It's almost that time again, when Hollywood's talent and beauty come together for the Academy Awards. The glamorous red carpet and historic ceremony act as a crown on top of what is referred to as "award season" in the entertainment world. It is often the pillar against which all great actors, actresses, and directors are measured, and just receiving a nomination is a great honor.
What about all those snubbed from this potential glory? Understandably there are more films released in a year than can be nominated for Best Picture, and far more performances that warrant recognition. But how do those who earned attention at the year's other high profile award shows suddenly get passed over and replaced by talents never heard of?
Top 3 shockers with this year's nominees list:
1. Leonardo DiCaprio- Best Actor?
J. Edgar
In this film Leo portrays the former FBI director over the course of his lifetime. It is an accomplishment in itself to show the development of a person's character over the arch of their life. Understandably, the movie perhaps moves at a slower pace, but depicting a time when the FBI was just coming about and had no guidelines, it manages to be both epic and empty in the story.
I'm mostly just amazed that of all the amazing roles this man has played he has NEVER won an Academy Award. His diverse abilities in emotional range and passion are reason enough why having his name attached to a project can be a sole motivator for audiences to check it out. I just hope he doesn't end up like the John Wayne of this generation, who was repeatedly nominated but did not win an Oscar until 9 years before he died. "Opportunist not a patriot."
War Horse
It feels like Spielberg is all of a sudden working of every new project coming out of Hollywood, after ducking away from the limelight for a while. But he is excluded from the Academy's shortlist of directors for what I feel like is a reminder of what a movie should be like. The creator of the "blockbuster" brought back his signature style with War Horse, with the right mix of drama, comedy, action, wonderfully moving story, suspense, and unconditional love. Granted, he did not receive nominations from for the Golden Globe or Director's Guild of America, but it is still interesting that this two-time winner for Best Director was snubbed when his film was nominated for Best Picture. "Be Brave!"
3. The Adventure's of Tintin - Best Animated?
Inslut to injury, Spielberg's animated contribution to this year's films was excluded from the race entirely. Just as War Horse is a reminder of how a movie should entertain us, Tintin was exactly what a cartoon adventure should be like. It didn't rely in real-life applicable story with emotional pulls and definitely didn't keep to physical logic during the key action sequences, but that is why it was so thoroughly enjoyable. It feels like you are watching a throwback to the golden age of cartoons when tropes were perfectly acceptable. Aside from all this splendor, Tintin won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film, and it's usually accurate to believed the Golden Globes closely mirror the outcome of the Academy Awards. "Great Snakes!"
I suppose in regards to DiCaprio and Spielberg, we'll just have to sit tight until they're next respectable works of cinema excellence.
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