Best Actor: Will Win - Daniel Day-Lewis
Theres not much need for explanation here, but here is a short story to show how much of a foregone conclusion it is that Daniel Day-Lewis is the best actor in the world right now: Upon seeing Lincoln, a friend of mine remarked that it was a lot like War Horse, except with Daniel Day-Lewis as the horse. Nothing about this shocked me, and when I thought about it later, I realized that it was because I wouldnt be at all surprised if Daniel Day-Lewis took a role as a horse. And he would nail it.
Best Actor: Should Win - Daniel Day-Lewis
See previous. But while we rightly praise Day-Lewis, lets also take a moment to look at two performances that were also incredibly impressive: Joaquin Phoenix in The Master, and Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook. Phoenix came out of the wilderness (self imposed wilderness, but wilderness nonetheless) and gave what was probably the best performance of his career, while Cooper reached unexpected depths and made me forget about The Hangover 2. Well done on both counts.