The Oscar nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were announced Tuesday morning, January 24, 2012, and many people were tuned in. There is always a lot of anticipation surrounding this event, since even if actors or receive many accolades there is no certainty until the nominations go out. When Jenifer Laurence, last year’s Lead Actress nominee for Winter’s Bone, and Tom Sherak, the current Academy President, started rolling off the names it was apparent that the Academy did decide to go with a few changes from the list that the Golden Globes created.
Among the acting nominations there were some switch outs and add ins that were surprising given how some of the other awards ceremonies and critics have leaned. Actors Albert Brooks of Drive and Shailene Woodley of The Descendants were not nominated for their Supporting Roles but were replaced by Melissa McCarthy of Bridesmaids and Max von Sydow of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The film Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has not won over a lot of critics but, it seems that it Sydow must be doing enough to get the Academy’s notice. It should also be said that there has to be a surprise with Melissa McCarthy’s nomination, even with her nominations for The SAG Awards and BAFTA. In the Best Leading Actor category there was the surprise inclusion of Demián Bichir for his role in the critic loved but little seen drama A Better Life, in addition to Gary Oldman for his portrayal in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. For Oldman, who has had a great career full of memorable roles, this is his first Oscar nomination ever. Some of these choices had very warm greetings; Sydow’s, Oldman’s and Bichir’s nominations received hoots of joy from people in attendance of the ceremonial reading of nominees.
Besides the changes in nominated actors from the Golden Globes there were also pulls in other areas. Terrence Malick nabbed a nomination for his film The Tree of Life, replacing George Clooney for The Ides of March. The Tree of Life was highly enjoyed by critics when it was released into theaters, like A Better Life, and Malick is a favorite among the many in film community so it is understandable why he would be recognized. In the Best Animated film category there was a noticeable absence of three movies that have been nominated for the Golden Globes, Producers Guild and Critics’ Choice Awards; Arthur Christmas, The Adventures of TinTin and Cars 2. It could be thought that after appearing on all of these lists that these films would be nominated, especially TinTin since it took the category at all three of these ceremonies, but apparently The Academy had other plans. Two little known films called A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita, Chico & Rita, both foreign language and Chico & Rita seems more of an adult film. Then again if the Academy only stuck with very commercial animated features from the United States there always be a high probability that Disney films would always win. Furthermore in the big category of Best Film, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Ides of March and Drive didn’t make the cut. Instead of those three Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close snatched up an available spot in the possibly ten open spots.
With these small shake-ups in the nominations there is a possibility for some that some films will not have repeat wins on Oscar night. Then again many times it seems like once you have seen one awards show, you have seen them all. In the end one must either tune into the 84th Academy Awards Ceremony on February 26, 2012 or choose to wait to here the results on the television the next day. Just don’t forget to have your popcorn.
To see a full list of the nominees and learn more about the award ceremony go to: Oscar.org
Bill Crystal returns to host the Oscars video (I am not fan of the fact that Megan Fox is in this promo)
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