Oscar nominations: Academy snubs lesbian sex machines, deranged mothers

Oscar nominations: Academy snubs lesbian sex machines, deranged mothers – and Christopher Nolan

Mo'Nique and Tom Sherak announce the best picture nominees (Photo: Reuters)

Nominated: Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King’s Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone

An altogether solid line-up this year, and it’s heartwarming to think that Toy Story 3 has some small chance of rounding off the trilogy with a victory lap award. But no, this year belongs to Mark Zuckerberg and Bertie Windsor; I’m calling a Best Picture/Director split between The King’s Speech and The Social Network, with Tom Hooper’s Britflick edging it due to its perfect storm of royalty, disability and World War Two. It’s a pleasure to see Winter’s Bone in there, too.

Nominated: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, True Grit; David Fincher, The Social Network; Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech; David O. Russell, The Fighter

In what’s likely to prove the big controversy, Christopher Nolan has received the proverbial snub from the Academy, with his brainy blockbuster Inception denied a directing nod. What, did they think that the revolving corridor fight was the producers’ idea, or that Ellen Page just dreamed up bending Paris herself? Anyway, David Fincher is surely set to continue his cakewalk across the award ceremonies with The Social Network. Given its mix of complex backchat and technical skill, that’s hardly a disgraceful choice for the panel – but come on.

Nominated: Javier Bardem, Biutiful; Jeff Bridges, True Grit; Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network; Colin Firth, The King’s Speech; James Franco, 127 Hours

It’s hard to imagine anyone else from this list going home happy come February 27th, especially given that our Col woz robbed for A Single Man. That said, it could be fun watching James Franco trying to mix the standard gush of an acceptance speech with his co-hosting duties.

Nominated: Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right; Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole; Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone; Natalie Portman, Black Swan; Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Again, given the momentum she’s built up, it would be tough to see Portman not winning for her against-type turn in Black Swan. Watch out for awkward moments in the Blue Valentine camp: of the two leads, roughly equal in screentime and quality of performance, Michelle Williams has picked up a nomination, and Ryan Gosling has not. On a lighter note, Jennifer Lawrence’s presence for indie underdog Winter’s Bone is a real grin.

Nominated: Christian Bale, The Fighter; John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone; Jeremy Renner, The Town; Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right, Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Will win: Christian Bale, The Fighter/Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech [tie]

Too close to call for Best Supporting Actor: the Academy may want to flesh out The King’s Speech tally, and Rush did do a fantastic job, or they may want to complete the redemptive narrative of Christian Bale’s return post-freakout return to proper acting. Either way, it’s a strong list this year, and again the presence of a Winter’s Bone cast member is a good thing. But where’s Andrew Garfield, The Social Network’s secret weapon?

Nominated: Amy Adams, The Fighter; Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech;  Melissa Leo, The Fighter; Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit; Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Should win: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

An acting sweep for The King’s Speech is an almost sure thing, but 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld surely deserves some recognition for her astonishingly self-possessed performance in True Grit. Although, given she narrates and is in pretty much every scene, is this really the category to do it in? Note also the absence of both Mila Kunis and Barbara Hershey for Black Swan. What exactly does the Academy not like about lesbian sex machines and deranged smother mothers?

Nomated: Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle, 127 Hours; Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network; Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3;  Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, True Grit; Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini, Winter’s Bone

Easy one, this. There really is no competition. But what exactly is Toy Story 3 adapted from?

Nominated: Mike Leigh, Another Year; Keith Dorrington, Eric Johnson, Scott Silver, and Paul Tamasy, The Fighter; Christopher Nolan, Inception; Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right; David Seidler, The King’s Speech

The Academy has been known to shunt films it wants to reward but doesn’t quite know how to into the winner’s category for this: I call it the Pulp Fiction principle. Could Christopher Nolan pick up some consolation for his bizarre directing snub with a writing Oscar? Not likely, given the zingers in David Seidler’s script for The King’s Speech.

Nominated: Biutiful, Dogtooth, In A Better World, Incendies, Hors La Loi (Outside The Law)

Dogtooth is by far the standout film on this list, but that’s usually a dead certain sign it won’t win – witness what happened to The White Ribbon and A Prophet last year. The real scandal is the absence of Xavier Beauvois’s sensational Of Gods and Men, a powerfully moving account of the spiritual life of some monks in Algeria. Without it, this category really is a farce, and given the weird, weird decisions made in it over the years, it really is anybody’s game.

Nominated: Exit Through The Gift Shop, Gasland, Inside Job, Restrepo, Waste Land

The golden age of documentary continues with yet another strong shortlist: Inside Job, looking at the financial crisis of recent years, got the righteous indignation flowing, but it’s likely that Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington’s action-man heroics in getting the powerful Afghan combat footage in Restrepo will be rewarded instead. It’ll be fun to see how Banksy chooses to appear for Exit Throught the Gift Shop, too…