2012 Oscar Nominees Announced and Cause Some Uproar

This morning, Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence joined the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences president Tom Sherak to reveal this year’s Oscar nominees. This event, however, did not pass without upsetting some. Even, press in attendance were left murmuring in shock as some of the nominees were left out. Whether it be Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close receiving a Best Picture nod or The Adventures of Tintin being snubbed in the Best Animated Feature category, surprises were aplenty today.

Check out the full list of nominees below as well as some of my thoughts on each category. The 84th Academy Awards will be airing on ABC on February 26th this year. Billy Crystal is set to host the awards show, marking his ninth time as host of the Oscars.

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

First off, the biggest travesty here is Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. There were high hopes for this movie, I think, but those didn’t pan out. The movie is sitting at 48% on Rotten Tomatoes right now. Does anymore really need to be said? Well, anything other than the fact that Tom Hanks is on The Academy board. Next up is The Tree of Life. Sorry, but I don’t get the appeal of this. I think this is just a matter of people buying into the hype and joining the bandwagon so as to appear intellectual and sophisticated. That’s all I can gather at least. The movie is a disjointed, incoherent mess that is about as entertaining as watching a tree grow. A very self-absorbed, pretentious tree at that. Malick can create pretty pictures, but quite frankly he’s crap at telling a story. Meanwhile, the critically-acclaimed and the lauded Drive is left out along with Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. There were probably several more deserving movies from 2011 than the two aforementioned nominees. And quite honestly, couldn’t they have just thrown a tenth nominee in there so that Harry Potter could at least get a nod to tribute how great the franchise has been?

Best Actor
Demián Bichir – A Better Life
George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt – Moneyball

Yet another surprise category here. I think many expected Leonardo DiCaprio to get a nod here (and be a potential front-runner) for his role in J. Edgar. Also, Michael Fassbender has been continuously praised for his work in Shame, yet he makes no appearance here. Also, we see no mention of Ryan Gosling for either of his three critically-acclaimed movies. Frankly, I’m not sure Brad Pitt should be on this list. That is not to say that he didn’t do a good job. I liked his performance and really enjoyed Moneyball. However, it would seem that one of the previously mentioned actors would be more deserving of that spot. Meanwhile, sorry, but I have no idea who Demián Bichir is or what A Better Life is, so I can’t comment on that one. One final note: I don’t think Tom Hardy gets enough credit for his performance in Warrior.

Best Actress
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis – The Help
Rooney Mara - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn

This category seemed like there was plenty to choose from that would make viable candidates as everybody seemed to have their favorites. I think the three biggest complaints I’ve seen here are the lack of nominations for Charlize Theron (Young Adults), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin) and Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene). I have yet to see any of those three performances so I can’t comment on that. On that note, I never really got the appeal of Meryl Streep and especially Glenn Close. I imagine neither of their performances (which I haven’t seen either) would be anything to leave me in awe enough to want them to win. I do imagine, however, that this race will be a 3-way battle between Streep, Williams and Davis.

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Albert Brooks was considered to be a lock for a nomination in this category due to his performance in Drive. However, he was one of the many that had to wake up to disappointment Tuesday morning after finding out about the crazy selections The Academy had made. Patton Oswalt was another that many had high regards for due to his turn in Young Adults. Furthermore, this is the category they were pushing for Andy Serkis to finally get his acknowledgment after his brilliant contribution to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. But instead, we get Jonah Hill? Really? Not to say his performance was bad. Like Brad Pitt in Moneyball, I liked his performance and the movie, but I didn’t think it was that special. I’m not entirely sure I would put Max von Sydow in there either. Instead, I would take Max and Jonah out and replace them with Serkis and Brooks.

Best Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo – The Artist
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer – The Help

No real surprises here, I don’t think. In fact, these are the exact same nominees that SAG came up with as well. At the end of the day, though, I think these nominations are just formalities as it’s seeming that this one is Octavia’s for the taking.

