As with the supporting actresses this is a close race, but it looks like it will be between two nominees who were both born in 1929, with decades of outstanding work in iconic films.

Christopher Plummer starred in "The Sound of Music" and played the bad guy in "Up." His nomination is for "Beginners," playing a man who publicly acknowledges he is gay for the first time in his 70's, in a story based on the experiences of writer/director Michael Mills.

Max von Sydow has appeared in movies directed by Ingmar Bergman and Woody Allen. He played Jesus in "The Greatest Story Ever Told" and the devil in "The Soldier's Tale." In "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," he plays a man so traumatized he cannot speak and yet the eloquence of his performance is profoundly moving.