I Am DB

Complete List of Nominees

Every time I think that the Academy is coming around to embrace bolder choices, they manage to find some shocking way to prove me wrong. Every time I think that the older, more conservative forces are dying off in favor of younger, more embracing members, they manage to show how out of touch they are. When they awarded an Oscar to Eminem in 2002 for his song from 8 Mile, I thought it was a great sign. When they chose another rap song in 2005 – “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from Hustle & Flow – I felt it again. Then they ended that night by choosing Crash for Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain, and the feeling faded.

But hey, what’s this? The next two years saw the Academy choose The Departed and No Country For Old Men as Best Picture winners, an embrace of the kind of dark and violent films that they had typically shunned. Once again, I thought maybe the tide had turned.

And then came Thursday morning. Yes, to the Academy’s credit they made some good selections that it was easy to imagine them overlooking, but these were scattered among  some pretty big “what the fuck?” omissions.

BEST PICTURE
I’m massively disappointed that The Dark Knight wasn’t nominated for Picture, Director or Screenplay. More so than any other movie, that’s the one that defined 2008 (with Slumdog just trailing it). Huge box office, great reviews that held on at year’s end when critics did their awards and ten best lists, guild award nominations, an undeniable impact on pop culture…how do they not nominate that movie and expect to be taken even remotely seriously as an institution that celebrates the best in mainstream film? Unbelievable.

And for the record, I loved The Reader. And I like all the nominated films. But I would certainly sacrifice Benjamin Button and Frost/Nixon for The Dark Knight.

DIRECTOR
Stephen Daldry took Christopher Nolan’s spot, making him a three for three nominee: The Reader is his third film and this is his third Best Director nomination. The other interesting thing about the category is that the five nominees match up with the Best Picture contenders; usually there’s a discrepancy or two.

BEST ACTOR

Really happy that the great Richard Jenkins made it through the fire, all the way back from last Spring. I’ve been a fan of his for years, so to see him get a lead role in The Visitor and receive this nomination warms the heart. And I’m glad Clint Eastwood didn’t bump him out. I maintain that Eastwood’s performance in Gran Torino, while entertaining, was over-the-top and not worthy of a nomination. I’m glad they didn’t give it to him just because he’s Clint. Also, I could have done without Brad Pitt’s nomination – not that I didn’t like him in Benjamin Button, but it’s a passive role and not one I’d single out for recognition.

BEST ACTRESS
I thought the Academy’s history of Mike Leigh love would benefit Sally Hawkins, who won a bunch of critics awards for Happy-Go-Lucky. I’m okay with her not being here, but it did catch me off guard. And though I haven’t seen Frozen River yet, I’m really happy that Melissa Leo made it. From everything I’ve heard, she was excellent and it’s always an uphill battle for those small little movies to get this level of recognition. I’ve liked her going way back to Homicide: Life on the Streets, and there was some Supporting Actress buzz for her a few years back for 21 Grams. Nice to see her here.

The other surprise was Kate Winslet being nominated as a lead for The Reader, rather than Revolutionary Road. She should be considered a lead in the film, but the studio had campaigned her for Supporting Actress, probably to allow the opportunity for two nominations. Interesting that voters disregarded the campaign and voted this way. That doesn’t happen too often, but it’s clear that the Academy members responded to The Reader…much more so than Revolutionary Road.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Speaking of which, the surprise here is that Road‘s Michael Shannon got in. He was a longshot to begin with, and his nomination is all the more surprising given that the movie was shut out of all other top categories. The lack of lead acting, directing or screenwriting nominations shows that the movie wasn’t a favorite for people, so for an up-and-coming actor like Shannon to be named, and for a small role, is unexpected.

I thought Brolin and Downey would make it, but I’ll still say I’m glad to see them here. Brolin’s been on an amazing roll these past couple of years, and has done good work more intermittently all the way back to The Goonies (remember him paired with Richard Jenkins as romantically-involved ATF agents in Flirting with Disaster?) He didn’t earn any nominations for No Country for Old Men last year, but he earned a lot of respect and goodwill which probably helped propel him to a nomination for his terrific work in Milk. And Downey? What can I say? Last March the first still photos of Tropic Thunder were released, with more details about the plot than had been revealed previously, including an explanation of Downey’s character. And when I looked at that picture and read about his role, I called it: if the movie was well received and the joke worked, he would get an Oscar nomination. So I’m happy that it came to pass; he totally deserves the recognition. No matter how silly the movie might be, he committed to it full-on with a great performance. Now let’s hope that the clip they show for him is the one where he talks to Ben Stiller about not winning awards if you go “full retard.”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Good performances from everyone in this category, but the absence of Kate Winslet definitely changes the dynamic of the race. Great to see Viola Davis doing so well this awards season. Like Richard Jenkins, she’s a great character actor who is known and respected by filmmakers and has always done solid work. With a nomination for two powerful scenes in Doubt, her profile will hopefully rise.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
This was a tough category to predict, with so many strong contenders (and some not-so-strong but still in-the-running) and a lack of clarity in the field. The only sure thing seemed to be Milk. Frozen River‘s inclusion is another triumph for this small, critically-admired indie. I don’t think too many people thought it had a shot.

