Well, the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences voters—i.e. the people who hand out those tiny little golden
men everyone seems to be talking about today—have had their say. Here is my
response.
Why must you prove, again and
again, that we don’t know a damn thing?
I am one of those people (read: slightly insane people) that wake up
every year on the set day of the Oscar nominations
announcement more excited than at Christmas. But this morning, my presents were
all weird, like I got bits and pieces of different toys, all mashed together
into one confounding contraption. Some parts are awesome, but overall the
result is just kind of maladjusted.
It’s turning out to be a
three-horse race this year, with David O. Russell’s American Hustle and Alfonso Cuaron’s
Gravity leading with ten nods,
followed closely by 12 Years a Slave’s
nine (although, surprisingly, missing out for Cinematography and Original
Score). What award will go to whom March 2 at the Oscars ceremony might
surprise, and a split between best picture and director looks likely. My
money’s on Cuaron and 12 Years a Slave,
and I wouldn’t be too surprised if Russell picked up his first writing Oscar
for Original Screenplay, in what’s starting to look like the most competitive
category after Her’s win at the
Globes.
I’m ecstatic about some of this
year’s nominations: The Wolf of Wall Street included in
so many categories despite the controversy surrounding Martin Scorsese’s record
number of f-words and general (in my opinion, wrongly perceived) glorification of sex, drugs, and dollars;
Alexander Payne’s nomination for Nebraska;
the recognition of Spike Jonze’s Her in
five categories, including Best Picture, Original Screenplay, and (yay!)
production design; and, unexpectedly, cinematographer Roger Deakins’s nod for Prisoners (headed for yet another
epic loss, unfortunately). But this year it’s all about who’s not there. Big
names and big pictures, predicted nominees and even predicted winners were left
off the list.
The biggest shock, to me, was the
unfriendly treatment Inside Llewyn Davis received at the
hands of voters. The Coen brothers, once the Academy’s sweethearts, got only
two nods for their latest film, for Cinematography and Sound Mixing. You know
who else got two nominations? The Lone Ranger. This sad surprise was followed closely by the
disappointment of not seeing nominations for Emma Thompson or Tom Hanks (for
either Captain Phillips, an expected
shoe-in for lead actor, or Saving Mr. Banks for supporting).
Ron Howard’s Rush and Lee Daniel’s The
Butler didn’t make a single entry on the list of nominees, not even for supporting
players Daniel Bruhl and Oprah Winfrey, respectively, both of which were
leading the predictions pool. All Is Lost
lost out in all categories but Sound Editing, and Lone Survivor only grabbed nominations in the two sound categories.
Blue Is the Warmest Color, which won
the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes last year, was universally shut out.
So, by category, here are the
biggest snubs and surprises:
Best Picture: Llewyn Davis nowhere to be seen, along with Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, while Philomena is getting all the love
Director: Spike Jonze (Her)
and Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips)
left out in favor of Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
and, thankfully, Martin Scorsese (The
Wolf of Wall Street)
Actor: perhaps the most snubby
category of all, ignoring Tom Hanks (Captain
Phillips), Robert Redford (All Is
Lost), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn
Davis), Forest Whitaker (The Butler),
and Joaquin Pheonix (Her); unexpected
(but not undeserved) nods to Christian Bale (American Hustle) and Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)—going on his fourth nomination and no
wins, so look out, Ejiofor and McConaughey
Actress: with Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks) out of the picture, and Amy Adams (American Hustle) in, it’s
between Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) and Bullock (Gravity)
Supporting Actress: Oprah Winfrey (The Butler) loses out to Sally Hawkins (Blue
Jasmine)
Adapted Screenplay: All’s well as
far as I’m concerned
Original Screenplay: I shed a tear
for Llewyn Davis, but holy shit,
Academy, this is gonna be a tough one: American
Hustle, Blue Jasmine, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, and Nebraska. Good
luck with that.
Other Snubs:
Foreign Language Film: Blue Is the Warmest Color
Cinematography: 12 Years a Slave
Original Score: 12 Years a Slave, All Is Lost
Original Song: “Please Mr. Kennedy”
(Inside Llewyn Davis), “Young and
Beautiful” (The Great Gatsby)
Now that the shock, confusion, and
frustration are starting to slowly subside, here’s to another year of great
movies!
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