The Oscar Nominations Are In
I'm more than a little behind on movies this year, so it is not of great surprise that I failed to get predictions out before the nominations were announced. Instead of predictions, therefore, I will offer comments on the nominations for the 79th Academy Awards.
Picture: I wasn't terribly surprised that Dreamgirls didn't get in. I was also expecting Letters From Iwo Jima to make it, which it did. I have seen only 1 1/2 nominees thus far (The Departed, plus the first hour of Little Miss Sunshine before the kids woke up), but I will catch up as much as I can in the next month.
Director: Another showdown between Clint and Marty. Wait, and how many Oscars does the greatest film director of all time (that would be Scorsese) possess for directing? The answer, of course, is none. This might be the year that changes.
Actor: DiCaprio was expected but for The Departed and he shockingly made it in for Blood Diamond instead. I'll make my prediction early here, I think Forest Whitaker takes that gold guy home.
Actress: This looks like a great category, I'm anxious to see all five performances.
Supporting Actor: I'm thrilled that Wahlberg made it for his fairly brief but brilliant turn in The Departed but stunned that his fellow castmate and Oscar fav, Jack Nicholson, did not for an equally terrific and much showier performance. I would have liked for both to make it.
Documentary Feature: I'm stunned and appalled that 49 Up, the latest installment of Michael Apted's brilliant documentary series failed to get in (I'll blog my review of that film next). I'm also surprised and disappointed that Spike Lee's When the Levee's Broke is a no show. The Academy got it right with An Inconvenient Truth and probably Deliver Us From Evil, but with all four this could have been a stunning category this year.
Foreign Language Film: One of this year's biggest surprises and disappointments is the snub of Almodovar's Volver. But the whole way this category (and the doc category) is set up for nominations is seriously messed up and needs immediate revision.
Adapted Screenplay: It is a bizarre category to reward Borat in. The adapted part is a stretch and I'm not sure a screenplay is really a strength of a film that uses improv and candor in live situations. I would not have been surprised by Cohen making the Best Actor category, but this was unexpected to me. Then again, Bowling for Columbine got a Screenplay nod too. Perhaps the Academy is in need of a new category: Originality in Concept.
Picture: I wasn't terribly surprised that Dreamgirls didn't get in. I was also expecting Letters From Iwo Jima to make it, which it did. I have seen only 1 1/2 nominees thus far (The Departed, plus the first hour of Little Miss Sunshine before the kids woke up), but I will catch up as much as I can in the next month.
Director: Another showdown between Clint and Marty. Wait, and how many Oscars does the greatest film director of all time (that would be Scorsese) possess for directing? The answer, of course, is none. This might be the year that changes.
Actor: DiCaprio was expected but for The Departed and he shockingly made it in for Blood Diamond instead. I'll make my prediction early here, I think Forest Whitaker takes that gold guy home.
Actress: This looks like a great category, I'm anxious to see all five performances.
Supporting Actor: I'm thrilled that Wahlberg made it for his fairly brief but brilliant turn in The Departed but stunned that his fellow castmate and Oscar fav, Jack Nicholson, did not for an equally terrific and much showier performance. I would have liked for both to make it.
Documentary Feature: I'm stunned and appalled that 49 Up, the latest installment of Michael Apted's brilliant documentary series failed to get in (I'll blog my review of that film next). I'm also surprised and disappointed that Spike Lee's When the Levee's Broke is a no show. The Academy got it right with An Inconvenient Truth and probably Deliver Us From Evil, but with all four this could have been a stunning category this year.
Foreign Language Film: One of this year's biggest surprises and disappointments is the snub of Almodovar's Volver. But the whole way this category (and the doc category) is set up for nominations is seriously messed up and needs immediate revision.
Adapted Screenplay: It is a bizarre category to reward Borat in. The adapted part is a stretch and I'm not sure a screenplay is really a strength of a film that uses improv and candor in live situations. I would not have been surprised by Cohen making the Best Actor category, but this was unexpected to me. Then again, Bowling for Columbine got a Screenplay nod too. Perhaps the Academy is in need of a new category: Originality in Concept.
posted by Keith Allison at 4:16 PM
2 Comments:
A couple of things, Keith:
1. None of the 7 Up films has ever been nommed for Documentary, so why would they start now? (Translation: the doc committee sucks.)
2. When the Levees Broke was made for HBO and was not a theatrical release - thus, it's ineligible.
3. My thoughts here, mainly, with a couple others underneath.
4. Hi Keith! We'll talk soon.
I guess I should check my facts before I complain too much. 4 Little Girls, another Spike doc, was also made by HBO films but was released theatrically and was actually nominated for an Oscar. I was assuming the same to be true of Levees, but it appears I assumed incorrectly.
I had forgotten that none of the 7 Up films had ever been nominated. How depressing.
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