When the Academy introduced the new rule for Best Picture nominees, they wanted an element of surprise added back into the Oscar race.
They got it.
It seemed as if we all knew what was coming as soon as the graphic was flashed on screen such that only eight nominees would make it into the Best Picture race, with “War Horse” and “The Tree of Life” being the surprises.
But as if to slap all the Oscar prognosticators in the face for thinking the Academy was predictable and boring, Academy President Tom Sherak announced “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” last, a movie long thought dead in the minds of critics and bloggers. I in fact picked all eight of the other nominees save for “Extremely Loud,” and to see it pick up not one but two nominations was something of a gut punch.
The film was critically panned, and rightfully so. What shocks me is how of all the performers in that film, Max von Sydow was the one to steal the last spot in the Best Supporting Actor category, effectively robbing Albert Brooks of a nomination for his chilling work in “Drive.”
This is the first time in several years I have not seen all the nominees prior to their announcement, but I quickly saw ‘Extremely Loud” the same afternoon. I left flabbergasted into wondering why this not only irritating and cloying film, but one that often is more literally hurtful and painful than it is melodramatic and soppy, not only has enough people who like the film but have more than five percent of people who feel it is the best movie of the year.
von Sydow, as great an actor as he is, doesn’t say a word in his short role (neither does anyone in “The Artist,” but never mind), and is a fairly undeveloped character for all his potential. The young Thomas Horn on the other hand, a first time actor capable of really carrying the movie despite his infuriatingly quirky and rude character, is quite excellent to the point that he deserves a nomination for Best Actor. More people will have seen his movie than Demian Bichir’s.
Which gets me to my next point, one that considers the broader sins of the Oscar nominations and their minor omissions numerous times over. Seeing “Extremely Loud” get nominated is one thing, especially coupled with my opposite joy at seeing “The Tree of Life” and Terrence Malick be nominated. But to then watch snubs from merely decent films without the fan base as some of the real standouts of the year, it gives me a taste in my mouth about this year’s nominations that collectively leaves me sour.
“Bridesmaids,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” all performed well, despite none of them receiving what many thought would be a likely 10th nominee for Best Picture, or even best director nods for David Fincher and Tomas Alfredson. Those, along with the other surprise Adapted Screenplay nominee “The Ides of March,” are all overrated in my opinion, and it’s made it such that I could talk less about the actual nominees and more about the movies not nominated at all.
Those films, if they were nominated and I had my way, would compose the ranks of the acting categories. As it stands, something like the Best Actress category (the supporting nods are not all that better) features great performances in notoriously weak films, and there are any number of actors and actresses who gave equally strong performances in significantly better movies. Kirsten Dunst, Tilda Swinton, Charlize Theron and Elizabeth Olsen could compose an entirely new lineup. And a nomination for Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway in “Midnight in Paris” would’ve made my day no matter what the nominees were.
Even the smaller categories were lame: Four unknown titles in the Best Documentary race, two nominations for “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” taking out Pixar’s dud “Cars 2” from the Best Animated Feature category but leaving in “Kung Fu Panda 2” and “Puss in Boots” and only two Best Song nominees, from of all things “The Muppets” and “Rio,” in a field that could’ve included Elton John, Madonna and The National.
The more I think about the nominees, the more I realize they hardly reflect my picks for the best films of the year, and in that way we have more evidence that 2011 was something of a bad year for movies. It also leads me to believe and agree with many others that these nominations aren’t just bad but are some of the most frustrating and maddening in some time.
And yet, I don’t fully agree that this is such a terrible year for the Oscars.
If nothing else, 2011 has produced one of the Best Oscar races in many years. No clear front runners in just about any category, rule changes and controversy galore and enough snubs to fill a dozen columns? That’s what you call a contest.
We ask for this circus and this discussion every year. That’s what the Oscars are for, and this year, they’ve delivered.