Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Oscar! The Nominations Are Out!

I literally arrived back in New York moments ago and of course my first thought was looking at the Oscar nominations (tragically, I forgot to tape the morning shows) and then posting my thoughts. Boy am I still reeling and those of you who said I was foolish to think "Dreamgirls" was a frontrunner (hello, Vegas, well you were very right and I was very wrong. "Dreamgirls" has the most nominations, but it didn't get a nod for Best Picture or Best Director. I think I was even more shocked that Almodovar's "Volver" wasn't nominated for Best Picture OR Best Foreign Film (or anything other than Penelope Cruz's terrific central performance. My happiest surprise? Seeing Ryan Gosling nominated for Best Actor in a wide-open field. (Gosling, who is 26, would be the youngest winner in the unlikely event he snagged the award.) "Babel" got lots of love, but none for Brad Pitt. (I loved Peter O'Toole's recent comment that Pitt was very nice and an okay actor.) Finally, if anyone could explain to me why "Borat" is considered an Adapted Screenplay, I would be beholden. Is it because the character first appeared on a TV show? I suppose so.

Here is the official list of nominees.

Here is commentary from the LA Times and the Hollywood Reporter.

The five Best Picture nominees are:

Babel
The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Frankly, I haven't seen "Little Miss Sunshine" yet (I know, I know) but none of the others will be on my best of the year list.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I haven't seen all of them yet but as of now I'll be rooting for The Departed (and long shot Mark Wahlberg).

Hoping to see Pan's Labyrinth and Letters from Iwo Jima in the next couple of weeks to round out my Oscar viewing.

Alex Lewin said...

The Departed and The Queen might make my top 10 (but not my top 5) list. Little Miss Sunshine is fine, smart and funny, but finally flimsy. I really hate Babel. It's not as bad as Crash, but it's in the same league.