Oscar Nominees: Best Animated Feature

My predictions: 4/5, picking “The Lego Movie” and “The Tale of Princess Kaguya”
My ballot: Come back in February!
The nominees: Big Hero 6, The Boxtrolls, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Song of the Sea, The Tale of Princess Kaguya

And now we have what is surely the biggest overall surprise to any prognosticator – “The Lego Movie,” which was a buzzed-about hit from when it came out at the beginning of the year – gets snubbed to make room for Oscar’s annual requirement of foreign film recognition. I’m pleased to see “Song of the Sea” but not at the expense of everything being awesome, and I never got around to seeing “The Tale of Princess Kaguya,” which I’ll now try to do. I’m happy about “Big Hero 6” and unsurprised about Golden Globe winner “How to Train Your Dragon 2.” My review of “The Boxtrolls” will be up soon, and I liked it, and I just wish that “The Book of Life” could have been here too. This is a year where a ten-wide field would have been just fine.

My current bet to win: With “The Lego Movie” out of the way, I think that How to Train Your Dragon 2 may be able to overtake “Big Hero 6.”