So, the AMPAS didn’t embarrass itself TOO much this morning. At the end of the day, “Invictus” proved to lack the proper passionate support to yield a Best Picture nomination. The beneficiary of that: “The Blind Side.” Make of that what you will.
“Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” — get this — tied with a field-leading nine nominations each. “Inglourious Basterds” wasn’t far behind with eight, while “Precious” and “Up in the Air” tied with six apiece. Pixar’s “Up” managed five, while “District 9” and “Star Trek,” the other sci-fi entries in the race, each received four, the former landing a Best Picture nomination and trending on Twitter as I type. But how the hell it missed in Best Makeup is beyond me. More on the techs below.
“The Blind Side” and “A Serious Man” get the “winner of two Oscar nominations, including Best Picture” honors. But at least the latter made the cut after all. There was some nervousness for a while there.
As I look through the nominations, I see nothing particularly eye-catching. All of the “surprises” seem awfully reasonable and make perfect sense. First and foremost, I’m kicking myself for blinking on Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart.” In fact, I had that supporting actress category pegged 5/5 24 hours ago. That’s what I get for over-thinking it. I’m really happy to see her slide into contention. She worked it last month and at just the right time.
Unfortunately, though, her writer/director, Scott Cooper, was left off of the adapted screenplay contenders. He has a bright future ahead of him regardless, offers coming in left and right, so he’ll be just fine and might find himself back on Oscar’s doorstep one day. The film that DID make it into that adapted field was “In the Loop,” which makes perfect sense and seemed a safe back-up bet to me yesterday.
As for original screenplays, hallelujah, “(500) Days of Summer” was snubbed. And in favor of “The Messenger,” no less. Class. I really thought a Best Picture nod was in Oren Moverman’s future when this category was announced.
The tech fields are what they are. “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” was thankfully remembered for its crafts, while “Avatar” was the expected dominating party.
Most revealing is the film editing category, where “Precious” managed a surprising (and MOST deserving) nomination. If you go by Oscar history, one of those films will win Best Picture or it would be the first time in nearly 30 years that it didn’t happen. Then again, using the preferential balloting system for the winners could change that this year.
Elsewhere, Guy and I were correct in our assumption that Dion Beebe would be the lenser left off of the cinematography list, but it was Bruno Delbonnel’s work on “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” that made the cut rather than “The Road,” which is what we were thinking.
I had a hunch that if “Il Divo” had enough gas to make it to the bake-off then it might slid into the makeup field, and so it did, while the visual effects category was the only field throughout the techs that I nailed 100% Then again, who was betting on any other trio?
“Inglourious Basterds” managed nominations in both sound categories, as I suspected it might. Michael Minkler and Wylie Stateman are titans of their fields. And in the music categories — WHEW — “The Weary Kind” got its much deserved nomination and should go on to win the big prize.
The surprise nominee for song was a tune from “Paris 36,” while over in the score category, Alexandre Desplat managed to pull out a nod for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” after all, alongside Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders for their haunting work on “The Hurt Locker.”
Oh, in the animated feature category, it was “The Secret of Kells,” an Annie nominee you might recall, that got in over “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” rather than “Ponyo.” Very interesting. I’ll see the film some time next week at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. And in the documentary feature category (which had better be a clear path for “The Cove” on Oscar night), I was sad to see “Mugabe and the White African” miss, but you just never know what that committee will do.
Anyway, you can mull over the list of nominees below and draw your own conclusions. I have nothing major to complain about, to be perfectly honest. Yeah, the “Blind Side” nomination is silly, but it was either that or “Invictus,” so what can you do?
Anyway, the race between David and Goliath continues. I think the amount of support shown for “The Hurt Locker” speaks for itself, though, with clear support from the actors and the writers, which Cameron’s film just didn’t get. But with a preferential balloting system, things are a bit more wide open than the two-horse race we’ve boiled it down to, so we’ll see.
As for the experiment with the 10, I imagine by most counts, it will be considered a success. That is definitely a unique mixture of American film product. It’s a shame something truly independent like “Crazy Heart” or “The Messenger” couldn’t find room, but I think they were clearly close, so the logic holds that they still have a better opportunity in a scheme such as this.
As far as predictions, I managed 85/116 in the 23 categories I attempted. 94/116 if you count alternates. And I went 39/45 in the top eight categories.
Stick around throughout the day. Guy will offer his thoughts soon enough, while I’ll be taking nominees’ reactions for most of the morning and afternoon.
