The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences announced today its nominees for the best on film for 2011.
The actual OSCAR awards will be presented Sunday, February 26th on ABC with Billy Crystal hosting.
The scorecard has HUGO in 1st with 11 nominations, followed closely behind by THE ARTIST with 10.
Other big hauls this morning were by MONEYBALL and WAR HORSE, with each scoring six nominations.
THE DESCENDANTS and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO had five each. And THE HELP and MIDNIGHT IN PARIS both got four Academy Award nominations.
Now here are the Oscar nominations in the major categories as well as my takes on them:
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Berence Bejo–THE ARTIST
Jessica Chastain–THE HELP
Melissa McCarthy–BRIDESMAIDS
Janet McTeer–ALBERT NOBBS
Octivia Spencer–THE HELP
(Jack’s Take: Great for Melissa McCarthy but why was Emma Stone overlooked for THE HELP?)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Kenneth Branagh–MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Jonah Hill–MONEYBALL
Nick Nolte–WARRIOR
Christopher Plummer–BEGINNERS
Max Von Sydow–EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE
(Jack’s Take: Great for Jonah Hill. Talk about a career changer for the big guy. No complaints in this category)
BEST ACTRESS:
Glenn Close–ALBERT NOBBS
Viola Davis–THE HELP
Rooney Mara–THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Meryl Streep–THE IRON LADY
Michelle Williams–MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
(Jack’s Take: Wow! Rooney Mara. Never saw that coming. And ALBERT NOBBS opens in K.C. this weekend so you can judge for yourselves)
BEST ACTOR:
Demian Bichir–A BETTER LIFE
George Clooney–THE DESCENDANTS
Jean Dujardin–THE ARTIST
Gary Oldman–TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY
Brad Pitt–MONEYBALL
(Jack’s Take: Why was Leonardo DiCaprio overlooked for his great ‘aging’ performance as J. Edgar Hoover?)
BEST DIRECTOR:
Michel Hazanavicius–THE ARTIST
Alexander Payne–THE DESCENDANTS
Martin Scorsese–HUGO
Woody Allen–MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Terrence Malick–THE TREE OF LIFE
(Jack’s Take: Is George Clooney an oversight here? He should’ve been nominated for his great directorial effort in THE IDES OF MARCH)
BEST PICTURE:
(Note that because of new voting procedures implemented by the Academy, nine films were nominated for the top prize)
WAR HORSE
THE ARTIST
MONEYBALL
THE DESCENDANTS
THE TREE OF LIFE
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
THE HELP
HUGO
EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE
(Jack’s Take: THE IDES OF MARCH should’ve been nominated. And why is WAR HORSE in the category when Steven Spielberg failed to be nominated as the film’s best director?)
The bottom line: with a few obvious oversights I’m more or less in agreement with the Academy’s nominations this year.
Funny How The Voting Goes
Best picture should include The Ides Of March instead of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Boring.
Oscars
Haven’t seen “The Artist” yet but then I prefer movies with a soundtrack. “Moneyball” was great but “The Tree of Life” messed me up for the rest of the night.
If There Was Ever A Year
To go back to the old system of 5 Best Picture noms, this was it. It’s ridiculous to me that “Drive” (by far, my favorite film of 2012) couldn’t crack this lame list of nine and no Albert Brooks from the same, shame on you, Academy.