Best Supporting Actor
Sylvester Stallone, a has-been in recent decades, enjoyed a career comeback this season with her performance in Creed, the new (sixth chapter) sequel in the franchise Rocky.
During the 39 years since his previous nominations, for the first Rocky, which won the 1976 Best Picture, he’s made lots of bad movies, but he proved to be a survivor, hanging out in there, and in this film rose to the occasion.
Three of the nominees in this category are British actors: Christian Bale (The Big Short), Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road), and Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spys), and are all fine, but they do they stand a chance against Stallone, who’s the sentimental favorite.
Mark Ruffalo, the fourth nominee, is one of the main attractions of the ensemble-driven Spotlight, which is nominated for Best Picture.
After appearing in a half-dozen films over the past 35 years that were worth seeing, observing Stallone is like a warm encounter with a long-lost friend.
