Nominee Reactions

Best Actor: 4/5 (Bardem instead of Gosling)

Bardem is by far is the biggest surprise in the top categories. I can't say if it's deserved, and I never will, because I refuse to see another Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu film (perpetrator of such miserable drags as Babel and 21 Grams.)

Best Actress: 5/5

Everything as expected for this round, but the year-long buzz for Annette Bening is fading as everyone jumps on the Natalie Portman bandwagon. No, not again!

Best Supporting Actor: 4/5 (Hawkes instead of Garfield)

I'm torn, as excited for John Hawkes as I am disappointed for Andrew Garfield.

Best Supporting Actress: 4/5 (Weaver instead of Kunis)

I feel bad for Mila Kunis. I wasn't a fan of her performance -- I thought she was merely as good as anyone could be in that limited role -- but she got over-hyped and let-down big-time. Guess I'll have to see this Animal Kingdom.

Best Adapted Screenplay: 5/5

Sweet! So glad Winter's Bone made the cut. It would have been nice to see Ben Affleck here. After years of speculation that he was much less than half the brains behind his winning Good Will Hunting screenplay, he really proved himself with Gone Baby Gone and The Town.

Best Original Screenplay: 4/5 (Another Year instead of Black Swan)

Damnit, Mike Leigh! He was an unexpected nominee before with and Topsy-Turvy, Vera Drake, and Happy-Go-Lucky, but traditionally there have been 10 writing nominees and 5 Best Picture nominees, and he always took one of the "extra" slots; this time he actually knocked out a Best Picture heavyweight. Guess I'll have to see Another Year as well.

Best Director: 4/5 (Coen brothers instead of Nolan)

Ouch. Nolan's is the most surprising omission in the batch. Thrice he has been chosen by the Directors' Guild, thrice I have predicted him, and thrice he has been denied. I guess the Directors' branch of the Academy really hates his guts. (I can't say I'm disappointed; I pretty much hated Inception.)

Best Picture: 9/10 (Winter's Bone instead of The Town)

Yeah for WB! Again, it was on the knife-edge of inclusion alongside The Town, and it won both face-offs.

So the five "real" Best Picture nominees turned out to be Black Swan, The Fighter, The King's Speech, The Social Network, and True Grit (all with Best Director nods), and the "extras" are Inception, The Kids Are All Right, 127 Hours, Toy Story 3, and Winter's Bone. It's worth noting that the five directors not chosen were all nominated in the writing categories, so no one -- not even Christopher Nolan -- was truly shut out.

My overall score is 39/45. I can dig it. Behold the 83rd annual nominees:

















The Oscar ceremony will be held February 27. If you want to see all the nominees before the big night, print the handy scorecard below, and color in each block for every movie you see. It's fun!