Oscar Nominations Commentary

Sorry it took so long to post, but I've been really busy! But here it is, my take on the Oscar nominations, announced on Tuesday:


First, let's start with Best Supporting Actress: The nominees were pretty predictable, with Jessica Chastain, Berenice Bejo, Janet McTeer, and Octavia Spencer making the cut. The only "surprise" here would be Melissa McCarthy, for a comedic role, which is rarely honored. Nevertheless, they are pretty much what was expected, with Spencer the clear favorite.


Best Supporting Actor: Kenneth Branagh was a given, so no surprise with him. Ditto Christopher Plummer (the shoo-in to win) and Jonah Hill. The surprises? Nick Nolte (which I correctly predicted. Yay!) and Max Von Sydow (did anyone expect that?). 


Best Actress: Again, pretty straightforward, setting the stage for the Davis--Streep showdown. Really, could there be a better one of those, between actresses better than these? It is very, very exciting.
The other nominees are Rooney Mara (who took the place of Tilda Swinton here), Michelle Williams, and Glenn Close.


Best Actor: Here is where most of the surprises occurred. No one expected Demian Bichir to receive a nomination, despite his SAG nomination. But nominated he was, and I'm glad (although I haven't seen the film yet, I am very anxious to), since it is always nice when indies are recognized. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Jean Dujardin all made their expected appearances. The biggest shocker of them all? GARY OLDMAN! As soon as I heard his name I leapt up from my couch in wee hours of the morning and jumped for joy, because his fantastic performance was going completely unnoticed and it was ABOUT TIME that he received his first Oscar nomination. FIRST NOMINATION! Its unbelievable, really, that he hadn't been recognized until now, and I'm darn glad he was, because his performance really merited a nomination.


Best Director: Hazanavicius, Scorsese, Payne, and Allen were nominated as expected. The only "shakeup" here would be Terrence Malick instead of Steven Spielberg. But none of them will win anyway, so its a non factor. 


Original/Adapted Screenplay: The two categories of screenwriting brought about a few surprises, namely the comedic nod to Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumulo's Bridesmaids script. Another would be J.C. Chandor for Margin Call (which is a fantastic film, by the way -- review coming soon) and Peter Straughan and Bridget O'Connor for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (perhaps in recognition of O'Connor, who passed away one week before filming began). 


Best Picture: This year, anywhere between 5 and 10 films could have been nominated; in order to receive one, a film had to garner at least 5 % of first-place votes. Nine films were nominated, more than were predicted: War Horse, Hugo, The Artist, The Help, The Descendants, The Tree of Life, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.


The Academy Awards air live on ABC on February 26th. I can't wait!