While there are some great movies up for big awards this year - "The Descendants", "The Artist", "Midnight in Paris" - there is nothing remotely shocking about what was selected. "Hugo" was bound to be nominated before it was even released, and no matter how much praise "War Horse" gets, I still don't know anyone who cares to see it.
Where are the risks? "The Tree of Life" and "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" both got mixed reviews at best, panned at worst, yet they're up for big prizes. It would have been much more interesting to see smaller, highly-rated films like "Drive", "50-50" or "Take Shelter" get some respect. "Drive" got a nod for sound editing. Whoopty do.
At the very least, we were spared a slew of nominations for the overstuffed turkey that is "J. Edgar" or the pretentious planet film "Melancholia." Clint Eastwood and Lars Von Trier must be having toddler-esque tantrums somewhere about that. In public, let's hope.
You know it's a slow year for cartoon films when "Puss in Boots" is nominated for best animated feature. I bet they scrambled desperately to come up with a list. "Is there anything from Pixar this year?" someone asked. "Cars 2". "Damn."
It's a boring lineup no doubt, but thankfully we won't have to see James Franco in a dress again when the show airs on February 26.
Check out the full list of nominees here. More information and details available on Oscar.com.
