82nd Annual Academy Award Nominations
This year's Oscar nominations were announced early this morning. Click the title of this post for the full list at First Showing.There are some very deserved acting nominees this year, including Sandra Bullock, who received her first-ever nomination for THE BLIND SIDE.
Bullock will have stiff competition from Meryl Streep, who received a nomination for her remarkably on-target portrayal of Julia Child in JULIE AND JULIA. I'd love to see Bullock win but wouldn't argue if Streep were chosen.
George Clooney's outstanding turn in UP IN THE AIR received a Best Actor nomination. UP IN THE AIR actresses Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga were also nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category.
THE BLIND SIDE and UP IN THE AIR were among the ten Best Picture nominees in this year's expanded nominee list.
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG was one of five films nominated for Best Animated Feature, a category I expect will ultimately be won by Disney-Pixar's UP, which was also nominated for Best Picture. Two songs from THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, "Almost There" and "Down in New Orleans," were nominated for Best Song, while UP was nominated for Best Original Score.
I would have liked to see THE YOUNG VICTORIA receive more nominations, though I wasn't really expecting it. (Emily Blunt received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress, but the Golden Globes have two different lead actress categories, for dramas and comedies/musicals, so there's more room for nominations there.) THE YOUNG VICTORIA received nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup.
All in all, this was the most family-friendly slate of nominations in quite a while. I saw more of the nominated films last year than I'd seen in years, and I hope we continue to see more films of this caliber released in 2010.
Previously: 2006, 2007, and 2008. 2009 was such a bad year I didn't bother to comment!
posted by Laura @ 10:15 AM
9 Comments:
I have to say that I'm thrilled "Hurt Locker" was nominated. It was an excellent film, if not intensely thought provoking and insightful. It's worth the watch. As a layperson, even I can appreciate the skill, artistry and tenacity it took for Ms. Bigelow to make this fiilm be what it is.
Thanks for your feedback, Dana! I only know Bigelow's name because I proofread a deposition she gave once upon a time! Nice to hear more about her.
Best wishes,
Laura
A deposition?
Yes, a lot of my proofreading work is reading depositions for court reporters. (I can't go into the subject matter, although it may have ended up part of a public court record.)
Best wishes,
Laura
I've seen five of the nominated films, four of them excellent, the fifth a wonderful experience:
Inglourious Basterds: The most audacious and purely entertaining of the films I saw this year. Might be Tarantino's best. Christophe Waltz is a revelation.
The Hurt Locker: The most intense "war" film -- if you want to call it a "war" film -- I've ever seen. Would have no problems if this won. Glad to see Jeremy Renner get nominated.
District 9: A really fine alien film, really about Apartheid, of course. Maybe the year's most important film?
Up: Not sure it's the best Pixar production, but it might be the most mature, and not just because it's about a widower. The preface was the best sequence I saw this year, just ahead of the opening chapter in "Inglourious Basterds."
Avatar: An amazing moviegoing experience, at least in IMAX 3D. Stock story, not told poorly, and not a great film, but the only film I've seen that competes with this visually is Peter Greenaway's "Prospero's Books."
Definitely want to see "A Serious Man" and "Up in the Air." I've heard nothing good about "The Blind Side" and friends I trust say "An Education" is good but not great.
What's missing is "The Damned United," which was outstanding -- but the subject matter, a renowned English soccer coach's short tenure at Leeds United in 1974, doesn't really have a lot of pull for Americans.
Hi, Scott, nice to hear from you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the nominees.
My oldest daughter has that soccer film in the Netflix queue -- it will be out on DVD later this month. Sounds interesting.
Best wishes,
Laura
How interesting, the "Avatar"/ "Prospero's Books" comparison. This movie is nearly twenty years old and I remember when it was released (but have not seen it yet).
I went to see "Up in the Air" for the 2nd time this weekend. Really like that movie; it was better the second time. So well written and directed, and everyone gives a great performance.
Hi Tom,
My daughter ended up seeing UP IN THE AIR a second time at a film class and although at first she wasn't excited to see it again so soon, she ended up really enjoying that second viewing as well. I will be picking up the DVD which comes out on March 9th, so I may be watching it a second time myself in a few weeks. :)
Best wishes,
Laura
I hope there's a commentary on the DVD (and not just on the blue-ray version!). I'd like to know more about the non-professional actors in it and how they were chosen to play the parts of the people that get fired.
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