Oscar Nominations

[michiruwater]

Watts and Hathaway are in different categories.

[jenny12]

A character that's not only in perpetual pain but also is able to belt out a song in close-up, ie Ann Hatheway

Yes, but Naomi Watts can portray pain without being self-indulgent.

And they are in different categories.

[Cachoo]

Ok-- I'm switching between college basketball and the Critic's Choice awards and for the first time in my life I think I just saw the reincarnation of Shirley Temple and her name is Quvenzhané Wallis. I have not seen her movie but she just gave a lesson on how to give an acceptance speech and made me also think of Shirley. For all I know she may be more talented than Shirley and that is saying A LOT.


*This may have been mentioned: Do you think at any point after the nominations Ben Affleck thought "Argo &&&& Yourself!"

[BigB08822]

Man, the Critics Choice Awards looks CHEAP. Why does everything look this way on CW? It's like they use a "cheap" filter or something.

Jennifer Lawrence just won Best Actress.

[Cachoo]

She won earlier for Best Actress too but I think that was for the best actress action category.

[Allskate]

I saw 'The Master' and the nominations for Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams are spot-on, especially Joaquin's portrayal of a tortured soul made me downright squeamish. The actual film though was a little heavy ...It was like watching a Kira Ivanova LP. You kind of had to watch because the components that were 'on' were really good, but parts made you squirm, and other parts were boring / disinteresting - something was a little off generally speaking

I thought "The Master" was more than a little off. I thought it was a LOT off. It was, by far, my least favorite movie from this past year. I wanted my money and time back. If I had been watching it on DVD, I don't think I would have made it through because it just didn't hold my interest and was really meandering. The problem went beyond being heavy. It just didn't make much sense to me. There are some very good actors who starred in that movie, but I didn't feel like I had a very good understanding of their characters and motives in this movie. The portrayal of a "tortured soul" doesn't do much for me on its own. The material and direction may not be the actors' fault, but I don't think they did enough to save the movie for any of them to be worthy of an Oscar.

[Wyliefan]

Man, the Critics Choice Awards looks CHEAP. Why does everything look this way on CW?

Because it's the CW.

[BigB08822]

Now I am confused. I saw a list and it had Lawrence as Best Actress Comedy and Best Actress Action. However, it listed Chastain as just Best Actress. Did Chastain win Best Actress Drama or was it an overall award and if so, why would they not have a Drama category and why would they bother with the other categories?

[olympic]

I thought "The Master" was more than a little off. I thought it was a LOT off. It was, by far, my least favorite movie from this past year. I wanted my money and time back. If I had been watching it on DVD, I don't think I would have made it through because it just didn't hold my interest and was really meandering. The problem went beyond being heavy. It just didn't make much sense to me. There are some very good actors who starred in that movie, but I didn't feel like I had a very good understanding of their characters and motives in this movie. The portrayal of a "tortured soul" doesn't do much for me on its own. The material and direction may not be the actors' fault, but I don't think they did enough to save the movie for any of them to be worthy of an Oscar.

For me, the way Joaquin even held his body - like he was tormented by an outside force - was great acting. Like you, I didn't quite "get" the film but I would blame the screenplay for that lack of understanding.

[whoa]

Boo. I can't believe Mihai Malaimare Jr. didn't get a nomination for his amazing cinematography in The Master. Or Jonny Greenwood for his score; John Williams for Lincoln. Are you kidding me?
I didn't understand the movie at all, but I certainly enjoyed looking at it. Maybe this will be Deakins' year...

[aftershocks]

The way Hollywood loves to reward fresh young faces these days, maybe the vote will be split between Jennifer, Jessica (and the somewhat older Naomi) to the point where Quvenzhane Wallis will end up winning.

It would be so fun to see BOSW director, Benh Zeitlin win for BD! It would be one of those exciting upsets that would make the broadcast extra interesting to watch.

In the other major categories, I'd like to see DDL and Sally Field win in their categories; either Tommy Lee Jones or Alan Arkin for BSActor; Tony Kushner for Best Adapted Screenplay; and either BOSW or Lincoln for Best Picture.

It was great to see Kathryn Bigelow win a few years ago for Hurt Locker, but I don't think Hurt Locker deserved to win for Best Picture that year. Also, I think Bigelow should have been nominated years previously for Strange Days. Not sure re ZD30 since I haven't seen it yet. Is it possible that ZD30 stole some thunder from Argo and then they both "flamed out" in the minds of Oscar voters?

Aren't Flight and Skyfall at least equally or more deserving for BP noms as Silver Linings Playbook? Oh, well, that's Hollywood politics. The best doesn't always win and many times the best doesn't even get nominated, and how to actually determine "the best" in any case. It's mostly based on personal preferences, personal perceptions, buzz, networking, and ever-present politics.

Utterly shocked about Affleck and Bigelow getting snubbed for director. Thrilled for the love shown to Beasts of the Southern Wild and Silver Linings Playbook. I still think Lincoln is the front runner for best pic though, and no way anyone but Daniel Day-Lewis is winning best actor. Best actress is quite the race! Chastain and Lawrence are the likely leaders but I'd love for Riva or Wallis to get it

Me too re BOSW. Haven't yet seen SLP. It's highly likely that BOSW and SLP director noms are what pushed out director noms for Affleck and Bigelow.

"Silver Linings Playbook" (IMO) was completely awesome. The ending was not all I'd hoped for, but that may be in part due to the book it was based on. My biggest praise for the movie goes to Jennifer Lawrence, however. I've thought she was good in other roles, but I can't say I had bought into the hype about her being the "next big" young star. This movie changed that perception totally for me.

