I was able to watch the Oscar nominations announcement being streamed live today at 2:30pm Italy time (5:30am in California), and therefore was able to participate in the collective shock over the announcement of the fifth Best Picture nominee. Most, including myself, were predicting “The Dark Knight,” others thought perhaps “Wall-E” or “Revolutionary Road” or “Gran Torino” could upset. It turns out it was the so-so “The Reader,” which proves entirely unexciting. It was a fairly good film that worked despite a number of flaws, but it’s hardly a thrilling choice. Looking at the list of Best Picture nominees, I actually find that I liked each one (The Reader, Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon) and really enjoyed another one (Milk) and loved another one (Slumdog Millionaire). While none of them make my top five, the last one is my definitive runner-up and sixth favorite film of the year. Overall, it’s a decent list, but the inclusion of something bright and sunny like “Wall-E” would have made it all the more fun. Additionally, the 5 for 5 matchup between Best Picture and Best Director is incredibly lame, especially considering that none of the movies nominated (with the exception of “Slumdog Millionaire”) represent an extraordinary directorial achievement. Last year, while Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) and Jason Reitman (Juno) didn’t quite fit that bill, the work done by the Coen brothers (No Country for Old Men), Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) and Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) certainly did. This year, all the films were very good, but as directorial feats, I would have found someone like Jonathan Demme (Rachel Getting Married) or Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir) much more fitting.
The nominations list as a whole has some surprises, but none of them are that intriguing or completely unexpected. Brad Pitt made it in over Clint Eastwood for Best Actor, which is rather disappointing. “Benjamin Button” got a staggering 13 nominations, in every single technical category it could except for sound editing, and that as a whole feels sort of over-praised. I would much rather have seen “Slumdog Millionaire” reap such an achievement. The real shocking love was for “The Reader,” which garnered star Kate Winslet a nomination in the lead category rather than in supporting. Many were outraged at her classification as a supporting actress, though I thought it was fine. I am quite certain that her performance in “Revolutionary Road” was far better, and if she wins an Oscar this year, it will be for the wrong movie. The love for “The Reader” really backfired on “Revolutionary Road,” which missed out on cinematography and its lead performances, landing nominations for costume design, art direction, and bit-part supporting actor Michael Shannon, whose performance I found adequate but hardly noteworthy.
Check out the full list of nominations here. Some bulleted, categorized thoughts below:
Sucks to be… “Australia,” which despite exhaustively prepared landscapes received one nomination for costume design
Sucks to be… “Rachel Getting Married,” which had a terrific script, fantastic cinematography, and a knockout supporting performance from Rosemarie Dewitt (and Bill Irwin, for that matter) but only got recognized for star Anne Hathaway, who was of course excellent
Sucks to be… “Happy-Go-Lucky,” which recently won a Golden Globe for star Sally Hawkins and tons of critics awards for Eddie Marsan but walked away with only a screenplay nomination
Best category: Best Original Screenplay, thinking outside the box and honoring the smart script for “Milk” and four dazzlingly original works – “Frozen River,” “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “In Bruges,” and “Wall-E” rather than disappointing rehashes by great directors like “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Burn After Reading”
Worst category: Best Supporting Actress. I could appreciate Kate Winslet’s performance in “The Reader,” but now that it’s transplanted to the lead race, I can’t say I’m remotely impressed with any of these turns. Amy Adams was too damn cheery and unserious in “Doubt,” Viola Davis (who I really just don’t like in general) didn’t add anything to “Doubt” in her twelve minutes onscreen, Marisa Tomei didn’t get into her character enough in “The Wrestler,” Penelope Cruz was just goofing off in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” and Taraji P. Henson, who has promise as an actress, didn’t do anything award-worthy in her small role in “Benjamin Button,” where the performances weren’t the strongest part, contrary to what Oscar voters would have you think. Where are Rosemarie DeWitt, Elsa Zylberstein, Alexis Zygerman, Anjelica Huston, Freida Pinto, or any of the “Synecdoche, New York” ladies?
Most shocking snub: Bruce Springsteen in the Best Original Song category for his title theme to “The Wrestler.” This continues the recent trend of Golden Globe winners in that category being snubbed come Oscar time. It’s always sad when the category has only three nominees, but I’m actually quite happy with the list (“Down to Earth” from “Wall-E” and both songs from “Slumdog Millionaire”)
Worst snub: In the Best Makeup category, “Synecdoche, New York” was easily as good as or better than that in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “The Dark Knight” (which was really just Heath Ledger’s face). I haven’t seen “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army” but so many people aged so magnificently in “Synecdoche, New York,” which was also left out of Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Song (Little Person)
Biggest slap in the face: “Iron Man” gets snubbed in both Best Sound and Best Film Editing, and can’t even match the far-inferior “Transformers” tally from last year, managing only two nominations for Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects
Best surprise inclusion: “Wanted” for Best Sound and Best Sound Editing. That movie had some pretty darn good noises. I enjoyed the film a lot too, so with the absence of “Cloverfield,” it’s good to see some pure entertainment included here
My current bets to win (to be revisited before the ceremony): Slumdog, Boyle, Rourke, Hathaway, Ledger, Davis, In Bruges, Slumdog Millionaire (screenplays), Wall-E (animated), Man on Wire (documentary), and Waltz with Bashir (foreign)
Exciting statistic: I did much better than ever before this year on my predictions. Two years ago, I predicted 53% of the nominees correctly, last year 59%, and this year I'm all the way up to 73%, or 71/97. The funny thing is that my realistic selection of "The Dark Knight" for the top two awards didn't actually help my stats. Still, I'm happy, and next year with more time to focus on the Oscar race, hopefully I'll do even better.
The SAG Awards air this Sunday night, as another big indicator of who may be Oscar frontrunners. Although if Winslet wins both awards again, who knows how things will play out come Oscar night.
