A First time Oscar winner, or a Third time Oscar winner?

My faith has been restored in the hopes that Joaquin Phoenix can win the Best Actor Oscar after his win last night at the London Critics' Circle awards. It seemed that Daniel Day-Lewis and even Hugh Jackman have been winning lots of awards for their best actor work in Lincoln and Les Miserables, respectively, but Phoenix has been an after thought... a name added to nicely fill all five slots. But he's better than that, and deserves more respect than the mere nominations. He deserves to win for his frank and brutal portrayal of a very self-destructive, if not insanely volatile alcoholic who is trying to find himself, and find hope for his life under the guidance of a religious cult leader. If DDL wins, it will be his THIRD Best Actor Oscar! And because he's still reasonably young, very early 50s, you know he can win maybe 2 more!

Of all the Best Actor nominees, wouldn't you really want to see this go to the most crazy and challenging performance from an actor who also could provide a nice narrative of his life on the path towards Oscar gold?

Bradley Cooper, Daniel Day-Lewis (2 Oscars), Hugh Jackman, Joaquin Phoenix, Denzel Washington (2 Oscars)

Here is Joaquin's acceptance speech. After reading this, if you feel like me that he deserves to also win the Oscar, I hope his words go far and wide because it really comes from his heart. My respect for him as a fellow human-being and actor, went up a few more notches!

I struggle with the idea of winning awards for acting. Stating I’m Best Actor for something as subjective as film seems strange to me. To the uninitiated it implies I’m solely responsible for the creation and implementation of the character. I am not. I suppose that’s why we thank our colleagues. There are those who you all know such as Paul Thomas Anderson, to whom I am eternally grateful – a man who has persistently searched for the truth. I am fortunate to have been under his guidance. Philip Seymour Hoffman for his patience and advice. Amy Adams for being angry. Megan Ellison and everyone at Annapurna for their support of the film and ensuring that I was able to cover my mortgage. But there are many others who you do not know by name such as Mike Kenna, who I believe was the grip but he did 20 different jobs so I can’t be sure; Adam Somner, the first assistant director; Karen Ramirez in the office; Tommy – I don’t know your last name… there are too many to list. The truth is, you cannot separate my work from their’s. We were a unit bolstered by the same goal: to do our part in helping Paul to achieve his vision. I view this award as recognition of all of our work. I am very cognisant of the fact that for me this award is an encouragement to continue my lifelong passion of being an actor. I will not squander this high regard. P.S. There’s an up-and-coming actor named Daniel who’s in a movie called Lincoln. You should check it out.

— Joaquin Phoenix’s acceptance speech for the London Critics’ Circle Film Award for Best Actor (Source: charliekaufmans, via imthebat)