Not really, no. I don’t believe that Ben Affleck is capable of forming a complete and/or coherent sentence in any language, including gibberish. (And the fact that he couldn’t convincingly deliver lines in a screenplay that he himself helped write doesn’t help his case any, either.)
The best actor currently working who does not have an Oscar is Phillp Seymour Hoffman, hands down.
Comedy, tragedy, drama, the ability to completely lose himself in a character, the range of characters he’s made believable. . .I think he’s just incredible.
**Almost Famous ** (stole the show and really represented the soul of the movie)
**Happiness
Boogie Nights
The Big Lebowski ** (how funny was that character?)
Along Came Polly (one of many strong points in this underrated comedy)
Owning Mahowney
That’s a start.
That’s a Whoosh 
I like all of the calls people have made. I know it’s hardly an original choice but my first thought was Johnny Depp. There are a few movies on his plate that are academy award type movies such as Shantaram and The Run Diary.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Bettany, Alan Rickman are all good choices as well.
I don’t know, Ben Affleck kind of cracks me up sometimes. He may not be the best actor in Hollywood, by a long shot, but I think he’s got a good celebrity attitude.
There’s an anecdote that after the totally overexposed “Bennifer” breakup, Ben’s eating in the Ivy and of course being swarmed with photographers. So he looks up, feigns surprise, points across the restaurant and says, “Look! There’s Michael Jackson!”
Very good suggestion. Let’s add his work in State and Main
They gave Shirley MacLaine the nod over Debra for Terms to make up for giving 1960’s Oscar to Elizabeth Taylor (in the very forgettable Butterfield 8) over Shirley’s Apartment turn. Miss Winger got rippled.
He’s doing a movie this year called “Capote” where he plays Truman Capote during his reporting of the “In Cold Blood” murders.
That’s the kind of thing that the Oscars usually love (notice 3 nominations this year for portayals of real people). If that movie makes a splash at all this year, I bet you’ll see a nomination for it.
BTW, the book “In Cold Blood” is an excellent read, and I hear the movie is good, but I’ve never seen it.