Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)
Robert De Niro (The Godfather: Part II)
John Huston – Chinatown
My Overall Thoughts:
This is a year with 5 great nominated performances but the fact that one of them is really a lead actor role is what gave it the edge over the others.
My Rankings:
Supporting Actor
5. Jeff Bridges
4. Michael V. Gazzo
3. Lee Strasberg
2. Fred Astaire
1. Robert De Niro
Movies
3. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot – Was glad to finally see this. Overall, this is a very good heist movie with some great characters who have the chemistry needed to succeed. Eastwood and Bridges seem like opposites, but they actually mesh very well here and give us characters that we really want to care about. Very 70’s music wise and plot wise, but still manages to be clever enough to let us understand what is really going on throughout. Kennedy was always great as a good character, but he was even better when he played tough guys who aren’t sure whether they want to be good or bad.
2. The Towering Inferno – Excellent disaster movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat for almost 3 hours. Cast is superb and anyone is fair game in this film. Eerily reminds us of what happened on 9/11 26 years later. Amazing special effects and stunt-work makes it all seem so realistic. Nice to see McQueen and Newman working together onscreen despite the known friction between them behind the scenes.
1. The Godfather: Part II – Great movie. Not as good as the first one, but much better than the third one. Very deserving of all its awards. De Niro is superb in the title role (even if he was touted as supporting). The rest of the cast is also excellent.
Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – Most Definitely! RDN was quite deserving of this award even though he was more of a lead than supporting role in this film. If one just looks at the real supporting nominees, FA was the best of the 4 choices.
Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!
MovieRob 
Agree on DeNiro (even when he was one of 3 from the same movie nominated – odds were against him winning). Interesting choice on John Huston (my favorite line of his from “Chinatown”: “Tell me Mr. Gittes – are you sleeping with my daughter?” He, of course, meant his daughter on film – Faye Dunaway – but at the time – Nicholson was dating and living with his real daughter – Anjelica. I actually LOVED Jeff Bridges in “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” – and he might’ve been my #2. Astaire – in a career nomination – in an All-Star cast in one of Irwin Allen’s disaster extravaganzas – which didn’t really require a lot of acting (OJ was in in for crying out loud), would’ve placed a distant 5th.
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