THE BOSS ISN'T ALWAYS RIGHT, BUT HE'S ALWAYS THE BOSS: Your 2010 Academy Award nominees have been announced.
Surprises? Films getting the "bonus slots" for Best Picture include The Blind Side, A Serious Man, District 9 and Up, but not Invictus or Crazy Heart; Maggie Gyllenhaal gets her first nomination in best supporting for Crazy Heart, a slot most figured would go to Julianne Moore (A Single Man) or one of the women from Inglorious Basterds. No screenplay nom for Avatar. More commentary to follow.
"Up" got a screenplay, score and picture nom, which is great news. No "Stu's Song," but that was expected. Glad "Invictus"/Eastwood didn't steal a picture or director spot despite getting the two acting slots.
ReplyDeleteRandom trivia I'm trying to solve: Gyllenhaal's nom for Crazy Heart is the first nomination for someone playing a journalist since ...?
ReplyDeleteGot it, I think -- 2005 had PS Hoffman as Captoe, Strathairn as Murrow and (arguably, I'm trying to remember the details) Catherine Keener as Harper Lee.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was just going to post Good Night and Good Luck.
ReplyDeleteNo screenplay nom for Avatar.
ReplyDeleteProof that the Academy isn't completely nuts? Hmmm.
I think 2005 is right. Didn't see anyone more recent.
ReplyDeleteBoth Slumdog and LotR won best picture without any acting noms, but both won for adapted screenplay.
ReplyDeleteAvatar and Hurt Locker tie for lead with 9 nods, Basterds 8, Precious and Up in the Air with 6.
ReplyDeleteSlumdog had the problem of not having a clean lead performance to nominate, and LOTR had gotten an acting nod for McKellen earlier. That said, actors are the biggest voting branch of the Academy, and that makes the race interesting--Basterds won at SAG, but Up In The Air has its entire principal cast nominated (though none are likely to win at this point). This ain't just Bigelow v. Cameron.
ReplyDeleteIt's a different voting pool *and* a different voting system -- do any of the other awards use the instant runoff voting system which the Oscars will be?
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen most of the best pic nominees, but I'll confidently state that Avatar was the tenth-best nomination in that category.
ReplyDeleteIs this the first time since the Best Animated category's inception that a film has been nominated for both Best Picture and Best Animated Feature? (I assume yes but could be wrong.)
ReplyDeleteWhen was the last time there were only 4 noms for Director? (Assume it's all between Hurt Locker and Avatar for that award anyway?)
ReplyDeleteI can't say as I was surprised about Invictus -- I found that movie to be less than compelling. The Blind Side was shameless about pushing my buttons and pulling my strings, but at least Sandra Bullock was fun to watch.
ReplyDeleteIf Avatar got a screenplay nod (a guy at my office goes off at the mention of the word "Unobtainium"), I think we'd have to rethink their standards. Well, more than we do. This was not a movie filled with awesome dialogue -- this was a PYT.
Also, I lectured a voter on the subway last week -- she was carrying a screener of Inglorious and I struck up a conversation.
Me: You're in for a treat.
Her: Oh, I'm not going to watch this.
Me: Um, you have to.
Her: I don't like those kinds of movies!
Me: Nope. Sorry. You vote. You have to watch them all.
Her: ....OK. Well, at least sell me on it.
Then I sold her on it, because that is sellable product, my friends.
Huh? Cameron, Bigelow, Reitman, Daniels, QT.
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed by IB, but kudos to you for making sure the voters are completely informed.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia says the only other animated film to be nominated for Best Picture was Beauty and the Beast and that was before the Animated Feature category.
ReplyDeleteOk, I could swear that earlier the link only showed four nominees. I counted to be sure. But it's fixed now. (Or my brain is fixed.)
ReplyDeleteI was surprised Penelope Cruz got nominated for "Nine." I know the Academy loves her, but I all the reviews I read said that the only woman who managed to salvage a decent performance in that movie was Marion Cotillard.
ReplyDeleteAm I the only person who thinks Up was one of the weakest Pixar movies ever? I don't think it deserved a Best Picture nod.
ReplyDeleteI have actually seen 7/10 already this year, but that does not include Avatar. I am sure it will take all the effects awards, but I will be hoping for a Hurt Locker or IB win for picture.
I'm surprised about Penelope Cruz more than Maggie G. Diane Kruger was robbed.
My love of IB comes partly from having seen too many movies this last year based around that time -- A Secret, The Reader, a few others -- the wish-fulfillment that QT brought to the table was refreshing.
ReplyDeleteCruz got a fair amount of love as well in the reviews I read, and she has "Call From The Vatican," which is the big sexy number in the film.
ReplyDeletePardon me as I puit on my Amy Poehler mask for a second. "Blind Side? Really? Even for Hollywood, this was a shamelessly pandering movie."
