Obligitory Oscar Noms Rant

The shocking nature of the Oscar nominations this morning was not for any surprise inclusion-it was merely shocking that it turned out to be very predicable. Is it because of the lacking amount of quality things coming out, as I've ranted previously? Maybe so, but there is still a lot of good films to award this year. (For a full list of the nominees, consult the leading film industry publication, Entertainment Weekly).

All of the world wide web is rattling off one opinion after the next, who got snubbed, blah blah. If comment sections of websites foretell how the entire country feels, well y'all the apocalypse is coming, because people are loosing their shit over not enough C. Nolan love.

Christopher Nolan was not nominated for Best Direction (but was for numerous other categories) of that one muddled film. Oh, did I forget to mention? I finally rented Inception, and long story short, I wasn't that impressed. Too much buzz? Probably, though I can note that it is a visual masterpiece, as well as that guy Tom Hardy and Joesph Gordan Levitt, obviously. I also approve of every scene with Leo, once again, working his best cuckoo impersonation. That always wins.

Overall though, I have to direct my attention to the story. After the movie ended I thought, "Is this that movie everyone just says they love, but really doesn't note that the plot don't make no sense?" The trick was that the movie moves so fast that you can't tell that what they said 10 minutes ago doesn't really match up with what actually happened. Well played.

I digress.

Predictability aside (Firth and Portman will hopefully win!), what is the most fun about the Oscars is seeing new faces. Hooray for Mark Ruffalo, and his first ever nomination (by the way, this is a pretty good way to celebrate)! Other first timers include Jennifer Lawrence from the chilling Winter's Bone and Hailee Steinfeld from True Grit (which I need to see STAT).

All around an exciting time for the movies, and I am actually very ahead this year, having already seen 7/10 of the Best Picture contenders. This never happens. We all have about a month, so go out to the movies! Watch out The Kings Speech, The Fighter, and True Grit, I'm comin' at ya.

Look for the 83rd Academy Awards February 27th, hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco.

I'll leave you with a grand musical performance from the telecast several years ago. Mostly because...well, it's Hugh Jackman singing classic songs from musicals. What's not to love? Oh yeah, Vanessa Hudgins.