Despite some glaring omissions, I feel that the Academy did a really solid job in its nominations. The nominee list is littered with quality films that are unique, and it’s not as if the snubs were replaced by mediocre talent, just talent that is slightly less exceptional. I’ll get the snubs out of the way first. Obviously, Christopher Nolan not receiving the nomination for Best Director is first and foremost. As an ardent Coen Bros. fan, I can readily admit that they did some pretty pedestrian work on True Grit. Again, True Grit is a great film, just not Inception-great. The more I think about it, though, the more I feel like Lee Smith’s snub in Best Editing for Inception is even more preposterous. Assuring that Inception had the utmost coherence was crucial and along with Nolan’s screenplay (which did get nominated), Smith’s editing was the foremost contributing factor.
Best Supporting Actor is always crowded and, unfortunately, the snub-axe came down hard on Andrew Garfield, who had one of my favorite performances of the year in The Social Network. I don’t see how you take one nominee out of that category and put Garfield in, but I wish it were so. Among the more technical categories, the cinematography for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part I should have been nominated (that’s coming from a guy who hates the Harry Potter movies, too). Also, I don’t know if it got disqualified by the Academy’s asinine rules or it just got snubbed, but Daft Punk’s score for Tron: Legacy should be in there somewhere.
There were encouraging nominations as well. John Hawkes’ turn in Winter’s Bone was truly astounding and the fact that he received at least some recognition for the performance is a win for all. Bardem and Eisenberg’s appearances in the Best Actor category are comforting, as is the always-lovely Michelle Williams’ nomination for Blue Valentine. I was also excited to see Hailee Steinfeld’s name appear in the Best Supporting Actress category, even though she was essentially the lead in True Grit. Natalie Portman is (deservingly) running away with the Oscar for Best Actress, and this move greatly improves Steinfeld’s chances of picking up some hardware, too. Finally, the Academy should be appropriately commended for the Best Picture nominees, which is the most accurate representation of a year’s best films that I’ve seen in recent memory. The expansion from five to ten nominees was designed to work out in this exact manner, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
In the coming weeks (or month depending on when my schoolwork starts kicking in) I'll include my top 10 movies from 2010 and also my complete breakdown of every Academy Award category for the big night on February 27. Until then, start utilizing that Netflix account and watch some of these fine films!
