It’s been a few hours since the official list of nominations for this year’s 84th Annual Academy Awards were announced, and in typical fashion, not everyone is happy with all of the results, which include myself. Now it’s time to air out what was the best, and the worst, of this morning’s quick broadcast, along with a few predictions of who could win what.
Again, Just Let “The Artist” Win Best Picture Already
The Michel Hazanavicius film has been practically sweeping every other awards show that it’s been nominated into, so why wouldn’t it walk away with a couple of golden boys under it’s belt? It’d be surprising if this film didn’t win Best Picture at this point, seems like a lock. But there’s no way that Hazanavicius will win Best Director with the display of talent that’s nominated for that slot. There’s no way that Jean Dujardin will win Best Actor at this point, especially since he’s going up against Hollywood royalty like George Clooney and Brad Pitt, or at least I’d like to hope that he won’t win.
The Lack Of Love For The Predicted Oscar Best Actor/Actress Nominees
Although “Young Adult” definitely wasn’t one of my favorites of the year, I’m surprised that Charlize Theron and or Patton Oswalt wasn’t nominated. Same goes with Michael Fassbender for “Shame,” Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” Albert Brooks for “Drive,” Kirsten Dunst for “Melancholia,” Elizabeth Olsen for “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” Michael Shannon for “Take Shelter” and yes, even Andy Serkis for “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” Each one of them displayed their own acting flair that was enough to warrant a nomination. Instead of striving to be more diverse like they’ve continued to try and be during the last decade, they cave in and settle with the less controversial movies of the bunch. You can argue that some of the possible nominees have gotten recognition elsewhere, but it still would have been ten times more rewarding to see them get one of the five slots for each of the categories they were qualified to be in.
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Has Some Life In It After All
Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to see “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” in theaters until after the first of January, therefore it didn’t make my top ten list of 2011. The spy-thriller has been getting a fairly strong buzz behind it over the past couple of months but had yet to get any spectacular recognition until recently. Now the picture not only has one, but two nominations with Gary Oldman for Best Actor and Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan for Best Adapted Screenplay. If you haven’t seen “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” then do yourself a favor and check it out as soon as possible.
Where Did “The Adventures Of Tintin” Go?
Seriously, where did it go? It came off strong with it’s Best Animated Feature win at this year’s Golden Globes. To see that it’s not in the Best Picture or Animated Feature category for the Academy Awards is just a little odd. Where Martin Scorsese mastered the use of 3D this past year with “Hugo,” Steven Spielberg did the same with the motion capture technology for “The Adventures of Tintin.” It’s a bit disappointing to not see it nominated, but at least it got some awards for what easily was one of the most entertaining movies to see this past year.
Hooray for “Man or Muppet”! But What Happened To The Best Song Category?
Okay, so I was absolutely ecstatic when I first found out that the song “Man or Muppet,” from the new movie “The Muppets,” was nominated. Then I took a look at what else was nominated for Best Picture which was just one other song from “Rio.” That’s it? You’re going to tell me that after that array of songs we saw listed at The Golden Globes that the Academy could barely fit in two for Best Song? It’s sad to not see Mary J. Blige’s “The Living Proof” nominated, since it appeared to be a sure-fire lock, but what does that say about the category? Do they not care about it at all to the point of where they barely nominated anyone for it? It’s a strange time we live in where they’ll fluff up the Best Picture category with nine nominations, some of which I’m surprised are on there (like “War Horse”), and there’s barely any for Best Song.
Maybe “Hugo” Can Snatch Some Oscars From “The Artist”
Ranting aside, one of the biggest surprises of the morning was the whooping eleven nominations for Martin Scorsese’s well-done 3D film “Hugo.” Could we see Scorsese and company walk home with Best Picture for “Hugo” instead of “The Artist”? It is a distinct possibility, but then again maybe Payne’s film “The Descendants” could creep up from behind and take it away.
The last few years we’ve dealt with an aching amount of predictability, and though we may still have that this year, it still is anyone’s game. Who will win? Feel free to comment below on who you think should win and be sure to tune into the 84th Annual Academy Awards is broadcast live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on February 26th at 4 PM PST/7 PM EST.