Oscar Nominations Announced

In the early hours of this morning the nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards were announced. There were some obvious selections and some surprises. There were some familiar names, some new names and some unexpected names. So I thought I'd go through the major categories and give a few thoughts.



Best Picture:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

This was always going to be an interesting category as this year the pool of nominees has been increased to ten. The motivation for this change was to give recognition to more films, particularly films which do not fit the classic best picture mould. With that in mind it is very pleasing to see that both the surprise packet of the year District 9 and Pixar's hit Up (becoming only the second ever feature length animation to get a Best Picture nomination) have both squeezed their way into the field. Whether these non-traditional nominees will have the support to actually win the award is another question entirely. I haven't checked this but I would not be surprised if this was the first time that two science fiction films have been in the running for Best Picture. Notable omissions are Rob Marshall's all-star musical Nine and Clint Eastwood's Invictus. Really this one is likely to come down to Up in the Air and The Hurt Locker, with the latter being the favourite at this stage.

Best Director:

James Cameron - Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels - Precious
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

Tarantino is there again, hoping to win his first Best Director Oscar, but it isn't going to happen this year. James Cameron has conquered the world again with Avatar and the fact that he was the creative visionary and driving force behind one of the most visually spectacular films we've ever seen will put him in good stead. Despite all that he was pipped at the post by ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow at the Directors Guild Awards which are usually a good indicator and momentum seems to be gathering behind her to take this one out. I'd like to see her win it purely so that Jane Campion can no longer claim to be the only woman to win best director.

Best Actor:

Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Can't really comment too much on this one as at this stage I've only seen one of the five nominated performances. Freeman was very good in Invictus but I wouldn't say he was good enough to win, and given Invictus didn't get a Best Picture nod it would appear that the rose coloured glasses through which the Academy usually views Clint Eastwood films are off this year, so that won't work in his favour. The early favourite was George Clooney for Up in the Air but there is a lot of talk about Jeff Bridges putting in the performance of his career in Crazy Heart. It will most likely be one of those two who gets it.

Best Actress:

Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sibide - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie and Julia

Who'd have thought we'd see the day that Sandra Bullock would not only be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, but would arguably be the favourite. Having seen the trailers for All About Steve earlier in the year and bemoaning how low she had sunk she turns it all around with a career defining performance in The Blind Side. As always, Meryl Streep is there with her 16th nomination and was joint winner with Bullock at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards so I guess it is down to whether the Academy's love for Meryl Streep trumps their astonishment that Sandra Bullock did something good.

Best Supporting Actor:

Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

For mine, this one is in the bag. Christoph Waltz will win for his performance as 'The Jew Hunter' Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds.

Best Supporting Actress:

Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious

I take back all my sarcastic comments about Sandra Bullock. The shock of seeing her name on the list of nominees is nothing compared to that of seeing the star of Phat Girlz, Mo'Nique up there. And by all reports, she is a lock. Interesting to see Penelope Cruz get a nod for Nine. She is undoubtedly an amazing actress, but a lot of the talk about that film surrounded Marion Cotillard who failed to receive a nomination.

Best Animated Feature

Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

I'll say it up front, Up is going to win. You can put your house on it. It was a near perfect film. That being said, this is a fantastic pool for Best Animated Feature. I've said in a previous post what a brilliant film Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox is. Henry Sellick's Coraline is a visual feast. It is also pleasing to see classic Disney 2D animation being recognised once again.



So this year, in an effort to make my Oscar watching more interesting, and my tipping more educated, I'm going to make a concerted effort to see as many of the nominated films and performances as I can before the ceremony in early March. Providing I keep this blog up to date it may help you in your tipping too. Stay tuned.