Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The Oscar Nominees Were Announced this Morning and You Better Believe I Watched Them Live
It's here! It's here! Oscar time is OFFICIALLY HERE!!
Forget Christmas. THIS is the most wonderful time of the year.
(Okay, I'm lying. You all know how much I LOVE CHRISTMAS.)
But this is the second most wonderful time of the year.
And I have my little traditions that have been steadily cultivated since sometime in the early 1990s.
Yes, friends, I've been watching the Oscars since the days when I was still young and naive enough to believe that a movie like Batman could be nominated and win Best Picture over that snooze fest Driving Miss Daisy.
(Okay, Driving Miss Daisy wasn't a snooze fest. But by the time I saw it, Daisy reminded me too much of my grandmother, which basically ruined the whole experience.)
(Mind you, I LOVE my grandmother. But Alzheimer's sucks and I didn't love watching it play out in a movie.)
Anyway. The point is that I've been watching the Oscars for a very long time. And I love them. Like, a lot.
And I almost always make predictions about the nominees. In fact, in recent years I've gotten pretty darned good at my predictions.
This year, I didn't really get around to doing them. The nominations just sort of sneaked up on me, what with all the stuff I've been dealing with in my real life.
So, this morning, as I sat and waited for the announcements to begin, I jotted a couple of quick notes of just a few of my predictions (pretty much based on buzz and precursor award nominations and gut feeling):
Best Supporting Actress:
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Best Supporting Actor:
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Kenneth Branaugh, My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor:
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Best Actress:
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Viola Davis, The Help
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Best Picture:
The Artist
The Descendants
War Horse
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
The Iron Lady
Moneyball
The Ides of March
My Week with Marilyn
That's pretty much an exact transcription of my quickly jotted guesses before Jennifer Lawrence and The President (?) of the Academy made the announcements.
(Yes, I originally wrote in We Bought a Zoo, but scratched it out because, as much as I loved it, I had a feeling the Academy wouldn't.)
So I was 2 for 2 on Supporting Actress. And 3 for 3 on Supporting Actor.
I *almost* said Jessica Chastain for The Help and Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids, but I thought it was way too much to hope for either of them.
And then I was 3 for 3 in the Best Actress category, but only because I didn't know that Albert Knobbs was eligible this year. Had I known that, I would absolutely have guessed Glenn Close, just because she plays exactly the kind of character that gets nominated for Oscars: a beautiful woman disguised as an unattractive man.
Which means I'm even more afraid than ever for Viola Davis and her chances of winning Oscar gold.
In the Best Actor category, I was a little less perfect with 3 out of 5. But if there were going to be surprises, this was where they would be.
Or, so I thought.
Two things stood out to me this morning.
First, there are only TWO Best Song nominees. And I'm just going to say right now that I am rooting like crazy for "Man or Muppet" because, hello! That song is awesome. As was the movie.
Second, there are only NINE Best Picture nominees. After making such a big deal about raising the category from 5 to 10, this year there are 9. In a year where there were certainly more than 10 worthy films.
I'm scratching my head a little bit there.
And speaking of the Best Picture nominees...I guessed 7 out of 9 right. Not bad, eh? But the two I missed weren't even close to being on my list of potentials: Tree of Life and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Mostly because they've gotten such radically polarizing responses. People either love or hate both of these movies, or haven't seen them, and that usually isn't a good sign when award season comes around.
But, they both managed to sneak in there to the surprise of many and to the absolute delight (I'm sure) of a director friend of mine who absolutely loves and adores Terrence Malick.
(For very good reason, of course.)
So, this is going to be an interesting Oscar race. Right now, nothing seems like a given. It feels like any one of these nominees in every category has a chance at winning.
(Except, let's face it, Jonah Hill.)
Because there are 23 categories, I'm not listing everything, so click here to see the complete list of nominees.
The next four weeks or so are going to be exciting! I can't wait for February 26, not only to find out who the winners are, but to welcome back the very best Oscar host EVER, Billy Crystal.
It's gonna be a good year.
And in case you're wondering, I'm rooting for The Artist. I finally saw it and it is worth every single ounce of hype it's gotten. And then some.
