Oscar Nominees: Best Documentary

My predictions: 3/5, picking “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer” and “Waiting for Superman” over “Gasland” and “Waste Land”
My ballot: Come back next week!
The nominees: Exit through the Gift Shop, Gasland, Inside Job, Restrepo, Waste Land

In this category we have the biggest snub after Christopher Nolan for Best Director: highly-acclaimed education exposé “Waiting for Superman.” My best guess is that some of the negative press about the way the film was edited with certain scenes staged and that others felt it was an over-simplification probably played into its snub most. I haven’t seen both “Gasland” and “Waste Land,” but it certainly seems like talking about a ‘land’ is good for a nod these days. The good news for people interested in seeing these films: both “Exit through the Gift Shop” and “Restrepo” are available on Netflix Instant Streaming, “Gasland” is out on DVD, and both “Inside Job” and “Waste Land” are coming to DVD is March, too late for the Oscars but not too much after. With “Waiting for Superman” out of the running, it’s probably now a competition between “Exit through the Gift Shop” and “Inside Job.”

My current bet to win: “Inside Job”