Best Supporting Actor
WINNER: Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained) Leonardo DiCaprio was supposed to star in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, but the scheduling conflict appeared to prove fortuitous for all involved, as Christoph Waltz got to take the role of Colonel Hans Landa to Oscar-winning glory in Basterds, while DiCaprio just might be able to do the same with Calvin J. Candie in Django Unchained. DiCaprio is an absolute blast as the villainous, scarcely contained plantation owner; he's clearly having a whale of a time in the role, chewing through some of the film's strongest dialogue, and getting to star in his most brilliantly pulpy yarn yet.
RUNNERS UP: Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master) Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being A Wallflower) Pierce Gagnon (Looper)
Best Supporting Actress
WINNER: Ann Dowd (Compliance) Ann Dowd might not be a name you know, but this supremely talented character actress might just become a household name soon, if her self-funded Oscar campaign earns her the nomination she deserves. As fast food restaurant manager Sandra, Dowd is superb, portraying the compliant nature of her character - who is duped by a prank caller into falsely imprisoning an employee - with flawless aplomb, conceding the ingrained habit with which people come to accept the presumption of authority. As a regrettable cog in the machine, she is fascinating in the dual-role of naive victim and torturer.
RUNNERS UP: Amy Adams (The Master) Annika Wedderkopp (The Hunt) Helen Hunt (The Sessions) Sally Field (Lincoln) My picks for Best Ensemble Cast and Breakthrough Performance Of The Year are up next.