Cavalcade of Awesome

The Academy released the 2013 Oscar nominations for this year.  Being the big movie fan/Oscar dork that I am I usually like to take a look at the most popular categories and give you some of my thoughts on the decisions.  I’ve done this sort of recap since 2007 (for the 2006 movie year).  To see my previous reactions to the Oscar nominations go to the Oscars Wild archive page.

Now, let’s take a look at the “money” categories and judge how the Academy did this year.

Best Picture
Argo – This movie is excellent. I’m actually somewhat pissed at myself for not including it on my favorite movies of 2012 list, but it completely slipped my mind while I was writing.  Ben Affleck is 3-for-3 when directing movies.  And this one is the best one of the three.
Django Unchained – This, however, did make my favorite movies list.  It’s awesome and fun and 100% Tarantino.
Les Miserables – I like broadway shows.  However I have little to no desire to watch this despite the amazing cast.  The story looks depressing.
Life of Pi – Again, I have no desire to watch this.  The visuals look amazing but from the clips I’ve seen the movie looks too dreamy and weird.
Amour – There’s always one of these.  Literally never heard of this movie until today when they were making the announcements.  It’s about two married retired music teachers, one of which has a stroke and their love is tested……zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Lincoln – This looks amazing.  I need to see it ASAP.
Silver Linings Playbook – This has been on my radar for a while, and the fact that it’s getting all these noms bumps it up higher on my priorities.
Zero Dark Thirty – I’m not a military/war movie guy.  I just don’t like them, but this looks pretty good.
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Now there are two of these.  Never heard of this.  No desire to see it.  Sounds like a documentary on Neo Geo.

<RANT>I’m a little pissed that Marvel’s The Avengers didn’t make it into these Best Picture nominations.  You can’t tell me that Beasts of the Southern Wild and Amour aren’t a giant F**K YOU to Whedon and Marvel.  The Avengers received 1 nomination.  For Visual Effects.  Just THREE YEARS AGO f**king Avatar (special effects heavy, tent pole studio release similar to The Avengers) received NINE Oscar nominations including an appearance in Best Picture.  But the Academy has historically proven that they enjoy licking James Cameron’s hairy bean bag whenever they get a chance.</RANT>

Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook – I am a fan of “The Cooper”. And I mentioned earlier that this movie has crawled itself into my “must see” list.
Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln – Day-Lewis is intense and always great. I don’t always love his movies but I nearly always love watching the man perform his characters.
Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables – Good thing Hugh got this one in because I’m thinking he won’t be here next year for The Wolverine.
Joaquin Phoenix in The Master – Not a fan of Joaquin the man, or the actor. I liked him in Walk the Line as Johnny Cash and as Commodus in Gladiator. Other than that, I pretty much dislike everything he does.
Denzel Washington in Flight – Man, I really wanted to see this movie. I’ve have been digging everything Denzel has been doing for the last 10 years or so. And this movie looks GREAT. Good to see Zemekis may have a hit on his hands.

Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty – Like I said, I don’t like military/war movies but this looks good and she looks good in it.
Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook – I really like Jennifer Lawrence and pairing her with Bradley Cooper is win-win. For everyone.
Emmanuelle Riva in Amour – Whatever.
Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of Southern Wild – It’s impressive that at 9 years old she’s getting nominated.
Naomi Watts in The Impossible – And the “tsunami movie” gets a nom. I’m surprised it didn’t also make it into best picture. The Academy loves nominating these natural disaster movies especially if they portray real events. See United 93.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin in Argo – Excellent. Well deserved, he’s fantastic in this.
Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook – Hmmm, didn’t realize Bobby was in this movie.
Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master – I’m really not surprised by this. PSH gets a nom for at least one of his movies every year. And he deserves it, the guy is amazing.
Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln – Yes, Mr Jones is awesome and I love seeing him recognized for his work.
Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained – I won’t lie, this is who I want to win. Waltz won for Inglorious Basterds as well. And he deserves it again. He’s awesome in Django.

More thoughts:  I really wish Leonardo DiCaprio had made it into this category.  He was phenomenal as Calvin Candie in Django Unchained.  I thought the Academy loved Leo, but they totally snubbed him this year.  And it’s not like two actors from the same movie haven’t been nominated in the same category before.  In 1984 two actors from Amadeus were nominated for Best Actor.  It also happened in 1972 (Sleuth) and 1976 (Network), also for Best Actor.  For Supporting Actor it happened in 1976 (Rocky), 1980 (Ordinary People), 1983 (Terms of Endearment) and 1986 (Platoon).  Hell, Best Supporting Actor has had THREE ACTORS nominated from the same movie at least three times in 1954 (On the Waterfront), 1972 (The Godfather) and 1974 (The Godfather Part II).  So what happened, Academy?

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in The Master – I love Amy Adams, so I’m happy to see her recognized. I can’t say the same about the movie she’s in.
Sally Field in Lincoln – I can’t say I’m surprised that Lincoln is getting all these noms. Spielberg seems to be in top form.
Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables – Meh.
Helen Hunt in The Sessions – Helen Hunt is still acting?
Jackie Weaver in Silver Linings Playbook – Who?

Directing
Amour – Michael Haneke – Really, Academy?
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Benh Zeitlin – *shakes head* I’m tired.
Life of Pi – Ang Lee – Three pretentious choices.  I’m honestly surprised Paul Thomas Anderson isn’t in this list for The Master.
Lincoln – Steven Spielberg – Not surprising at all.
Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell – Okay, more reason to see this.

More thoughts:  I’m not saying I expected Joss Whedon to be in these noms but what about Ben Affleck for Argo or Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained or even Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty?

Writing – Original Screenplay
Amour – Michael Haneke – Why am I not surprised this is here?
Django Unchained – Quentin Tarantino – Gotta love this.  Extremely happy with this at least.  Even though Quentin also deserved a director nod.
Flight – John Gatins – This is a wild card pick.  I would never have guessed in 1000 years that the Academy would have nominated this.  Not that it’s a bad script but because the Academy is notoriously pretentious in this category.  To have both Django and this is very surprising.
Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola – The writing is good enough for a nom but none of the acting or directing is good enough.  You will never convince me that Wes Anderson makes good movies.
Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal – More evidence that I need to see this movie.

Writing – Adapted Screenplay
Argo – Chris Terrio – Excellent movie.  Excellent script.  I completely agree.
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin – *pinches bridge of nose* I have a headache.
Life of Pi – David Magee – Okay.
Lincoln – Tony Kushner – Still not seen the movie.  But I will ASAP.
Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell – Again, it’s on my list.

Those are the main “money” categories of noms.  There are many others like Animated Movie in which I really hope Wreck-It Ralph wins and the aforementioned Visual Effects category that houses the 1 Avengers nom.  I still can’t believe that.

This entry was posted on January 11, 2013 at 8:00 am and is filed under Academy Awards, movies, Oscars with tags Academy Awards, movies, Oscars, Oscars Wild. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.