photo credit: THR.com

A few sure things, a few surprises, a few snubs… but overall – not bad.

First off, I am thrilled to see ‘Hugo’ and ‘The Artist’ lead the pack with 11 and 10 nominations, respectively.  Sure, the self-reflective nature of those nominations hint at the Academy really praising itself, but more importantly – the acknowledgement of masterful filmmaking is exactly right. I suspect one of these two will win the Best Picture award.

That goes for the Best Director category as well.

Noticeably present in the Best Picture category is ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.’ Thank you, Oscars, for including this film where the Golden Globes couldn’t. If it were eligible for the Globes, I have no doubt in my mind that it would have won Best Drama. In this race, it might not be strong enough to edge out ‘The Artist’ or ‘Hugo’, but we’ll take the nod.

I am completely floored to see that Tilda Swinton is not nominated. I’m still going with Viola Davis for the win, but Meryl Streep is – and will always be – the elephant in the room of the Best Actress category. And, it’s a shame (wait for it) that Michael Fassbender isn’t nominated for ‘Shame.’ Ryan Gosling is noticeably missing also. But. Finally. Gary Oldman may just be the Jeff Bridges upset of this year for Best Actor.

Melissa McCarthy is every bit deserving of her Oscar nomination.  I’m also glad that the Academy can acknowledge the appeal of a blockbuster for what it is: a movie-going experience. You’ll see that films like ‘Harry Potter’ (though I think this should be a Best Picture nod… whatever), ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ and even ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ are being recognized for their use of special effects.

Like I said, a few sure things, a few surprises, some snubs… but overall – not bad.

Take it all with a grain of salt. The Oscars continue to decrease in value in my honest opinion, if only for the stickler rules that bar a lot of quality films from being celebrated (the “must be reviewed by NYTimes or LATimes to be considered rule is absolute crap. And, yes, I’m still mad about Waiting for Superman). But there’s also the perpetual ass-kissing of A-listers who genuinely don’t deserve to be recognized – and yet they always are. Perhaps the Academy will never shake the stigma of having their noses turned upwards, perhaps they don’t care to. If Billy Crystal coming back to host is any indication, the Oscars will always be for that Sunday evening crowd.

My winners in RED, upsets are BOLD. 

2012 Oscar Nominations.

Best Picture

War Horse
The Artist
Moneyball
The Descendants
The Tree of Life
Midnight in Paris
The Help
Hugo
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Best Actress

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Viola Davis, The Help
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Best Actor

Demian Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Best Director

Michel Hazanivicus, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Best Original Screenplay

Michel Hazanivicius, The Artist
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumulo, Bridesmaids
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

Best Adapted Screenplay

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants
John Logan, Hugo
George Clooney, Beau Willimon and Grant Heslov, The Ides of March
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, Moneyball
Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Foreign Feature

Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar
A Separation

Best Animated Feature

A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Art Direction

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse

Cinematography

The Artist
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Costume Design

Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Documentary Feature

Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Documentary Short Subject

(no opinion on this)

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God Is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Film Editing

Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Kevin Tent, The Descendants
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Thelma Schoonmaker, Hugo
Christopher Tellefsen, Moneyball

Makeup

Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle, Albert Nobbs
Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland, The Iron Lady

Music (Original Score)

John Williams, The Adventures of Tintin
Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Howard Shore, Hugo
Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
John Williams, War Horse

Music (Original Song)

“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets, Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from Rio, Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett

Sound Editing

Drive
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Sound Mixing

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Visual Effects

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon