Comment: Predictably good Oscar nominations
The Hurt Locker is nominated for nine Oscars this year, including best actor for Jeremy Renner
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Tuesday, 02, Feb 2010 04:23
So far, so predictable, but there's cause for celebration in a list of Oscar nominations that plays it safe.
By Lewis Bazley.
It's no surprise to see Avatar and The Hurt Locker leading the field for the 82nd annual Academy Awards with nine nominations each - the former a landmark achievement and the latter a masterful piece of action filmmaking as well as a worthy document of the war in Iraq. Even with the best picture shortlist being expanded to ten films - with pre-announcement whispers that Star Trek or even The Hangover could be included - there was little room for shock as Anne Hathaway and Academy president Tom Sherak unveiled the nominations at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre. It's tough to argue against the inclusion of the likes of Precious, Up in the Air and Inglourious Basterds, while the expansion of the category has meant potential also-rans District 9 and Up get the recognition they deserve. In fact, the only irritation about the best picture shortlist is that it perpetuates this award season's mystifying trend for ignoring John Hillcoat's The Road - I've made no secret of my passionate support for this film - and though I've not yet seen The Blind Side, I find it hard to believe an inspirational true-life drama can be a better or more affecting film than Hillcoat's bleak and beautiful adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy bestseller.
The major categories are also fairly easy to call and while some commentators might try and use James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow to create a rivalry among divorcees - never mind that both have been nominated at every awards ceremony this season - that's a childish way to look at a largely predictable list that nevertheless includes some nice surprises. You can't help but feel for the actors nominated in the male and female best supporting categories as Inglourious Basterds' Christoph Waltz and Precious' Mo'Nique all but have their names engraved on the statuettes already. The best actor Oscar may continue to elude George Clooney despite his fine performance in Up in the Air, with the suggestion that, as with Martin Scorsese's win for The Departed, it's Jeff Bridges' turn. Best actress is a likely toss-up between the two ingénues Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe while it's a safe bet to assume Avatar and The Hurt Locker will each claim one of the best picture and best director Oscars. Avatar's a magnificent creation, a truly groundbreaking piece but giving it the best picture Oscar would almost endorse the idea that spectacle is more important than story. Yes, The Hurt Locker is cinema at its finest, an immensely gripping and intense film, but not without short-changing the audience in terms of story. Were I an Academy voter, I'd give Bigelow both awards, though I don't see it panning out that way.
Many will fume at the lack of nominations for Moon, especially as the wealth of nominations for Avatar, District 9 and Star Trek show that sci-fi is no longer awards show anathema. And Duncan Jones' cerebral lunar effort isn't the only film to be unjustly ignored, with the wonderful Abbie Cornish deserving of a nomination for Bright Star and. well, you know how I feel about The Road.
But there are heartening inclusions among a nominations list that pulls few punches. British viewers will have whooped as Colin Firth received a richly deserved best actor nomination for Tom Ford's beautifully shot A Single Man and, in the same category, Jeremy Renner's inclusion for The Hurt Locker represents a victory for performance over star power. Though the same criteria clearly wasn't applied when Matt Damon gained a supporting actor nomination for Invictus over the stunning Peter Capaldi, In The Loop is deservedly named in the best adapted screenplay category. We can also applaud David Yates for a justified cinematography nomination for the otherwise underwhelming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Wallace and Gromit for maintaining their global appeal with a best short nod for A Matter of Loaf and Death. The Academy deserves applause for recognising two lively songs from The Princess and the Frog over the ballad-by-numbers of Leona Lewis' Avatar theme I See You and, having rewatched it at the weekend, I'd be perfectly happy if Inglourious Basterds picked up the major awards should the voters be torn between Avatar and The Hurt Locker.
It may be jinxing their fortunes but here are my predictions for this year's major awards. I'll be live-blogging events at the Kodak Theatre on March 7th to see if I've been proved wrong.
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique for Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire
Best Actor
George Clooney for Up In The Air
Best Actress
Carey Mulligan for An Education
Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Best Picture
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