeeds from Franco's performance and he's not hoisted by supporting actors like Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Halle Steinfeld or Andrew Garfield.

Who do you think will win Best Actor? Play Pickem at Yahoo! Movies