Even the most casual movie fan, with only the slightest modicum of Academy Awards knowledge, might have been able to predict at this time last year, months before the actual ceremony, that Daniel Day-Lewis playing Abraham Lincoln, in a biopic directed by Steven Spielberg, would end the awards season at the podium, accepting his third Oscar for Best Actor. Regardless of the predictability of last year's Best Actor race, it is not always so easy to foresee the future, particularly in hyper-competitive categories such as Best Actor, and this year appears to be yet another sterling year for lead male turns. There is going to be a myriad of great actors, hopefully giving great performances, for the Academy to choose from this year. Daniel Day-Lewis' record of being the only actor to win three Best Actor Oscars may only hold for a single year if Tom Hanks and his two new feature films have anything to say about it. The cinematic "it man" of the last few years, Ryan Gosling, also has his own double feature of sorts with two collaborations with directors he has found previous critical success with, although the only time Oscar deemed one of his performances nomination worthy was all the way back in 2007, for his role in Half Nelson. Mr. Hollywood himself, George Clooney, could conceivably have the single greatest year in the history of the Academy Awards. With a duo of films that could earn him a Best Actor Oscar, as well as potential wins for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for The Monuments Men, it is possible Clooney may be the first human being to win Oscars as a producer, director, both lead and supporting actor, as well as a writer. The new favorite leading men of director David O. Russell, Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale, both have multiple shots at this year's award, not the least of which being Russell's newest film, American Hustle. Even last year's Best Supporting Actor winner, Christoph Waltz, who has a lead role in director Terry Gilliam's newest film, The Zero Theorem, can not be ruled out. These aforementioned names are just the tip of the iceberg, and even as much of a fan as I am of these actors, some did not make the cut for my top ten. That's the type of abundance of wealth we are likely to see in the category this year. Of course, without having seen the films or read the scripts (I have a strict policy of not reading scripts of film's before I see them), it can be hard to determine if certain roles will ultimately qualify as a lead role or a supporting role, particularly in films with large ensembles, but I've done my best to suss out the characters which will most likely be considered "leads". Without further ado then, here is my estimate of the top ten most likely performances with a shot at next year's Best Actor award. Also, be sure to check out my next preview for 2014's leading ladies.