Movie fans rejoice, the nominees for the Academy Awards are out for 2012, and there are the usual surprise nominations, and the usual incredibly rude snubs that make people mad, along with the races that have people guessing who the big winner(s) are going to be.
I'm always amazed when these names come out, for various reasons.
One, the total and absolute lack of accountability; this is probably the singlemost maddening part of the nominations (and of the handing out of the award), because inevitably there are very, very notable achievements by directors and by actors (and by others involved in the movie-making process, of course) that are completely ignored, and (in my mind) is the height of rudeness.
For example, look at the historical stupidity of the Academy, in how they've snubbed hugely successful directors who are the acknowledged masters of their craft, most famously Martin Scorcese and Steven Spielberg.
Now, both these men have eventually won the Oscar statue, but the thing is, they've made incredible and unmatched achievements in film and are very rarely acknowledged for them. This year, Spielberg is again snubbed, while his movie, "War Horse", is up for Best Picture, one of nine nominees.
Another famous example of Academy stupidity: did you know that Meryl Streep has lost 12 times in a row? She did win, early on in her career, but the woman has been absolutely unmatched in her astounding ability as an actress. Honestly, to lose that many times in a row tells me there is something seriously wrong with the people casting ballots.
But then, they go and recognize some truly wonderful film, sometimes little independently-made films not made by the huge studio machines, and I have to applaud them for that.
At the same time, it kind of leaves me puzzled as to what's going on with the Academy.One of their more maddening traits (to me, anyway) is their propensity to try and keep up appearances, such as appearing to be politically correct.
It's the only explanation how a distinguished actor like Christopher Plummer (a Canadian!) can have a long and truly remarkable career in movies, and yet he has never, ever been recognized for any of his work - until now, when he acts the role of a widower who declares he's gay.
You can't point and say he had an amazing performance there, because he has had more incredible performances than most of Hollywood combined could produce, and they only ignored those. Let's hope they can be less predictable this year.
