The most notable of the few inconsequential surprises was the breadth of the Best Picture slate, which ended accommodating nine nominees. Apparently Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close wasn't dead in the water after all; it was just extremely quiet and incredibly close to a Best Picture nomination. I thought I had dodged a bullet in not having to watch this critically derided film, but now I'll have to check it out. With only one other nomination under its belt (for sentimental favourite Max von Sydow, who could stealthily usurp Plummer's long overdue Oscar), one can't help but feel that this particular Best Picture nominee is out of place. This year's Blind Side? I'll hold off on a true opinion until I see it.
The other semi-surprise Best Picture contender turned out to be The Tree of Life, also nominated in Best Director for Terrence Malick. I fist-pumped upon hearing this news, although I was brought back down a bit when I saw it shafted in Visual Effects. Pssh. And in favour of Real Steel? Lame.
The Acting categories offered few shockers (beyond von Sydow). The SAG snubs of Albert Brooks, Michael Fassbender, and Shailene Woodley made it easier to anticipate their snubs with AMPAS. Tilda Swinton's snub stings a little more, but the Academy clearly didn't dig the movie. Shame about that. But the long-awaited chance to call Gary Oldman an Academy Award nominated actor is sweet sweet nectar to the lips of any cinephile. His Best Actor mention for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is deeply satisfying.
Personally, my favourite nomination of the day is the Adapted Screenplay nod for The Ides of March, which I stuck my neck out for at the last minute. Classy. Over in Original Screenplay, it feels kinda weird to see A Separation and Bridesmaids competing on the same field, but I suppose you take the good with the bad.
Presumed Documentary frontrunners Project Nim and Bill Cunningham: New York were curiously left out of the running, leaving that race wide open, while Tintin was predictably shafted in Animated Feature, but made room for the wonderful Chico & Rita.
The craft categories were pretty spread out besides the dominance of Hugo and The Artist. The last minute push for The Descendants yielded a critical Film Editing nod without which it would have been truly sunk. My suspicion that Tinker Tailor was poised for a disappointing snub in Art Direction turned out to be true, which royally f***ing sucks, but at least it got some love for Alberto Iglesias' elegant score. CAS and MPSE juggernaut Super 8 was stoned cold in both Sound categories. And finally, I cannot overemphasize how loud I laughed when I saw Best Original Song. Seriously, I laughed long and hard for at least 30 seconds (I'm not exaggerating about that).
My predictions were an abysmal 71/104. I only got one category perfect (Cinematography), and was destroyed in Documentary, Sound Editing, and Original Screenplay. What I will brag about are a few of my advanced predictions from back in May. I had 4/5 Best Cinematography nominees nailed down back then, and I predicted all five of our Best Actress nominees for a nomination (although I had Viola Davis in Supporting, so it's not a true 5/5 match-up).
Bring on phase 2!
