Directionless Oscars

The 2013 Oscar nominations are out. Nothing too surprising, except for a few snubs. Not unexpectedly (in fact, too easily), Lincoln leads the field, and there were strong showings by Silving Linings Playbook, Life Of Pi, Amour and Beasts Of The Southern Wild.

Here are the main categories followed by my comments:

Best Picture:

Amour
Argo
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life Of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

All the names everyone's been talking about are here. The only slight surprise is Amour, which figured to be in the foreign language film category.  No animated stuff this year. There was room for one more, but no Moonrise Kingdom or The Master or Flight or Skyfall or The Sessions or Marigold Hotel or Dark Knight or The Hobbit.

Director:

Amour, Michael Haneke
Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin
Life Of Pi, Ang Lee
Lincoln, Steven Spielberg
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell

The biggest snubs of all.  To put in Haneke, Zeitlin and Lee means no Quentin Tarantino. More shocking, no Tom Hooper.  Mindbogglingly shocking, no Ben Affleck or Kathryn Bigelow. Does this mean Zero Dark Thirty and Argo aren't in the running for best picture?

Lead Actor:

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight

No surprises here, I guess, though some thought John Hawkes of The Sessions would make it. And the Academy may go for Amour, but nothing for Jean-Louis Trintignant.

Lead Actress:

Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible

Not too shocking, if not too inspiring.  Instead of Gallic mainstay Marion Cotillard, our French fix this year is Riva.  And Riva is the oldest nominee ever in this category, while Wallis is the youngest.

Supporting Actor:

Alan Arkin, Argo
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

No surprises.  Note every single one of these guys already has an Oscar.  Some thought Javier Bardem (another former winner) might get in for Skyfall, but it's just as well. Django gets a much-needed nomination, though it was hardly a forgone conclusion it would be Waltz. De Niro gets his first nod in years. And is it fair the Hoffman is in this category--he's arguably the co-lead with Joaquin Pheonix.

Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook

Pretty much as expected, though some thought Maggie Smith in The Dowager Countess Goes To India might have a shot.  Amy Adams means all the leads from The Master got nominated, even if it's not up for best picture or director. More intriguing, Jacki Weaver in a nothing role shows the power of Silver Linings Playbook (or of Harvey Weinstein)--they've got an actor in every category.  Helen Hunt makes sure The Sessions at least gets some notice.

Adapted Screenplay:

Argo
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Life Of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Screenwriters get ten nominations, so they can go pretty wide, but mostly what you'd expect. (Though just what sort of screenplay did they have for Beasts?)

Original Screenplay:

Amour
Django Unchained
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty

More love for Amour.  Quentin gets his nomination here. (Where'd you expect, Best Supporting Actor?) Moonrise Kingdom avoids being shut out.

Animated Feature:

Brave
Frankenweenie
Paranorman
The Pirates! Band Of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph

This is perhaps the most anemic collection since they started this category.

Foreign Language Film:

Amour
Kon-Tiki
No
A Royal Affair
War Witch

If Amour is the only one good enough for Best Picture, how can it lose here? And no Intouchables, the biggest French film ever in France.