Reaction to Oscar Nominees

Best Picture
Well, Atonement made it in after all. However, I do not agree with that nomination at all. Nor do I agree with nominations going towards Juno and Michael Clayton, even though they were expected. Both are good films, but not on a Best Picture level quality for me. No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood were as clear as the noses on faces. I'm still a little saddened that my favorite film this year, Sweeney Todd, was left off, but I didn't expect it to make the cut.

Best Director
One thing I have to say: Where did Jason Reitman come from!? Unfortunately, to me, he was another one who snuck in that I thought was underserving. I'm sorry, but I didn't fall in love with Juno like the rest of the country. Call me a cynic, I don't care. That cynic also didn't want to believe Tony Gilroy would get nominated (I loved his screenplay, but I personally didn't believe he had the right place as director quite yet). Schnabel, Anderson, and the Coens were expected, but I'm still smarting from that Tim Burton snub (sigh).

Best Actor
The shock heard around the world was Tommy Lee Jones getting a nomination for In the Valley of Elah when he was completely absent from any major precursers. But, when you think about it, it shouldn't be that surprisng. The Academy likes rewarding performers for having great years while providing multiple films. With this and No Country for Old Men, this was definetly the performance that would get in. I'm glad that Johnny Depp conquered his dying buzz, and Viggo Mortensen wasn't the victim of a looming snub. If you thought Daniel Day-Lewis or Clooney would have been snubbed, then you took a giant leep of faith.

Best Actress
Laura Linney was surprising. Very surprising. Even more surprising that she took that nomination from Angelina Jolie's brave performance in A Mighty Heart. Why couldn't she steal it from Cate Blanchett, whose nod in this category is more greed than good. The usual suspects of Christie, Cotillard and Page were there to round off the top 5.

Best Supporting Actor
For me, like many others, this was the only category I got 100% correct. I'm so excited that Casey Affleck landed a nomination. Not much else to say here other than I was just mildly impressed with Hal Holbrook that if his nomination had been traded in for Paul Dano in There Will Be Blood, I wouldn't have minded.

Best Supporting Actress
To be honest, I'm kind of gland Catherine Keener didn't make it in here. Her performance just wasn't that hip to me, and I'm also glad that I predicted Saorsie Ronan as a possible upset. Other than than, this category performed pretty much as expected, with Ryan, Swinton, Dee and Blanchett, with her second nod, finishing out the lineup.

This Oscar race is very interesting, and it won't stop yet.