Day-Lewis and Depp fans duel

There will be blood -- or at least debate -- about whether Daniel Day-Lewis should take home the lead actor trophy Sunday over the likes of fan favorites Johnny Depp and George Clooney. (And apologies to the other two nominees, Tommy Lee Jones and Viggo Mortensen.) All reader comments are from the Gold Derby blog at TheEnvelope.com:

Johnny Depp, the sole unique performance among the quintet, and one that none of his competitors, not even all-but-certain winner Daniel Day-Lewis, could have achieved. . . . Depp’s chances at Oscar . . . are virtually nil, though; DD-L’s award to lose.

-- Dorothy

I will eat all my shoes if DDL doesn’t win. He should and he will. FWIW, I’m a huge Johnny Depp fan but I would be really upset if he won. His performance, with his passable singing, just doesn’t touch DDL’s. Not this year.

-- txpublicdefender

[Daniel Day-Lewis] is the front and center of the film, the focal point of virtually every scene. Clooney is the star of his, but shares nominations with two other actors in the film. DDL is the sole nominee from his film and the biggest reason why it’s a best picture contender.

-- m

Umm, there is no possible way that they will give Clooney two Oscars for acting before Day-Lewis has two. . . . Depp has a better shot.

-- Mike B.

Who has an award and who doesn’t should not even be a consideration. Both DDL and Clooney gave terrific performances this year, but both smacked of “been there, done that.” Only Depp offered a flawless performance waaaaay out of his comfort zone, the kind that truly deserves Oscar recognition. In a more perfect world, no contest.

-- LE

I realize you must be bored to tears with less than one week to the Big Night, but seriously. There is no race here; the Oscar will go to Daniel Day-Lewis.

Focus on the real races for best actress and supporting actress, and many of the technical categories. They are much more interesting and worthy of debate.

-- Natasha

Here would be my odds:

Daniel Day-Lewis 1-10

George Clooney 15-1

Johnny Depp 99-1

Tommy Lee Jones 5,000-1

Viggo Mortensen 5,000-1

-- Monica

I’m not counting Depp completely out of the race just yet. The one thing Johnny doesn’t have that Day-Lewis and Clooney do have is an Oscar. With this I don’t think Cate Blanchett will win the Oscar as well (lead or supporting). I think the academy will want to give it to someone else. And what better candidate than the ultra-hip, cool Depp?

-- Cengiz