By now, everybody and their mother knows who the Academy Award nominees are because the news has been disseminiated, dissected, re-Tweeted, and analyzed to death. But let’s take a look around to see the reactions, yes?
The Hollywood Reporter turns in a wonderful two-page article which has comments and statements from each and every individual who was nominated for the major awards. Favorite recorded reaction comes from first-time Best Actor nominee Christopher Plummer: “I’m absolutely delighted that Helen Mirren and I have both been nominated by the Academy for portraying that stormy couple, the Tolstoys [in The Last Station],” he said. “As I’ve just turned 80, there’s no way it will go to my head.”
[Normally this is where I’d compare THR‘s reporting to Variety‘s, but the latter has decided to take more of its articles behind a pay-site if they’re more than a day old. Restricting access to news online? That is a discussion for an entirely separate day.]
If looking at all the nominees on the list makes you want to see any of them, the L.A. Times blog has a nice list of which films are still in theaters, which may be getting a re-release, and which are already out on DVD.
The most interesting statement comes from 20th Century Fox chairman Tom Rothman regarding how Avatar‘s nominations (9 total, including Best Picture, but not including any acting nominations) may help its box office profile: “There are plenty of people around the world who are not frequent moviegoers and may be motivated by the nominations.”
I think I get where he’s coming from because without the nomination, I doubt that someone like my dad would ever know that a movie about blue aliens on a completely fake planet existed. However, my dad’s also the kind of person who would never see a science fiction movie anyway, so the point becomes moot.
Also, just as several folks are excited and pleased to know they received Academy Award nominations, there’s an entirely different bunch of people who are sad now because they can now add Razzie nominee to their list of achievements. (For a more readable and understandable list, check out Beth Clough’s list at Examiner.com.) Highlights include a Worst Couple nomination for Shia Lebouf and either Megan Fox or Any Transformer from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the entire Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel category (nominees are G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Land of the Lost, Pink Panther 2, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Twilight Saga: New Moon).
Of special note this year are the awards for Worst Picture, Actor, and Actress of the Decade as this year’s ceremony will be the 30th for the organization, all of which were taken from previous Razzie award nominations. Nominees include Gigli because it won the Worst Comedy of Our First 25 Years award in 2004, John Travolta whose nomination includes a Worst Actor prize this year for Old Dogs, and Mariah Carey for being The Single Biggest Individual Vote Getter of the Decade: 70+% Of ALL Votes For Worst Actress Of 2001.
Finally, if you feel like doing your congratulating or stalking done in person, it’s not too late for you to head on over to California for the 25th Santa Barbara International Film Festival where 24 of the nominees will be on hand to show and/or support their films being screened. The festival runs from February 4 to February 14 and special events include Jeff Bridges Day and the presentation of the Cinema Vanguard award to Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Stanley Tucci and Christoph Waltz for their work as supporting actors.
lethalinterjection says:
What is with the plethora of Best Pic Oscar noms? Isn't that at least twice the number of usual noms?
Also, I agree about Rothman's comments. The movie has had a huge profile (between all of the other noms and the fact that it has been posting consistently huge numbers), and I don't think a few Oscar noms is really going to increase that.
Gordon McAlpin says:
Have you not been paying attention? The Academy doubled the number of Best Picture nominees to ten from now on. Think of it like their Top Ten list of the year, just unordered. Well, except for whoever wins.
They think it will spotlight smaller films that may not stand a chance at getting the award but still deserve some attention.
I don't see that it makes much of a difference, although I was glad that Up got a Best Picture nod (and will almost definitely win the Best Animated Feature award).
Trisha Lynn says:
A USA Today article that was linked on Pat's Papers quotes Roger Ebert as saying that if you cross-reference the Director's Guild nominees with the Academy's Top 10 list, you get the “real” nominees:
Avatar
Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air
Me, I'm royally pissed that Sam Rockwell didn't get nominated for Best Actor. Sony Pictures Classic really screwed the pooch on that one.
lethalinterjection says:
I wasn't sure if I had somehow missed that there were 10 last year, but I severely doubted it. I figured it was new, but I hadn't heard anything regarding it, I just saw the longer list when I checked out the nominees yesterday.