2010 Oscar Nominations

They're here! 2010 Oscar Nominations! Not going to give the full list, just some thoughts. For the full list check it out at Oscar.com.

Best Picture
This one shocked me, honestly. Not only are there 10 films nominated, but the list includes the likes of the independent films, District 9 (which was fantastic, now that I finally saw it) and The Hurt Locker (also fantastic), but also Disney/Pixar's UP! Yes, an animated film, nominated for Best Picture, it's pretty awesome and well deserved (it already got a VFH Seal of Approval). Fellow SoA winner, Inglourious Basterds is also nominated in this category.

Best Actor
For Leading Actor, I'm going to say Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker, because it's the only film on the list I've seen, and it was pretty damn good. For Supporting, Christoph Waltz, for his performance in Inglourious Basterds... for the same reasoning.

Animated Feature Film
Another shocker, kind of, in that this is the first year (maybe ever?) that not only are there 5 films nominated, but that only one of them is 3D computer animated. Both Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox (Seal of Approval winner) are stop-motion films, Disney's The Princess and the Frog and independent Irish film, The Secret of Kells, are 2D traditional animation, leaving UP as the only film in CGI. Witch UP nominated for Best Picture (that's still awesome to say!) I'm curious if it will win this one, I know it deserves either one, but I'm curious if the Academy will decide to not choose a CGI film for once and maybe give this to Fantastic Mr. Fox, the only real competition, in my opinion.

Other Mentions
Let's see, Star Trek was actually nominated, albeit for technical things like Make Up (and it's only against a film I never heard of), Visual Effects (where it's only up against District 9, I'm more surprised Avatar isn't here, because that's all that film was), as well as Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. And both Up and Fantastic Mr. Fox are nominated for Best Score, which is pretty rad.

What's Missing?
Moon. Honestly, what does it take for director Duncan Jones, Sam Rockwell, and composer Clint Mansell to actually get some Hollywood recognition for the stunning work they did on Moon? I still love the film regardless of whatever the Academy says, but I think it's a shame that more buzz wasn't given to this film, as much as say, District 9, which also falls into the "independent sci-fi" category (granted at $25 Million more budget). I guess I'd mention (500) Days of Summer as well, that film got a lot of praise (even though I wasn't too blown away by it), but I guess that's what happens with no Musical/Comedy category.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours regarding this year's Oscar nominations and snubs?

Live-tweeting the Oscars

Just under an hour left, I just wanted to let you know I'll be making some live tweets during the Academy Awards tonight. Just a way of getting my two cents in without making a full fledged article about how presumably disappointed I'll be.

View From Heaven at Twitter

I may delete the tweets like I did after the Super Bowl, we'll see. It depends on how much ranting I do.

81st Annual Oscar nominees

Well, the day has come, after a year full of outstanding films, the Academy has finally released its list of nominees for the 81st Annual Academy Awards, a.k.a. the Oscars.

81st Annual Academy Award Nominations

Now I cannot say I've seen all of these films, so this may seem very opinionated .. let's face it, it is. None the less, I'm just going to write my highlights/predictions.

Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Best Original Screenplay WALL-E
Best Animated Feature WALL-E
Best Makeup Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Best Visual Effects Iron Man

Well, that's obviously not all the categories, but just ones I'd like to point out. Out of the Best Picture category, Slumdog was the only one I've seen, but it was brilliant, so that's why it's my pick; same reasoning for Best Director, Danny Boyle. For Best Actor, I don't think I need to repeat myself, as you can just see my review of The Wrestler. Now, Marrisa Tomei is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Wrestler, but as you can read from my review, I felt her character to be an unnecesary part of the film, and that's she's unlisted.

Now here's the nomination that's been on everyone's mind since July, Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor in The Dark Knight. Now, personally, I enjoyed his performance as the Joker, as did many others. But I can't help but feeling he wouldn't be nominated had he not passed away. So my feeling is, he's going to end up winning because it's his only chance to, but it may not feel as deserved to some.

Other highlights; Best Original Screenplay and Best Animated Feature definetly belong to WALL-E. Another film I've reviewed (twice even), WALL-E excells beyond any animated feature I've seen before, and even above some live action films; so any award it's nominated for it probably deserves. Lastly, two films not recognized in the big categories, but at least mentioned in the right places: Hellboy II for Best Makeup and Iron Man for Best Visual Effects.

So what do you think of my thoughts? Oh, really? Fine then. I can't be the only shocked by Robert Downey Jr's Best Supporting Actor nomination for Tropic Thunder; seriously, that really surprised me... in a bad way. None the less, The Curious Case of Benjaman Button (13), Slumdog Millionaire (10), The Dark Knight (8), Milk (8), and WALL-E (6) are in the top 5 for most nominations, so I'm sure we can expect to see them on the winners list at least a few times each.

The 81st Annual Academy Awards air February 22nd on ABC. See you then!