2011 Oscar Nominees--Snubs and Surprises

Well another year and another round of Oscar nominations. Which of course also means another year of raised eyebrows at those chosen--and those excluded. Rather than rehash a list of nominees that's already plastered all over the web, I've decided to focus this post on where the Academy got it right and where they went horribly wrong. Look out everybody! It's Oscar Snubs and Surprises--the 2011 edition.

Best Picture

Surprises: This category may have been the most perplexing of all not just based on who was nominated by why 9 movies were picked. Being an astute follower of the Oscars I knew that after last season the number of Best Picture nominees could range from 5 to 10. However for a clearer explanation of the voting process and why this is so, I suggest you go to http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/01/24/oscars-best-picture-why-nine-nominees/. It's a much more in-depth description than I can provide.

You can make a case that all nine films on this list are deserving of a nomination except one--Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. This is a film that has schmaltz and sentimentality written all over it. Throw in a dose of Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max Von Sydow, and stir in a 9/11 backdrop ala father/son story and you get a half baked film that currently rates a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact the by-line on the site reads as follows: "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has a story worth telling but it deserves better than the teachy and pretentious treatment that director Stephen Daldry gives it." That's not a rousing endorsement from the site I consider to be most spot on when it comes to movies. Of the other eight films nominated the lowest percentage is The Help with a 76% approval rating. Don't think I'm going out on a limb here by saying that the Academy missed the boat on this one.

Snubs: There are two clear cut ones in my mind. The first is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Smart, sleek, exciting, brilliantly acted with a fantastic score it was one of the best films of 2011. Same goes for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Both films could have taken the place of War Horse, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, or Moneyball.

Best Actor

Surprises: In this category I think the surprise was a pleasant one. After a long and impressive career that has run the gamut of portrayals from Sid Vicious to Beethoven, Gary Oldman finally gets a nomination for his brilliant performance in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It's probably too much to hope that he wins the award, as most critics predict a fight between Clooney and Pitt, but you never know. The only other surprise might be Damien Bachir getting a nod for A Better Life a foreign film that had limited release and few people saw.

Snubs: The one that jumps immediately out at me is Leonardo DiCaprio for J. Edgar. While I haven't seen the film yet, critics have extolled his performance,if not the film. Also one of the most talented actors working today--Ryan Gosling--was snubbed for both The Ides of March and Drive. I'd be remiss if I also didn't mention Michael Fassbender's harrowing turn as a sex addict in Shameless as a total snub by the Academy. Shame on them. (Cue the Krusty the Clown groan.)

Best Actress

Surprises/Snubs: None. As far as I'm concerned this is the one category where the Academy got it absolutely right. I was nervous that Rooney Mara might not get a nomination for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, however the Academy didn't let me down. She joins Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Glenn Close, and Michelle Williams in the category. This one will be a tough battle between Streep and Williams but in the end I think Streep comes away with her third Academy Award. Incidentally this is the 17th Academy Award nomination for Streep.

Best Supporting Actor

Surprises: Again a pleasant one here as Nick Nolte gets a well deserved nomination for his role as Paddy Conlon in Warrior. Max von Sydow's nomination for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was quite the curve ball, however Jonah Hill's was not. To be fair, while I thought that Hill's performance in Moneyball was solid, I didn't think it was Oscar worthy. This is kind of a reflection on how it was a down year for films though.

Snubs: Andy Serkis for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Yes I know his character was a digitally generated chimpanzee but he also did all the motion capture and facial expressions for the character and singlehandedly made that film a success. Furthermore, if John Hurt can be covered in a mountain of makeup for The Elephant Man and receive an Oscar nomination, then why not Serkis?

Best Supporting Actress

Surprises: Melissa McCarthy's nomination for Bridesmaids came as a bit of a shock. Despite being one of the few bright spots in an extremely overrated film, the Academy typically doesn't like comedies for some reason. Kudos to McCarthy. While many people predicted that Octavia Spencer would be nominated for The Help, I didn't see Jessica Chastain being nominated for the same film. It makes for quite the intriguing category.

Snubs: Only one here--Shailene Woodley for The Descendants. Not only was she supposed to be a shoe-in to score a nomination, but many had her as the front runner to win it. Goes to show what starring in The Secret Life of the American Teenager can do to you. (I kid. After all Jennifer Lawrence got her start on The Bill Engvall Show.)

Directing

Surprises: Far be it from me to say that Woody Allen receiving an Oscar nomination for directing is a "surprise" but I clearly think it was and many agree. While many thought his film Midnight in Paris would land screenplay and picture nominations (they did) few expected the director to grab his first directing nomination since 1995.

Snubs: David Fincher for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. After getting robbed last year by the Academy for The Social Network, the least they could have done was given him an Oscar nomination. It would have been well deserved and a makeup at the same time. Steven Spielberg for War Horse. After all the love that the film received from critics and the intensity that went in to making the film, I thought for sure that Spielberg would net another nomination but.

Other than the major categories the snubs and surprises were few. I felt that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo writer Steven Zaillian was passed over for Best Adapted Screenplay and that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were equally deserving of a nomination in the Best Score category for the same film. I also don't see how you leave Hoyt van Hoytema off the list for Best Cinematography for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. His work was superb in that film.

Despite the fact that this is an extremely down year for the Oscars* I predict that this will be a highly competitive race with some definite surprises. In the coming weeks look forward to my Oscar predictions as we near February 26th.

*Incidentally I think next year's Oscar nominations could have some real box office pop to them. I know it's early but I have a feeling that both The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will have numerous nominations next Oscar season.