And the nominees are....

Despite doubts that we may not get an Academy Awards show this year(settle the strike,Hollywood! Pay those writers what they deserve!),there was still plenty of excitement over who will and what film would rake in the most Oscar nominations. Kathy Bates was the co-announcer of the noms this morning and perhaps a harbinger of the many surprising names that were read off today.

The selections were very arthouse,with movies like Michael Clayton,There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men taking top spots. If you want a full list of the nominees,here it is. Instead of going over each and every one of the contenders,I've broken it down into three basic catagories: The Good,The Bad and Are You Serious?!



THE GOOD

Congrats to Ellen Page,Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman for getting some major props for Juno,which is up for Best Picture,Director,Original Screenplay and Best Actress. Some will argue that Juno is simply this year's Little Miss Sunshine but for a young actress like Page(who I haven't seen in this movie but was very impressed by her work in Hard Candy)to be a first time nominee against the likes of Julie Christie,Cate Blanchett(a double nom,she's up for her turn at playing Bob Dylan in I'm Not There in the Best Supporting section)and Laura Linney is quite the life altering event,to say the least.



Enchanted took most of the slots for Best Song(the other two went to Once and August Rush)and out of the three,I think that "So Close" has the best shot at winning. It's the most romantic song of the bunch,which is always a crowd pleaser with the Academy voters:





A major stand-out in the Best Animated Film catagory is Persepolis,the graphic novel adaptation of Marjane Satrapi's life and times in post-Shah Iran. While I haven't seen the film,I did read and was amazed by Satrapi's artistic memoirs and am happy to see her story get such a chance to be honored,even along side the likes of "Surf's Up!"

Usually Oscar nominated films receive a wider release after the announcement,which may help more folks to have a shot at seeing this movie on the big screen. I certainly hope that's the case here:






THE BAD

Not only was Hairspray totally ignored,so was Adrienne Shelly's swan song,Waitress,a true cinematic sin. Come on,guys-bad enough that you couldn't even toss a technical nom to Hairspray for Costumes or Make-up(grrr...I'll get to that later)but to not even acknowledge all of the care and hard work that Shelly as writer/director/ and one of the supporting players,is beyond the pale.

Why not atleast an Original Screenplay nomination? Does Michael Clayton really need that extra feather in their cap? And what is up with all of the love for that damn movie,anyway? No,I didn't see it and I never had any desire to, for two reasons; a)I am so over George Clooney that he's not even a blip on my pop culture radar,and b)if I wanted to be entertained by a sanctimonious "noble lawyer" story,I'd still be reading John Grisham. I'm not alone on this one,folks!



Also snubbed was Keira Knightley and James McAvoy from Atonement(their young co-star Saoirse Ronan managed to snag a Best Supporting Actress nom),Judd Apatow and friends for Knocked Up,Angelina Jolie for A Mighty Heart and Helena Bonham-Carter as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd. Sweeney did get a major nom with Johnny Depp up for Best Actor(which has him up against Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood,a strong shoo-in for the win)and some tech ones as well,but it would've been great if Tim Burton had gotten a Best Director slot.



ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!!

Brace yourselves,folks-Norbit has received an Oscar nomination. Yes,it is a contender for Best Make-Up,along with Pirates of the Carribean 3 and La Vie En Rose. One of the most hideously bad films of this or any year,a movie that has nearly tied with Lindsay Lohan's I Know Who Killed Me for the most Razzie nominations will be forever known as an Academy Award nominee.

I actually wound up watching Norbit on cable a couple of weekends ago(if you're ever up too early in the morning and your viewing choices are either Norbit or an infomerical,go with the infomerical. You'll feel way better about yourself afterwards.)and it was even more worse than I imaged. This movie is so bad that they can't even show it on an international flight because it would be a major violation of the Geneva Convention. If Jack Bauer needs to torture someone in the next season of 24,all he has to do in pop this rancid non-laugh fest of a flick in the DVD player and press Play. They'll crack in no time.



A COUPLE OF EARLY PREDICTIONS

Most of the Hollywood savvy are saying that Javier Bardem will definitely take home an Oscar for his work in No Country For Old Men and that Cate Blanchett has a better shot at winning in the Supporting Actress catagory for I'm Not There. I agree with those picks ,and my gut instinct regarding the Best Picture race is for Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood.

I'm not a major PTA fan at all. While I liked certain parts of Boogie Nights,I didn't feel as if the sum added up to the whole towards the end of the movie. Magnolia,I didn't bother with since it seemed to scream "BIG ARTISTIC STATEMENT!" out to all and sundry. However,you should never write anyone off in the arts. When you least expect it,that guy or gal who seemed to be such a poser before can turn around on a dime and gobsmack you with a frickin' brilliant bit of work.

Daniel Day-Lewis is THE front runner in the Best Actor race but he's not the only horse to bet on here. PTA has clearly stepped out of his usual comfort zone and brought to the screen something truly larger than life. Yet another film that I haven't seen but one that I certainly intend to and already am prepared to be awed by. Like the judge once said regarding pornography,when it comes to quality,I know it when I see it: