The Oscar nominations have been announced! (The list is also available as a printable scorecard, in image or PDF format). You know what this means: only a little over a month for me to watch at least the best picture nominees and make up my own mind. Maybe I’ll do another “pick the winners” contest like last year. Or maybe not. We’ll see.
I’ve seen only a small proportion of the nominated movies, so I don’t have much in the way of analysis. However, a few thoughts:
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King leads the pack with eleven nominations; not much of a surprise there. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World picked up ten; I’m not dying to see it, but I may check it out.
- Alec Baldwin’s (supporting actor) character as a thuggish casino owner in The Cooler totally scared me. Smooth one minute, but ready to take a tire iron to your kneecaps the next. I don’t know if I’d call it an Oscar-caliber performance–it’s a little over-the-top–but he definitely is the role.
- Yay for Keisha Castle-Hughes (leading actress), who holds her own in Whale Rider. By the way, at thirteen years old she is the youngest ever leading actress nominee.
- Destino and The Triplets of Belleville, which are being shown together in most theatres as I mentioned previously, are both nominated (animated short and feature, respectively). I must go see them. Finding Nemo received a few nominations, but I’m guessing voice actors have never been eligible for any category? Too bad.
- Ha, “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” from A Mighty Wind was nominated for best song. I can’t wait to see it performed on Oscar night. I might’ve preferred the song “A Mighty Wind” (how can you resist lyrics like “It’s blowin’ peace and freedom / It’s blowin’ you and me”?), but oh well.
The awards will be presented Sunday, Feb. 29.