Oscar snubs and surprises
Like every year when the nominations are announced, there were several names and movies we were surprised to hear and several we were shocked we didn't hear.
Two of the most notable surprises come from the little indie Winter's Bone. Jennifer Lawrence's nomination for lead actress wasn't a surprise, but her co-star John Hawkes getting the nod for supporting actor was. The film itself also earned a surprise best picture nomination. I was pleased with this choice because I predicted The Town would get named, but I prefer Winter's Bone.
In the past it's been proven that if you win an Oscar you increase your chances of getting nominated again. The Academy tends to latch on to certain people. This was proven most notably with the inclusions of Javier Bardem and the Coen brothers. Bardem, who won best supporting actor in 2007 for No Country for Old Men, pulled out a nomination for the Mexican film Biutiful. And the Coens, winners for writing, directing and producing No Country, beat out expected nominee Christopher Nolan for the last best director spot. Despite directing three very high profile movies (2000's Memento, 2008's The Dark Knight and this year's Inception), Nolan has yet to receive a best director nomination.
In the best supporting actress category, both Hailee Steinfeld, from True Grit, and Jacki Weaver, from Animal Kingdom, can be considered surprises. Steinfeld getting mentioned didn't surprise me, though she is most certainly a lead in Grit. Weaver is very deserving and ultimately beat out both Mila Kunis (Black Swan) and Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right). Though Moore could have also been considered a lead.
Other snubs include Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter), Robert Duvall (Get Low) and Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine) who all missed out on the best actor category. In my book, Gosling was the biggest miss of all. Though I'm happy his co-star Michelle Williams got noticed. Williams got noticed in the best actress category where Lesley Manville in Another Year (by far one of the best performances of the year) got the shaft. Expect both Gosling and Manville on my favorite performances of the year, despite their omissions. Another of the biggest misses is Andrew Garfield from The Social Network. He is the standout performance in a very well acted movie.
Best Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All RightThe King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's BoneBest Director
Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
David O. Russell for The Fighter
Tom Hooper for The King's SpeechDavid Fincher for The Social Network
Joel and Ethan Coen for True Grit
Best ActorJeff Bridges in True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Colin Firth in The King's Speech
James Franco in 127 Hours
Best Actress
Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's BoneNatalie Portman in Black Swan
Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine
Supporting Actor
Christian Bale in The Fighter
John Hawkes in Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner in The Town
Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush in The King’s Speech
Supporting Actress
Amy Adams in The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter in The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom
Original Screenplay
Another Year
The FighterInception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
And among the other categories Waiting for "Superman" missing out on best documentary shocked a lot of people as did Tangled getting jipped out of a best animated feature nod. Even though it's not necessarily a snub, I thought Shutter Island was the best looking movie of the year and was surprised to see it excluded from the cinematography and art direction categories. To check out a complete list go to http://oscar.go.com/nominations.
I have plenty more Oscar and movie subjects to tackle, so check back soon.
I look forward to these every year!
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