Academy Award Nominations

First of all... Sorry I haven't posted recently, but I was extremely busy helping Sean Price film his first real movie for UNO. I was the director of photography and it was a really fun experience.

Now... the Academy Award nominations came out today. There were very few surprises, but the surprises that were there were either not interesting or simply stupid. For instance:

BLIND SIDE got a best picture nom!

We all knew that Sandra Bullock was going to be nominated for best actress (and strangely enough she seems to be the front runner, which still perplexes me), but Blind Side for best picture? I don't get it. This was not a highly acclaimed film, and yet all of the support for Sandra Bullock's performance appears to have snowballed into a massive awards season mindfuck.

Other surprises included Maggie Gylenhaal being nominated for Best Supporting Actress and
The Messenger being nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Shocking, right?

Here are a list of things I would have liked to have seen from the Academy Award nominations

1. The Fantastic Mr. Fox nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay
How can I say this? The Fantastic Mr. Fox is simply the BEST animated film I've seen in years. Not only is it visually dazzling, but it is almost incomprehensibly clever and funny.

2. Gabby Sidibe being given the Best Actress Award in advance
I know this is an unrealistic request, but I'm just not prepared to see either Meryl Streep or Sandra Bullock win for their coy, possibly stupid performances. Admittedly, I haven't actually seen either of these performances, but could they really be better than Gabby Sidible's raw, vulnerable and emotionally devastating turn as Precious?

3. Better nominees for best director
Other than Kathryn Bigelow and Lee Daniels, whom I both thought directed wonderful films, I thought the best director category could have been much stronger, although I'm inclined to give Quentin Tarantino a break here since I did think that Inglourious Basterds was one of his most visually interesting film in years. And James Cameron for Avatar? Although on an effects level, Avatar was superb, Cameron's direction itself was not as outstanding. And Jason Reitman's direction in Up in the Air was nothing more than the pinnacle of above-average competence. What about Wes Anderson, or Ramin Bahrin's poignant work in Goodbye, Solo?