Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)
Biggest Snub:
Al Pacino – Scarface
My Overall Thoughts:
This was a year with some great performances. The fact that 3 of the 5 nominees won Best Actor awards at the Golden Globes (Duvall, Caine and Courtney) says so much about how close the race truly was.
My Rankings:
Acting Performances
5. Tom Conti (Not Yet Seen)
4. Albert Finney
3. Tom Courtenay
2. Michael Caine
1. Robert Duvall
Movies
4. Reuben, Reuben (Not Yet Seen)
3. Tender Mercies – Very good performance by Duvall. Storyline is slow, but still good.
2. The Dresser – Finney is great as the aging stage actor, but Courtney overshadows him as his assistant the entire time. Loved the way that they showed how behind the scenes work in some ways is so much more important to the success or failure of a show. The film itself is far from perfect, but the performances make this so worth while watching.
1. Educating Rita – Excellent and witty dialogue helps this movie remain fresh and fun. Caine and Walters have amazing platonic chemistry together and their intellectual debates are so thrilling to watch. Doesn’t get as much love as it probably deserves. Great message about making the right choices in life in order to keep yourself happy and content.
Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – Most Definitely! This was a great year for performances and Duvall was slightly above the rest and deservingly received recognition for it.
Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!
MovieRob 
I was going to say they definitely got it right in a weak year for performances. In the Best category. You had a load of terrific performances in The Big Chill and The Right Stuff – but they seemed to all drift toward the supporting categories because both were such ensemble pictures. I wouldn’t classify Pacino as a “snub” because IMO he was chewing the hell out of the scenery with a Cuban accent. No “saying hello” to an Oscar nomination from me.
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