Oscar Nominations!
The Oscar nominations were released last Thursday night (Australian time) and there were certainly a few surprises. The fact that the voting has been moved up this year (to limit the influence of other major awards shows) may have played a part in that fact. You can listen to my 10 minute wrap of the nominations in a special ABC podcast by clicking here.
Here’s my quick thoughts on the winners and losers…
Winners:
Lincoln (out Feb 7) is the film to beat. 12 nominations in total including best picture, best director (Steven Spielberg), best actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), best sup actor (Tommy Lee Jones), best sup actress (Sally Field).
Life Of Pi is next best with 11 nominations. It’s looming as the big danger.
Aussies – for only the 3rd time in history, we have 3 acting nominees – Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables), Naomi Watts (The Impossible – out Jan 24), Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook – out Jan 31).
It’s Hugh Jackman’s first nomination and the second for Naomi Watts and Jacki Weaver. Weaver’s comes as a big shock as she wasn’t nominated in any of the major lead up awards (just like Animal Kingdom two years ago).
Silver Linings Playbook (out Jan 31) has surged into contention with 8 nominations. I’d all but written it off after a poor BAFTA showing and after missing a Directors Guild nomination. It’s now back in the race. It got nominations in all 4 acting categories! The first time in more than 30 years.
Amour (out Feb 21) is the only foreign language film amongst the best picture nominees and scored 4 other noms including best director and best actress.
Beasts Of The Southern Wild (which made my top 10 in 2012 and is out on DVD this week) soars into contention with noms for best picture, best director and best actress. The film got just 1 BAFTA nomination and no Golden Globe nominations.
There are 9 best picture nominees – Amour, Argo, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life Of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty.
Losers:
The best director category has shocked everyone. Normally, the nominees for the Directors’ Guild Award line up closely with the Oscars. This year, only 2 of the 5 go through. The 3 casualties were big names – Ben Affleck (Argo) and former winners Tom Hooper (Les Miserables) and Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty). Without a best director nomination, you can kiss the best picture chances of these 3 films goodbye.
The Sessions was touted as a hopeful but got just one nomination – Helen Hunt for best supporting actress.
Some thought Skyfall might become the first Bond film in history to pick up a best picture nomination but alas, it did not. Javier Bardem and Judi Dench were also overlooked but the film did pick up 5 nominations in the technical categories (sound, music, cinematography).
Zero Dark Thirty (out Jan 31) limps home with just 5 nominations. The lack of a best director nomination hurts it big time.
The Master picks up 3 acting nominations (Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman) but surprisingly doesn’t get a nomination in a single other category.
No love for Wes Anderons’s Moonrise Kingdom – just 1 nomination (best screenplay).
The Dark Knight Rises didn’t get a single nomination in any category! Hard to believe for a film that’s made more than $1 billion around the world.
Cool trivia:
The best actress category is interesting as it has the oldest nominee in history – 85 y/o Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) and the youngest nominee in history – 9 y/o Quevzhane Wallis (Beasts Of The Southern Wild).
The best supporting actor category is interesting. For the first time in 86 years, all 5 acting nominees are former winners – Tommy Lee Jones, Christoph Waltz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Arkin and Robert DeNiro.
Golden Globes
The Golden Globes were handed out this afternoon in what was a pretty good ceremony. Tina Fay and Amy Poehler got things started with a funny opening and other great presenters included Kristen Wii, Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen. The real star power arrived when former President Bill Clinton introduced a clip of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.
The ceremony offered up a few surprises also and here’s a wrap of the winners:
Best Picture Drama – Argo – not my favourite film but it edged out Lincoln (the favourite) and perhaps it’s still in with a shot for the Oscar (despite missing a best director nomination).
Best Picture Comedy/Musical – Les Miserables – winning as expected but don’t get your hopes up for a repeat performance at the Oscars.
Best Actor Drama – Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln) – he’s got the Oscar locked up and will become the first man in history to win 3 best actor statuettes.
Best Actor Comedy/Musical – Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables) – Australia’s only winner of the night and nice to see Hugh recognised for his solid performance.
Best Actress Drama – Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) – I’ve got money on her to take the Oscar and she’s now in with a strong chance after taking home this prize.
Best Actress Comedy/Musical – Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) – she retains her Oscar favouritism but Chastain will keep her honest in the lead up to the ceremony.
Best Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) – this was probably the biggest surprise of the evening as Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tommy Lee Jones were the big chances.
Best Supporting Actress – Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) – her name is already etched on the Oscar.
Best Director – Ben Affleck (Argo) – have to laugh since he’s not nominated for an Oscar in this category.
Best Screenplay – Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained) – another unexpected win but it is a great script with some quality dialogue.
Best Foreign Language Film – Amour – another film that’s a shoe-in for the Oscar.
Best Score – Mychael Danna (Life Of Pi) – my favourite win of the night as I’m a huge fan of the movie and nice to see Danna get his first major award.
It was a wipe out in terms of my betting. I had $300 on Kathryn Bigelow to win best director under the hope they’d honour her for Zero Dark Thirty after the snub of The Hurt Locker three years ago. I was wrong. I also had $200 on Tommy Lee Jones in the wide open best supporting actor category but it seems Lincoln lacked a lot of support within the Hollywood Foreign Press. Ah well. Down $500. I’ll just buy a bottle of scotch to drown my sorrows.
The good news is that many of this year’s awards season contenders will be making their way into Australian cinemas over the next month. It sure is a great time to be going to the movies!