I’m eating crow today, having previously stated how bored I’ve become with Oscar speculation and now having another go at it. I guess I’m a slave to every new development, and the latest is that Jeff Bridges is suddenly getting talked about quite a lot as a Best Actor contender for his role in Crazy Heart. In what looks to be a cross between The Wrestler and Tender Mercies, Bridges plays Bad Blake, an self-destructive country & western singer trying to get his life back on track. The Dude’s already been nominated four times but never clinched it — something of an asset considering the Academy likes to give Oscars for careers (Russell Crowe, Tommy Lee Jones) just as much as individual performances. Trailer after the jump.

Looking at this, I’m favorably reminded of the underrated Rip Torn film, Payday, in which Torn plays a similarly off-the-rails country star. If you’ve never seen it, it’s well worth your time. Here’s a particularly cruel morsel: