The 2011 Academy Award nominations--- the first under the bizarre set of rulings they came out with in August---- were released this year, and there seemed to be even more slip-ups then per usual.
Normally, I have to wait until after the nominations have been released before I catch up on the films that were nominated, but this time I was well ahead of the curve. That said, there were more than a fair share of screw-ups and shocks.
Best Picture: I'm not sure what it means that, given the possibility to nominate as many as ten films, the Academy voters settled on nine. I actually expected eight films, so I may have been closer than Entertainment Weekly. The Artist, Hugo, Midnightin Paris, The Help, Moneyball, and The Descendants are all legitimate choices--- strong nominees. And even though I wasn't their biggest advocate, I can understand why Tree of Life got the nominations it did.
But Warhorse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close? Even the most enthusiastic reviewers of this film say that its inferior Spielberg, but given the Academy's penchant for him, it makes a certain amount of sense. But after being ignored by the Globes, the Producers, Directors, Writers and Screen Actors Guild, why in the name of all that is holy did they nominate Extremely? I wasn't thrilled by Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, but even that film was better. And if had to do with release date, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo came out sooner and did better critically and at the box office. We could say the Academy was being anti-comedy when they ignored Bridesmaids, but they did nominate Midnight in Paris, so go figure.
Best Director: For once, no complaints. All five nominees deserved it, and are legitimate choices. Though it is quirky that two of them--- Terence Malick and Woody Allen--- are known as Hollywood's most famous recluse.
Best Actor: Shockwaves? George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Jean Dujardin are all legitimate. I'm very surprised that Leonardo Dicaprio was shut out for his fine work with J.Edgar but given the films complete shut out, maybe there wasn't a lot of love for it. As for Michael Fassbender--- it was going to take a lot for the traditional Academy members to nominate an actor from an NC-17 movie, and we all knew it? But Damian Bichir for A New Life? Who even saw that film? Gary Oldman makes a certain amount of sense--- Hollywood veteran, respected film--- but I'd have thought the Academy would nominate Michael Shannon before going this obscure.
Best Actress: The biggest real surprise was Tilda Swinton being ignored in favor of Rooney Mara for Dragon Tattoo. All of the other nominees were in dark territory, but sometimes the Academy goes for the newcomer over the veteran.
Best Supporting Actor: This year among the critics prizes, Albert Brooks was the biggest individual winner, taking eleven trophies for his role as a vicious gangster in Drive. He is beloved in Hollywood, the film was respectful at the box office, so how in the name of God was he shunted aside for Max Von Sydow in Extremely Loud? I guess there was a certain amount of sentiment there, that might explain it, but honoring Nick Nolte for Warrior over him as well? They were really reaching here, and there is no cosmic reason for this snub. This was the biggest robbery of the night. No question.
Best Supporting Actress: By comparison, this category, which usually contains the biggest room for upsets made relative sense. The only real controversy--- Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs over Shaliene Woodley for The Descendants could be foreseen in the SAG nominations early on. I guess its back to TV for now
So much for the nomination. There will be more about the actual show as we get into February..
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