The 83rd Annual Academy Award Nominations...

The Oscar nominations were announced today and there were a number of surprises that caught more than a few people off guard. No Best Director nom for Christopher Nolan. Andrew Garfield being left off the Best Supporting list, and Ryan Gosling being left off the Best Actor list, as well. But, while some may disagree with who was left off, the question then becomes who would you kick off that is currently on there? Look at the Best Actor category. Hard to deny any of the men who are on there already. Personally, while I admired Tom Hooper's work on The King's Speech, when you compare it to the virtuosity and vision of Nolan, I do feel that he should have taken Hooper's spot. But it's hard to exclude the director of the front-runner, I guess. In any case, the nominees all look deserving, which is a good thing.

BEST PICTURE
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

BEST ANIMATED FILM
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David O. Russell, The Fighter

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Algeria)
Incendies (Canada)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Dogtooth (Greece)
Biutiful (Mexico)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Another Year, written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter, Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; 
Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception, written by Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right, written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 Hours, Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3, Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
True Grit, written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter’s Bone, adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

The Golden Globe Nominations - The Movies

Today's the the day that the awards ceremony with the inferiority complex (No, seriously, we're almost as prestigious as the Oscars! Seriously! Fuck it, we've got booze, okay?) announces their nominations. Let's take a look.

I'm going to make this a two-part post, and begin with a look at the movies before moving on to TV in part two.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
· AVATAR
· THE HURT LOCKER
· INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
· PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
· UP IN THE AIR

I haven't seen every one of these films yet. In fact, shamefully I have only seen Up in the Air and Inglourious Basterds. I'd say that while the former certainly deserves its spot, I found the latter to be an almost great film, held up by its episodic unevenness. It was the boldest film I've seen this year, though.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
· EMILY BLUNT
THE YOUNG VICTORIA
· SANDRA BULLOCK
THE BLIND SIDE
· HELEN MIRREN
THE LAST STATION
· CAREY MULLIGAN
AN EDUCATION
· GABOUREY SIDIBE
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE

Amazingly enough, I have yet to see any of these films, but I really want to see Precious. I suppose it's possible Sandra Bullock could deserve her nomination, but only in a Twilight Zone episode would she beat out Helen Mirren for anything other than a Blockbuster Video Award.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
· JEFF BRIDGES

CRAZY HEART
· GEORGE CLOONEY
UP IN THE AIR
· COLIN FIRTH
A SINGLE MAN
· MORGAN FREEMAN
INVICTUS
· TOBEY MAGUIRE
BROTHERS

Jeff Bridges is due. It's that simple. I haven't seen the flick, but he's fucking awesome in everything. He is simply overdue.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
· (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
· THE HANGOVER
· IT’S COMPLICATED
· JULIE & JULIA
· NINE

Unless Nine is incredible, it should really go to (500) Days of Summer.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
· SANDRA BULLOCK
THE PROPOSAL
· MARION COTILLARD
NINE
· JULIA ROBERTS
DUPLICITY
· MERYL STREEP
IT’S COMPLICATED
· MERYL STREEP
JULIE & JULIA

How is it possible Bullock is nominated twice? WTF. And Duplicity? I mean it was okay, and she was fun, but what about Zooey Deschanel?

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
· MATT DAMON
THE INFORMANT!
· DANIEL DAY-LEWIS
NINE
· ROBERT DOWNEY JR
SHERLOCK HOLMES
· JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
· MICHAEL STUHLBARG
A SERIOUS MAN


Shit, Daniel Day-Lewis queers everything. I mean, he's a genius. A living legend. If he weren't around, I would strongly push Gordon-Levitt, who's close to being the next huge thing.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
· PENÉLOPE CRUZ
NINE
· VERA FARMIGA
UP IN THE AIR
· ANNA KENDRICK
UP IN THE AIR
· MO’NIQUE
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
· JULIANNE MOORE
A SINGLE MAN

From what I hear, it's Mo'nique's to lose.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
· MATT DAMON
INVICTUS
· WOODY HARRELSON
THE MESSENGER
· CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER
THE LAST STATION
· STANLEY TUCCI
THE LOVELY BONES
· CHRISTOPH WALTZ
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

A tough one. This used to be a mortal lock for Christoph Walz, who stole that movie from Brad Pitt and Tarantino, but his heat has cooled a little. Plus, Christopher Plummmer may get the legendary vote.

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
· KATHRYN BIGELOW

THE HURT LOCKER
· JAMES CAMERON
AVATAR
· CLINT EASTWOOD
INVICTUS
· JASON REITMAN
UP IN THE AIR
· QUENTIN TARANTINO
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Some big guns here. I think Bigelow may get it. While I'm psyched that a sci-fi flick is being touted so highly, I'm not sure Cameron will really pull off the upset he needs. Invictus has yet to get the rapturous response Eastwood usually gets. Up in the Air is a quietly affecting film, and may suffer some backlash. Basterds is simply too divisive. The Hurt Locker is the scrappy little underdog and that may allow her to take the prize.

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
· NEILL BLOMKAMP, TERRI TATCHELL
DISTRICT 9
· MARK BOAL
THE HURT LOCKER
· NANCY MEYERS
IT'S COMPLICATED
· JASON REITMAN, SHELDON TURNER
UP IN THE AIR
· QUENTIN TARANTINO
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS