The (Particularly) Left Out.

There are plenty of folks who woke far too early this morning and waited for the phone to ring. Some expecting it far too much, like Steven Spielberg who was rumored to have an entire camera crew at his home, ready for the Jaws directing nomination he didn't receive. Others simply hopeful, waiting for the phone to ring, bringing with it the sound of a career change. To those folks, I offer my condolences.

I've already pointed out my surprise over the lack of Christopher Nolan's directorial nomination -- I'm sure being nominated as writer and producer served as some form of consolation. The same goes for Mark Wahlberg. Despite its multitude of nominations, Roderick Jaynes -- the Coen Brothers' editorial alias -- was omitted, as well. A stunner considering nearly every best picture winner in the history of film has at least been nominated in this category and at the moment (at least according to the buzz I'm generating) True Grit is at least neck and neck with The King's Speech if not gaining considerable ground of The Social Network.

I didn't have the chance to comb through the technical nominations thoroughly until this evening and it's surprising to see the various mini-scandals in these often overlooked categories.

The Black Swan is surprisingly under-nominated. I wonder about the ears of those who nominate in the sound editing and mixing categories. That film was nothing if not soundtracked to the max. Perhaps the fluttering Natalie Portman or the visuals of Darren Aronofsky caught too much of the audience's attention -- even if that audience consisted of qualified Academy voters. But for those of us who spent a good lot of the film with eyes covered, the soundscape was something else. I'm truly stunned.

I am also stunned by the lack of Kunis, despite what JAG may have to say about it. I'm hoping to see far more of Mila and a nomination in the next few years.

Andrew Garfield rests comfortably with a Spiderman contract. Matt Damon with a happy family and an Oscar. Both were true omissions.

But perhaps the biggest stunner to me is Waiting for Superman. Is there a documentary rule I know nothing about that barred this particular pic from making it into the elite five? Did it play on television? Did it miss a festival? Did it somehow botch its awards run technically? We can all love Bansky and Sebastian Junger as much as we like -- the former obviously being far more important than the latter. But Waiting for Superman seemed the non-fiction film we were all required to see this year. And yet it ends its run without the ability to say "Academy Award Nominee" -- that seems impossible.

Up until the awards I'll attack the picture nominees -- except 127 Hours...  I'm not joking, I won't see it. I'll go after the awards category by category. I'll lay out what pictures won my heart, my mind, and which I think will take home Golden Boys.

I thank those of you who have been reading and commenting. I'm looking forward to you all watching me completely miscalculate the winners -- wishful thinking always gets in the way. Hopefully you'll recall how well I did picking the noms! Can't that count for something?

- Matthew J. McCue