Best Director
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Martin Scorsese – Hugo

Again with Terrence Malick. Again, I don’t see the appeal and didn’t think his direction of this movie was that good at all really (for the reasons previously mentioned). I also don’t really get the appeal of Woody Allen (never have). Meanwhile, we see the legendary Steven Spielberg with no mention at all (he got snubbed with the DGA Awards as well). And the great David Fincher doesn’t receive a nod here either. Frankly, I’d be more than happy to take Malick and Allen away here and replace them with Spielberg and Fincher. Of course, that also leaves out Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive who is probably deserving of a spot in here as well.

Best Animated Feature
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Now here is the snub that irks me the most. The Adventures of Tintin is nowhere to be seen. Really? Instead we get two foreign animated films (which I haven’t seen so I won’t comment on) and then Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots. Tintin easily blows either of those out of the water. The movie even picked up Best Animated Feature at the Golden Globes earlier this month, but seemingly isn’t even worthy of a nod here? Just ridiculous. I even feel Tintin tops Rango and should have easily picked up at least a nomination here in place of either Kung Fu Panda or Puss in Boots. Many would argue for an appearance by Arthur Christmas as well. So here you go AMPAS, scrap the panda and the pussy and bring in Arthur and Tintin. That way you get deserving movies in there and still get to keep your indie/foreign animations.

Best Documentary Feature
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

I’m not a documentary person. Never have been really, though I will watch them on occasion. That being said, I absolutely have no dog in this fight. In fact, I’ve never heard of any of these. I have heard really great things about Senna and Project Nim however, and neither appear on this list. Nor do Buck and Cave of Forgotten Dreams which I have also heard good things about.

Best Foreign Language Film
Bullhead (Belgium)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
A Separation (Iran)

Now, I’m much more into watching foreign language movies than I am documentaries, but again I have no idea what any of these are. I have at least heard of A Separation, though. I’m surprised not to see The Skin I Live In on here after all I’ve heard about it. Also, whatever happened to Uncle Boonmee?

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
Hugo – John Logan
The Ides of March – George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
Moneyball – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan

I really have no problem at all with any of these selections. I am, however, a bit surprised not to see The Help on here given all the love that movie has received. But I have no problem with the choices here.

Best Original Screenplay
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids – Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig
Margin Call – J.C. Chandor
Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
A Separation – Asghar Farhadi

Seriously, I have no idea what all this appeal is about Bridesmaids. Yes, it was funny. I enjoyed it. But I think people are blowing it way out of proportion. I think people are overly praising this movie for the contribution it made with strong female leads in a comedy. Not to mention riding on the coattails of The Hangover, which the marketing threw in our face every chance it got. That being said, I did like the movie and I’m not entirely mad at the nomination as this finally gives some credibility and acknowledgment to the comedy category which the Academy seems to overlook so often. I think the biggest WTF element here, though, is the absence of 50/50. I imagine some might be a bit put off by Young Adults not getting a nod either.

Best Cinematography
The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo – Robert Richardson
The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse – Janusz Kaminski

I think, at this point, I’ve made it clear that I don’t get all the fuss for The Tree of Life. However, I will not object to Malick’s film receiving a nod here. As I’ve stated before, the movie was indeed pretty to look at. As such, it definitely deserves a nomination in this category. In fact, this is about the only category it should have been nominated in. That being said, this is another where I have no problem with any of the nominees. However, I would have liked to have seen Drive get a nod here as it was definitely worthy of it.

Best Art Direction
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse

While I was never a huge fan of the franchise (my girlfriend is gonna kill me for that), it’s kinda sad to see the finale in the Harry Potter saga is confined to simply a couple nomination in third-tier visual categories. But I am glad to see it get something, and I hope it walks away with one of these. I should note, too, that this is the only other category I would not have minded seeing Tree of Life get a nomination in. I fully expect this to go to Hugo, unless the Academy decides to take pity on Potter and let the franchise walk away with this as a consolation prize. P.S. The art direction of Bunraku completely shits all over the majority of these. If the Academy ever took notice to independent foreign genre flicks, I would fully expect Bunraku to be here and I’d be cheering for it. Alas, the Academy is too snooty for that. Also, I really wouldn’t have hated to see Sucker Punch getting a nod here; after all, that is Snyder’s strongest suit and the best part of that movie (which I feel people were way too critical about).