I always get a little annoyed when Mike Leigh gets screenplay nominations, since his movies are largely improvised. I’d rather have seen The Wrestler or The Visitor in that slot. But I’m really happy to see that In Bruges made it. The movie came out in February and didn’t seem to make much of an impact, but it got a lot of unexpected attention from the critics in their year-end prizes, and when I finally rented it, I could see why. Really entertaining movie, and definitely a good script. The writer, Martin McDonagh, won the Live Action Short Film Oscar in 2005 for a film that also featured Brendan Gleeson and a blend of black comedy, violence and characters dealing with tragedy. McDonagh owes a nod to Tarantino and the Coens, but he does have his own style.

MUSIC
Wow, what is wrong with voters in this branch? For years, the Documentary branch has come under harsh criticism for consistently failing to nominate films that everybody else in the documentary-watching world seems to agree are the best. With some of the boneheaded decisions of the past few years, the Music branch now seems to be drinking the same water as the doc voters. They ignored the score for The Two Towers in 2002, as well as the haunting “Gollum’s Song” that closed the film. In 2004, they failed to nominate Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart for the song “Old Habits Die Hard” from Alfie, as well as any of the brilliantly funny and musically solid tunes from Team America: World Police. Last year, they disqualified Jonny Greenwood’s amazing score for There Will Be Blood, and then didn’t nominate a single one of Eddie Vedder’s songs from Into the Wild, while giving three nominations to the Disney musical Enchanted.

The head-scratching continued this year with the presumptive (and deserving) winner of Best Original Song, Bruce Springsteen’s sorrowful title ballad from The Wrestler, not receiving a nomination. For some reason, only three songs were selected this year, out of 49 that were eligible. The three that were chosen are deserving, but how could the voters ignore “The Wrestler,” such an obvious pick? Given how many crappy, sentimental songs they’ve nominated in the past, the absence of Springsteen’s track is inexcusable.

It’s beyond my comprehension; as absurd as The Dark Knight being ignored in the top races.

And speaking of The Dark Knight, where is the score nomination? Composed by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, it had initially been disqualified for some inane reason, but that ruling was later revoked and the score was deemed eligible. It should definitely have made it; not having it here is another slap in the face to The Dark Knight and another chunk torn from the music branch’s credibility, and the overall Academy’s by extension.

I was pleased to see I did reasonably well with my predictions, especially in the below-the-line categories that are harder to pin down. But when it comes to The Dark Knight and The Boss…I just don’t get it.

Complete List of Nominees

And so the final phase of the awards season begins. As I suspected would be the case, there were so many good movies this year that any disappointment is more about what had to be left out than being upset about anything that was included. There were some surprises, though.

BEST PICTURE
This one went pretty much how I thought it would, allowing for the possibility that Into the Wild or Diving Bell and the Butterfly might have edged in there. But I had pegged those as more likely to be nominated for directing while overlooked in the big race. No Country, Blood and Juno were safe bets. Michael Clayton could have gone either way, and Atonement was a question mark only because of omissions from some other key groups. All in all, a strong category.

BEST DIRECTOR
I was pretty shocked that Sean Penn was left off for Into the Wild. I hadn’t expected that. And I didn’t think that Tony Gilroy would make the cut for Michael Clayton. Of all the DGA nominees, he seemed the most likely to be overlooked by the Academy. And Jason Reitman for Juno? Wow, that sure was a longshot. Picture and Screenplay seemed like givens, but I didn’t think Reitman had a prayer at making the cut. Too bad that Joe Wright wasn’t nominated for Atonement. I look at Juno and Michael Clayton as excellent movies that were certainly well directed, but owed their biggest off-camera debt to particularly strong scripts. Atonement, however, felt like much more a marriage between the two: a terrific script realized by a director who brought a lot of his own vision to it.

On a side note, remember when Ivan Reitman – while never exactly making Oscar-caliber movies – was one of the biggest directors in comedy? Ghostbusters, Stripes, Meatballs, Twins, Dave…and now he’s making crap like My Super Ex-Girlfriend while his 30 year old son has knocked his first two movies out of the park and been showered with rave reviews and awards.