Best Picture
“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9”
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”
Best Director
James Cameron, “Avatar”
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
“Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
“Lee Daniels, “Precious”
Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, “Invictus”
Woody Harrelon, “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Best Adapted Screenplay
“District 9”
“An Education”
“In the Loop”
“Precious”
“Up in the Air”
Best Original Screenplay
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“The Messenger”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
Best Animated Feature Film
“Coraline”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“The Secret of Kells”
“Up”
Best Foreign Language Film
“Ajami” (Israel)
“The Milk of Sorrow” (Peru)
“A Prophet” (France)
“The Secret in Their Eyes” (Argentina)
“The White Ribbon” (Germany)
Best Art Direction
“Avatar”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine”
“Sherlock Holmes”
“The Young Victoria”
Best Cinematography
“Avatar”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
“The Hurt Locker”
“The White Ribbon”
Best Costume Design
“Bright Star”
“Coco Before Chanel”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine”
“The Young Victoria”
Best Film Editing
“Avatar”
“District 9”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
Best Makeup
“Il Divo”
“Star Trek”
“The Young Victoria”
Best Music (Original Score)
“Avatar”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Sherlock Holmes”
“Up”
Best Music (Original Song)
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36”
“Take it All” from “Nine”
“The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart”
Best Sound Editing
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Up”
Best Sound Mixing
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
Best Visual Effects
“Avatar”
“District 9”
“Star Trek”
Best Documentary Feature
“Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country”
“The Cove”
“Food, Inc.”
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
“Which Way Home”
Best Documentary Short
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
“The Last Campaign of Booth Gardener”
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
“Music by Prudence”
“Rabbit a la Berlin”
Best Short Film (Animated)
“French Roast”
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty”
“The Lady and the Reaper”
“Logorama”
“A Matter of Loaf and Death”
Best Short Film (Live Action)
“The Door”
“Instead of Abracadabra”
“Kavi”
“Miracle Fish”
“The New Tenants”
Comments
177 responses to “‘Avatar,’ ‘Hurt Locker’ lead Oscar nods with 9 each”
Yesss, so excited
I’m really hoping at least one of my NGNG picks come to fruition:
1) Anthony Mackie
2) Melanie Laurent
3) Samantha Morton
4) No Invictus
Hey, a boy can dream….
http://www.livestream.com/academyawards
That seems to be the best livestream. It works outside of America too (unlike CNN usually) and doesn’t appear to spend half the time buffering so that you end up missing half of the action.
My favorite movie of the year (Inglourious Basterds) is going to be nominated for Best Picture. First time in many a year.
That HUGE screen they have on stage looks way too awful! i liked the 5 screens much more :(
I couldn’t sleep last night. I wonder how the nominee hopefuls must feel!
“My friend woke me up and told me.”
Yeah, right.
Anyone else not getting any sound from the live stream — not even ambient noise?
I’m not getting any sound from the stream, i’m sure that will change when they start to announce the noms
Good.
My last minute-gut instincts:
No “Invictus” or “A Serious Man” for Picture.
And I wouldn’t be surprised if Reitman gets a snub.
and now there’s sound!!!
Aaaaaaaack!
I’d be surprised if Reitman was snubbed. He got the dark horse nomination back in 2007.
Oh, I know I’m probably wrong. In fact, I hope I’m wrong. Just a gut feeling.
where can I watch it??? oscar.com doesn’t have a stream?
Is this on TV anywhere so I don’t have to wait for the morning shows to flash to it?
http://www.oscars.org/live/index.html
Hmm. The link sent is awaiting moderation.
Oscars dot org, not com.
I’m tuned in on CNN from the Philippines!!! Haha….
Try E!, McGuff.
livestream dot com /academyawards
That’s what I figured. Here in Chicago, we’re getting something called “bank of hollywood.” Eh, Good Morning America just pimped it.
2 minutes!!!
Wow, Kris, way to call Maggie Gyllenhaal!
Best Picture nominee The Blind Side. Fuck the Academy.
The Blind Side?! Damn.
And what’s that animated one — I’ve never heard of it.
So glad that Reitman got it. I don’t know why I doubted it.
Quite dissapointed with the (500) Days snub.
The Secret of Kells, wow.
Glad on no Invictus, but replaced by Blind Side, so eh…
I thought “The Blind Side” was an OK movie, but Best Picture”? I seriously want to know who voted for it. And slap them.
