Yesterday, I talked about the women I am almost 2000% positive will win an Academy Award before their (hopefully timely) demises. Today, I’m weeding through the men I’m willing to make bets on will waltz away with that bald statue sometime in the future.

Note: Much like the ladies list, I also shied away from the men that I was ABSOLUTELY positive will win one of these things, so Liam Neeson, Robert Downey, Jr., Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, I salute you; but you guys are not on this list.

Christian Bale: Of the men on my list, I feel like Bale is the absolute lock. Why? Considering his Method-style acting and extreme measures taken for a role (hello, can of tuna and apple diet for Machinist) a la Daniel Day-Lewis, Bale is a total shoo-in for an Oscar. The only thing he needs to work on is getting rid of his Russell Crowe-like antics. Once Crowe stopped throwing things and shouting at people, he finally nabbed a statue. Take note, Bale. Take note.

Leonardo DiCaprio: Leo is probably almost a shoo-in as well, considering his collaborations with both Scorsese and Christopher Nolan. But homeboy wasn’t even nominated for Titanic when he was thought of nothing more than a pretty boy, so perhaps that stigma could hurt him. I’m thinking one day when he plays a super whacked out role he’ll snag an award.

Ryan Gosling: For me Ryan Gosling is the Laura Linney of men in that he tends towards the awesome roles in the small, indie movies. If he should ever branch out and star in something a little more grandiose—like a biopic—he’ll definitely up his chances for grabbing a statue. But Gosling definitely has the range to win one day.

Peter Sarsgaard: Out of all the men on this list, Sarsgaard is perhaps the biggest toss-up, but I’m gonna step out on a limb here. With his knack of playing odd, quirky characters, I’m not sure Sarsgaard has much of a chance to walk away with a Best Actor Academy Award. Instead I think his greatest chances lie within the Supporting Actor category, and he should definitely keep pushing for intense smaller roles. Look at Christoph Waltz, Peter. That could have been you!

Jude Law: Okay, so Law has been nominated twice before, so that wouldn’t make him much of a surprise if he actually one of these damned things. But considering his recent decline of truly exceptional roles—umm, remember The Holiday?—it’s no wonder he hasn’t cinched an Oscar yet. He needs to die more in his films or have a dying kid. I bet that would do it.

What about you, folks? Which actors/actresses do you think WILL DEFINITELY win an Academy Award before they die? Also, make sure to tune in Monday when we report this year’s Oscar winners!

--Darcie Duttweiler

With the Oscars literally right around the corner, I got to thinking about all the amazing actresses of our day who are incredibly talented but have never won a golden statue. Below is a list of the ladies who WILL win an Oscar before their demise—or hey, even Heath Ledger won one after his death, so we can extend the deadlines just a little.

Note: I tried to steer clear of the super obvious ladies. Come back tomorrow for the fellas who will nab an Academy Award before their deaths!

Laura Linney: Laura Linney’s problem is probably the fact that she picks movies that are so small and independent that the voting Academy has never heard of the film, let alone seen the damned thing. If she eventually wants to win a statue, she might want to go for something a little bit showier. The Oscars are not about subtlety (cough cough if Sandra Bullock wins cough).

Naomi Watts: Naomi Watts seems to only pick Oscar bait movies, but homegirl can’t seem to win one of those things. It’s seriously not for lack of trying on her part. Perhaps being BFFs with Nicole Kidman is missing one perk.

Julianne Moore: Having been nominated a gazillion times, Julianne Moore has left the ceremony empty-handed every time. She just has some shitty luck. She lost to Kim Basinger for L.A. Confidential, Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry, and even losing twice in one night to Nicole Kidman and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Maggie Gyllenhaal: This may be the first year Gyllenahaal has been nominated for an Oscar, but she has been nominated for a slew of other awards for years. I even thought she had an Oscar nom already before I realized this was her first—that’s how talented she is. Plus she picks lead roles that are gritty and raw, which the Academy loves. And she doesn’t shy away from nudity either.

Scarlett Johansson: I’m going out on a limb with this one considering that the typical bombshell beauty doesn’t tend to win Oscars (see Marilyn Monroe), and because Johansson has steered towards some poopy movies as of late. But Johansson definitely has the acting chops to procure herself a trophy one day. Perhaps she can pull a Charlize and uglify herself a bit.

