Every January nearly 6,000 members of the Academy have everyone’s dream job. They vote for which movies will receive Oscar nominations. The Best Picture category is particularly tough competition, and the voting process (which was recently changed) is somewhat complicated. To be nominated in the category, a film must receive at least 5% of the number one votes in the academy. There may be anywhere between 5 and 10 films in the category. This year, the nominees are “The Artist,” “The Descendants,” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” “The Help,” “Hugo,” “Midnight in Paris,” “Moneyball,” “The Tree of Life,” and “War Horse.” The fact that 9 out of a maximum of 10 films were nominated and the final Harry Potter movie did not receive the honor is shocking. What’s more, the fact that Alan Rickman (aka Professor Snape) was not nominated for his amazing performance is another major snub for the franchise, which was only nominated in artistic categories and no major categories. Another major surprise was the fact that “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” was not nominated for Best Picture. It is hard to believe that the film did not receive 5% of votes.
In the Lead Actor and Actress categories, Michael Fassbender was snubbed for his performance as a sex-addict in “Shame,” when many thought he was a shoo-in for the nomination. I was pleased to see Meryl Streep, one of my favorite actresses, nominated, though it was expected, for her excellent performance in “The Iron Lady.” She was nominated along with Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Rooney Mara, and Michelle Williams. Of course, women everywhere are excited to see that Brad Pitt and George Clooney, both frequent “Sexiest Man Alive” winners, go head to head in the Lead Actor race. They were nominated along with Demian Bichir, a surprising nomination, Jean Dujarden, and Gary Oldman, another surprise.
One of my personal favorite films of the year was Bridesmaids. While I agree that it does not belong in the Best Picture category, the fact that Melissa McCarthy was nominated for Best Supporting Actress shows that comedy is finally getting some of the respect it deserves from the Academy. The Supporting Actress category has been known for upsets over the years, so the girl who took a dump in a sink just might be taking that crude sense of humor all the way to the Oscar stage.
Yet another major surprise was the nomination of Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” in the Best Picture category. While I thought it was a great film and was happy to see it recognized, the final Harry Potter film certainly deserved that spot.
Many believe that the nominations for Best Supporting Actor are lacking a certain famous primate. Andy Serkis was not nominated for his performance as Caesar the ape in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” This is mostly due to the use of motion capture technology, which was also used in Avatar and led to a snub for Zoe Saldana last year. Since this seems to be a popular direction for today’s films, the Academy will have to recognize it eventually.
In the Best Animated Picture category, Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin,” which also used motion capture technology, was snubbed. Unlike previous years, Pixar does not have a film in the category. This is not surprising, as “Cars 2” certainly did not deserve a nomination.
So on February 26, have your predictions ready and sit down with a bowl of popcorn, as the Oscars will certainly be interesting this year. They air on ABC at 7pm, but you wont want to miss the Red Carpet and all of its amazing fashion. I recommend watching “E! Live from the Red Carpet” with Ryan Seacrest and Guilliana Rancic. Their coverage begins at 2 pm.