81st Academy Award Nominations

[fire_of_avalon]

That list is god awful.

I mostly agree. Gran Torino snub? I never.

I've never even HEARD of The Reader.

That said, go Frost/Nixon! Hopefully you'll get something.

Really? It's really popular. I think I might see it in a couple weeks.

I have had trouble caring about the academy awards for years because of stuff like this. The picks are just always so obvious.

But I guess overall this year didn't really see an onslaught of great movies either, compared to other years. Oh well.

Yeah, I think this is pretty pertinent. They do it the same every year. All of the "Oscar-worthy" films come out in select cities about a month before the Golden Globes. In fact, most films that are nominated/win for the GGs aren't even released nationally by the time the awards are presented. So, clearly, no one really cares about the average person's take on a film - although average people are exactly what keep the industry afloat. Film is a really, really weird art form, isn't it?

That being said, Benji with Buttons is going to win everything because Danny Boyle is an outsider and Mickey Rourke is "washed up" and Hollywood hates stuff that isn't routine and sexy. It's really, really sad.

[Psychotic]

Paul, that's not even from this year.

Well yeah, it's from 2008, but then again so is the Dark Knight etc. etc.

[edczxcvbnm]

Don't worry Paul...it was nomiated for WORST picture of the year for the Razzies =D

ROTTEN TOMATOES: Razzies Name 2008's Worst Movie Nominees

[Tavrobel]

Well yeah, it's from 2008, but then again so is the Dark Knight etc. etc.

Season. My apologies.

[charliepanayi]

I think Best Picture is between Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, with the former as the slight favourite at the moment. It currently has the momentum anyway. They may choose to split Best Film/Director between the two films perhaps.

I felt that Best Actor was between Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn, but Frank Langella could be a dark horse in that category. And I think Best Actress is between Kate Winslet and Anne Hathaway. The only real certainties at the moment are Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor (though I'd laugh my head off if Robert Downey Jnr pulled off a shock) and Wall-E for Best Animated Film.

I think we were a little spoilt last year when two terrific films in No Countty for Old Men and There Will Be Blood were the main contenders, so this year's list looks pretty staid in comparison. I've barely seen anyone have a good word to say about The Reader, but as usual the Weinsteins have managed to crowbar another film onto the shortlist. The Wrestler, Wall-E and The Dark Knight have all been snubbed (The Wrestler especially), but then the Oscar voters hate animated films and comic-book films (not to mention almost anything comedic). Films that don't conform to the profile of a typical Best Picture nominee are all too often sheparded into the Best Screenplay categories (Lost in Translation, Sideways, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, every Pixar film) or technical awards.

The Oscars narrow focus on what to nominate is their biggest flaw. But then if you listed all the mistakes the Oscars have made you could go on for hours.

I'd like Slumdog Millionaire to win I think. It's a very good film and its sheer exuberance carries you along.

[Miriel]

The snub of the Dark Knight and Wall-E in favor of less rated crap reminds me of a few years ago when critics gushed over Casino Royale(94% or something crazy) but instead nominated Babel which got something like 66%-ish at RT. Granted Casino Royale probably didn't deserve to be nominated but Babel sure as hell shouldn't have even been considered.

Babel was literally one of the worst films I've ever seen in my life.

[Kenshin IV]

I was bracing myself for a Dark Knight snub in the Best Picture category, but a Christopher Nolan snub?! Didn't see that one coming. Wall.E and Dark Knight both got shafted for the Best Picture category.

WALL-E was never really in the running for best picture, and that's directly due to the Best Animated Picture category. It isn't exactly fair, but that's their reasoning behind it. As for The Dark Knight and Nolan, Best Picture and Best Director usually go hand-in-hand, so it's no surprise it got snubbed on both accounts. It certainly was worthy of a nomination, but it isn't exactly shocking it got snubbed either. Not only is it a comic-book movie, already a negative for it's chances, but the Academy loves them some Harvey Weinstein and the fact that there were rumors that Weinstein was in serious trouble due to a number of flops, I'm sure that played into The Readers nomination.

Plus when a movie (or anything) like The Dark Knight reaches that rare, elite level of critical and commercial world-wide success, that too can hurt it drastically. When something reaches that level it always goes together with the "overrated" tag by some. Final Fantasy fans should be more than familiar with this. Just look at what happened with Final Fantasy VII. It's the same kinda thing.

Other movies this year got snubbed, too. The Wrestler is certainly better than a lot of those choices. One of my personal, lesser-known favorites of the year was In Bruges. Although that never had any chance, so it wasn't really a "snub" per se. Outta the five nominees, Slumdog Millionaire is definitely the better film, and will most likely win.