BEST ACTOR
So Tommy Lee Jones made it after all! Well played, Academy. A much deserved nomination for an overlooked movie. And with expected nominations for Clooney and Day-Lewis, that left Depp and Mortensen as the two who looked good, but weren’t sure things. It’s nice to see Mortensen finally get some due. As for Depp, I love the guy and I’ll always be happy to see him nominated, and I eagerly await the day when he finally wins. But good as he was in Sweeney Todd, I’d rather have seen Emile Hirsch take that spot. Into the Wild got the shaft in a big way today, and whatever people think of Hirsch’s character, you’ve gotta give him credit for how he threw himself into that role, body and soul. He put himself through intense physical rigors, but gave just as much to role emotionally; he appears in almost every scene; and he succeeds in creating a character that I believed would be so attractive to all the people he encountered in his travels. His was definitely one of the most impressive performances of the year, and it became one of the Academy’s biggest oversights.

(By the way, check out this reaction quote from Viggo: the guy’s smart, classy, and has good taste: “There were a lot of candidates and a lot of the awards shows or organizations this year have had different mixes of people. It was nice to see Tommy Lee Jones in there. He hadn’t been in so much of the mix and when I saw his name come up and there was only one name left to go, I thought, ‘Naah, well, there’s no way (I’ll be nominated).’ So to be honest, I was quite surprised.”

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie and Marion Cotillard  were the locks, with Ellen Page (very cool) right behind them. I wasn’t sure Blanchett would get in there, especially since her Supporting nomination was a foregone conclusion. It just goes to show how much the Academy loves her. And she deserves the love; she’s friggin’ awesome. Sorry, Meryl Streep: there’s a new Meryl Streep and her name is Cate Blanchett. I’ve got no objection to Laura Linney’s inclusion, although as one friend of mine pointed out, the role seemed like a diluted version of her character from You Can Count On Me. Still, she’s always good.

I guess the biggest surprise here was Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart being left off. I’m on the fence about it. On one hand, she really disappeared into the role, and while part of that can be chalked up to a physical transformation, it takes more than that to make you forget you’re watching a star who’s constantly in the celebrity spotlight. On the other hand, the movie is less of a character driven piece and more of a docudrama – almost a Law & Order-style procedural about the search for Daniel Pearl. As a result, she doesn’t drive the story as much as you’d think she would from the way the movie was marketed. She’s really good, but maybe in the end it wasn’t seen as enough of a star turn.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Probably the most perfect category of the year. Sure, there are some other people I’d have been happy to see sneak in, but you can’t argue with any one of these five guys. Great choices all around.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Blanchett, Ryan and Swinton all came through, deservedly and as expected. I was glad to see Saoirse Ronan get in, carrying the torch for the Atonement cast. In a different year, Knightley and McAvoy probably would have made the cut, but Ronan’s performance is particularly tricky and effective, especially considering how young she is. Suck it, Dakota Fanning!

I still don’t think Ruby Dee deserved a nomination, but as I had no particularly strong feelings about anyone who was omitted, and as Ruby Dee is a legend and totally cool, I’ll let it slide.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
No surprises here, and all good scripts (well, I haven’t seen Lars and the Real Girl yet. This weekend.)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Once again, Into the Wild is glaringly left off. I guess Away From Her took it’s spot, seeing as Diving Bell, No Country, Blood and Atonement were all favorites (the latter despite lack of a WGA nomination). Away From Her was an impressive script, especially considering it was written by a 28 year-old and dealt with an older couple dealing with Alzheimer’s. And Sarah Polley is awesome; I’ll call this amends for not giving her a Best Supporting Actress nomination 10 years ago for The Sweet Hereafter. Still, the absence of Sean Penn here (and in the Director race) stings.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Didn’t see Surf’s Up, and actually heard it was pretty good, but how do you deny The Simpsons Movie? Unforgivable.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
I don’t know what happened in the Best Song category. I know that Into The Wild was deemed ineligible for Best Score, but did that somehow extend to the song category? I don’t see how it could have, and yet I can’t accept that any other reason could have led to not a single nomination for Eddie Vedder. Three songs from Enchanted, and not one from Into the Wild? I’m not gonna dump on Enchanted, cause I haven’t seen it and it actually looks like a pretty clever parody of the whole Disney princess genre, so I’m sure the songs follow suit. But c’mon! No Eddie Vedder here is like two spoonfuls of salt on the already gaping Into the Wild wound. The only upside? Hopefully this clears the path for “Falling Slowly” to win. If some of Vedder’s songs had made the cut, I’d have had a hard time choosing between his stuff and this great song from Once, which was used in the movie twice – both times to excellent effect.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
To my friends at ILM, congrats on Pirates and Transformers. Disappointing movies, but great effects.

Until we reconvene around February 23 for predictions and final commentary, I close with an expression of shock and sadness over the other big news in moviedom today: the death of Heath Ledger.

RIP, Heath. Your star had barely begun to burn.