Oscar Nominations: Five Surprises

I'm still a bit bleary-eyed from this morning's 5:30 a.m. call, but this year's Oscar nominees have been announced. Avatar and The Hurt Locker, as expected, tied for the most nominations with nine each. You can see the full list and nab the ones already available for pre-order, and meanwhile ponder these surprises:

1) The Blind Side in the Best Picture race? Really?! Over Star Trek, A Single Man, Invictus, and a host of other films that made the top 10 lists other than this one? (Seriously, I would have been less surprised over The Hangover being mentioned instead.) My big fear here is that this nod will cinch Sandra Bullock the Best Actress crown over Meryl Streep, whom, it must be said, I am really rooting for this year, because despite her 16 record nominations, the woman last won in 1982. That's also only a 0.125 batting average. There weren't just gasps this morning upon the inclusion; there was also a bit of stuttering.

2) No Clint Eastwood in the Best Director category. The awards buzz for Invictus has been slowly fading since its opening, which had strong but not wild reviews. Despite its nods for Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, it was not only shut out of the Best Picture race but copped no nod for the evergreen nominee.

3) Maggie Gyllenhaal edges out Julianne Moore for Best Supporting Actress. There were no late-breaking upsets in the acting categories, but this was the first showing of Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart) in awards season over the four times-nominated Moore. Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) also had an outside shot, considering she got the SAG nomination instead of Moore. Still, it's a pleasant surprise for Gyllenhaal, who always does great work.

4) What is The Secret of Kells? The producers of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Ponyo, and many other overlooked animated films all scratched their heads over the inclusion of this Irish tale about monks and Vikings.

5) The strength of The Last Station in the acting categories, especially 1) No one ever talks about this film, and 2) it also was not nominated for anything else. The Young Victoria's Emily Blunt is left to watch at home (or perhaps present at the awards) with her adorable fiance as grand dame Helen Mirren instead takes her place in the Best Actress race. And kudos to Christopher Plummer, who, with a nod for Best Supporting Actor has received his very first career Oscar nomination at the age of 80.

--Ellen

Comments

[Charles Collins on February 03, 2010 at 06:18 AM]

Frankly, increasing the Best Picture field to 10 films was a bad idea. There aren't usually 10 really good movies in a given year, and it is just way for studios to put "Nominated for Best Picture" on more DVD cases.

But at least the Blind Side was a different kind of film, which really took hold of audiences. Star Trek was same-old, same-old - but just better than the previous decade of Star Trek dreck.

And Sandra Bullock finally put out a performance that matched the promise she showed in her first two years on the scene. I wouldn't mind her getting the nod over Streep any day. Streep always seems like she is "acting" - great acting, but you never forget it is her.

[rjschwarz on February 03, 2010 at 06:36 AM]

My guess is Sandra is well liked, and doesn't get in a whole lot of movies likely to get nominated, so a lot of people pulled for her. The thinking probably goes, Meryl has had it before, she would earn it pretty much every time and that wouldn't be right, so in the interests of equal distribution and fairness and all...

I loved Star Trek and Hangover but I can't believe you seriously mentioned them as Oscar calibre. Yeah if I ran the show but nothing the Oscars have really done (short of nominating My Cousin Vinny) has ever indicated the Oscars consider non-drama's as movies of serious contention.

[Craig on February 03, 2010 at 07:04 AM]

I don't think many inside the animation world are surprised at "Kells". It's a stunningly beautiful film and holds up well to multiple viewings. (I've seen it 3 times.) I know I'm not the only one in the animation business very happy that it's getting this kind of attention. They just got their distribution deal, so the timing is excellent. See it if you can.

[Karen on February 03, 2010 at 08:12 AM]

I had never heard of the Kells movie, but went and looked at the website just now. Wow! I can't wait to see it!

[Johnny Utah on February 03, 2010 at 11:41 PM]

sandra bullock will win for the same reason julia roberts and halle berry won: hollywood figures it's her turn.

[Janet from Tucson on February 04, 2010 at 02:40 PM]

If you saw the real Leigh Ann Tuohy, you'd know that Sandra Bullock nailed her in the performance. Meryl did a good imitation of Julia Child, but it was an imitation.

[aion kinah on April 14, 2010 at 08:21 PM]

If you saw the real Leigh Ann Tuohy, you'd LXLXLX

[sensations on October 27, 2010 at 12:50 AM]

Frankly, increasing the Best Picture field to 10 films was a bad idea. There aren't usually 10 really good movies in a given year, and it is just way for studios to put "Nominated for Best Picture" on more DVD cases.

[xiao on November 14, 2010 at 05:36 PM]

If you saw the real Leigh Ann Tuohy, you'd know that Sandra Bullock nailed her in the performance