Best Actor might turn out to be one of the most exciting races – or at least the only exciting race. Tom Cruise seemed to have it locked in for his portrayal of Digger, and maybe he still does. Since no one has seen it, no one knows for sure.

The Digger trailer looks good, but as with late-night comedy, SNL, and everything else Hollywood puts out, they don’t seem to realize THEY are the powerful, and they just tell the same story over and over again. It looks like One Battle After Another to me, a doomsday fantasy from inside the Doomsday Cult. Oh, how I wish it was a movie mocking that idea but there is no way. People on the Left trapped inside the bunker really do believe every single day is the end of the world (until the Democrats are back in power, then all will be right with the world).

But given that, Digger looks like a Tom Cruise tour de force. And yes, I know that people have said that since he voiced his support of the Paramount merger, the scolds will never elevate him to success. What a timeline to be living through. I think it’s just plain good acting and I don’t judge art the same way everyone else does. On the other hand, the Oscar voters most certainly do.

After Tom Cruise was crossed out, then, it was going to be John Malkovich, his first maybe Oscar win ever, and then, supposedly, the story goes, he was bringing a show to Israel and supposedly said something positive about Israel, which, of course, is strictly verboten inside the Doomsday Cult. So they went after him hard, and he pulled out of the show visiting Israel after he said he never said the quotes the marketing team put out. But that’s the Streisand effect. Now, people are really paying attention, and honestly, they don’t give a crap because you can’t just draw that line. You have to be anti-Jew, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist. They are absolutists because they have the power to destroy careers, and they’re abusing that power. Oh wait, did you think any of this was about achievement?

Then again, Searchlight (Disney) is maybe getting a little taste of its own medicine. Now they might know a little something about what it feels like to be at the mercy of the mob. They have, after all, played the same game and it’s splashing back on them like toilet water (as it will with everyone). They are powerful enough to lock people like me out of their screenings, stop advertising because of ideology – maybe if they see what it feels like to be on that side, they might loosen their totalitarian grip a bit?

How it started:

And a combo tweet to show the trajectory:

The story has unleashed a disgusting level of Jew hate disguised as anti-Zionism and anti-Israel but look deeper and you’ll see a lot of tweets and comments that say “The Jew lies.” These go unpunished as does the righteous mob chasing down Malkovich.

And it isn’t just him. Susan Sarandon crying about not getting work and Mark Ruffalo crying about being called antisemitic – they do not suffer the same consequences as those who support Israel.

Nothing will change because Hollywood won’t do what’s necessary by calling out its own side.

Meanwhile, how does this shuffle the Oscar race? Is John Malkovich really out? Probably. The “Free Palestine” faction in the Academy, with the new members, is strong enough to have changed the dynamic of what the Oscars used to be. I still think Andrew Scott has the best “story” heading into the race. He would be the first openly gay actor to play a gay character, and he’s also played Hamlet.

Matt Damon, as Jeremy is always pointing out, has Best Picture heat and a long career by people who admire and love him. Tom Cruise has a story of being a successful superstar who physically transformed himself (uglying up, as they say, which is always juicy Oscar bait).

It feels like, at least right now, it comes down to these. I would rank them this way:

Andrew Scott, Elsinore
Matt Damon, The Odyssey
Tom Cruise, Digger
John Malkovich, Wild Horse Nine

And the fifth slot is still TBD. It’s funny that it’s more or less the same order as before, with only Andrew Scott breaking through to change the game. Robert Pattinson is also in Primetime. There is a world in which Jafar Jackson gets in for Michael.

Seth Rogen gives an unforgettable performance in The Invite and might get in. Ryan Gosling holds Project Hail Mary together, and if these folks have any sense, he’ll get in. Then there is Brad Pitt for The Further Adventures of Cliff Booth.

How does Best Actor line up from last year via the precursors?

The Oscars, like Hollywood, is becoming too small of a world, too enclosed, too separate from reality outside of it. The best way to end that is to confront the angry mobs on social media rather than bow to them. Malkovich might “confess as a witch to live,” but they will never forgive him because once a witch, always a witch. The company that distributes Wild Horse Nine might learn its lesson, but then again, probably not. We’re maybe 10 or 20 years away from any kind of real change.