Best Actor

Sure-Things:

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Remaining Prediction:

Michael Fassbender, Shame

Alternates:

Ryan Gosling, Drive

Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March

Long-Shots:

Damien Beshir, A Better Life

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50

Fassbender and Gosling acted their hearts out in 2011. Gosling’s comedic turn in Crazy, Stupid, Love isn’t in the running, but his two dramas could cancel each other out. Meanwhile, Fassbender’s star-making turn in Shame is by far the favorite over A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, and X-Men: First Class.