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83rd Academy Award Nominations Announced

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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

83rd Academy Award Nominations Announced

83rd academy awards poster of the oscar

So the announcements are official. I've bolded the nominations that are different than my predictions.  The ones that are crossed out were my predictions that weren't nominated. Here we go:

Best Art Direction
Alice In Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit
Black Swan


So Alice In Wonderland instead of Black Swan, huh?  This is disappointing because the design of Black Swan is so layered and intelligent.  Very disappointed not to see it recognized.

Best Costume Design
Alice In Wonderland
I Am Love

The King's Speech
The Tempest
True Grit
Black Swan

I Am Love is definitely a worthy competitor in this category.  While I don't think that film works as a whole, the costume design was absolutely beautiful. 


Best Makeup
Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman
Alice In Wonderland
Black Swan
The Tempest



Okay.  So I really blew this one.  I'm really surprised to not see any of my picks on this list, especially Black Swan which was very deserving of this for the stage makeup alone.


Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable
127 Hours
The Town


 Admittedly, Scott Pilgrim vs the World was a long shot.  But sound is so important to what makes 127 Hours so powerful.  It's shocking to see it not present here.


Sound Mixing
Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit
127 Hours
Shutter Island


There was a pretty big lapse here on my part to not include The King's Speech on my list.  That film's sound mixing is impeccable and very integral to the story.  For the same reason, it is a shame to see 127 Hours not on the nominations list.


Best Visual Effects
Alice In Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I

Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
TRON: Legacy

 
Okay.  I am really mad about this one.  Actually, I am totally pissed off.  This was Scott Pilgrim vs the World's only real chance at getting nominated and instead we get Hereafter.  Really?  For what?  That one opening scene.  It was good.  It wasn't that good.  Honestly, Academy, the only way I can phrase my feelings is: W.T.F.?

Best Foreign Language Film
Biutiful
Dogtooth
In A Better World
Incendies
Outside the Law
The Chorus
The Edge
I Am Love



Okay, so I kinda of blew this category.  Mea culpa.

Best Documentary Film
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land
The Tillman Story
Waiting for "Superman"

This was the hardest category to pick.  Not because I hadn't seen the films, but because there were so many incredible documentaries this year. I am overjoyed to see Exit Through the Gift Shop make this list.  It was rumored it was going to be disqualified over questions of authenticity, but that film is amazing.  I cannot believe Waiting for "Superman" didn't make this list.  That is actually a crime, in my opinion.

Best Animated Feature
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3


So I nailed this one.  But to be honest, this was the easiest category to predict.

Best Original Song
"Coming Home" - Country Strong
"I See the Light" - Tangled
"I Will Rise" - 127 Hours
"We Belong Together" - Toy Story 3
"Bound to You" - Burlesque
"There's a Place for Us" - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader


Let me just take a moment to applaud the Academy for limiting this category to four songs and excluding Burlesque entirely.  Well done.  I put that film on my list simply to make five, not knowing that there could be less.

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech
John Powell, How To Train Your Dragon
A.R. Rahman, 127 Hours
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Hans Zimmer, Inception

I am so pleased to get this category right.  Mainly because John Powell made the list.  That score is freaking magical.

Best Cinematography
Danny Cohen, The King's Speech
Jeff Cronenweth, The Social Network
Roger Deakins, True Grit
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Wally Pfister, Inception

This category was another one that was made pretty clear when I was selecting my predictions.  These films are incredibly shot and absolutely beautiful.

Best Editing
Tariq Anwar, The King's Speech
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Social Network
Jon Harris, 127 Hours
Pamela Martin, The Fighter
Andrew Weisblum, Black Swan
Lee Smith, Inception

It is absolutely astounding to me that Inception isn't on this list.  I thought that Lee Smith, Inception's editor, was a lock to win this category.  I find it baffling that it is here.  Black Swan is worthy of placement here, however.  Even though it was on my list, I think The Fighter has no business being on this list.  Especially over Inception.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Michael Arndt, Toy Story 3
Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle, 127 Hours
Joel and Ethan Cohen, True Grit
Derbra Granik and Anne Rossellini, Winter's Bone
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Alex Garland, Never Let Me Go


I am very sad to not see Alex Garland's script for Never Let Me Go not on this list.  But putting that on my list was wishful, I admit.

Best Original Screenplay
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
Eric Johnson, Scott Silver, and Paul Tamasy, The Fighter
Mike Leigh, Another Year
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David Seidler, The King's Speech
Andres Heinz,  Mark Heyman, and John McLaughlin, Black Swan

I am actually excited I was wrong here.  It's great to see a wonderful filmmaker like Mike Leigh recognized.  And, as much as I love Black Swan, the writing is not one of the strengths of that film.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Mila Kunis, Black Swan


Sad to see Mila Kunis not on this list.  She gave a wonderful performance in Black Swan.  And I, personally think that Melissa Leo's performance is not worthy of creating a double nomination for The Fighter in this category.  Also, worthy of note is Hailee Steinfeld making it.  Ladies and gentlemen that is a 14-year-old that just got an academy award nomination for her first performance.

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network

Very upset to see no love for Andrew Garfield here who gave not one but two supporting role performances that were worthy of nomination in The Social Network and Never Let Me Go. Not to knock Ruffalo, I enjoyed his performance, but it's a performance that really only strikes one note.


Best Actress
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine


Happily, I got this one right and Michelle Williams managed to get a nomination.

Best Actor
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Robert Duvall, Get Low


Very happy to see Javier Bardem nominated here, and for the first time ever, an actor is nominated for a performance that is entirely in Spanish.

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel and Ethan Cohen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Christopher Nolan, Inception

The Cohens are a big surprise here for me.  I didn't think they were going to make the list this year.  But here is the big question: where the hell is Christopher Nolan?  You know, the guy that directed Inception? Which was one of the most original films of the year.  For whatever reason, the Academy has decided to overlook him yet again this year in favor of something mediocre, meaning David O. Russell's direction in The Fighter.

Best Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
The Town


So Toy Story 3 gets the nomination and I have to say I am a little disappointed.  Not because it is bad, in fact it is great film.  But, and not to sound segregationist, it has its own category, Best Animated Film.  And this year there were so many worthy nominees that I sort of feel like it stole this spot.

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2 Comments:

Blogger T. F. Love said...

It would appear that Alice in Wonderland received more credit than I thought it deserved. I did not enjoy the movie; I particularly found the elements of the Art Direction very grating.
Also, I would agree with you about Mark Ruffalo. It seems to me that he was only nominated because he was playing opposite two strong women characters, thereby making any men who saw the movie proud that he managed to get into a lesbian's pants. It is possible that is simply my own prejudices against the movie speaking though....

Over all well done. You had the general gist of what really would get acclaim, and Toy Story 3 did come out of no where. It was good, sad, but not earth-shattering in my eyes.

January 25, 2011 at 1:50 PM  
Blogger Brad O'Toole said...

75% correct. Can you say awesome?

January 26, 2011 at 6:04 PM  

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