I have now had some time to stew over the nominations. Overall, I am satisfied with their choices. However, no list is completely perfect to everyone. So I have put together a list of 10 nominations I disagree with, and 10 that I was pleasantly surprised/happy about (not counting any of the no brainers such as Inglourious Basterds for Best Picture or Christoph Waltz for Supporting Actor).
Let’s start with what I feel they got right after the jump:
1. The 5 Directors – All five deserve their nomination. I am very pleased that they got these right.
2. “The Weary Kind” for best song – Now I know I said I wasn’t including the no-brainers, but the Academy seems to find a way to mess up the musical categories every year, so there are no sure things as far as song or score go.
3. Invictus and Nine NOT being Best Picture Nominees – Hooray for the two most overrated films of the year not getting in.
4. District 9 for Best Picture – This was one of my favorite movies of the year. The Academy has never been Sci-Fi friendly, and could have passed on this film having already had Avatar in their list. I am happy to see them be more open minded to such a beloved genre.
5. Stanley Tucci’s and Christopher Plummer’s first Oscar Nominations – A long time coming for both.
6. The Hurt Locker for Score – A very overlooked score all year long. I am pleased to see it get in.
7. District 9 for Screenplay – See my #3.
8. Bright Star for Costumes – For whatever reason, this film which centers around a woman who designs dresses (and loves a poet) was a long shot for Costumes. I’m glad to see it recognized here.
9. Maggie Gyllenhaal for Supporting Actress – Deserve it or not, I love Maggie and will never be upset to see her receive praise.
10. Transformers Revenge of the Fallen only gets One Nomination – It could have been worse. Thank God for small favors.
Now for ten things I feel they got wrong:
1. Nine Misses Cinematography – It’s silly when the backlash on a film effects even the technical side.
2. Marvin Hamlisch Misses Score for The Informant! – Damn you musical branch! Damn you.
3. The Blind Side is a Best Picture Nominee – And I thought Sea Biscuit getting a nomination was bad…
4. Melanie Laurent AND Diane Kruger not getting Supporting Actress Nominations for Inglourious Basterds – So I.B. wins the SAG for Best Ensemble and gets only ONE acting nomination? I was secretly hoping both would be nominated, and was really disappointed to see neither actress get a nomination.
5. (500) Days of Summer not getting an Original Screenplay Nomination – Look, I really liked The Messenger, but to give it a Screenplay nomination over the highly creative and original (500) Days of Summer is a total loss in my mind.
6. Star Trek not receiving a Best Picture Nomination – 3 words: The Blind Side. Gross.
7. Anthony Mackie not being nominated for Supporting Actor – For as much as the Academy and the Critics clearly love The Hurt Locker, how did Mackie receive zero attention all year? He was one of the best aspects to the film and should have been recognized for his excellent work.
8. Inglourious Basterds not getting an Art Direction Nomination – I was very surprised by this, as I felt it was one of the strong front runners to win, let alone be nominated.
9. District 9 not getting nominated for Makeup – Again, one of the front runners to win and it isn’t even nominated. Someone must have applied eyeliner extremely well in The Young Victoria for it to steal its spot.
10. A Michael Bay film gets an Oscar Nomination – I hate his films THAT much.
What were your biggest disappointments or happy surprises?
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My biggest disappointments:
Snubs
1.) Best Actor – Matt Damon(The Informant), Ben Foster(The Messenger) & Sam Rockwell(Moon). Oscar needs to start recognizing comedic performances more like Damon’s, Foster has been ignored all awards season long, including the Spirit Awards, and Rockwell is one of the most under appreciated character actors in the biz.
2.) Best Supporting Actor – Anthony Mackie(The Hurt Locker) & Zach Galifianakis(The Hangover). Mackie was equal to Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker. As far as Galifianakis goes, see my #1 about comedic performances. In a movie stock piled with laughs from beginning to end, Galifianakis supplied some of the biggest ones.
3.) Best Actress – Abbie Cornish(Bright Star) & Sasha Grey(The Girlfriend Experience). Cornish, again, ignored all awards season long. Shocking! Okay, I was only kidding about Sasha Grey:) There was nothing award worthy about her performance, but what do you expect from an adult film star? I mentioned her only because it would have certainly been different to see a porn actress get an Oscar nomination. You might want to check but I’m willing to bet that that would have been a first in Oscar history.
4.) Best Supporting Actress – Samantha Morton(The Messenger), Julianne Moore(A Single Man), Melanie Laurent(Inglourious Basterds) & Diane Kruger(Inglourious Basterds). Morton & Moore are two of my favorite actresses and also two of the best. Laurent charmed the hell out of me in Basterds & Kruger was a hoot in the same film.
5.) Art direction & cinematography – The Box. This was an elegantly shot film and gorgeous to look at. The art direction was reminiscent of Kubrick films like The Shining. The Box was directed by the same man who directed the cult favorite Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly.
6.) Best Director – Steven Soderbergh(The Informant). The Informant was among my top 5 movies of the year and Soderbergh is just a flat out genius.
7.) Best Documentary Feature – Anvil: The Story of Anvil!. I think it was ruled ineligible in this category for some reason. Not sure why. Still a disappointment.
8.) Best Original Score – Marvin Hamlisch’s hilarious score for The Informant. In a long line of Oscar f**k ups in the music categories, you can add yet another one!
