Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations

The nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning.

Ten films were nominated for Best Picture instead of the usual five. The Motion Picture Academy did nominate ten films for Best Picture between 1934 and 1944.

Of the ten films nominated I have seen only two - An Education and the animated feature Up. This is what I wrote about Up last June:

Please see this movie!!!

If it is possible for an animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture then this is the movie. If it is possible for an actor to be nominated for Best Actor using only his voice then Ed Asner could make cinematic history.

O.K., Ed Asner didn't get a nomination. But one out of two isn't bad.

But yes I'm one of six people in the United States who has yet to see Avatar. The thought of James Cameron coming up to the stage and proclaiming, "I'm the king of the world!!! Woo-hoo!!!" does not thrill me even if he was born in northern Ontario.

Of the films nominated I think Avatar, The Hurt Locker (an anti-war film directed by Cameron's ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow) and Up in the Air starring George Clooney have the best chance of winning.

The Academy Awards will be presented on March 7th. Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin are the co-hosts.