That Actual Nominees Are In!

Horn blares: Check. President of the Academy: Check. Supporting Actress Winner: Check.

The Picture Nominees:


Folks, I just went 10 for 10 on the pic noms. Needless to say -- I'm a little impressed with myself on this snowy January morning. Take that, Seasonal Affected Disorder!

Best Director:


So you're telling me Christopher Nolan doesn't deserve a nomination for Inception. If I may borrow some words from Anthony Hopkins turn in Legends of the Fall, "Damn and blast you!" This is nothing short of absurd. For some reason, Nolan is not in the in-crowd of Oscar-ville despite film after high-grossing film.

I knew the Coens would be here. I suppose I knew somehow David O. Russel had to fit into the mix -- despite my lack of enthusiasm for all things Fighter. I must say I'm blind-sided (and not in the be-wigged Sandy Bullock sense) that it was at Nolan's expense.

Best Actress:

That's 5 for 5, McCue.

Best Actor:


Well hello, Mr. Bardem I did not expect to see you here. You are a former winner and you are fantastic. Thus, this should come as no surprise. But, it is definitely the most surprising nom of the lot. I did not expect you to take out Mark Wahlberg if there weren't also going to be an appearance by Leo or (more probably) Ryan Gosling. I suppose Leo can rest comfortably in the fact that he is the bee's knees the world over. Ryan Gosling may dream of these moments to channel into his next deeply depressing feature film.

Mr. Wahlberg, on the other hand, is seeing his work as a producer pay off. Yes, everyone is going to simply keep talking about this -- but this is a major shift for an actor. It was one thing to be one of the producers of "Entourage." In some ways it was a fluke hit -- in others a slam dunk. But walking out of The Departed as the co-producer of Scorsese's new HBO series rather than the star of his next project shows the way Mark has carved his own path away from Leo. Is he taking the Warren route to Leo's Jack? Interesting.

Best Supporting Actress:


4 out of 5 ain't bad in this category either.

While I don't think Mila Kunis had a chance of winning -- I do feel for her this morning as Jacki Weaver slides back into the mix along with the no-surprise nomination of True Grit's Hailee Steinfeld. Weaver was winning awards throughout the opening of the season bagging multiple critic's trophies. Hailee, on the other hand, is what I would consider the story of the year -- even more than wee Natalie. Steinfeld truly carried the entirety of True Grit, putting up her dukes against two Oscar winners.

Steinfeld could damn well walk in the back door and pull a Paquin.

Best Supporting Actor:


4 out of 5 again.

Not Matt Damon, but the SAG nominated John Hawkes who slid in to knock Andrew Garfield out of the running. Hawkes is one of the many examples of the "much love" given to Winter's Bone by the Academy this year. He's an actor I know best from "Deadwood" where he was superb. I'm happy to see him get recognition here.

Adapted Screenplay:

And so the two most vulnerable of my picks fell directly to the two scripts I said could knock them. In my loose-grading teacher ways, I'm calling that a 5 for 5.

I'm just going to James Cagney it up, look back at my predictions and say, "There's only two ways this can go down, see?"

So the morning after my predictions, the Academy went Plan B: No Rabbit Hole. No Town. We'll take Toy Story 3 and Winter's Bone instead.

Sorkin still seems a dead-lock. But being in a screenplay category with the late in the game arrival of the Coen Brothers and the sentimental favorite Toy Story 3 -- the ol' button-hole cocktail party confessional film where your close Hollywood chums have had to say, "You know what's actually the best movie this year..." -- well it has to give that West Winger pause.

By the way, do you think Debra Winger would ever be daring enough to name a kid "West" or even "Wes"? Something to think about.

Best Original Screenplay:

So here is where Nolan gets his love -- and I wonder if this means it shall also be the place where he will get his award. He could well tumble to Cholodenko or Seidler. But finger's crossed.

As predicted the thickly bearded head of Mike Leigh did in fact poke itself on into the category. But who knew that Brit would punch his way through with enough buckshot to take out the Swan?!

No Kunis? No Script? This gives the Academy very few opportunities to recognize Swan with a collective trophy to acknowldege the pic in one shot. At the same time, it makes one wonder how much folks were blown away by Black Swan beyond Darren and Nat. An interesting turn of events both in this and the supporting actress category.

So What's the Story?


Glancing at the nominees across the board, it seems the clearest story here is that the Academy likes its own. With the exception of Jacki Weaver and John Hawkes -- both welcome new editions to the slate of nominees -- each time there was a slight surprise in a category, it was by a former winner or a nominated regular -- a good midday to you, Mike Leigh.

Look at the love for 127 Hours. I shall never see that movie, so expect neither a review nor a perspective. It may well be a masterpiece. I'll happily live in the dark on this one. But it comes as no surprise that Danny Boyle's Slumdog follow-up should get nominations straight down the line. Particularly when it includes the screenplay winner and a formerly nominated actor.

Javier Bardem -- surprising as his appearance may be -- is no stranger to the Kodak: a multi-nominee and former winner.

Michelle Williams and Nicole Kidman holding tough -- not a surprise when it's a former winner and a former nominee.

Much as it seems like wishful thinking in what may prove to be one of the more benignly non-dramatic award seasons in recent years -- I wonder what The Social Network team thinks of the amount of attention True Grit and Toy Story 3 received this morning. If there were an additional Damon nomination I would say we truly have a horse race on our hands. I wonder if the lack of Andrew Garfield is the "six of one, half dozen of the other" flip-side of that coin.  If The Fighter takes best ensemble at this weekend's SAG Awards -- that will remain a mystery.

Good stuff!

- Matthew J. McCue