Not a Review: Academy Awards Nominations

The Oscar nominations were announced today. I haven't seen everything on the docket, so I can't be totally objective here, but I just thought I'd give a few comments on some things I like and don't like.


Nice:


Best Picture: Moneyball - if you're going to nominate The Social Network, you have to nominate Moneyball. It's essentially the same movie (and written by the same guy), with equally compelling performances on an equally uninteresting subject matter. Happy to see Hollywood staying consistent, at the least. It was a good movie, too.



Best Actor: Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - it's about time Gary got his dap. So many awesome performances in so many awesome movies over the years, and he's always been passed over for reasons unknown to me. Okay, so I haven't seen this movie (yet - it's coming soon!), but wondering if his performance was Oscar-worthy is like wondering if a piece of your favorite pie is still going to be delicious.


Best Supporting Actor: Jonah Hill, Moneyball - it was a very decent performance, don't get me wrong, but the reason I like this nomination is because he's a comedian of the new generation, and that generation is looked at by many as lacking (including me). I like that he got his foot in the door and hopefully it inspires others to take on better roles and make better movies. However, I'd also be willing to bet this will be the only nomination of his career. Just a hunch.


Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: The Ides of March - Having just watched (and reviewed!) this movie recently, it was the script that created the characters that really set up all the great performances, so I'm happy the writers are getting some credit.

Best Foreign Language Film: Bullhead - I haven't seen this movie, and I really don't know much about it, except that it is distributed by our very own (Alamo) Drafthouse Films. Reason enough for me!

Uh, What?

Best Supporting Actor: Nick Nolte - I've never been a Nolte fan, so maybe I'm a bit biased, but...come on. Ex-drunk old man reunites with his estranged son, but is rejected. Cry cry cry, drink drink drink, Oscar nom. Been there, done that!

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarty - are we kidding here? What's with all the buzz about this? She gets nominated for an Oscar for being obnoxious and disgusting. I can show you 50 of the same performances that get lambasted by critics, but they're by men. I guess it's revolutionary for a woman to be disgusting.

Best Writing, Directly for the Screen: Bridesmaids - Really? Is there a majority of women voters on the Academy Awards board or something? The movie was moderately funny, but what the hell about the writing deserves an Oscar? A raunchy comedy with an all female cast...this is feminism's fault.

Best Animated Feature: The whole category. This is the best we had this year? My vote is for Kung Fu Panda 2, because Kung Fu is awesome. All these movies suck.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: Really? Two nominees, both from crappy animated films. There wasn't one great piece of original music in all of 2011 that didn't come from a cartoon that lost out in the rankings to Puss in Boots?

Snubs:

Best Actor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

Best Actor: Paul Giamatti, Win Win

Best Actress: Charlize Theron, Young Adult

Best Supporting Actor: Brendan Gleeson, The Guard

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive

Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Screenplay, Directly for the Screen: 50/50

I'm sure there's a lot more I can't think of right now, but these are my initial reactions. How about you? Did your favorites make the list? Who didn't?