Most of the things I’m going to talk about here are not original ideas (meaning that though they are my opinions, I’m not the first and only person to voice these comments). I try my best to be original, but alas, others might not be more original, but they are QUICKER with getting their opinions out there. I’m digressing…here are my thoughts on the 84th Oscar nominations announced on Tuesday, January 24th and to be presented on Sunday, February 26th.
I was ECSTATIC about Demian Bichir in A Better Life getting a Best Actor nomination and even though a lot of people wanted poor Leonardo DiCaprio to get a nod for J. Edgar, watch both A Better Life and J. Edgar and I dare you to tell me that Leo was robbed! (Be prepared with your pillow for J. Edgar!)
No Young Adult nominations, especially none for potential Best Actress Charlize Theron. This one, I disagree with…I think Charlize deserved a nod here for this tough, honest performance about life after high school.
I also disagree with no David Fincher nomination for Best Director for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Instead, Terrance Mallick for The Tree of Life gets the nomination. Really? Has the Academy seen The Tree of Life? Can they explain it to me? Yes, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is not a perfect film, but it is highly stylized and exceptionally shot. The Tree of Life is just exceptionally dull, confusing and BLAH.
No Best Supporting Actress nomination for Shailene Woodley from The Descendents…rather Janet McTeer got a nod for Albert Nobbs. Haven’t see Nobbs yet, but I think Shailene Woodley doesn’t have much to be upset about. She’s young and has a full career as an exceptional actress ahead of her. She’ll get a nomination one day.
No Drive nominations, including nothing for much-talked-about Best Supporting Actor candidate Albert Brooks. Instead, in this category, the Academy honored Jonah Hill from Moneyball and Max von Sydow from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I haven’t seen Drive or Extremely Loud so I cannot speak about those, but I did see Moneyball and I fail to see what is the big deal about Jonah Hill’s performance. Brad Pitt, I understand, but Hill is just so-so. Any actor could have played this part. There is nothing exceptional in that performance.
Lastly, I have a MAJOR bone to pick with only ONE nomination for The Ides of March for Adapted Screenplay — notably missing is a Best Picture nod. The BRILLIANT (sarcasm) Academy decided to give Best Picture nods to instead to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and My FAV (sarcasm) The Tree of Life. The Ides of March is a strong film. It is a thriller, a drama, a political statement, a moral dilemma, and a statement of the current political situation in this country. It is not dull and confusing and mind-boggling, ala The Tree of Life. Again, I have yet to see Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close so I cannot speak of that one, but NO IDES OF MARCH is a travesty. The Academy was very proud of themselves when they announced in 2011 that there would not be a set number of Best Picture nominations…that the amount of Best Picture noms would be based on percentage of votes. Well, there must be a VERY LARGE percentage of the Academy sniffing glue!
OK – enough of me complaining. Here are the MAJOR categories with who I think is going to win IN BOLD and who I would love to see win IN RED. Where there is a just a RED pick, that means what I want to win and what I think will win are one in the same!
BEST PICTURE
‘The Artist’
‘The Descendants’
‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’
‘The Help’
‘Hugo’
‘Midnight in Paris’
‘Moneyball’
‘The Tree of Life’
‘War Horse’
BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen, ‘Midnight in Paris’
Michel Hazanavicius, ‘The Artist’
Terrence Malick, ‘The Tree of Life’
Alexander Payne, ‘The Descendants’
Martin Scorsese, ‘Hugo’
BEST ACTOR
Demian Bichir, ‘A Better Life’
George Clooney, ‘The Descendants’
Jean Dujardin, ‘The Artist’
Gary Oldman, ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’
Brad Pitt, ‘Moneyball’
BEST ACTRESS
Glenn Close, ‘Albert Nobbs’
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Rooney Mara, ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’
Meryl Streep, ‘The Iron Lady’
Michelle Williams, ‘My Week With Marilyn’
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh, ‘My Week With Marilyn’
Jonah Hill, ‘Moneyball’
Nick Nolte, ‘Warrior’
Christopher Plummer, ‘Beginners’
Max Von Sydow, ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, ‘The Artist’
Jessica Chastain, ‘The Help’
Melissa McCarthy, ‘Bridesmaids’
Janet McTeer, ‘Albert Nobbs’
Octavia Spencer, ‘The Help’
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
‘Midnight in Paris’
‘Margin Call’
‘A Separation’
‘The Artist’
‘Bridesmaids’
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
‘The Descendants’
‘Hugo’
‘The Ides of March’
‘Moneyball’
‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’
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