Snubs and Surprises: The 84th Academy Award Nominations

The race is a steady walk for the first six months, around July it’s a jog and come December the audience and critics turn the corner for the final sprint home. Here are the contenders for the 2012 Academy Awards.


A 9/11 reflection story (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close), a Deep South drama (The Help), a Woody Allen romance (Midnight in Paris), a homage to the silent film era (The Artist), a Hawaii family drama (The Descendants), a World War I epic (War Horse), a Scorsese shout-out to film preservation (Hugo), a family reflection piece (The Tree of Life) and a hearty look at the relationship between money and baseball (Moneyball) all face off for Best Picture.


Seven other category nominations were released on Jan. 24, the most popular and noteworthy of the Academy Awards.


Actress in a Leading Role

• Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
• Viola Davis (The Help)
• Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
• Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
• Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn 
 

The surprise nomination is Mara, who played her chilling role with grit, but it’s all about Streep, Davis and Williams. Streep and Williams wonderfully channeled the persons their biopics portrayed, but Davis’ interpretation of a housemaid in 1960s Mississippi has the Academy all a twitter. The announcement of this category’s winner will come with lots of gasps and hollers.


Actor in a Leading Role

• Demián Bichir (A Better Life)
• George Clooney (The Descendants)
• Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
• Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
• Brad Pitt (Moneyball)

Until the announcement, it was widely accepted that Clooney and Dujardin would duke it out for the statuette. However, Oldman’s turn as a British spy apparently had voters’ heads turning. Best friends Pitt and Clooney are playing tug-of-war as well. It’s a four-horse race now.


Actress in a Supporting Role

• Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)
• Jessica Chastain (The Help)
• Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
• Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)
• Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Give props to McCarthy for being nominated despite the Academy’s distaste for comedy. We haven’t seen this since Marisa Tomei won for My Cousin Vinny. However, Spencer, the sidekick to Viola Davis in The Help, is the front runner. Don’t misjudge the Academy’s nostalgia to the silent-era though, as Bejo could easily win.


Actor in a Supporting Role

• Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn)
• Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
• Nick Nolte (Warrior)
• Chris Plummer (The Beginners)
• Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close)

Sydow’s nomination is interesting. Albert Brooks was snubbed out for Drive, but Branagh and Plummer are the ones everyone is keeping their eyes on. However, the Academy can bring upsets. Hill’s portrayal of Peter Brand, Billie Bean’s (Brad Pitt) genius assistant in Moneyball, was well played with the correct amount of smarts and charm.


Directing

• Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
• Michel Hazanivicius (The Artist)
• Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)
• Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
• Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

Allen’s nomination isn’t a surprise since he’s an Academy favorite and Midnight in Paris is the perfect kind of romanticism. Scorsese has been snubbed plenty of times, but this time around, his movie about movie preservation may be the fodder the Academy is looking for. The goliath to beat though is Hazanivicius – The Artist is a rare fogy and fluffy movie.


Original Screenplay

• The Artist
• Bridesmaids
• Margin Call 
• Midnight in Paris
• A Separation

Midnight in Paris has this category locked. A loss would be comparable to Crash beating out Brokeback Mountain in 2006.


Adapted Screenplay

• The Descendants 
• Hugo
• The Ides of March
• Moneyball
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The race is between Hugo, Moneyball and The Descendants. Hugo probably wins it because the Academy can’t pass up the message it sends.


Animated Feature Film

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

The Parisian and cubism styled A Cat in Paris is unknown to the mainstream, as well is Chico and Rita, but Gore Verbinski’s Rango is the critical favorite. Will it win?
All of this speculation and jibber-jabber will end Feb. 26 when celebrities take their seats at the Kodak Theatre in hopes of going home with the gold.


This article originally appeared in the January 30 edition of the UWM Post and on their website at uwmpost.com