Michael Sheen, top dog

Michael Sheen is no second banana, as anyone who's ever seen the British actor at work can attest. In his latest role, he's occupying more screen time in the historical drama "Frost/Nixon" than his counterpart, Frank Langella.

So why the blogosphere talk about him bumping down to best supporting actor in the Oscar race?

His reps are having none of it, saying he's a leading man and he'll campaign as such. (So will Langella, and he's already made a number of Too Early for Real Oscar Predictions lists, including ours.)

In a competition that's so wrapped up in ego -- king of the world! -- we can see why Sheen would be loathe to aim lower on the awards rung. Didn't work out when he did it for "The Queen." This time, though, it could turn out to be the high road.

We'd like to see him take home a trophy, but in a race that's shaping up to be incredibly crowded in the top category, we don't see that happening.

Elsewhere on the Oscar beat...

Fans of Dave Karger, avert your eyes! The haters are on the attack, this time about the Entertainment Weekly journalist's early Oscar punditry.

Maybe he did leave himself open when he tried to draw a parallel between Barack Obama's election on Tuesday night to the chances of "The Dark Knight" as an Oscar contender. Those two things are connected? Somehow?

He's also predicting the passage of Prop 8, the California gay marriage ban, will help the biopic "Milk," come February.

No, we're not making this up. Go here to try to hop on his train of thought.

Karger's also taking a slightly more good-natured beat down on Gold Derby for his best actor and best actress picks.

Disagreement is healthy!

Comments

[UGLY PUNK GURL!]

well, I dont know if releasing MILK earlier would have helped passed Prop 8. Probably not. Perhaps it would have waken up those Christian assholes, but I doubt it.