As Ioana already mentioned, Jennifer Lawrence was exceedingly excellent in Winter's Bone, a small independent film she starred in when she was a little known actress prior to hitting it bigger in The Hunger Games. BTW, John Hawkes was also amazing in Winter's Bone as the scary character, Teardrop, and he was Oscar-nominated for that role. It's a film worth checking out.

Just read some stuff now predicting Watts, especially since Robert Downey Jr (who basically owns Hollywood these days) gave her his praise at the People's Choice Awards. If RDJ singles out an actress's performance in his acceptance speech at an awards show, you can damn well bet the Academy will take notice.

I have a relative who is a voting member of the Academy. I kind of want to contact her to see what her thoughts are... And get inside scoop (like when apparently voters were not told to, but were nudged in the direction of voting for Heath Ledger for Dark Knight...)

What makes RDJ "own" Hollywood so much these days? I know he's always been beloved even when he was strung out on drugs, and I know he's clean now and happily married, and he's done well with the Iron Man franchise, and he's a great actor, but what makes him have so much clout exactly? Just curious.

I wonder how voters were "nudged" to vote for Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight? Too bad they weren't so "nudged" when Heath should have won for his role in Brokeback Mountain in 2005, easily over Philip Seymour Hoffman's very good, but miscast impersonation of Truman Capote, in Capote. As to the Best Picture selection that same year ... what a car wreck! :

[Artemis@BC]

I also don't believe children should be in best actor catagories. They should have their own "child actor" catagory.

I don't think it should be a hard&fast rule, but I do know what you mean.

I know Oscars are supposed to be about the one performance, not a body of work, but I still do think there's something a bit off about giving a best actor nomination to a to a child's first performance. As amazing as Keisha Castle-Hughes and Quvenzhané Wallis were in their films, they were more about natural "being" than the craft of acting.

A child actor category would be cool though. You wouldn't even have to set an age rule -- after all there's no screentime percentage rule for defining "supporting" actor.

[BigB08822]

I don't get the comment about RDJ owning Hollywood, either. He is certainly doing well with the Marvel franchise movies but he isn't running Hollywood or the "it" man as far as I can tell. I know Reese Witherspoon was heavily campaigning for Naomi Watts as well and I would think she would have more clout being a recent Best Actress winner.

[Artemis@BC]

BTW, I just caught up with Monday night's episode of the Daily Show. Hilarious interview with Anne Hathaway.

[aftershocks]

They used to give child actors mini-Oscars back in the day. Margaret O'Brien received an "Outstanding Child Actress" Oscar for 1944's Meet Me in St. Louis (a great film that I saw recently). I also think Shirley Temple received a mini-Oscar, but I'm not sure if it was for one film or a body of work for a particular year or years. Her IMDB bio states that "at age six she became the first recipient of the juvenile academy award." Probably Jackie Cooper received a juvenile award too.

ETA:
You make a good point, BigB08822. As good as Anna Paquin was in The Piano, I think Rosie Perez should have won BSActress for her performance in Fearless (1993).

[julieann]

I know Oscars are supposed to be about the one performance, not a body of work, but I still do think there's something a bit off about giving a best actor nomination to a to a child's first performance. As amazing as Keisha Castle-Hughes and Quvenzhané Wallis were in their films, they were more about natural "being" than the craft of acting.

There is also a gulf of difference between acting and reacting and many kids just react; Wallis is a perfect example.

A child actor category would be cool though. You wouldn't even have to set an age rule -- after all there's no screentime percentage rule for defining "supporting" actor.

There is no screen time rule for any acting category. I do wish they had a separate category for kids just like they do with animated motion pictures. I also wish they would do away with having a set number of nominees in all categories. If only four men qualify for best actor then only have four. It would alleviate the trouble of them putting in actors like Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington to fill a void. If seven supporting actors were good enough, then nominate all seven.

The best actress category is the absolute weakest I have seen in years but the supporting actor could have added three more. I feel bad for Hooper and Affleck but not for Bigelow, The Hurt Locker was fabulous but Zero Dark Thrity (or The Hurt Locker Part II) was not.

Time has no bearing on what wins best picture; Braveheart was released in May and still won best picture and director. If it's good enough they will remember it.

[Artemis@BC]

They used to give child actors mini-Oscars back in the day. Margaret O'Brien received an "Outstanding Child Actress" Oscar for 1944's Meet Me in St. Louis (a great film that I saw recently). I also think Shirley Temple received a mini-Oscar, but I'm not sure if it was for one film or a body of work for a particular year or years. Her IMDB bio states that "at age six she became the first recipient of the juvenile academy award." Probably Jackie Cooper received a juvenile award too..

Those weren't competitive awards with a nominated category, though, they were "special awards" just given. Sort of the opposite end of the age spectrum as the lifetime achievement awards.

ETA: Now that I think about it, though ... I wonder if a competitive child actor catorgory would be good for the mental health of the kids involved. It's not like they pressure-cooker they live and work in isn't damaging enough to their psyches!

[Wyliefan]

There is no screen time rule for any acting category. I do wish they had a separate category for kids just like they do with animated motion pictures. I also wish they would do away with having a set number of nominees in all categories. If only four men qualify for best actor then only have four. It would alleviate the trouble of them putting in actors like Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington to fill a void.

I saw Flight. Washington isn't just filling a void.

[jenny12]

I saw Flight. Washington isn't just filling a void.

I agree. Really affecting performance. Totally gives into the role. I would put him ahead of both Hugh Jackman and Bradley Cooper if I were ranking the performances I've seen in the category.

[julieann]

I saw Flight. Washington isn't just filling a void.

I thought he just showed up; it was ok, nothing Oscar worthy.