Oscar Nominees: Best Documentary

My predictions: 1/5, picking only “Citizenfour”
My ballot: Come back in February!
The nominees: Citizenfour, Finding Vivian Maier, Last Days in Vietnam, The Salt of the Earth, Virunga

This category seems to love offering up monumental snubs, and there’s no bigger one than “Life Itself,” which I so hoped would be here but sort of knew would never make it. I’m surprised that “Jodorowsky’s Dune” didn’t make the cut. Honestly, I’ve seen just one of these, and it’s the one that I would have chosen not to nominate because it’s not a technical feat, merely a series of interviews with a fascinating subject. “Finding Vivian Maier” is on DVD and I think “Virunga” is on Netflix, so those shouldn’t be hard to see. I’m already RSVPd to a screening for next month of “The Salt of the Earth,” which had a qualifying release at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas a while back but isn’t slated for release again until March 27th. “Last Days of Vietnam” is probably the hardest to track down since it isn’t slated for a DVD release until late April and I don’t think it’s playing anywhere anymore. More on this category if I can actually find some of the films!

My current bet to win: No clue given these nominees. I’ll stick with Citizenfour for now, but I’m sure that will change.