The 84th Academy Awards ceremony is around the corner, and the much anticipated nominees were recently announced. Many of the nominees were not surprises, but a handful did fall in the “snubbed” category.
The Best Picture Nominees:
The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
Prediction: The Artist 
My favorite out of that list is The Descendants, but I don’t think the Academy will pick that over The Artist. Being in such a modern era, it would be rather historic for a silent film like The Artist to win the big award. Very nostalgic, VERY Oscar like.
Actor in a Leading Role:
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
George Clooney in “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”
Prediction: George Clooney in “The Descendants” 
As mentioned in my old post, The Descendants may be the best role Clooney has ever played. It’s quirky, raw, and straightforward all at the same time. Clooney’s good buddy Brad Pitt who also did a brilliant job in Moneyball will certainly be all smiles if Clooney pulls away and wins this much deserved award. The only man that may deter Clooney, is Jean Dujardin who played a brilliant role in The Artist. It should be interesting to see how much love The Artist gets from the Academy.
Actor in a Supporting Role:
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Prediction: Christopher Plummer in “Beginners” 
Plummer who has starred in numerous roles in his career, finds himself a virtual lock in this category. Usually the supporting role can be predicted at a very high rate. The last few years have been very obvious. Javier Bardem won in 07 for his chilling role in No Country For Old Men. In 08 Heath Ledger took home the honors for his spine tingling role as the Joker in the highly successful Dark Knight film. In 09 Christoph Waltz took home the honors for his unforgettable role in Inglourious Basterds. I think Plummer will win this award.
Actress in a Leading Role:
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis in “The Help”
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”
Prediction: Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady” 
The popular pick is Meryl Streep right? Why not go with the popular pick for once during the Oscars? Michelle Williams would be my “favorite” pick but I don’t see her winning this award. Meryl Streep has been nominated 17 times, and only won twice! I think the big three happens this time around for Meryl. Her role in Iron Lady is strong as Iron.
Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer in “The Help”
Prediction: Octavia Spencer in “The Help” 
Spencer who is fresh off her win at the Golden Globes is in for a big year. The Help has seen an immense amount of success, and I think Octavia Spencer will conclude that run with a Oscar win. Certainly Bérénice Bejo will be her biggest competition, and I know we all would love to see Melissa McCarthy shock the world with a win in this category, but we also know better than to think the Oscars will show comedy much respect.
Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2” Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
“Rango” Gore Verbinski
Prediction: “Rango” Gore Verbinski 
With Johnny Depp’s voice, and unique animation, Rango raked in a whopping $245,375,374 worldwide. A mega hit, with a well deserved Oscar win in its path.
Directing
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Alexander Payne
“Hugo” Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick
Prediction: “The Descendants” Alexander Payne 
Payne has some great competition in this category. Every single person on this list can make a good case for winning this award. I think Payne’s movie is the most unique out of the bunch. The direction in The Descendants is so well done, I would hope that the Academy sees the same thing I do when it comes to how Payne sent a strong message through unique direction.
Certainly the awards don’t stop here. The Oscars have been criticized for being a never ending onslaught of gold statues, but to cram one year of film into three hours and change, is not an easy thing to do.
I think The Artist and The Descendants are bound to win the biggest awards of the night.
As far as snubs go, where is Ryan Gosling? After a fantastic year in the Ides of March and a powerful performance in Drive, Gosling is nowhere to be found. Albert Brooks who also played a brilliant supporting role in Drive did not snag a nomination. David Fincher was no where to be found in the director category, after he released the much anticipated Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
Bridesmaids did get some love, but many would argue that film could have slipped into the Best Picture category, but like The Hangover the female version failed to do so.
The biggest disappointment of the year was by far J Edgar. A film directed by Clint Eastwood, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio…. what could possibly go wrong? Everything did. Leo’s performance was solid but the movie turned out to be a rare dud from Clint and his crew.
The Oscars will air Sunday, February 26th at 7PM ET. It should be a fantastic night for movie fans!
Who will bring home the big awards this year? http://oscar.go.com/nominees
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