The nominations are in

This will be the 81st Oscar Awards celebration and we now know who the finalists will be. I am not going to cover every category or every nominee in every category but I notice every year there are always some questions as to how in the hell something got nominated. There is also my favorite question of “If it is nominated for best screen play then how does it not get nominated for best picture?”

Today we are going to look at some these questions as I go through some of the categories and give you my thoughts. You can find the complete list of nominees here.

Actor in a leading role

Nominees: Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Sean Penn (Milk), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Question: How in the hell did Mickey Rourke get nominated?

Answer: If you have seen The Wrestler there is no question as to why he was nominated. This movie could have easily been a documentary about one of hundreds of wrestlers no longer in the WWE spotlight. Watch the documentary Beyond the Mat and it will be quite apparent just how truly brilliant Rourke was in this role.

Actor in a supporting role

Nominees: Josh Brolin (Milk), Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)

Question: Would Heath Ledger even be nominated if he was still alive?

Answer: Absolutely, yes he would. In a lot of films it is difficult to separate the actor from the character. What I mean is that when you look at the screen you see the actor first and the character second. When I watch The Dark Knight, I don’t see Heath, I see The Joker. It is a rare treat for me to sit and watch a movie and see an actor become his character so completely that I forget he is just acting.

Heath had some great roles left to play and it is a great loss to those that truly love movies that he is no longer here to show us what it means to give the highest caliber of performances.

Costume Design

Nominees: Australia, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Duchess, Milk, Revolutionary Road

Question: How does Milk get a nomination for this category?

Answer: I don’t know. I was surprised to see this as the costumes design for this flick is easy in my opinion. You can find clothes from the seventies in any Salvation Army or thrift store. I am totally unimpressed with this nomination.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Nominees: Frozen River, Happy Go Lucky, In Bruges, Milk, Wall-E

Question: How is it that none of these are nominated for Best Picture?

Answer: The screenplay is but one piece of the puzzle. Had these flicks received nominations for directing and/or acting, you could make a case for any one of these films. Remember that the screenplay is the blueprint for a film not the end result. You can have a screenplay that is good, not great but good, and find a director and actors and all the other pieces you need to take this good screenplay and turn it into a great film. You can have a great screenplay and when you put all the other pieces together, you only get a good film. Sorry, but that is how it works sometimes.

This covers some of the big ones and I hope it clears some things up for you. If not feel free to ask me questions. Until the next time, go watch some movies.