You are awesome. And if you share this post, you'll be even awesomer!
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Agree with you on the two NOT on your list for Best Picture. And why wasn't Rise of the Planet of the Apes on there? It was one of the best reviewed films of the year. Only one nomination and it wasn't even for Andy Serkis?
ReplyDeleteMy only consolation is that at least Rango made the list of Best Animated.
At least it was nominated for Visual Effects, which it certainly deserves. Unfortunately, they don't nominate actors whose actual faces don't appear on screen, otherwise it's almost certain Ellen Degeneres would have been nominated for Finding Nemo back in the day. In fact, performances in animated roles are definitely a category that needs to be created.
DeleteI think Viola is going to get the shaft. I love that Octavia, Melissa and Jessica are all nominated. They all gave great performances. I don't see Brad Pitt winning, but I would love it if he did. I think he's completely underestimated in Hollywood. Even if he doesn't win, I'm glad he's getting recognized. He's truly one of my favorites. I really need to see The Artist!
ReplyDeleteJonah Hill is now an Oscar nominated actor. This world is in insane.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the rest go, I don't want Clooney to win (he's overrated in my opinion) and I don't want Meryl to win (she has enough Oscars. Share the wealth!)
And if Glenn Close wins that'll be another win for an actress that won for playing an ugly person/man: Hillary Swank, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, etc.
I think it really is a three-way race, which is unfortunate. This should have been Viola's year by a landslide.
DeleteCan someone please explain to me why Moneyball is getting so much love? Too many long shots of Brad Pitt "looking pensive" and not enough of his adorable daughter singing a song about him being a loser.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen it yet, so I have no idea. But "long shots of Brad Pitt 'looking pensive'" sounds like a winner to me!
DeleteI always feel like such a lame-o. I watch a decent amount of movies, but I always feel like I miss the ones that get nominated. I just watched The Ides of March over the weekend. Meh.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to admit this, but I hardly ever make it to the movies any more . . . and if you knew me in my younger, childless days you would find that hard to believe. I was the MOVIE QUEEN. Fast forward to today, when the only movies I've seen on the list were The Help and Moneyball. Enjoyed The Help; was bored by Moneyball (not that it was a bad film, but I personally found it slow).
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big movie-goer but I agree with Melissa McCarthy's nomination for Supporting Actress. I doubt she'll win but she was too funny. The movie, on the other hand, was not.
ReplyDeleteThis list makes me realize how many movies I haven't seen in the past year, and usually I'm really big movie goer! Mind you, I'll be watching the Oscars anyway, because I love the glam...
ReplyDeleteI must see Money Ball.
I really really really hope The Help wins! I totally LOVED that movie!!!!!
ReplyDeleteKind of shocking to see Jonah Hill was nominated. I mean, I love him but he doesn't strike me as an Oscar winner.
Yay for the Oscars! I'm rooting for The Help. And I feel like I should root for Tree of Life, too, because even though I haven't seen it, it was filmed in one of my fave small Texas towns. :)
ReplyDeleteI love seeing the nominations for best picture and seeing which ones I've already seen. So far I've only seen The Help and Midnight in Paris. Loved The Help. Hated Midnight in Paris.
ReplyDeleteI'm dying to see The Artist. My husband won't see a flick like that so i gotta go it alone. Sometimes I prefer to go alone to movies though. So peaceful.
ReplyDeleteI just saw Tree of Life. I both loved and hated it. I just can't decide. It was definitely creative.
I haven't seen enough of those movies, but I LOVED the Beginners. Also, Midnight in Paris was a favorite of mine this year.
ReplyDeleteI was awake, but didn't realize they were on until they were done. Bummer. I still have a lot of movies to see!
ReplyDeleteI had to give you an update... I saw Moneyball today. I don't know if it's Oscar-worthy, but it was really good. And now I might switch teams and root for the A's instead of the Giants!
ReplyDeleteI want to see The Artist so bad! And most of the other movies. I thought Jessica and Megan were long shots too, but I’m happy they are in the race! I have a feeling best actress will go to Meryl.
ReplyDelete