Hooray! The Oscar Nominations are here!
Within the next few days we will announce the rules and format of the first-ever LAist Oscar Contest, where all of our readers will have a chance to participate and win a prize.
In the meantime, it is the opinion of this writer that "Million Dollar Baby" should take home Best Picture, because no movie was half as good this year. This LAist also hope Martin Scorsese finally wins Best Director, even if "The Aviator" was hardly his best film. Let's root for Jamie Foxx, Annette Bening, Morgan Freeman, and Laura Linney.
Overall there weren't too many surprises, but like every year, there were some clear snubs. "Hotel Rwanda" didn't make the cut for Best Picture? No love for "I Heart Huckabees?" What about "Eternal Sunshine of the Mind?" "Garden State" was clearly snubbed. How did that skip over everyone's radar? It was one of the best movies of the year.
But perhaps no movie was snubbed more than "Fahrenheit 9/11." How does that not even earn a nomination for Best Documentary? It was considerably better than "Bowling for Columbine," and that won the whole award. I guess the Academy didn't want Michael Moore to steal the show again.
What do you think was the biggest snub?
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Fahrenheit 9/11 was not eligible for best documentary b/c it already appeared on television.
since he just hosted snl and garnered a lot of attention at the globes, i was surprised that paul giamatti was not nominated... guess there wasn't enough love to go around!
I disagree about "MD Baby" vs. "The Aviator." I think both "MD Baby" and "Sideways" are incredibly overrated films. They were both fine films, but not best picture quality. The only film that did live up to its hype for me was "The Aviator." You can really feel an experienced storyteller at the wheel. I was never bored for a second. And its Academy-type gloss suits the story. What's wrong with that?
The two biggest snubs this year were "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Friday Night Lights."
I was also disappointed to see "House of Flying Daggers" did not get nominated for best foreign film.
PAUL GIAMATTI!
What the hell is up with the consistent snubs? First American Splendor went unnoticed by the Academy, and now Thomas Haden Church and Virginia Madsen are nominated, as well as the film itself, but Paul Giamatti isn't nominated?
What the hell?
Fat people always get snubbed. That's why the Academy showed no love to Paul.
Of course, it's hard to pick which actor should go between Cheadle, Eastwood, Foxx, and Di Caprio.
BTW... Did anyone see Collateral? I loved it. But there's no way Jamie Foxx was a supporting actor in that film. What a joke.
I thought Jamie deserved a nomination for "Collateral," especially for the scene in the Mexican night club. What a great complete 180 he threw at us, having to pretend he is Cruise and then dominating the whole situation.
Having not seen Million Dollar Baby (and guessing that most of the Academy probably hasn't seen Million Dollar Baby either) I'm betting we could drop Eastwood for Giamatti.
I do think Eternal Sunshine should've gotten more play as it was my favorite movie of the year. I think Garden State (and Napoleon Dynamite for that matter) are too hipster for older hollywood to recognize.
I'm enormously pleased that both Fahrenheit and The Passion were left out of the major categories. I think both are examples of sub-par filmmaking built more on hype and cultural trends than on good storytelling.
I agree that Giamatti should be in for best actor in place of Eastwood. I'm sure everyone in the Academy has seen "MD Baby" because they make sure to send all of the voters the DVD. I've seen it and I really don't feel Eastwood was best actor quality in that one.
Also, "F 9/11" wasn't "left out" per se. Remember, Moore deliberately took it out of the documentary competition, because he wanted other people to have a chance at it. They have this rule where if the doc airs on TV during the year it was released, it's not eligible. Knowing this, Moore chose to air it on cable before the election. Had it been eligible, he had a great chance at another nomination, but he never had a chance at the best picture category.
The Academy does seem to have a better "memory" now, as we see from "Passion" this year and "City of God" last year.