Best Costume Design
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Per usual, this category is filled with a bunch of period pieces; and per usual, I could give a shit less about this category. I have no interest in who wins as this will serve as a bathroom break for me as the Academy hands out their trophy to the tailor/seamstress who does the better job of making out-of-fashion attire look fashionable again in their obsession with Colonial/Old English attire. Why not mix things up once in a while? Throw in a Pirates of the Caribbean nomination here. Or even throw Sucker Punch in there. Hell, they could have even thrown Captain America in here.

Best Film Editing
The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball

Here’s another where I left wondering, “Where the hell is the love for Drive?” Other than that, I really have no preferences for this category either, though I could see this being used as another consolation prize of sorts. This time for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

Best Makeup
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
The Iron Lady

So we have aging makeup versus Valdemort. Here’s hoping for another consolation prize for Potter and gang. That being said, I’m not sure on this, but is the limit three nominees for this category? If not (and even still if it is), where the hell are nominations for some of the superhero movies (like X-Men: First Class) or even something like On Stranger Tides?

Best Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

The Academy doesn’t have much love for overly mainstream blockbuster movies, especially those of the action variety. Of course, they don’t want those box office record-setters to go completely ignored, so this is usually where they get their day in the sun. That being said, I’m not mad at any of these choices. I think it’s pretty apparent, though, that this will probably where they give Andy Serkis his consolation prize due to his Supporting Actor snub. I really wouldn’t have minded seeing First Class or Sucker Punch get a nod here either.

Best Original Score
The Adventures of Tintin – John Williams
The Artist – Ludovic Bource
Hugo – Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
War Horse – John Williams

How do last year’s winners of this category turn in another great score and yet don’t even receive a nomination. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were yet two more victims added to the long list of snubs this year. It wouldn’t have been hard. Just take away one of John Williams’ nominations and give it to Reznor and Ross.

Best Original Song
“Man or Muppet” – The Muppets
“Real in Rio” – Rio

Seriously? Only two songs. The Academy is just getting lazy it seems. Even since The Muppets came out, I suspected this might be their consolation prize. But seriously, can the Academy at least pretend it’s not a foregone conclusion. Hell, I’m beginning to think they wouldn’t have even added “Real in Rio” if they didn’t need to put up the facade that there was at least some competition. Really? There were only two songs worth nomination this year? Hell, they could have probably pulled another two nominees from The Muppets alone. Or what about that song from Gnomeo and Juliet? Seriously AMPAS, just pitiful.

Best Sound Editing
Drive
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

I’m pretty sure most people don’t even know what the difference between this category and the next are; nor what each really entails. But hey, it is another chance for some of the big action blockbusters to at least receive a nomination. I have no problem with any of the nominees here. I would like to see Transformers get the win here, though, as I feel it’s just as worthy as any of the others. Furthermore, I’d just like to be able to finally laugh in the faces of all the haters as I call Transformers an Oscar-winning franchise (yea, I like the movies, haters; get over it).

Best Sound Mixing
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

While there is a technical difference between this category and the previous, I think I’m pretty much of the mind that they should just combine them. Just make a Best Sound category and be done with it. Hell, most of the time the two categories share the same winner anyways. That being said, again no problem with the nominees (though Moneyball seems a bit odd), but I say let’s give this to Transformers as well so I can enjoy more tears from the haters.

Best Animated Short
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Best Live Action Short
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

Best Documentary Short
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God is the Bigger Elvis
Incident on New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Chances are I will never see any of these shorts anyways. Thus, I have nothing I can say about any of them, nor do I have much care in any of the Short Film categories.