Oscar Nominees: Best Art Direction

My predictions: 3/5, picking “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and “The Tree of Life” over “Harry Potter” and “Midnight in Paris”
My ballot: Come back next week!
The nominees: The Artist, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, War Horse

This is a pretty good list, and while I’m puzzled that two films with undeniably excellent art direction were left off, it’s not clear what should have been omitted instead. This is the fourth Harry Potter film to place here, and “Midnight in Paris” makes sense as an inclusion here. I think this will be a duel between “The Artist,” which netted ten nominations, and “Hugo,” which got eleven, the two films to beat this year.

My current bet to win: “Hugo”