Most years this is an extremely easy post to write. If there is any difficulty at all it's picking out only 5 mistakes the Academy made. But this year there were so many good movies and performances it's hard to pick out a solid list of mistakes with the nominations. Almost everyone who got a nod is worthy. They might not be my pick but it's hard to say they didn't deserve the recognition. My rule has always been, if I think someone else should have got the nomination I have to pick a someone in that category who shouldn't have gotten nominated and that's been where my problem lies this year; taking an undeserved nomination away. That being the case, a lot of this list is slightly absurd this year. There were performances that I know would never get recognized in a million years that I put on this list. That's not to say that they aren't deserving, I mention them because I know nobody saw them and feel they should get recognized, but normally I stick to performances that would usually get a nod but for some odd reason didn't. So, some of these may sound ridiculous, but I stand by them. Here's my Top 5 Nomination Snubs For The 85th Academy Awards...
5) Michelle Williams (Take This Waltz) - Best Actress
This was a small surprise because even though she is very young, Williams has quickly made herself an Academy favorite. She's gotten a best actress nod each of the last two years and a best supporting actress nomination in 2005 for Broke Back Mountain. Her turn is Take This Waltz was brilliant as a house wife who was getting bored in her relationship and fell for the bright shinny new guy on the block. It's not an easy role to play, one has to take a easily unlikeable character and make the audience want to keep watching. Williams accomplished that with ease. Her performance was clearly stronger then both Emmanuelle Riva, who just sat there for two hours not doing much at all (I'm sorry but Jean-Louis Trintigant carried the movie and should have been the one to get a nomination) and Quvenzhane Wallis, who is 5 and has no idea what she is doing on screen.
4) Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises) - Best Supporting Actress
OK, I know, this is a major cheat, but I don't care. Hathaway may be nominated in this category already, but it's for absolutely the wrong movie. I have no idea what is nomination worthy about her Les Miserables role. Is it just because she sings? She's in the movie for something like 10 minutes, sings a couple songs, and acts sick. I wasn't impressed at all. Now, her version of Selina Kyle, on the other hand, was a work of genius. It just happened to be in a big budget comic book movie so there was no chance that the Academy would recognize it. It's a travesty that she not get credit for how amazing she was The Dark Knight Rises. I'm far from an Anne Hathaway fan, she just doesn't do it for me like she seems to for so many others, but even I can't deny how fantastic she was as Catwoman.
3) Liev Schreiber (Goon) - Best Supporting Actor
This is my biggest reach, but I stand by it strong enough to make it number 3. Almost nobody saw Goon and those who did know it's about as goof ball a comedy as you can get, a movie that the Academy wouldn't even give a second of thought about, but those who know hockey know how fantastic Schrebier was in this movie. Schrebier nailed the aging hockey goon to a tee, bringing in all the humanity that most people miss when they think hockey goon. It's a job or a role that needs to be filled and it isn't glamorous or fun. Schrebier showed all of that with beautiful subtlety. The dinner scene where he essentially passes the torch to Sean William-Scott's character is about as great an acting scene as you will find in any 2012 movie. I would put in Schreiber over Alan Arkin's role in Argo, which was just Arkin being Arkin. It was entertaining but there was nothing special about it.
2) Flight - Best Picture
This is a hard year to say that a movie was snubbed for Best Picture because there were so many deserving movies. More then any other year I'm finding it difficult to pick Best Picture because I liked or see worthiness in so many of the movies. That being said, Flight was clearly snubbed from this category. I was totally surprised by this movie. The previews do no justice for what it is actually about. This isn't a movie about an airplane crash, it's a movie about addiction. I'm glad to see Denzel Washington get recognized for his role and the movie get a nod for Best Original Screenplay, but it really should have gotten Best Picture as well. It was a wonderfully made movie from top to bottom. There is no reason it shouldn't have been nominated over Life Of Pi, which may have had great special effects, but was a horrible movie otherwise.
1) Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) - Best Director
This is the most obvious snub. It really is a travesty and I'm not sure why it happened. It was like the Academy said, we already gave a woman the directing Oscar, we don't need to do it again. This was a movie that hinged on direction and Bigelow did an amazing job pulling out wonderful performances and setting the perfect tone. Bigelow proved with her last winning picture, The Hurt Locker, that she can tackle these difficult subject movies with ease, but that doesn't make her any less deserving with this one. Again, I was not impressed at all with Life Of Pi and don't understand why this one was nominated for anything other than special effect, so Bigelow certainly should have been nominated over Ang Lee.
Honorable Mention: Jean-Louis Trintignant (Amour) - Best Actor
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