ReplyDelete"<span>Diane Kruger was robbed."</span>
I've only seen her in The Game, but so what as she was fantastic in that.
Purely for my own amusement, I'll note that the last five years have given us nominees I first saw on Buffy (Amy Adams) and Doctor Who (Carey Mulligan).
James Horner was nominated for best score for Avatar? Really? I found the music as clunky and jarring as the script-- almost to an ABC music level. I would have subbed in Marvin Hamlisch's jaunty score to The Informant! He's already EGOT'ed, but it's a just a very fun score. Or even Giacchino's score for Star Trek-- which wasn't as good as his work on Up, but I remember liking it far more than how much I hated the score from Avatar. Not Horner's finest hour-- or three.
ReplyDeleteI think Up got nominated on the strength of the "Scenes from a Marriage" montage at the beginning. I don't think that the rest of the movie quite lived up to the strength of that opening.
ReplyDeleteVERY happy that *&^!#%$ Cameron didn't get a writing nomination. That script was utter crap. And I agree with whoever said above that the music was crap too. Not a fan.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised that Invictus didn't get a Best Picture nod, either. It was entertaining enough, but really in a lot of ways just a run-of-the-mill underdog sports movie.
I'm looking forward to seeing The Hurt Locker and An Education.
I will hopefully get to the Best Picture Showcase this year, which I've heard will be 2 days over one weekend... should make for a good time.
ReplyDeleteI vote for Hurt Locker to win best direction (though I'm not a member of the Academy). It was riveting, and a movie that every adult American should watch. This is what we need to know about our soldiers (and I'm soooo not an activist, but I think it's an important film.) I didn't see Avatar, so I have no opinion. My husband liked it.
ReplyDeleteAnd, dare I say, I liked Nine, though I doubt it will win anything this year. Oh well. I love music in my movies (but I liked Hurt Locker, so I guess I have broad range). Up in the Air--not quite sure why this movie got so much attention. I guess it reminds us how much the economy sucks and that bad news is best delivered by handsome men. (?) Speaking of handsome men, A Single Man. Yep, filled with handsome, well-dressed men. Colin Firth was good, but this is not Best Picture material by any means (IMO).
As usual, I'm looking forward to the pretty clothes. Admit it, we don't remember who won any awards last year.
Oy that will be a weekend, and yet I still want to do it?!
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't A Single Man that got the nod it was A Serious Man the Cohen Brothers flick. However I can barely remember which name goes to what movie and have to think really hard and double check.
ReplyDeleteI'm very pleased that A Serious Man got a nomination as it's one of my favorite movies of the past several years. Of course, I realize that my love for it is a bit idiosyncratic (it is the movie that best reflects my life experience in its take on the spiritual, philosophical and cultural aspects of Judaism, and I found it to be hilarious).
ReplyDeleteI am bummed 500 Days of Summer didn't at least get a screenplay nomination.
ReplyDeleteCars is far and away the waekest of the Pixar films. I would put A Bug's Life in the No. 9 slot and then quite honestly I think the other eight Pixar films (TS, TS2, Nemo, Monsters, Incredibles, Rat, Wall-e and Up) all have an argument for being the best. If you put a gun to my head, though, it's Incredibles or Wall-e or TS or...they're all great.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. The Horner score mirrored Titanic so closely I kept waiting for Celiene Dion to start warbling..."near, far"
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that overall, the biggest snub was no nominations for Wild Things. Hard to believe it didn't get an Adapted Screenplay nod.
ReplyDeleteAlso would have loved to see Funny People get some recognition.
ReplyDeleteYup. I don't know that I would put Up in the top slot, but I would say it's worthy of a best picture nomination. Also: Just because there may be other Pixar movies that deserved a best picture nomination as much or more than Up does not mean that Up shouldn't get one this year. Sure, there were years where I hated that a Pixar film got stuck in the "hey, we don't have to nominate an animated film for something other than the Best Animated Film" slot. But that doesn't change that Up has a good claim at being one of the ten best films of the year.
ReplyDeleteI liked Fantastic Mr. Fox better than Up. Fantastic Mr. Fox put images on the screen that felt fresh and different. Up was a very well-made Pixar movie, but looked just like every other Pixar movie of the last decade. And I even saw it in the 3-D.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the story Fox told better than Up. It was more layered and nuanced to me than Up. Up was definitely a kids' movie, with parts adults could enjoy. Fox was an adult movie, with parts kids could enjoy. With Up, once we got to the 2nd and 3rd acts, I checked out emotionally and just enjoyed the ride. With Fox, during the 2nd and 3rd acts I was with the action and still engaged emotionally.
