Oscar Talk 2012
The nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were announced yesterday morning. As usual, there were some surprises. Perhaps most notably we have a strange number of Best Picture nominees : 9. Here is the alphabetical list:
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
The most unexpected entry here is the critically divisive Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The quirky drama set in the aftermath of 9/11 received two nominations in all; the second is a Best Supporting Actor nod for veteran Max Von Sydow. While I’m glad Von Sydow was nominated – he was the best thing about EL&IC – he’s up against frontrunner Christopher Plummer, another older actor with a long history and one Oscar nomination but no wins. After Plummer’s win for Beginners at the Critic’s Choice Awards and the Golden Globes, he’s the clear favorite to take home the statue in February. Von Sydow will have to be content with a nomination for his silent role.
Speaking of silent, The Artist garnered 10 nominations including Best Picture, Director and Actor. Alongside the Alexander Payne/George Clooney drama The Descendants, it seems the most likely of all the nominated films to sweep the night. In perhaps the most impressive showing of all, Martin Scorsese’s Hugo leads the way with 11 nominations, which probably tells me that I and many others have underestimated this movie. Of course, last year True Grit was nominated for 10 awards without winning any; but I’d be surprised if we didn’t see Hugo take something, at least in a technical category. Scorsese could win for Director, and I initially thought that would mean a split between Director and Picture. However, Hugo seems to be gaining ground and The Descendants perhaps losing some. Best Picture is starting to look less like a two horse race.
With any good race there are a few dark horses. Perhaps the darkest of all is Rooney Mara who made it into the Best Actress category for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was a good performance so I’m glad she’s getting that attention, despite the fact that she’s frankly outclassed by the other nominees. Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life was a success with critics so it’s not so shocking to see it show up, though in some big categories: Picture, Director, and Cinematography. It probably won’t win anything, though my guess is it has a shot at the Cinematography award. If Academy voters have seen it (and its Best Picture nod suggests they have), it would be silly to give this award to any other film. Which of course, doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
In the Actor category we have Demian Bichir for his performance in A Better Life, which will make most viewers say “huh?” Since exactly no one saw this movie he has zero chance of winning, but perhaps this was the Academy’s way of giving praise to a film they liked. The best thing in this category is, in my opinion, Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The movie was a train wreck, but Oldman has been going great work for decades and deserves to win something.
Aside from the inclusion of Max von Sydow, we also have Nick Nolte showing up in Best Supporting Actor for Warrior. What we don’t have is Albert Brooks in Drive. Speaking of Drive, the fan favorite is very much under-represented with only one nomination, for Sound Editing. I was sure if Drive was nominated it would be for Supporting Actor. Nice to see Jonah Hill recognized for his work in Moneyball, though with the heavyweights in this category he’s also an outside shot.
Perhaps most interesting is what’s missing. J. Edgar received no nominations, not even Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio. No Michael Fassbender for Shame. No Elizabeth Olsen for Martha Marcy May Marlene (particularly disappointing). No Shailene Woodley for The Descendants (I would have preferred Judy Greer, but neither made the cut). No 50/50 for Original Screenplay. No Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Original Score. No Cars 2 or Adventures of Tin Tin in Animated Film, in favor of two smaller, obscure entries (I’m pleasantly surprised Kung Fu Panda was nominated over Cars, and hopefully Rango will take this category). Only two nominations for Best Song.
Of the Best Picture contenders I have seen (as of this writing), Moneyball is by far my favorite. It doesn’t stand out in any one area which is why it may go home with nothing, but it’s so solid all around. Acting, writing, cinematography – they’re all classy; and much like The Social Network, the film is involving when by rights it should be a snoozer. Two films dealt with the process of grief: The Descendants in a stark, understated, dryly funny way, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in a…different way. The Help is full of good actors but only a few of them were given actual characters to play. Those playing characters were nominated (Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain), all except Emma Stone, whose gift for comedy elevates movies like Easy A and Crazy, Stupid, Love that don’t get you nominated. The Tree of Life is a trip through time and space, a journey of both cosmic and domestic proportions unlike anything you’ll find outside of Malick’s recognizable oeuvre that you may find enriching or maddening depending on your frame of mind. Finally, Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris was nominated because it’s Woody Allen. I guarantee if a less pedigreed name were attached to that movie no one would remember it.
I sort of resent that the Academy is trying to bully me into seeing movies I had absolutely no interest in. I had been boycotting The Tree of Life because after The New World wasted 2 ½ hours of my life I vowed it wouldn’t happen again. And I’ve been avoiding Spielberg’s War Horse because it’s a movie about a damn horse. I mean, honestly. It’s not like the Academy has a history of nominating boring, bloated, self-important epics that the public hates.
For a complete list of the nominations in all categories, visit: http://oscar.go.com/nominees
What are your thoughts on the nominations? Surprises and snubs? Who do you hope will win?
