OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Christian Bale as Dick "Dicky" Eklund in "THE FIGHTER"

Aaron Eckhart as Howie Corbett in "RABBIT HOLE"

Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Suckerberg in "THE SOCIAL NETWORK"

Ryan Gosling as Dean in "BLUE VALENTINE"

Taran Rahim as Malik El Djebena in "A PROPHET"

AND THE WINNER:

RYAN GOSLING AS DEAN IN "BLUE VALENTINE"

This is the second win and nomination for Ryan Gosling. He previously won for Half Nelson (2006).

How any voting body could think to just nominate Michelle and not her co-star Gosling is so odd to me. Years from now Gosling's omission by the academy will look terrible as people examine his career as a whole. Gosling as the years go on keeps producing work that make me view him as one of the best of his generation. Blue Valentine marks another triumph in his career giving him the opportunity to play a character through a long period of time. Gosling plays all the ages of Dean so wonderfully and really makes you believe he is the different eras of his character. Gosling and Williams together are such a devastating screen couple together and both excel so well. I do hope Gosling can get more roles like this as I found him to be so brilliant like i've never quite seen him before.