OSCAR SNUBS & SURPRISES 2012!
AAAAAHHHHH! Call it sad if you like, but I was hyped all day for the Oscar nominations, and in between classes I printed out the list. In no way was I disappointed....the nominees for this year (you can find the full list here) have some of the best variety I've seen from the Oscars, though of course there were a few I just couldn't let go of. Without any further ado, here are my personal surprises and snubs of the 7 major Oscar categories:
PICTURE:
Surprises: HOLY MOLY AMOUR! Where did this little film from Austria come from? Not only did oldest nominee ever Emmanuelle Riva get a nod, but the film garnered 4 more nominations including Best Picture! This was on my radar for foreign film, but in no way could I have ever expected this! Also, "Beasts of the Southern Wild!" This tiny indie with an even tinier star we'll get to later on got 4 nods, all in big categories. I couldn't be happier for both of these Davids among goliaths like "Lincoln" and "Argo," though I love those too.
Snubs: It's total irony that the Oscars expanded their nominee slot because of their '08 exclusion of "The Dark Knight".....and now "The Dark Knight Rises" is nowhere to be seen! I called this an early front runner back in July...and Nolan's out of luck once more. I would've loved to have seen "Skyfall" in here, though it got 5 technical nods, and the fact we have to now adress Adele as best-selling artist and Oscar nominee! Others missing were "Moonrise Kingdom" (which got a single nod for its script, so that pleased me) and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," totally shut out.
ACTOR:
Surprises: Along with the 12 nominations it racked up along the way, it's no surprise to see Daniel Day-Lewis in this category as America's president, but it is a little shocking to see Joaquin Phoenix here for "The Master" when Phoenix openly blasted the Oscars a while back. That goes to show if you complain about getting awards long enough, you'll get nominated for even more.
Snubs: I would've loved to have seen Jack Black get his first nomination for "Bernie," but I'm glad Bradley Cooper got his 1st nod for a role that really let him expand his usual jerk-horizon.
ACTRESS:
Surprises: Don't be surprised if you see these names trending on Twitter: Quvenzhane Wallis ("Beasts of the Southern Wild") and Emmanuelle Riva ("Amour"), both now hold the record for the oldest and youngest Best Actress nominees! That right there offsets any snubs for me, because it just shows that of any language, any race or any age, the Oscars are strictly about performances, and if yours is brave enough, you have a shot at the gold. It's what the movies are all about.
Snubs: I wouldn't call Helen Mirren's lack of a nomination a snub, I thought she was only decent in "Hitchcock." I was surprised, however, to see the exclusion of Marion Cotillard ("Rust and Bone"), but maybe the Academy can only take one foreign performance at a time!
SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Surprises: I'm always surprised to see Alan Arkin's name in this field, because compared to Ben Affleck, his performance was minor, but humorous. The rest of this field was also predictable, except the uncertainty of which man from "Django Unchained" (with 5 other nods) was getting recognized, and this time around it's former winner Christoph Waltz. Presenter Emma Stone pointed out humorously that everyone in this field has won already!
Snubs: This is one of only two snubs that really angered me: WHERE IS JAVIER? The Bond villain absolutely owned "Skyfall," his flirt-terrogation with Craig was Oscar-worthy on its own! Also I would've loved to have seen Matthew McConaughey's name in here, either for "Magic Mike" (no, I didn't see it) or his solid work as a lawyer in "Bernie."
SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Surprises: Adams, Field, Hathaway and Hunt were all expected, but that 5th spot was iffy. It went to Jacki Weaver, who played Cooper's mother in "Silver Linings Playbook!" I'm not saying her role was bad, but it dwarfed in comparison to the other three's! With this, all acting slots were occupied by "Playbook" players, which is why I suspect they went with Weaver.
Snubs: Really anyone from "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" would've been fine, and having Judi Dench get a nom for "Skyfall" would have been too perfect, but I can take consolation in the fact she got a BAFTA nod yesterday.
ANIMATED:
Surprises: I had forgotten all about the British claymation "The Pirates! Band of Misfits," and I was very happy to hear fellow stop motions "ParaNorman" and "Frankenweenie" announced with it!
Snubs: None come to mind unless you're a die hard "Ice Age 4" fan.
DIRECTOR:
Surprises: Now this is the category everyone is up in arms about! Safe to say "Amour" director Michael Haneke and "Beasts" director Benh Zeitlin didn't expect to hear their names called! On a lesser surprise, David O. Russell's name was also called!
