Reaction to the Oscar nominations

I realize this post is about a week behind schedule, but better late than never. There were a number of expected nominations (some of them are already being pegged as expected winners), as well as a few surprises (both pleasant or otherwise). I will make my actual picks a day or two before the Oscar ceremonies. So in the meantime, here are my thoughts/reactions on what turned out to be the best nominations, the names that shouldn't be there, and a few of the biggest snubs of the year.


Best Picture -
1. Avatar
2. The Blind Side
3. District 9
4. An Education
5. The Hurt Locker
6. Inglourious Basterds
7. Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
8. A Serious Man
9. Up
10. Up in the Air

My reaction: I still need to see Precious and A Serious Man, though I expect to have seen them within the next couple of weeks. I'm not surprised to see either of them nominated. Other nominees that were expected are Avatar, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, and Up in the Air. All of these are deserving, as is the pleasant surprise, District 9.

I think I was one of the few people that didn't expect Up to get a nomination. It's a great and truly moving film, and I'm glad to see an animated film make the Best Picture race, but I would have preferred what I believe to be the best animated movie of 2009, Fantastic Mr. Fox. The other big surprise is the omission of Invictus (which I unfortunately missed in theaters), and the inclusion of The Blind Side, a film I don't think belongs in a Best Picture race. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the movie, and Sandra Bullock gives a great performance. Nonetheless, I think it rode into the nomination solely because of the growing Sandra Bullock bandwagon.

Rather than Up or Blind Side, I would have preferred others movie that were more deserving to get into the race. I think some good picks would have been: Star Trek, (500) Days of Summer, Moon, or Fantastic Mr. Fox.


I promise the rest of the categories won't be quite as long. So here we go:

Best Actor -
1. Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart
2. George Clooney for Up in the Air
3. Colin Firth for A Single Man
4. Morgan Freeman for Invictus
5. Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker

My reaction: No big surprises in this category. Bridges, Clooney, and Firth were all guaranteed to get nominations. There was some talk that Freeman could end up getting snubbed at the last minute, but I still expected him to make it as well. I had a feeling Jeremy Renner would score a nomination, and am very pleased that the Academy agreed. The only name I feel is missing is Sam Rockwell for his tour-de-force performance in the criminally overlooked Moon. I'm not sure whose slot Rockwell would have otherwise taken, but I can't help feeling that he should be on there.


Best Actress -
1. Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side
2. Helen Mirren for The Last Station
3. Carey Mulligan for An Education
4. Gabourey Sidibe for Precious
5. Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia

My reaction: There is instantly one name missing: Melanie Laurent, for her role in Ingourious Basterds as Shoshanna, a young Jewish woman seeking revenge against the Nazis after the death of her family. She could fit into either Lead or Supporting Actress, but was somehow overlooked in both. In my opinion, it will go down as the biggest snub of the year. Props to the Austin Film Critics Association for being the only group to recognize her as Best Actress. Also missing is Emily Blunt for her wonderful performance in The Young Victoria. I would happily have seen her get a nom over Helen Mirren if Laurent could not, but am once again disappointed.

Of the nominees, Bullock, Mulligan, Sidibe, and Streep all deserve to be on the list, especially Mulligan and (from all the buzz I've heard) Sidibe. I've heard some critics say that this is a weak year for lead female performances. I would disagree, and suggest that the problem is actually that most of the best nominees are being overlooked in favor of weaker ones. Case in point is Helen Mirren's nomination. I haven't seen the film and I've got nothing against her, and I even thought she was good in State of Play last April. But I've heard she gives a rather average performance in what Rope of Silicon's Brad Brevet called "a made-for-TV film masquerading as a theatrical feature."


Best Supporting Actor -
1. Matt Damon for Invictus
2. Woody Harrelson for The Messenger
3. Christopher Plummer for The Last Station
4. Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones
5. Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds

My reaction: Not much of a reaction to this category, as I've only seen Waltz's performance and all of these noms were expected anyway. Christoph Waltz has got this category in the bag. It would have been nice to see Tucci recognized for his hilarious performance in Julie & Julia rather than a creepy role like The Lovely Bones. Also, it would have been cool to see Alfred Molina get a nom for An Education, but it's not something I'm too worried about.


Best Supporting Actor -
1. Penelope Cruz for Nine
2. Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air
3. Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart
4. Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air
5. Mo'Nique for Precious

My reaction: Once again, Melanie Laurent should have been here. As for those nominated, Mo'Nique, Kendrick, and Farmiga all were expected to get nominations. While Gyllenhaal is the big surprise of the category, I would have to say that she belongs much more than Penelope Cruz. She was honestly one of the weakest parts of the promising, but ultimately disappointing Nine. The slot should have gone to Cruz's co-star, Marion Cotillard, for one of two possible performances: Nine or Public Enemies. I would even have rather seen Nicole Kidman nominated for Nine instead of Cruz. It's also a little surprising that both Julianne Moore (A Single Man) and Samantha Morton (The Messenger) were snubbed, since both had been picking up awards season steam, and were expected to score nominations.


Best Director -
1. Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
2. James Cameron for Avatar
3. Lee Daniels for Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
4. Jason Reitman for Up in the Air
5. Quentin Tarentino for Inglourious Basterds

My reaction: It would have been cool to see Neill Blomkamp score a nomination for District 9, but I wasn't putting too much stock in that happening. The only semi-surprise was Lee Daniels getting a nom over the expected Clint Eastwood (Invictus). My only reaction is that either Bigelow or Tarentino better win or I'll have a conniption.


Other various reactions -
Best Screenplay: I am very pleased with good crop of Best Screenplay nods, including Inglourious Basterds, The Hurt Locker, District 9, An Education, In the Loop, and Up in the Air.

Sci-fi: I'm also very excited that Star Trek scored four nominations, even if I was hoping for a nod for Best Picture or Director. Also, I'm happy that District 9 got nominated for Best Visual Effects instead of the disaster that was Transformers 2. While the effects in Transformers 2 were arguably one of the few good things about that movie, I would rather see a more quality film get the honor.

Best Original Song: I'm also pleased that the two best songs of the year, "The Weary Kind" (Crazy Heart) and "Take It All" (Nine), were nominated.

Best Animated: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Up, Coraline are all deserving. I missed Princess and the Frog in theaters. But what the hell is The Secret of Kells, and how did it beat Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for the fifth slot.

Go 'Kavi' for best Best Short Film, Live Action!
And a final thought...Didn't Il Divo (Best Makeup) get released in 2008?