Yay for CoMs screenplay Nom and all of Little Miss Sunshines Noms.

Boo to all of Babels bar best supporting actress.

I'm glad Posiedon got a effects Nom as well, only film that stunned me with effects all year.

Useless awards. I won't watch this year. I won't support it until something like Casino Royale or Batman Begins can get nominated. In other words, I'll never watch it.

Overall, the nominees are as good as I've seen maybe ever. All the diversities, both in term of ethnics and how the technical categories actually show independent thinkings for once. Different flavors of films. And it has 3 of the 5 best reviewed films of the year, while the other two are in the top 10 as well. Also how well films like United 93, Children of Men, and Pan's Labyrinth did despite different obstacles. And most importantly, the idea of a wide open Oscar race where any BP nominee can win just makes me giddy.

I agree. I can't recall a single year where the Academy got so much right

Second (or third) that.

I think truly the only real gaping hole this year was no Foreign Language Film nomination for Volver. Other than that, this is VERY impressive from the Academy.

Now that we know Dreamgirls doesn't have all the support we thought it did, is it safe to say the Academy will continue this and look elsewhere than Dreamgirls to award the Supporting actors?

At least most people here are pretty level about the noms.

OW and Tapley's site are full of whiners, lol.

I really don't get how anyone can whine. We all whine all year long about how boring and predictable the Oscars are going to be, blah blah blah, and this is the first year in a while where I remember the nominees being so surprising and having so many snubs or changes from consensus. Now that we got our surprises, and the Oscar nominations were NOT boring and predictable, people are still complaining! lol. People at OW should be embracing this, and happy that this wasn't just another boring, predictable year.

Furthermore, nobody really knows who is going to win Best Picture. Hell, it's not even down to just 2 contenders. That's unheard of - why the friggin' heck are people whining? Geeesh people.

Peace,
Mike.

I whine because I've always thought the thing was a sham, and this year in particular is bad. Before the process begins there are only a couple dozen films that even have a realistic chance. Even movies like the Blood Diamond don't have chance (unless they become as big as Gladiator or Titianic) simply because they are commercial mainstream films. BD would have been nominated for BP if it had only been considered even the slightest contender before the process began. That's not even to mention Casino Royale with even better WOM. But if it's not than the whole thing becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Occasionally, something like Crash wins, but only because it was able to be considered a longshot in the beginning.

The oscars are not about awarding the best of the year, that very idea is laughable; it's about awarding the best of the films made from the very beginning to win at the oscars (while an some indies like LMS gets in). Being nominated for BP isn't an accomplishment. If you think Babel was liked more than Blood Diamond even among academy members, then you are deluded. If you think it was liked more then Casino Royale you are insane.

Here's a guide for competing at the oscars:

1. Design the film as an oscar contender from day 1.
2. Make a decent movie.
3. Promote it as an oscar film.

The whole thing is a sham.

I'll save you the suspense, the Departed will win in a landslide.

There's no argument that the Academy holds pretensions, but a lot of what you say here is mighty presumptuous.

Why are you so hung up on Blood Diamond anyway?

I agree it's clear now academy will never seriously consider a 007 movie, even when British Academy is able to acknowledge it. However, I disagree about Blood Diamond never giving a chance. It was considered a contender, and judging by the number of nominations it got, it came reasonably close. What doomed it wasn't the preconception, but mediocre critic reviews it received. Critics gave it no love, despite great general WOM, and that mixed feeling resulted in a mixed outcome for the film. It's kind of another version of Memoirs of a Geisha, where the opinions between critics and general viewers are highly divided (only in this case, Blood Diamond is better received on both fronts). I'm certain BD would've been a huge contender if not for the barely fresh rating at RT; it got in NBR and BFCA top 10, after all.

I know there is Babel, and to be frankly, I still don't know how it's ending to be the 8th best reviewed film of the year when Top 10 lists are compiled, as the overall reviews are clearly much more mixed.

DP07, I'm talking about the real Oscar fanatics who do this thing every year and love to follow the Oscars just for the sake of following a fun race. I understand you hate the Oscars, and they never nominate films like"Batman Begins", etc, etc, but that's not my point. The people who do this every year and like to have surprises, got their surprises this year (if you are one that follows the whole awards race), so I don't think they should be complaining.

And while I am predicting The Departed to win (and would love to see it win), it's most certainly not a guarantee.

Peace,
Mike.