Oscar Nominations 2011: My Thoughts

So there were some surprises this year.  After moaning the last two years that the Entertainment Weekly spoiled everything, I avoided it this year.... that may have contributed to the surprise factor, but I think there would have been some genuine surprises regardless.

Hugo got the most nominations (11).... I thought The Artist had this in the bag, but it had one less at 10.  This means that The Artist has a little competition for Best Picture.

Best Picture nominees: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Tree of Life were both unexpected for me.  I must say however, since the former got 2 total nominations and the later 3, it certainly seems that their Best Picture nominations were therefore unjustified. Among the other Best Picture nominees with few total noms were also Midnight in Paris (4 total), The Help (4).  My prediction that The Help would have a big haul was WAY off.

Best Actor nominees: I saw Leo's shut out a mile away (he always gets shut out!).  I did not see Gary Oldman or Demian Bichir's nominations coming.  I knew if there was gonna be a surprise it would be in Best Actor.  So, what the heck is A Better Life?

Best Actress: The easiest to predict, no surprises.

Best Supporting Actor: When they announced Kenneth Branagh and then (alphabetically) Jonah Hill I was like what the? What about Albert Brooks?  That I would have put $1 million on.  The BIG shut out I think.  I did not see Nick Nolte or Max von Sydow's nominations.  In November though when von Sydow was getting buzz I said how happy I would be if he got nominated because he has only had 1 nomination to date and should have at least 2 career nominations: so I'm glad. It seems likely that Christopher Plummer will now win (this will be my first non-seen Oscar acting win in a long time... Netflix!)

Best Supporting Actress: I thought The Descendants' Shailene Woodley would get it instead of Janet McTeer (how boring it went that way!)

So glad Adventures of Tintin was shut out of Animated Film... it wasn't anything (stupid Golden Globes).

Weird to see Midnight in Paris get no acting nominations, just because it's a Woody Allen film and would seem par for the course.  If I'm disappointed about anything it's that someone didn't get in there (Owen Wilson, Kathy Bates, etc.)

My Best Score predictions of a few blogs ago were off. John Williams got 2 nominations! (His Tintin score was derivative of his own stuff!) Williams now has 47 career nominations. Walt Disney has the record most individual nominations with 59, but Williams is creeping up on that!!

What Film Will Get the Most Oscar Nominations?

Tomorrow morning at 5:38 AM PST, the Oscar nominations will be announced.  It's time for the annual parlor game: What is your guess for the film that will get the most nominations? Last year it was THE KINGS SPEECH.

This year I'm going to pick Best Picture frontrunner, THE ARTIST. But many are in the running, including THE HELP which I think could give THE ARTIST, HUGO, etc. a run for the money nominations-wise.

Can't wait for the nominations!

Best Original Score Nominees 2011

I ran across something on the AMPAS website that I don't think I've seen in years' past— the list of eligible movies in the Best Original Score category.  Knowing that the Academy generally goes with the tried-and-true in this category I thought: let me see if, in one pass, I can correctly predict the five nominees.  I did it in two passes, actually: took the 97 eligible down to 29, then picked 5.  I wonder how close I'll get:


(Although I didn't pick Clint Eastwood's score for J. Edgar, I hope he gets it, as I remember thinking it was his best in years. My alternate below would be Water for Elephants.)

UPDATE: OK, since Kim Novak has publicly condemned the use of VERTIGO music in THE ARTIST, I think it's Oscar chances are shot for original score (it needed only to be 80% original and therefore made the cut for consideration).  I have to admit the use of the VERTIGO music was the ONE thing I didn't much like: I too, like so many others perhaps gave it a "pass" as music used for silent films were frequently known tunes.  The biggest issue for me was how much they used it [at the end]).  Therefore I'm gonna go with WATER FOR ELEPHANTS and take out The Artist (although who knows how many ballots are already in...)


"The Adjustment Bureau," Thomas Newman, composer
"The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams, composer
"African Cats," Nicholas Hooper, composer
"Albert Nobbs," Brian Byrne, composer
"The Artist," Ludovic Bource, composer
"Captain America: The First Avenger," Alan Silvestri, composer
"The Conspirator," Mark Isham, composer
"Contagion," Cliff Martinez, composer
"Coriolanus," Ilan Eshkeri, composer
"The Debt," Thomas Newman, composer
"Dolphin Tale," Mark Isham, composer
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," Alexandre Desplat, composer
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, composers
"Hanna," Tom Rowlands, composer
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," Alexandre Desplat, composer
• "The Help," Thomas Newman, composer
• "Hugo," Howard Shore, composer
• "The Ides of March," Alexandre Desplat, composer
"In the Land of Blood and Honey," Gabriel Yared, composer
"The Iron Lady," Thomas Newman, composer
"J. Edgar," Clint Eastwood, composer
"Moneyball," Mychael Danna, composer
"One Day," Rachel Portman, composer
"Rio," John Powell, composer
"Super 8," Michael Giacchino, composer
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias, composer
"W.E.," Abel Korzeniowski, composer
• "War Horse," John Williams, composer
• "Water for Elephants," James Newton Howard, composer

One Line Review's Top Ten Movies and Noteworthy Achievements 2011

TOP TEN 2011 (alphabetical):

The Artist (d. Michel Hazanavicius)

Dogtooth (d. Giorgos Lanthimos)

Drive (d. Nicolas Winding Refn)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (d. David Fincher)

Hugo (d. Martin Scorsese)

J. Edgar (d. Clint Eastwood)

Midnight in Paris (d. Woody Allen)

Moneyball (d. Bennett Miller)

The Muppets (d. James Bobin)

My Week with Marilyn (d. Simon Curtis)

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS:

Best Film:

The Artist 

Best Actor:

Jean Dujardin in The Artist

Best Actress:

Berenice Bejo in The Artist

Best Supporting Actor:

Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actress:

Alison Pill in Midnight in Paris

Best Original Screenplay:

Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Steven Zallian for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Director:

Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist

Honorable Mentions:

Best Picture: Hugo, Midnight in Paris

Best Actor: George Clooney (The Descendants), Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar), James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class), Brad Pitt (Moneyball), Owen Wilson (Midnight in Paris).

Best Actress: Aggeliki Papoulia (Dogtooth), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), Charlize Theron (Young Adult), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn).

Best Supporting Actor: Adrien Brody (Midnight in Paris), Albert Brooks (Drive), Brad Pitt (Tree of Life), John C. Reilly (Cedar Rapids), Jeffrey Wright (Source Code).

Best Supporting Actress: Kathy Bates (Midnight in Paris), Judi Dench (My Week with Marilyn), Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), Octavia Spencer (The Help).

Best Adapted Screenplay: n/a

Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris).

Best Director: Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris), Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive), Martin Scorsese (Hugo).