So, as you can guess, my biggest surprise from yesterday’s Oscar nod announcements concerns the three less nominations (Screenplay, Director, Picture) The Dark Knight got than I thought it would which, coincidentally, all went to a film I expected to get only one major nod (which it got, but not in the way I expected).
Overall, I shot 70%, nailing not a single category nod for nod.
Matching the SAG nods from time to time wasn’t necessarily a bad idea, I just did it for the wrong categories. I should have gone with Richard Jenkins in the fifth slot for Best Actor, which SAG did, but I gambled that the Academy would not. Glad he got the nod, btw. Just wish more of his co-stars could have made it in as well.
I did match SAG for Best Supporting Actor, but that was a mistake. I underestimated the appeal of Michael Shannon, who I understand is the part of Revolutionary Road that even people who don’t like Revolutionary Road like.
It might have also been wise to match SAG for Best Actress, but even they didn’t get it totally right. Kate Winslet got a nod, but not for Revolutionary Road. Instead, she got it for, of course, The Reader, which suddenly everyone loves even though all of the guilds ignored it (except, of course, for a best supporting nod for Winslet from SAG). You’ve gotta recognize the Weinsteins. Even in a no-money-for-an-Oscar-campaign economy, they still got it.
I was equally clueless about Best Supporting Actress, ignoring Taraji P. Henson in favor of a Reader nod for Winslet (which she got, but in the lead category) and expecting the Academy to pick Viola Davis over Amy Adams in Doubt instead of picking both.
Speaking of Doubt, it cornered 20% of this year’s acting nods, and got pretty much anyone who had more than five lines in the movie a (well-deserved) nod.
As far as Director and Picture are concerned, it seemed wise to match DGA and PGA since they matched perfectly, and that shit never happens. Seemed wise. Wasn’t. Stupid Reader.
I also matched a guild for Adapted Screenplay, but their love for The Dark Knight did not translate.
Where I really screwed the pooch was Original Screenplay which, to be honest, I kind of pulled out of my ass anyway. Did not see Frozen River coming at all. I mean, good for them, but no way did I see it being on the Academy’s radar beyond Melissa Leo’s SAG nod. In my defense, I did say In Bruges might spoil, and if I’d really thought it through I might have given the same odds to Happy-Go-Lucky, but as it is I only called Milk and WALL•E for that award.
I guess I’m surprised that Waltz With Bashir didn’t get an animation nod, but given its Best Foreign love (and likely win) I guess I shouldn’t be.
The Film Editing category, by the way, is exactly what I (and a lot of other folks) expected the Best Picture and Director category to look like.
While I’m glad the Academy saw fit to let Slumdog Millionaire squeeze two nods out of the Best Song category, would it have killed a brother to throw my man Bruce some love?
Comments