So the Academy Awards nominations are out. As with every year, my father and I will be doing our bet, so this officially kicks off my month o’ Oscar research, leading up to one very stressful evening.
This has actually gotten more stressful in the last few years, since I have published my picks annually (first at Blue’s News and last year at Shacknews). This year will be no different, and I’ll probably be putting them up at the Shack, otherwise they’ll be here (or most likely both).
Also not helping is the fact that my father has discovered the value of serious research in picking the winners. Previously he based his choices on gut instinct or personal opinion, which resulted in my beating him outright virtually every time. In the 10+ years that we’ve been doing this I’ve only lost once, and I’ve tied once, putting a great deal of pressure on me to keep up my winning streak.
But it’s been getting harder with each year. A few years ago when Titanic was the big movie, everything was simple. And two years ago when American Beauty was the front runner, I successfully predicted every one of the major categories (and almost had a full set for every one…I went against my instinct and bet on American Beauty for editing over The Matrix…a poor decision indeed). Last year was really touch-and-go there for a bit…thankfully I went out on a limb by picking Halle Berry, but that was really a last-minute choice. Without that I would have tied again.
So what do I think of this year’s lineup? It’s a bit too early to make any predictions, but based on my thoughts on the movies nominated, I’d say it’s a good batch. It’s nice to see The Pianist nominated for so many categories, although we won’t know how good a shot it has until after the guild awards come out. I was thrilled to see Philip Glass nominated for original score (for The Hours), and it’s nice to see Conrad L. Hall and Paul Neuman on the list for Road to Perdition (for Cinematography and Supporting Actor respectively). The biggest surprise is of course Michael Moore’s nomination for Bowling for Columbine in the Documentary category. Seeing it nominated for a Writer’s Guild Award was pretty strange, but this was even more surprising, given the Academy’s previous habit of skipping all but the stuffiest documentaries (previous movies to be skipped include Crumb, Hoop Dreams and Moore’s own Roger & Me).
But again, it’s too early to make any real predictions. In the coming weeks I’ll be doing just that, so stick around and I’ll go through the list with a fine-toothed comb.