Final awards tracker: Best Actor

The Best Actor race has been discussed in fair detail here. By way of final stretch updating, the Critics groups rallied behind Michael Fassbender, Michael Shannon, George Clooney, Jean Dujardin & Brad Pitt (with Gary Oldman in the wings).

But the awards bodies backed George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Michael Fassbender & Brad Pitt, with Ryan Gosling, Leonardo DiCaprio & Demian Bichir almost on equal parring in the wings.

Obviously Clooney, Dujardin & Pitt are locks. Fassbender is all but a lock - his SAG miss is concerning, but with four acclaimed movies, plenty of heat & just a touch of controversy, it seems too late for him to miss. Gosling missed all the big ones, and his movie is a "weird" one, so he is out. J Edgar's hot/cold reception makes DiCaprio feel like he is out, but he has two important hits with the SAG & Golden Globes & he is overdue after consecutive snubs for Revolutionary Road, Inception & Shutter Island.

Having made peace with the fact that Gosling is out, I would love to see Michael Shannon, Demian Bichir or Gary Oldman take his place, but I am feeling that Leonardo DiCaprio's industry cred will push him through to the final five. Michael Fassbender takes the indie slot that Bichir & Shannon could have competed for, and Oldman has nothing but his BAFTA nod to bank on.

So, my final five:

George Clooney - The Descendants

Jean Dujardin - The Artist

Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Michael Fassbender - Shame

Leonardo DiCaprio - J Edgar

Alternate:

Gary Oldman - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Demian Bichir - A Better Life