The Good
-The Best Actor line-up: I haven't seen Biutiful yet, but I'm glad that Javier Bardem won a spot over Get Low's Robert Duvall. Personally, I don't think Jeff Bridges' rather flat Rooster Cogburn should be in the mix, but you can't always get what you want.
-The Best Original Song nominees: Not that I'm madly in love with all the nominees, but I'm glad the Academy ignored the overblown glitter of Burlesque. I'm hoping that Tangled can take this one in classic Disney fashion.
-How to Train Your Dragon getting nominated for Best Original Score. John Powell's strings-heavy orchestrations are, hands-down, the best of the year. After being oft-forgotten by critics' circles and other groups, I'm so glad that it's in the running for the Oscar.
-John Hawkes getting nominated for Winter's Bone. Hawkes is stellar in the role, and he deserves to be nominated. However, I'm not happy with the category overall, but we'll get to that.
-Toy Story 3 and 127 Hours love. Both films garnered more nominations that most expected, and for good reason. Especially glad that 127 Hours was recognized for its stylish editing.
-Exit Through the Gift Shop definitely deserves to be in the running for Best Documentary. The question is: will Banksy be in attendance? (I doubt it.)
-The Way Back's nomination for Best Makeup: great nod for Peter Weir's tiring-yet-stunning epic.
-Great lineup for Best Cinematography, though I would've loved to see 127 Hours in the running, too.
-Hailee Steinfeld up for Best Supporting Actress: I might be in the minority that thinks Steinfeld belongs in the supporting race, but beyond the aptness of the placement, fans should rejoice that she actually has a chance to win.
-Darren Aronofsky finally has an Oscar nomination. About time.
The Bad
-Christopher Nolan left out of the Best Director race. Easily the worst omission of the morning. It was basically The Dark Knight's lack of major nominations that led the Academy to change to a ten-horse Best Picture Race last year, so it's unthinkable that the Academy would leave Nolan out. He's one of the best directors working in Hollywood today, and he's making movies that blur the line between art and entertainment. This will go down as one of the worst Oscar snubs in history.
-Similarly, how was Inception left out of the Best Editing race? There were stories on four planes unfolding simultaneously, expertly connected and paralleled through the stellar editing. Nonsensical snub.
-Andrew Garfield being snubbed for The Social Network. Back when Fincher's masterpiece dropped, headlines posed the question: "Can The Social Network get three nominations for Best Supporting Actor?" The answer: nope, can't even get one. Garfield should've been in over Jeremy Renner (The Town), but he surely has a long, successful career ahead of him.
-No Four Lions love. But that's not surprising.
-Black Swan not being nominated for Best Original Screenplay. It's a strong category this year, but it's surprising that Black Swan was the one to get dropped. Thought to be one of the year's top contenders, it seems the Academy wasn't so crazy about it: Mila Kunis missed out on a nomination, too.
-Waiting for "Superman" snubbed. Not being up for Best Original Song I can understand (though it would've been worthy), but how was one of the year's best, most talked about, and most celebrated documentaries left out? Maybe it split votes with The Lottery?
I have to say, at least there were some surprises. This year's Oscar race is intensely interesting, a welcome relief after the sweeps of the past few years. Now starts the intense (over)analyzation of who should and will win. It's going to be a fun few weeks.
Parting words, courtesy of the Coen brothers, whose True Grit was nominated for ten Oscars this morning: "Ten nominations seems like an awful lot. We don't want to take anyone else's." That's a reaction I can get behind.
Nice observations. I'll have to say, however, that I'm delighted at Nolan's omission. He is a very skilled director, but he makes films that appeal primarily to teenage boys (comic books and silly action flicks). That's not Best Picture (or director) material, as far as I'm concerned. The real snub was of Roman Polanski.
ReplyDeleteJohn, your dismissive attitude about an entire genre is concerning, especially when sci-fi, for example, has the power to become increasingly relevant over time. Phillip K. Dick used to be snubbed by critics in the literary realm and now it turns out the guy was not only incredibly brilliant but damned near a prophet. You apparently haven't ever read a really good comic book or graphic novel. Their good for all ages, paps.
ReplyDeleteI think Nolan should have received a best director nod instead of best picture and definitely Inception should win for editing. Scott Pilgrim should also be up for editing.
Hailey Steinfeld was the lead in True Grit. She had the most dialogue, the most challenging sequences, and she just plain stole the show.
Lastly, the script was the weakest part of Black Swan by leagues. That was a good omission.
I didn't dismiss a genre, I dismissed Hollywood producers who churn out too much mediocre stuff, including Inception, aimed at teenagers and those with a teenage mentality. My comments had nothing to do with science fiction in general, which can be quite good.
ReplyDeleteI think the beauty of what Nolan does is take genres that are often easily (even deservedly) dismissed and elevates them to exciting artistic heights. Inception is a stellar film, and it goes far beyond the general sci-fi action movie some people paint it to be. For me, it was one of the most emotionally resonant films of the year; I'm haunted by Marion Cotillard's work. The Editing snub is perhaps even more ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteJohn- You are wrong. Just because this film had well created action scenarios, doesn't mean its only considered for teenage boys. I am in High School, I am a teenage boy who hates the BS that my generation loves. I told my friends to see it and they said they wouldn't because it looked stupid. So next time you generally think that Iception is only intended for teenage boys, remember, not every teenage boy has the balls to see an intelligent film.
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