Academy Award Nominees Announced (with credibility-straining results)
Well they did it. It happened. It certainly wasn’t pretty, but it happened.
I don’t want to go into my reaction about the assembled nominees here. I feel like I’ve been doing nothing but kvetching with fellow Oscar nerds all day so I’ll save my thoughts for the inevitable podcast discussion.
But if I could use a visual aid to perhaps illustrate my incredulity at some of the decisions made this morning, perhaps you will indulge me and see if you can tell what's wrong with this [best] picture:
'nuff said...
So here they are, read ‘em and weep (that’s what I kinda felt like doing):
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Best Motion Picture of the Year
Nominees:
The Descendants: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Scott Rudin
The Help: Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
Hugo: Graham King, Martin Scorsese
Midnight in Paris: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum
Moneyball: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt
The Tree of Life: Nominees to be determined
War Horse: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Nominees:
Demián Bichir for A Better Life
George Clooney for The Descendants
Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Nominees:
Viola Davis for The Help
Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominees:
Kenneth Branagh for My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill for Moneyball
Nick Nolte for Warrior
Christopher Plummer for Beginners
Max von Sydow for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominees:
Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids
Best Achievement in Directing
Nominees:
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Nominees:
The Artist: Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo
Midnight in Paris: Woody Allen
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Nominees:
The Descendants: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
The Ides of March: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
Moneyball: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Nominees:
A Cat in Paris: Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli
Chico & Rita: Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Nominees:
Bullhead: Michael R. Roskam(Belgium)
Footnote: Joseph Cedar(Israel)
In Darkness: Agnieszka Holland(Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar: Philippe Falardeau(Canada)
A Separation: Asghar Farhadi(Iran)
Best Achievement in Cinematography
Nominees:
The Artist: Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Jeff Cronenweth
The Tree of Life: Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Achievement in Editing
Nominees:
The Artist: Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
Moneyball: Christopher Tellefsen
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Nominees:
The Artist: Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
Hugo: Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
Midnight in Paris: Anne Seibel, Hélène Dubreuil
War Horse: Rick Carter, Lee Sandales
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Nominees:
Best Achievement in Makeup
Nominees:
Albert Nobbs: Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson, Matthew W. Mungle
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight,Lisa Tomblin
The Iron Lady: Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Nominees:
The Adventures of Tintin: John Williams
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Alberto Iglesias
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Nominees:
The Muppets: Bret McKenzie("Man or Muppet")
Rio: Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, Siedah Garrett("Real in Rio")
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Nominees:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce,Bo Persson
Hugo: Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
Moneyball: Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco, Ed Novick
Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Peter J. Devlin
War Horse: Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Stuart Wilson
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Nominees:
Drive: Lon Bender, Victor Ray Ennis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Ren Klyce
Hugo: Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty
Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl
War Horse: Richard Hymns, Gary Rydstrom
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Nominees:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2: Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, John Richardson
Hugo: Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, Alex Henning
Real Steel: Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Danny Gordon Taylor, Swen Gillberg
Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White,Daniel Barrett
Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew E. Butler,John Frazier
Best Documentary, Features
Nominees:
Hell and Back Again: Danfung Dennis, Mike Lerner
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front: Marshall Curry, Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
Pina: Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel
Undefeated: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin, Rich Middlemas
Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Nominees:
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement: Robin Fryday, Gail Dolgin
God Is the Bigger Elvis: Rebecca Cammisa, Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad: James Spione
Saving Face: Daniel Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom: Lucy Walker, Kira Carstensen
Best Short Film, Animated
Nominees:
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore: William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg
A Morning Stroll: Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe
Wild Life: Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby
Best Short Film, Live Action
Nominees:
Raju: Max Zähle, Stefan Gieren
The Shore: Terry George, Oorlagh George