Having said all that, if Up had only been the Ellie/Carl montage, I would be hailing it as one my favorite animated shorts of all time. But even it reminded me of the 2009 award winner for Animated Short: La maison en petits cubes
http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/animation/watch/v178750659ptg8Q5J
Whoops. Serves me right for not reading the whole thread before replying to an earlier comment. I agree with you absolutely, gretchen.
ReplyDeleteI guess Carey Mulligan's nomination probably kills any possibility of a Sally Sparrow spinoff.
ReplyDeleteNot that these were ever, ever going to happen, but on my personal best of ballot, I'd add Matt Damon in The Informant and Sam Rockwell in Moon for Best Actor. Sam Rockwell IS that movie and he was so, so brilliant in it. If you haven't seen Moon, please do.
ReplyDeleteMatt Damon I'd nominate for Informant because I was so impressed with his performance as a guy that we eventually come to find out is an unreliable narrator. I knew nothing of the story going into that movie and so, in the beginning, when I was supposed to be with Damon's character and feeling sympathy for him, I was and I did. But as the narrative shifted and your perception of the character changes, his performance was still believable. I had quibbles with the movie overall, but I thought Damon was outstanding in it.
Seriously. The degree of difficulty in what Eggers and Jonze had to do there, wow. It's a great, moving film.
ReplyDeleteIt really polarized people, though. People either loved it, or loathed it.
ReplyDeleteSame here, Maret. And I had a really out there hope Leavit might get a nod, especially since Actor is a bit weak this year (sorry, Morgan, but that was not your best work).
ReplyDeleteI've sen three of the best picture nominees:
ReplyDeleteInglourious Basterds -- loved it;
A Serious Man -- life will kick you in the balls and there's nothing you can do about it.
Up -- This is my eight-year old's review: It's all about promises! He promised his wife they'd go to this place and they never did and then she died! Then when he did go there his hero tried to kill him! [weeping]. Didn't make her cry as much as "Where the Wild Things Are."
We preferred "Fabulous Mr. Fox." Now I just need AMC to do their Oscar marathon again so I can see the other movies.
By the way, there was one horrible omission in the nominations this morning; Tilda Swinton was left off despite delivering the best performance I saw this year, in Julia.
ReplyDeleteWhat made "Up" a cut above the other PIXAR movies was the script, I felt the end wrapped up the heartfelt opening twenty minutes with a bow, and the rest was a fun romp.
ReplyDelete"The Hurt Locker" stayed with me for days. Maybe I read more into it than I should have, but I saw it as a metaphor for how we all decide to live our lives, with reckless abandon or with measured caution. I'm still debating the meaning of the side story involving the Iraqi kid. My wife thinks I'm overthinking it.
Being polarizing (loved by some, hated by others) might be better than being "well liked" by many. as per this article, the nominees are selected through a process where they have eligible voters rank potential nominees, 1-5. Get enough #1 votes in the first round, you're a nominee. Don't get any #1 votes, you're out. They then go through the #2 votes, etc. Until they have enough nominees. So, you could have a film that everyone agrees is one of the top 5 films in that category---but if too many of the voters ranked it #4 or #5 instead of #1 or #2, that movie probably won't get a nomination.
ReplyDeleteThis would be one big reason why they wanted to expand the best picture nominee ranks.
Moon was one of the best movies I saw all year. And it was unheralded enough that the story went in a very unexpected direction: a great performance by Sam Rockwell and a really impressive debut from Duncan Jones.
ReplyDeleteYet it's a downside in the final voting, where people are going to be asked to rank the nominees from 1-10. Intensity will help, but the movie that's everyone's third place choice is more likely than something that's polarizing. (This seems to me likely to help Hurt Locker and especially Up In The Air, while hurting Avatar and Basterds.)
ReplyDeleteBeing a completely biased fan of Stanley Tucci, I'm happy to see his nod for The Lovely Bones. I actually didn't recognize the actor until his second or third scene in the movie, he was that transformed. SO, so disturbing and creepy and wonderful.
ReplyDeleteRelated but a bit off-topic: Turner Classic Movies is running their "31 Days of Oscar." The list of films? One giant game of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon." Check it out:
ReplyDeletehttp://i.cdn.turner.com/v5cache/TCM/2010/31Days/finalsite_v1/_pdf/31DaysSchedule.pdf
Did they nix the "Best Use Of Your Own Wife and Kids As The Ideal Family Every Man Wants" category this year?
ReplyDeleteWhat most of Up had, that the first 20 minutes didn't, was talking dogs!
ReplyDeleteSquirrel!
ReplyDeleteOne more huge snub, no Ponyo for best animated.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend anyone seeing Moon do so without reading a single review or the back of any dvd box or the blurb on Netflix. Go in blind and let Duncan Jones tell you the story in his way in his time.
ReplyDelete