Snubs: Kathryn Bigelow and Ben Affleck, the creators of the two government movies assumed to be the front runners....WEREN'T NOMINATED! "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Argo" got 5 and 7 nominations respectively....but compared to "Lincoln's" 12, "Life of Pi's" 11 and even "Les Miz's" 7, that's nothing! The path has been cleared for Spielberg to take his third win for best director, something completely well deserved for making an historical epic so vastly interesting. And, if the Academy wants to get bold, they'll reward Ang Lee for his backbreaking work on "Pi" (I got the "Making Of" book for Christmas about this movie, it was remarkable the work they did)! Overall, though I do have some grievances, the Academy really switched it up this year; an extremely diverse selection!
PICTURE:
Snubs: It's total irony that the Oscars expanded their nominee slot because of their '08 exclusion of "The Dark Knight".....and now "The Dark Knight Rises" is nowhere to be seen! I called this an early front runner back in July...and Nolan's out of luck once more. I would've loved to have seen "Skyfall" in here, though it got 5 technical nods, and the fact we have to now adress Adele as best-selling artist and Oscar nominee! Others missing were "Moonrise Kingdom" (which got a single nod for its script, so that pleased me) and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," totally shut out.
ACTOR:
Surprises: Along with the 12 nominations it racked up along the way, it's no surprise to see Daniel Day-Lewis in this category as America's president, but it is a little shocking to see Joaquin Phoenix here for "The Master" when Phoenix openly blasted the Oscars a while back. That goes to show if you complain about getting awards long enough, you'll get nominated for even more.
Snubs: I would've loved to have seen Jack Black get his first nomination for "Bernie," but I'm glad Bradley Cooper got his 1st nod for a role that really let him expand his usual jerk-horizon.
Surprises: Don't be surprised if you see these names trending on Twitter: Quvenzhane Wallis ("Beasts of the Southern Wild") and Emmanuelle Riva ("Amour"), both now hold the record for the oldest and youngest Best Actress nominees! That right there offsets any snubs for me, because it just shows that of any language, any race or any age, the Oscars are strictly about performances, and if yours is brave enough, you have a shot at the gold. It's what the movies are all about.
Snubs: I wouldn't call Helen Mirren's lack of a nomination a snub, I thought she was only decent in "Hitchcock." I was surprised, however, to see the exclusion of Marion Cotillard ("Rust and Bone"), but maybe the Academy can only take one foreign performance at a time!
SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Surprises: I'm always surprised to see Alan Arkin's name in this field, because compared to Ben Affleck, his performance was minor, but humorous. The rest of this field was also predictable, except the uncertainty of which man from "Django Unchained" (with 5 other nods) was getting recognized, and this time around it's former winner Christoph Waltz. Presenter Emma Stone pointed out humorously that everyone in this field has won already!Snubs: This is one of only two snubs that really angered me: WHERE IS JAVIER? The Bond villain absolutely owned "Skyfall," his flirt-terrogation with Craig was Oscar-worthy on its own! Also I would've loved to have seen Matthew McConaughey's name in here, either for "Magic Mike" (no, I didn't see it) or his solid work as a lawyer in "Bernie."
SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Surprises: Adams, Field, Hathaway and Hunt were all expected, but that 5th spot was iffy. It went to Jacki Weaver, who played Cooper's mother in "Silver Linings Playbook!" I'm not saying her role was bad, but it dwarfed in comparison to the other three's! With this, all acting slots were occupied by "Playbook" players, which is why I suspect they went with Weaver.
Snubs: Really anyone from "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" would've been fine, and having Judi Dench get a nom for "Skyfall" would have been too perfect, but I can take consolation in the fact she got a BAFTA nod yesterday.
ANIMATED:
Surprises: I had forgotten all about the British claymation "The Pirates! Band of Misfits," and I was very happy to hear fellow stop motions "ParaNorman" and "Frankenweenie" announced with it!
Snubs: None come to mind unless you're a die hard "Ice Age 4" fan.
DIRECTOR:
Surprises: Now this is the category everyone is up in arms about! Safe to say "Amour" director Michael Haneke and "Beasts" director Benh Zeitlin didn't expect to hear their names called! On a lesser surprise, David O. Russell's name was also called!
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| Bigelow was left in the dust |
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