--Darcie Duttweiler

I've enjoyed Rys Ifans since he exploded on screen in Notting Hill as Hugh Grant's weird-as-fuck flatmate. While he still isn't huge on this side of the pond, he still manages to make quite a little name for himself by turning out great performances. This year he comes to South by Southwest in Mr. Nice.

The film is about Howard Marks, a former teacher, nuclear physicist, travel agent, tour promoter, and one of the largest dope smugglers on the planet. Mr. Nice takes a look at his rise and fall in drug dealing, in which he is said to have never used violence, including his connections with the Mafia, IRA, MI6, and the CIA. It also stars Chloe Sevigny and David Thewlis.

Mr. Nice premieres at The Paramount Theater Sunday, March 14th at 6:30pm.

--Darcie Duttweiler

There's so much casting news today that we had to bundle it all together in one tasty nugget.

Color this awkward: Justin Timberlake has just been cast in ex-girlfriend Cameron Diaz's film Bad Teacher as the object of her desire. Diaz plays the gold-digging 7th grade teacher who falls for the substitute teacher (Timberlake) who's dating her rival (Lucy Punch). Jason Segel, Molly Shannon and Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet are also starring.

On the heels of reports that Woody Allen has cast Owen Wilson in his untitled Parisian film is news the that Oscar winner Marion Coitllard is joining the film. No word on plot or characters.

Tim Burton is taking on Abraham Lincoln...as a vampire hunter. Seth Grahame-Smith's novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter will get a big screen adaptation produced by Burton. The novel was released yesterday. You may remember that Natalie Portman is set to portray Elizabeth Bennett in the film version of Grahame-Smith's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

James McAvoy is out and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in! McAvoy has dropped out of the untitled comedy based on the book I'm With Cancer. The film, which is being directed by Jonathan Levine, had already started shooting when McAvoy left the picture for undisclosed reasons. Gordon-Levitt has stepped up to the plate (meaning probably no Spider-Man for him, folks...) with a cast that includes Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, and Philip Baker Hall.

Any of these casting scooplets whet your whistles, folks?

--Darcie Duttweiler

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival has announced Austin-based filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and director Nimród Antal will present a “First Look” at their upcoming motion picture Predators, at SXSW on March 12, 2010.  SXSW also announced the world premiere of Géla Babluani’s 13, the previously announced Super Secret TBA as part of the SX Fantastic midnight section.

13, a remake of the 2005 French film 13 Tzameti, also directed by Babluani, stars Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Ben Gazzara, and Alexander Skarsgard. The thriller follows the story of Vince, who unwittingly becomes involved in a degenerate, clandestine world of mental chaos behind closed doors.

What first looks means exactly we don't know, and as far as a remake to 13 Tzameti, it's hard to get excited when the original was so good. What do you guys think?

--Greg MacLennan

The Mike Newell directed action flick isn't hitting screens until May 28, but that hasn't stopped a steady stream of teasers and trailers from trying to amp you up early and often. The latest expands the cast and story and gives us some more glimpses of the aww inducing time freezing dagger. What do you guys think?

--Greg MacLennan

One would think Speedy Gonzales is a Looney Tunes cartoon character that Warner Brothers would be than happy to push under the rug in these far-more-politically-correct times. We all thought wrong. New Line/Warner Bros. is revamping the cartoon into a live-action/CGI/potential race relations disaster feature! 

But WAIT...the film's producers are taking steps to ensure that the film isn't the racist cartoon of the 1950s by casting a George Lopez (host of Lopez Tonight) as the voice of Speedy Gonzales, stamping the project with Lopez's "Latino seal of approval." Oh, okay. We're all good then, right?

I can't wait to see who they get to voice Speedy's cousin Slowpoke Rodriguez. Because, if a '50s characterization of a "lazy Mexican" is voiced by a Latino, it's not racist, right? The train wreck does not have a release date yet, so hopefully New Line execs will take the time to get off this track--and fast--¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!" Oh God.

--Jessica Hixson