9.) Best Picture – 4 out of my top 10 movies of the year did not make the cut in the 10 picture field, so it’s only fitting that I mention them here. They are The Girlfriend Experience, The Informant, The Hangover & Crazy Heart. The Girlfriend Experience – okay, like a 77 minute indie experimental film about a Manhattan call girl that premiered on HBO, had a short one week run in art houses across the country and went straight to DVD has a serious chance at getting a Best Picture nomination? Still, this film was a very honest look not just at the business of high end escorting, but also at relationships and how men and women abuse each other. In the hands of a master filmmaker like Soderbergh, how can it go wrong? The Informant – see my #6. The Hangover – again, comedies too often ignored by Oscar. Crazy Heart – I know the story is an all too familiar one about a boozing country singer trying to resurrect his life(reminiscent of last year’s The Wrestler), but the great acting by Jeff Bridges and fine supporting work from Maggie Gyllenhaal & Colin Farrell propel this movie to great status in my opinion. Besides, I love character study films!
10.) Best Original Screenplay – Jon Lucas & Scott Moore’s clever script for The Hangover. This screenplay had a great detective element to it that I absolutely loved. I also loved how we don’t get to see actual photos of the infamous bachelor party until the end credits.
11.) Best Adapted Screenplay – Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach’s screenplay for Fantastic Mr. Fox and Scott Z. Burns’s screenplay for The Informant both deserving here.
Undeserving nominees
1.) Best Actor – Morgan Freeman(Invictus). An overrated film. Not among Freeman’s finest works.
2.) Best Supporting Actor – Matt Damon(Invictus). See my #1 above. Damon is my boy, make no mistake, but I just didn’t buy his South African accent. Still, I’ll take this nomination because he turned in a great performance for The Informant for which he should have been recognized for lead actor. See my #1 under Snubs. This nomination is vindication for me, and hopefully for Matt too.
3.) Best Actress – Sandra Bullock(The Blind Side) & Meryl Streep(Julie & Julia). I know I am going to take a bashing from Meryl Streep fans out there but in my truly honest opinion, Streep’s performance in Julie & Julia was not Oscar worthy. I love Meryl too like everyone else(who doesn’t?) but I am a fan of her work in the late 70′s & early 80′s. I am not a big fan of her work in fluffy comedies in recent years like The Devil Wears Prada and this movie, Julie & Julia. I happen to think she gets nominated these days just because she’s Meryl. No question, though, she delivered great performances in movies in recent years like Doubt and Adaptation. Ironically, I believe the two women who should be duking it out for lead actress this year are Bullock and Streep’s fellow nominees Carey Mulligan for An Education & Gabourey Sidibe for Precious. Instead, it will be Bullock and Streep. As far as Sandra Bullock goes, well I’ve already made it clear how much I hated The Blind Side and Bullock’s performance in it. Clearly, Bullock is the least deserving of this group. I like Sandra, don’t get me wrong. She has done good work in her career like Crash, Infamous & The Lake House. Just didn’t like her in this movie, The Blind Side.
4.) Best Supporting Actress – Penelope Cruz(Nine). Along with The Blind Side’s nomination for Best Picture and Bullock’s above mentioned Best Actress nomination, I thought this was the worst nomination out of all of this year’s nominees. I guess the Academy felt like they had to nominate someone from the cast of Nine because the film has six past Oscar winners in its cast. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of Samantha Morton, Julianne Moore, Melanie Laurent & Diane Kruger. See my #4 under snubs.
5.) Best Costume Design – Nine. In my opinion, how in the world did this get a nomination? What was so impressive about Fergie & Penelope Cruz’s stripper like costumes in this film? I was not impressed either with the too modern, too sleeky looking dress that Kate Hudson wore during her musical number. All in all, this movie was a mess.
6.) Best Picture – The Blind Side. I think I’ve beat this movie to death already. On to the next one.
7.) Best Original Screenplay – Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman for The Messenger. I love character driven films, but there was nothing special about this screenplay. I saw this film more as a feat of great acting, not of great writing.
My pleasant surprises:
1.) Best Actor – Jeremy Renner(The Hurt Locker). This is not really a surprise because Renner was the front runner all along for the fifth spot in the Best Actor race, in my opinion. However, he was never a sure thing so that is why I am including him here. Plus, it’s no secret how much I love this movie and wanted to see him get in badly. Many are calling him a young Brando. I cannot argue with that one.
2.) Best Supporting Actress – Maggie Gyllenhaal(Crazy Heart). Love this girl. Overlooked in the past for fine work in such films as SherryBaby, Secretary & Stranger Than Fiction, so happy to see her get her first career nomination. Congrats Maggie! You deserve it!
3.) Best Original Score – Alexandre Desplat for Fantastic Mr. Fox and Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders for The Hurt Locker. I must admit, I didn’t see these coming but happy they did. I loved these movies so no complaints here!
4.) Best Picture – A Serious Man. I was worried that this movie was fading fast and might be overlooked by the Academy. Glad they recognized it. One of my favorite movies of the year. Ranks up there with the Coen brother’s best works in my opinion – No Country for Old Men, Fargo, Barton Fink, Miller’s Crossing, Blood Simple, etc..
5.) Best Adapted Screenplay – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche for In the Loop. This is definately a surprise, a shocker, in fact, but whether it’s a pleasant surprise remains to be seen because I have not seen it yet. I’ve heard good things about it though. Now I have to see it.
6.) Best Original Screenplay – Joel Coen & Ethan Coen for A Serious Man. See my #4 above.
Overall, lots more disappointments than pleasant surprises as you can see, but that’s how it usually is with me and Oscar! LOL!
JULIANNE MOORE SNUBBED!
Where The Wild Things Are 0 NOMINATION!!
SHAME ON U ACADEMY MEMBERS…SHAME ON U!!!