Bright Star got nom for COSTUMES!!!
Yeah, “The Blind Side” just pushed out “Invictus.” So, in terms of “battle of the middlebrow dramas,” it was kind of a wash.
The inclusion of “The Blind Side” sure doesn’t make the decision for 10 look any better, though.
Rather PO’d that Abel Korzeniowski was shut out for A Single Man. I was really looking forward to his music being presented by the Academy orchestra.
No “District 9” for makeup?!?!?!? Madness!!!!!!!
Up in the Air’s support just seems to get softer and softer (which is a crying shame.) Support for District 9 and the Blind Side seems to continue to grow.
I still have not seen The Blind Side so I want to resist the easy temptation to say that’s a crock until I do. It seems to be a personally important movie for a certain group of people.
In the Loop and Secret of the Kells – wow! That is obscure for them.
The Hurt Locker is just kicking ass. If we only had 5 nominees to work with, the narrative would be how this tiny, amazing movie managed 9 nominations. I wish The Blind Side didn’t exist to dilute the thrill.
Yay In the Loop!
It’s a sick world we live in when The Hurt Locker is nominated for Score.
What Score?
My biggest disappointment: Star Trek gets snubbed for Best Picture. That’s not an outrage, but if they were going to go for a blockbuster I felt that was a worthy choice.
My most pleasant surprises: “Take it All” from Nine for Best Original Song. I didn’t love the movie but that musical number felt like a hard slap to the face. It had real power.
Nine: Costume and Art Direction but no Cinematography! Plus Cruz and Take it all (no Cinema Italiano)
Interest that Bastards miss Art and Costume but got into both Sound Editing and Mixing
I think you missed Mo’Nique in Best Supporting Actress. I really wish Diane Kruger had been nominated over Penelope Cruz though.
Does “The Blind Side”‘s nomination for Best Picture screw Meryl’s hopes for 3rd Oscar?
No Stuart Craig at Best Art Direction? No Julianne Moore?
Why Blind Side? Why? What’s happening? we’re on PUNK’D
Oscar.com’s have Mo’Nique where you’ve got Kruger.
Glad “Milk of Sorrow” made it!
(500) Days of Summer screenplay got snubbed. Love life for that, at least. The Hurt Locker probably gained a bit on Avatar since they tied in noms. Avatar missed Song and Screenplay, Hurt Locker hit both sounds and got score.
OK, do my eyes deceive me, am I reading this wrong?…
…Mo’nique got SNUBBED!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
If that’s true, biggest WTF not only of the year, but possibly of the last 10 years.
Mo’Nique, not Kruger, in Supporting Actress, right?
On the whole I’ve gotta say the pleasant surprises were few, but so were the offensive snubs. I’m glad Gyllenhaal got in. I felt her performance in Crazy Heart was underrated. But for the most part where there were surprises it was selections I’m mildly positive about replacing selections I was mildly negative about.
So it’s “Avatar” vs. “The Hurt Locker” in Picture, Director, Cinematography, Editing, Score, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing…
“The Hurt Locker” is on a roll. Early picks:
“The Hurt Locker” wins Picture, Director, Eiditng, Cinematography. Original Screenplay if the support’s truly there, and one of the sound awards if there’s no stopping it.
“Avatar” might just have to settle for Visual Effects and Sound Editing wins…
Note to self: See The Secret of Kells ASAP.
Kudos to D9, Gyllenhaal, In the Loop and the two Latin American films.
WTF: Blind Side for BP (it did money), Hurt Locker for Score (I didn’t saw that one).
Sad for Mackie, J. Moore and S. Morton.
Hurt Locker is the Frontrunner, Inglorious Basterds is the possible spoiler.
You’re reading it wrong. Mo’Nique didn’t get snubbed.
I think the Best Supporting Actress nomination list is wrong on this list. Double check that.
No “You’ve Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger” for Best Song? Wow. That’s really, really disappointing.
so quick thoughts,
YAY for UP with 5 nominations including best picture. certainly worth it.
Why THE BLIND SIDE? Certainly if the Academy desired to increase ratings by appearing more populist than STAR TREK could have been chosen! What is even more saddening is how Meryl is the lone nomination for her film whilst Sandra is is nomination for her role in a best picture nomination. Guess that race is over and done for.
At least BRIGHT STAR got some form of love right?
AND finally, did INVICTUS truly deserve another acting nomination?!?!?