He owns American Gangster. The whole movie is constructed around him. Russell Crowe's role is more a supporting one. There's no way the Academy will overlook him.
The movie itself is really, really good. I won't declare it a sure thing for a Best Picture nom though, since they had Departed last year. It can very easily be that they give him the Actor nomination and a few small ones like "Best Facial Hair" and be done with it.
By the way: It is incredible how Cuba Gooding Jr. in the smallest of roles can drag a whole movie down. It needs 15 minutes to recover from his screen presence.

How'd u get to see it sooo early?

Can't wait

Nice to know Riddley didn't screw it up.

Good to hear.

Sad, yet not surprising, to hear about Cuba.

Man I wish I was Levy

Story of my life

I think it's better. Though I gotta admit I wasn't the biggest fan of Training Day. Could he win? Sure. Especially since the competition seems a bit weaker this year. And the Academy would love to have a black actor become a two-time winner...

And Denzel is liked and popular enough that people won't feel hesitant to make him two-time winner if his performance demands it. I mean, Swank has won twice.

Ah, but he already has two. This would be his third, which would put him in a very elite club.

If he was going for his second I'd call him the frontrunner by far. I'm not sure they'll give him #3 though, unless the competition really sucks.

Hey Levy, how were other supporting actors like T.I, Common, and specifically Chiwetel Ejiofor? How would you rank it against other Ridley Scott films? Is it less flashy than some of them have been?

Anyways, this comes as no surprise to me, Denzel looked fantastic in the previews and the script has long been said to be fantastic.

Probably, and it would still be a big deal. The only other actors to win three are Jack Nicholson (2 Lead, 1 Supporting) and Walter Brennan (3 Supporting). Also, that would make 4 African American Best Actor winners in 7 winners. Quite impressive it would be.

Meanwhile, only four black actresses have even won, period, and three had crappy careers afterwards (JHud is still up in the air). (ETA: Only two have actually had crappy careers; Hattie McDaniel actually had a pretty good career for a black actress in the '40s and '50s).

T.I. and Common don't have very memorable roles. Chiwetel Ejiofor is excellent as Denzel's most trusted brother. I may be a bit biased though since I'm a big fan of his.
The movie is much less flashy than Scott's other movies which is probably owed to the era it is portrying.

Now I know for sure this will be horrible...

Excellent to hear Chiwetel has a big role, I'm also a big fan all the way back to Dirty Pretty Things.

All you damn American Gangster haters need to stfu, because:
1. Levy and everyone else whose seen this says it's the shit.
2. It's Denzel + Crowe + Ridley doing an epic gangster drama.
and most importantly 3. The best reason any of you guys have to doubt it is because you have a mysterious bad feeling, just like the "bad feelings" people had about The Departed.

I don't think Denzel can win a third, at least not so soon. A nomination looks almost certain now, unless something crazy happens.

I'd say it will be a tight race between Washington and Day-Lewis, with Casey Affleck being the dark horse (don't know if it'll be for Gone Baby or Jesse James)

I resent that.

However, while I don't think it'll suck like Rod and Raffiki do, I DO think it's not gonna inspire the needed passion for a nomination. The Departed had a LOT of passion, and the "Marty's due!" angle had a lot more credibility than "Ridley's due!" He is a much-acclaimed director, but he doesn't have any particular moment where he was blatantly snubbed. He did lose for Gladiator, but I think most people debate whether it even deserved Picture. He's more of a "Huh, we've never rewarded him, we probably should reward him," and I don't think such wins happen on crime thrillers like this. Scorsese at least had the angle that he was returning to "his" genre. I know I could be setting myself up for another crow-eating moment, but I figure I should at least explain myself. I do think Washington is standing an excellent shot at another nom though.

I'm sorry but I don't remember anything about "bad feelings" concerning The Departed.

And as far as what Positive Jon said... I kinda agree with his reasoning. Ridley Scott is nowhere (NOWHERE) as due as Marty was. And I aguess I don't think the film is gonna "suck" but I think it will disappoint, more so those who have high expectations obviously for it's Oscar prospects. I'd be truly surprised if it gets nominated for Best Picture. To me, it just doesn't and has never looked like an Oscar heavyweight at all.

There was plenty of bad feelings towards Departed's chances at a win. I was sure it had no chance to actually win no matter how great the film was, but a few films underwhelmed, nothing else really came out guns blazing and Departed was able to sneak in a win.

If this year follows a similar pattern where a few films that had alot of buzz going into the oscars but end up being underwhelming/disappointing or just end up not getting the right push or BO, American Gangster could pull out a win. Though you already got Atonement, which seems to be a bigger threat this year then any of the other 4 films that went up against Departed last year.

Just because you don't remember anyone saying The Departed won't be contender just because their left knee says so doesn't mean it didn't happen, or that it's any more valid of an excuse. I'm not trying to be a dick here, but I just can't respect the "I just don't think it will be a contender just because it doesn't look like it will be." Ok, so Ridley Scott isn't quite as overdue as Scorsese. Scorsese was a lock for the win from the day The Departed opened onwards, so I don't see how Ridley Scott not being as much of a sure thing is a con as much as not an overwhelming plus. But whatever, it's never looked like a good film to you, I can respect that. Reservation Road never looked like a good film to me either, and who knows, maybe the reviews won't be as mixed as I think they will and it'll get a nomination. All I'm sayin' is that I kinda prefer Oscar debate when there's points brought up the movie you can argue against, not just put you against a brick wall.