And I Am Telling You, You're Not Going...To the Oscars

Well, as you probably know by now, the Oscar nominees have been announced. And I have some opinions about them...

Best Picture:
"Babel,"
"The Departed,"
"Letters From Iwo Jima,"
"Little Miss Sunshine,"
"The Queen"

I admit that, so far, I have only seen two of the nominees: "The Departed" and "Little Miss Sunshine." It goes without saying that I loved "The Departed." And I might have liked "Little Miss Sunshine" more if people weren't drooling all over themselves with praise for it. It just wasn't that fantastic. It was much funnier the first time I saw it, when it was called "National Lampoon's Vacation," and [spoiler alert!] Alan Arkin, the best thing about the movie, is only in about half of it. The whole thing feels like a carefully planned Sundance Festival entry; way too contrived, and ultimately, not funny enough.

As for the other movies, I'll probably see "The Queen" before the actual awards, but I am not looking forward to watching "Babel." I'm getting a little tired of movies that pass incomprehensibility off as depth. I'm just glad "Dreamgirls" didn't sneak in there. Enough with the nominating of musicals already!

Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond";
Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson";
Peter O'Toole, "Venus";
Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness";
Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland."

I guess the only surprise here is that voters actually remembered Ryan Gosling and "Half Nelson." But once again, I haven't seen any of the nominated performances, so I can't say much about the choices.

Actress:
Penelope Cruz, "Volver";
Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal";
Helen Mirren, "The Queen";
Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada";
Kate Winslet, "Little Children."

There's a good variety of grand dames and (relative) newcomers in this category, but I really don't think Streep's role in that movie was a lead one. Hers was a supporting character, and should have been nominated thusly.

Supporting Actor:
Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine";
Jackie Earle Haley, "Little Children";
Djimon Hounsou, "Blood Diamond";
Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls";
Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed."

I'm really pleased to see Jackie Earle Haley nominated; it's awesome that he's gone from a "whatever happened to that weird looking kid from 'The Bad News Bears'?" to an Oscar nominee. Also, how awesome are the words "Academy Award nominee Marky Mark"? That said, I think Alan Arkin will take it.

Supporting Actress:
Adriana Barraza, "Babel";
Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal";
Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine";
Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls";
Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel."

Once again, only saw "Little Miss Sunshine," and as cute as that little girl was, I don't think she deserves an award for it. I haven't seen "Dreamgirls," but in all the acting clips I've seen of Jennifer Hudson, she's not...that great. Will they really give her an award based solely on the strength of her singing?

Directing:
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Babel";
Martin Scorsese, "The Departed";
Clint Eastwood, "Letters From Iwo Jima";
Stephen Frears, "The Queen";
Paul Greengrass, "United 93."

It's another one of those years where they nominate a director and not his film (and a film, but not the director) in this case Paul Greengrass for "United 93," and not Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris for "Little Mis Sunshine". Which just reminds me, I'm sure happy "United 93" didn't get nominated. I think the praise it garnered was based on the emotions brought up by the events of September 11th, and not by the film itself. It was good and all, but it wasn't great. As for the rest, the question remains, will Scorsese get passed over in favor of Clint Eastwood once again?

Of course there are more nominations, but I haven't the time to get into those right now. Maybe later. I need to start planning my Oscar night menu. "The Queen"'s bangers and mash? And "Departed" lobster rolls. Yes!