Oscar Thoughts

The Oscar Nominations are never without controversy and 2007's were no different. When they were annouced Tuesday morning, many were expecting Dreamgirls to finish with a huge number of nominations, and those predictors were not incorrect. However, not many thought that almost half of their total eight nominations would come from the Best Song category and not a single one from Best Picture, Best Director or Best Adapted Screenplay. In fact, the film was shut out of all the major categories, only coming out with nominations in the supporting actor and actress (Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson respectively) and technical fields. For a film that was expected to be a major contender, this can't be looked at as anything but a massive disappointment. Yet, for this writer, Dreamgirls struggles were not the biggest surprise of the morning. Rather, Volver's inability to receive a nomination for either Best Original Screenplay or even Best Foreign Film struck me as being the shocker of the morning. If you had asked most people on Monday evening to name a guaranteed nomination for Best Foreign Film, I would be willing to wager that many of them would be confident in predicting not only a nomination but win for Volver. Instead, it looks like the clear favorite has to be Guillermo Del Toro's magical Pan's Labyrinth, which has become a critical darling, gracing as many top ten lists as any other film this year.

Other surprises:

-Brad Pitt not being nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Babel. Most critics thought that Pitt was superb, regardless of their overall feelings on the film and his non-nomination struck me as surprising. The Academy nomally loves stars who contribute gutsy, daring performances and I would have thought Pitt would be no different.

-Djimon Honsou's (who very well could have pushed out Pitt) nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Blood Diamond was a pleasant surprise for me. I thought that his performance played perfectly off of DiCaprio's and without it, the film would have worse than it already was. Come to think of it, without either of those performances, the film is no more than a brainless Hollywood actioner masquerading as a message film. This, coming from a self-proclaimed Edward Zwick fan.

-Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson getting nothing for their wonderful work in The Departed. Granted, Leo's performance in Blood Diamond was rightfully nominated but I thought both could have gotten Best Supporting Actor noms and no one would have complained. Nicholson is at his over the top best, providing the film with some of its best lines and scenes.

-Letters From Iwo Jima getting the nomination for Best Picture. I thought it would be locked out due to it being in Japanese but one must never forget that the Academy loves Clint.

- Helen Mirren's nomination for The Queen. I mean, was she really that good?

-Just kidding on the last one, making sure you're with me.

-Ryan Gosling picking up a Best Actor nod for Half Nelson. Thought it'd be way too indie for the Academy. A drug abusing teacher? Its a far cry from Poitier in To Sir, With Love (which wasn't nominated either but seems much more likely to have been, maybe this is a moot point).

-Two of the best films of the year, United 93 and Children of Men being almost completely shut out. No Best Picture for either, only two nominations for United 93 and three for Children of Men. Also, World Trade Center receiving no nominations was surprising as well. Maybe Oscar isn't ready for 9/11?

-Phillip Glass' annoying, overbearing score for Notes on a Scandal gets nominated. Is this a joke? No way this should have been recognized. Also, how does the score for The Painted Veil, win the Golden Globe for Best Original Score and then not even get a nod for the Oscars? I dont understand. Not that I'm pulling for Desplat and The Painted Veil, its just confusing.

-Is there a less surprising nomination than the one for Randy Newman for Best Original Song ("Our Town" from Cars)? Everything he touches in a Pixar movie immedietely turns a golden Oscar hue.

-Click being nominated for Best Makeup. Granted I haven't seen Click but the nominees are Pan's Labyrinth, Apocalypto and Click. Nothing for the gore effects in Flags of our Fathers, anything in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest or Marie Antoinette. Click's aging makeup better be spectacular, innovative work or I'll be wildly disappointed.

-The Black Dahlia's nomination for Best Cinematography is very warranted but I was actually surprised it didn't pick up any more smaller noms (Art Direction, Costumes). Say what you will about the narrative and acting but technically, the film is flawless, nearly virtuoso.

-Borat for Best Adapted Screenplay? Wasn't most of it completely improvised? I understand its adapted from the TV show but how do you nominated the scripting as being some of the best of the year. I agree that this film should be recognized but I think it would have been much better suited for a Best Actor nod for Sacha Baron Cohen's spectacularly funny work.

What surprised you?