Best Picture
The Artist (Thomas Langmann)
The Descendants (Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Scott Rudin)
The Help (Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green)
Hugo (Graham King, Martin Scorsese)
Midnight in Paris (Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum)
Moneyball (Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt)
The Tree of Life (Dede Gardner, Sarah Green, Grant Hill, Bill Pohlad)
War Horse (Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg)
You want proof that the new system doesn't work? Your proof is here. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has a lower Metascore than any other film ever before nominated for Best Picture, and only the second (after The Blind Side) with one review at 0. Nine nominees is a bit pathetic too - it's only one off ten, and weren't they just admitting that that hadn't worked? To think, also, that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been left off, despite its DGA nomination, is a big shame. Forget about The Tree of Life - the support is evidently there anyway. It has a Best Director nomination in a field of five. Academy, just admit it. Five worked best. Go back to that. And I was optimistic about this new format...
Best Director
Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)
Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
Martin Scorsese (Hugo)
Very happy for Terrence Malick. Against the odds, with so little support from the guilds, he has secured a Best Director nomination. I always thought the Academy would respond well to The Tree of Life, I just didn't think it'd be this well! Indeed, this may be the year the Academy separated itself from the guilds, after separating themselves from the critics last year (they've kind of done that this year too). Malick over Fincher means something.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir (A Better Life)
George Clooney (The Descendants)
Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
Two things are all that are keeping me from booking a flight to L.A. and slapping Tom Sherak in the face right now. One is that so many of the all-time greatest performances went unnoticed by the Academy (Jeremy Iron in Dead Ringers, Naomi Watts in Mulholland Dr., John Huston in Chinatown etc.). The other is that Gary Oldman is in - now in his 50s, delivering his best performance to date, one of the best of the year too, and not expected to earn this nomination by many, he is nevertheless one of AMPAS' five honorees. But all the same, Michael Fassbender is not. And I am PISSED.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
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)
I'm so freaking pleased for Glenn Close. It's something of a fuck you to the haters ;) And equally pleased for Rooney Mara. Sure, Tilda Swinton has had to lose out (isn't it ridiculous to think that she's only been nominated once?!?) but I didn't think it was her best performance, nor one of the best five of the year in this category.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn)
Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
Nick Nolte (Warrior)
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)
I was so hoping to see Albert Brooks in here. It's not just for him...in fact, it's not for him at all. It's for Drive, a film I so wanted the Academy to love. All it has is a Sound Editing nomination. Now Max von Sydow may not deserve this nomination this year but, like his co-nominee and likeness Christopher Plummer, this is only his second nomination. What the fuck, I know. But with Brooks out of the picture, this isn't Plummer's to lose, simply because he cannot lose it now. And this may be one of my favourite categories: of all four acting categories, it's the only one to contain my pick (Nick Nolte).
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)
Jessica Chastain (The Help)
Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)
Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Here's the thing. These are all good performances. But only one stands out for me, and that's Janet McTeer. Bejo is good, but not brilliant. The same goes for Spencer. McCarthy was funny, but far from my favourite thing about Bridesmaids. Chastain was better in Take Shelter. McTeer is the only one out of these five who would have been in my five, and she's perhaps the least likely to win.
Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
J.C. Chandor (Margin Call)
Asghar Farhadi (A Separation)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids)
I am so, so happy to see A Separation in this list. It's definitely the best screenplay of the year. Margin Call is another great choice. In fact, Bridesmaids aside, these are very good, and I'm happy enough to see the fab Kristen Wiig nominated for an Oscar.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Stan Chervin, Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian (Moneyball)
George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon (The Ides of March)
Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne and Jim Rash (The Descendants)
John Logan (Hugo)
Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
Another good surprise in the screenplay categories - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, my favourite adaptation of the year. Not so sure that The Ides of March or Hugo deserve to be here - both are patchily written, with good bits and disappointing bits. But this is between the other two - Moneyball and The Descendants. I think The Descendants will take it, what with it hitting the four biggest assets with regards to winning Best Picture (directing, acting, writing and editing)
