Alan Arkin

Nominated for: His portrayal of a potty mouthed, heroin addicted grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine.

Previously nominated for: The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming , where he played a Soviet submariner, and for The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, where he played a deaf-mute.

Other notable previous work: Played Captain Yossarian in Catch-22 and Sigmund Freud in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. Also, a whole bunch of other stuff. The guy has been around for a long time.

Arkin is the beloved veteran of this group. Honestly, I didn’t think his performance in LMS was that special, but it was good, and the guy has already proved that he is a great actor many times.

Jackie Earle Haley

Nominated for: Playing a pedophile struggling to be a good person in Little Children.

Previously nominated for: Nope.

Other notable previous work: Kelly Leak in The Bad News Bears and Frank Jessup in Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence.

The comeback story of the year. Haley had completely given up on acting a long time ago, until he got called out of nowhere to do a little part on the newest version of All The King’s Men. That lead to his role in Little Children.

Djimon Hounsou

Nominated for: His role as Solomon Vandy opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond.

Previously Nominated for: First time.

Other notable previous work: Cinque in Amistad, Juba in Gladiator and Mateo in In America.

The WTF nomination of the category. Hounsou is a great actor who has done amazing work in the past. But this was not one of his best performances.

Eddie Murphy

Nominated for: His electric turn as a singer in Dreamgirls.

Previously nominated for: First nomination.

Other notable previous work: Do I really need to list it? 48 Hrs., Beverly Hills Cop, The Nutty Professor, Bowfinger , etc.

Don’t be fooled by his latest movies. Eddie Murphy can act, if you give him a chance.

Mark Wahlberg

Nominated for: Playing foul-mouthed detective Dignam in The Departed.

Previously nominated for: First timer.

Other notable previous work: Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights (which includes a very memorable last scene) and Captain Leo Davidson in Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes.

Wahlberg has been working towards being recognized as a serious actor for a long time. This nomination is a combination of this work, Martin Scorsese and the perfect role.

Who will win: Eddie Murphy is the most likely choice, but don’t be surprised if Arkin or Wahlberg pulls an upset.

Who I wish would win: A win for either Murphy, Wahlberg or Haley would make me happy.