As I did last year, this post will be divided into three primary sections. First I will list the main awards and follow each category with how I did with my predictions; at the end will be the full tally. Next I will list the rest of the nominees. Finally, last but not least (well, maybe), I’ll type out a few initial reactions of my own to the announcement.
Here are the Academy Award nominees of 2011:
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BEST PICTURE:
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Number correct: 8 for 9
Nominees missed: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
What I said: Bridesmaids
BEST ACTOR:
Demian Bichir – A Better Life
George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Number correct: 4 for 5
Nominees missed: Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
What I said: Michael Fassbender – Shame
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
Number correct: 4 for 5
Nominees missed: Rooney Mara – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo*
What I said: Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin
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
Number correct: 4 for 5
Nominees missed: Nick Nolte – Warrior*
What I said: Albert Brooks – Drive
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Berenice Bejo – The Artist
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer – The Help
Number correct: 5 for 5
Nominees missed: 0
BEST DIRECTION:
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
Number correct: 4 for 5
Nominees missed: Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris*
What I said: Steven Spielberg – War Horse
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
The Descendants – Nat Fixon, Alexander Payne, Jim Rash
Hugo – John Logan
The Ides of March – George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
Moneyball – Aaron Sorkin, Steve Zaillian
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
Number correct: 3 for 5
Nominees missed: The Ides of March, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
What I said: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Eric Roth, The Help – Tate Taylor
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids – Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
Margin Call – J.C. Chandor
Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
A Separation – Asghar Farhadi
Number correct: 3 for 5
Nominees missed: Margin Call, A Separation*
What I said: 50/50 – Will Reiser, The Tree of Life – Terrence Malick
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
Number correct: 2 for 5
Nominees missed: A Cat in Paris, Chico & Rita, Kung Fu Panda 2*
What I said: The Adventures of Tintin, Cars 2, Arthur Christmas
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated
Number correct: 2 for 5
Nominees missed: If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Pina*, Undefeated
What I said: Bill Cunningham New York, Project Nim, We Were Here
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Bullhead (Belgium)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
A Separation (Iran)
Number correct: 3 for 5
Nominees missed: Bullhead, Monsieur Lazhar*
What I said: Pina** (Germany), Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (Taiwan)
TOTAL CORRECT: 42 out of 59
LAST YEAR: 42 out of 53^
* – Selected as my WiLd CaRd
** – Originally predicted in a different category
^ – Did not predict Best Documentary Feature. Best Picture had ten nominees (instead of nine), and Best Animated Feature had three nominees (instead of five).
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Technical Academy Award nominations:
BEST ANIMATED SHORT:
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life
BEST ART DIRECTION:
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The Artist
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life*
War Horse
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Anonymous
The Artist*
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT:
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
BEST EDITING:
The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball**
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT:
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic
BEST MAKEUP:
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2*
The Iron Lady
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
The Adventures of Tintin
The Artist*
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
“Man or Muppet” – The Muppets**
“Real in Rio” – Rio
BEST SOUND EDITING:
Drive
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse
BEST SOUND MIXING:
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2*
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
* – Predicted as a “nominee certainty.”
** – Selected as an FYC (nominee I wanted to see selected)
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My overall opinion:
– I am most pleased to see so many people get that coveted “triple play” of nominations – earning nods for Screenplay, Direction, and Picture. Continuing in a tradition often experienced by past nominees like the Coen brothers and Quentin Tarantino this year are the outstanding trio of Woody Allen, Alexander Payne, and newcomer-to-the-craziness Michel Hazanavicius. I can’t help but wonder how close we were to seeing four examples; Terrence Malick earned shots at Picture and Direction but couldn’t quite nab that Original Screenplay slot.
– I am floored by how many of my “WiLd CaRd” picks defied my thin doubts and pulled through to make it to the ceremony. The only WiLd CaRd picks that didn’t make it were Melancholia for Best Picture, Shailene Woodley for Supporting Actress (thankfully in this case since it was the only category I perfectly predicted), and War Horse for Adapted Screenplay. I’d say my riskiest guess of a WiLd CaRd was Foreign Language nominee Monsieur Lazhar since I haven’t seen any of the films that made the Academy’s Foreign short list beforehand. I will come clean and admit that I picked it judging by its title only. Of course, the WiLd CaRd I’m most excited to see advance is Gary Oldman who earned his first ever Oscar nomination at the age of 53 (I really should see TTSS).
– With apologies to Mr. Spielberg, I’d say the most shocking snub this year is the Academy’s omission of Albert Brooks for his big-time critically recognized performance in Drive. Brooks’ villainous turn earned prizes from Boston, San Fransisco, the National Society, the New York Critics Circle, and the New York Critics Online – not to mention nominations from the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice awards, and the Independent Spirit awards. In short, he was pretty much doing just as well as the suggested Supporting Actor front-runner Christopher Plummer (for Beginners). In a very close second place of biggest suprise snub (though I suppose not in retrospect – three or more comedies in one of any category is a high hope) is the absence of Will Reiser’s 50/50 in Best Original Screenplay – the shut-out film’s strongest chance. Other notable snubs: Bridesmaids and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo for Best Picture, Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar) and Michael Fassbender (Shame) for Actor, Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin) for Actress, Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) for Supporting Actress, Tate Taylor (The Help) for Adapted Screenplay, The Adventures of Tintin for Animated Feature, Bill Cunningham New York and Project Nim for Documentary Feature, and both David Fincher (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) and – as I mentioned – Steven Spielberg (War Horse) for Direction.
– Here’s a whopping achievement to consider: As of today – starting from her first win for Kramer vs. Kramer – Meryl Streep’s seventeen Oscar-nominated years outnumber her sixteen un-nominated years. Despite all the recognition, Streep has won an Oscar twice (Her second win was for Sophie’s Choice). That said, as most screen actors will tell you, just netting a nomination is difficult enough and winning just one Oscar is extraordinary.
– The only two people to achieve back-to-back nominations this year are Michelle Williams (returning to the Actress race from last year’s nomination for Blue Valentine) and Aaron Sorkin (returning to the Adapted Screenplay race after winning the award last year for The Social Network).
– Blunt truth time: If there is any nomination I don’t feel is entirely deserving, it’s Rio for Best Original Song. One of my chief complaints about Rio (as I stated in my Worst of ’11 list) is all of its easily forgettable music – a major error for any film categorized as a musical. All of my support for this award goes to the other nominee (only two this year?) – “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets (I’m so happy the one song I downloaded from the film turns out to be the film’s sole chance for a win). This song should make for a very fun performance during the live ceremony’s telecast. Fingers crossed for another cameo from Jim Parsons!
– If I had fully predicted the nominees for Best Makeup, those nominees are the three I would have picked – especially in light of knowing J. Edgar wasn’t in the running. Too bad I never predict technical awards (short of this year’s certainties) and never will.
– It’s a shame the Razzies started a new tradition of announcing its nominees the day before the Oscars ceremony rather than the day before the Oscars nomination announcement. I always found delight in discovering which – if any – films would net nods from both sources. Who could forget past examples like Transformers: Rise of the Fallen or Pearl Harbor?
Thank you for reading. The Academy Awards are February 26th. Some point before then, I will post my list of predicted winners – so be on the lookout!