What the heck just happened in the Best Director category? That's all I want to know. Usually these things are so predictable but some of these nominations really threw me for a total loop. It is not so shocking to me not to see Tom Hooper up for LES MISERABLES but to see Kathryn Bigelow missing out for ZERO DARK THIRTY is very odd to me. Even more so is to not see Ben Affleck's name listed for ARGO. Hollywood was really building him up for this for the last few months. It's almost as if they wanted to see him fall on his pretty face.
I like surprises, especially when it comes to the Oscars because at least it keeps things interesting. That said, when those surprises are as dull as Christoph Waltz and Jacki Weaver picking up nods for sub-par work, I'm reasonably less enthused. I'm sure Leonardo DiCaprio is also unimpressed, seeing Waltz get the slot he deserved for DJANGO UNCHAINED. The worst thing about FLIGHT is its screenplay so that was definitely a surprise for me and also an insult, as it means no love whatsoever for Paul Thomas Anderson's THE MASTER, which was also shut out of the Director and Picture races.
Yesterday, I thought it was going to be either Emmanuelle Riva or Quvenzhane Wallis who would take the fifth Best Actress slot so I am very happy to see both of them there. And while I'm thrilled to see Joaquin Phoenix getting what he deserves in the Best Actor category, I can't believe that Bradley Cooper was included over John Hawkes. Cooper was great but did any of you see THE SESSIONS?
I am genuinely surprised to not see MOONRISE KINGDOM and THE MASTER in the Best Picture race. Both of these films are from respected filmmakers at the top of their games and both have ardent followings but that passion did not translate to a nomination. There was an open slot, people. Why not fill it with one of these fine pictures? Better yet, why not remove DJANGO UNCHAINED altogether and make room for them both?
And finally, a quick shout out and congratulations to Canada's WAR WITCH for grabbing an unexpected Foreign Language nod. It won't win but still ...
As expected, LINCOLN leads the nominations, with 12 in total, followed closely, and unexpectedly I might add, by LIFE OF PI, with 11. SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, which did a little better than expected, and LES MISERABLES, which fared a little worse than expected, follow with 8 each. ARGO rounds out the Top 5 with 7 nominations in all.
The 85th annual Academy Awards take place on Sunday, February 24, 2013. Here is the full list of nominees. Also, just in case anyone was counting, my predictions were 80% accurate. Damn you Best Director!
(Click any title to read the original Black Sheep review.)
BEST PICTURE
AMOUR
ARGO
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
DJANGO UNCHAINED
LES MISERABLES
LIFE OF PI
LINCOLN
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
ZERO DARK THIRTY
BEST DIRECTOR
Michael Haneke for AMOUR
Ang Lee for LIFE OF PI
David O. Russell for SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Steven Spielberg for LINCOLN
Benh Zeitlin for BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper for SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Daniel Day-Lewis for LINCOLN
Hugh Jackman for LES MISERABLES
Joaquin Phoenix for THE MASTER
Denzel Washington for FLIGHT
BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain for ZERO DARK THIRTY
Jennifer Lawrence for SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Emmanuelle Riva for AMOUR
Quvenzhane Wallis for BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Naomi Watts for THE IMPOSSIBLE
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin for ARGO
Robert De Niro for SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Philip Seymour Hoffman for THE MASTER
Tommy Lee Jones for LINCOLN
Christoph Waltz for DJANGO UNCHAINED
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams for THE MASTER
Sally Field for LINCOLN
Anne Hathaway for LES MISERABLES
Helen Hunt for THE SESSIONS
Jacki Weaver for SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
AMOUR
DJANGO UNCHAINED
FLIGHT
MOONRISE KINGDOM
ZERO DARK THIRTY
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
ARGO
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
LIFE OF PI
LINCOLN
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS
CINEMATOGRAPHY
COSTUME DESIGN
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
5 BROKEN CAMERAS
THE GATEKEEPERS
HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE
THE INVISIBLE WAR
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
INOCENTE
KING'S POINT
MONDAYS AT RACINE
OPEN HEART
REDEMPTION
EDITING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
AMOUR (Austria)
NON-TIKI (Norway)
NO (Chile)
A ROYAL AFFAIR (Denmark)
WAR WITCH (Canada)
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
THE HOBBIT
ORIGINAL SCORE
ORIGINAL SONG
BEFORE MY TIME from CHASING ICE
EVERYBODY NEEDS A BEST FRIEND from TED
PI'S LULLABY from LIFE OF PI
SKYFALL from SKYFALL
SUDDENLY from LES MISERABLES
PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE HOBBIT
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
ADAM AND DOG
FRESH GUACAMOLE
HEAD OVER HEELS
MAGGIE SIMPSON IN "THE LONGEST DAYCARE"
PAPERMAN
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
ASAD
BUZKASHI BOYS
CURFEW
DEATH OF A SHADOW
HENRY
SOUND EDITING
SOUND MIXING
VISUAL EFFECTS
THE HOBBIT
Sometimes I think that award ceremonies are stitched up so much. For sure Kathryn Bigelow should have been on the list and should be a strong contender. The same with Argo - not really my type of film, but still many people rave about it!
ReplyDeleteAnd Bond - what the hell is the matter with this bond? Bond always gets snubbed or only gets nominated in the rubbish categories.
Personally, I watch films I like and leave it at that - I don't expect a film to get an award on what I like. On the other hand, I don't watch a film either because it is "award winning" - I watch it if it looks good!