I know, the Oscars aren’t for a very long time and a lot can change. But, as we head toward the awards season, I wanted to take a look at what could be the most interesting race at the Oscars this year: The Best Actor race.

The locks

At first glance, this will come down to a battle between Daniel Day-Lewis for “Lincoln” and Joaquin Phoenix for “The Master”. The latter performance has been getting  rave reviews and well, let’s just say Day-Lewis doesn’t choose roles that suck. So, one has to imagine his performance will draw raves as well.

The potential spoilers 

Meanwhile, don’t overlook some of these other names. Jamie Foxx could get some more Oscar love for his role in the highly anticipated “Django Unchained”. And, Hugh Jackman looks to get some awards season recognition for “Les Miserables”. Also, Denzel Washington for “Flight” has Oscar potential written all over it as well.

The long shot 

Tom Hanks for “Cloud Atlas”. Look, any film that has actors playing such vastly different roles is a true test of an actor’s ability. Jim Broadbent is already getting some serious momentum for Best Supporting Actor, but Hanks, if “Cloud Atlas” is received well, could be the one actor that shocks everyone this year.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.