Oscar Noms

So this morning I rose in my typical annual excitement for the release of the 2010 Oscar nominations. Somewhat disheartened by the Academy's announcement to expand the Best Picture category and the incredibly lack-luster award season thus far, I was looking for something to really throw me for a loop. But in their ultimately more conservative fashion, they failed to provide not one shock or surprise. I will not say that I had guessed the nominees verbatum, but the 2010 list is full of the expected, shaped by the last few weeks of the award season and the box office returns of one single, undeserving film (which I will leave unnamed for the very purpose of limiting its already over-saturated exposure).

Best Picture:
I think just about everyone had guessed their core five films: The Hurt Locker, An Education, Up in the Air, Precious, and Avatar. But the other five remaining spots opened the category up for some mediocre contenders. So now we have what I would like to think of as the most over-hyped film of the year, Inglorious Basterds, and the inevitable addition of the most critically acclaimed picture of the year, Up. These were not surprising choices for me based on the repetitive tone of the season, but I was enthused by a single film that made it into the bunch: Niel Blomkamp's District 9.

Blomcamp Boom:
I am undoubtably biased in this subject, but the aknowledgement of Blomkamp's brilliant directorial debut is my glimmer of hope this season. With nominations in Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Editing, and Visual Effects, this low budget cinematic wonder is a true representation of award recognition at its finest. Now, I anticipate that it will likely be aligned with Avatar and continually compared within the scifi genre. Everyone will say that Avatarreigns superior within the list of generic conventions. However, I would like to argue in opposition to this gross assumption. District 9 poses a break from the genre in support of a greater message at hand. Though the film ultimately emphasizes a weaponry and space craft world of aliens and invasion, the metaphorical allegory for the state of South Africa is one that takes it beyond the space-spectacle. Now, Avatar on the other hand vomits genre convention and spits Disney plots in our face (I will not continue to rant in order to spare everyone the grief.) But Blomkamp's vision of a neo-contemporary world is one that promises his genius in years to come.

Bye-Bye Boys Club
My hat does go off to this years' set of nominees for ignoring the ever-present influence of the Hollywood "Boys Club." The small set of acclaimed directors tends to dominate the Best Picture and Director categories year after year. Names like Scorsese, Howard, Spielberg, and Eastwood, have repeatedly made it onto the nominations list out pure "tradition" with little question to the merit of the work. But this year, despite the typical inspirational drama by Eastwood, Invictus is missing from the Best Picture category and Clint from Best Director. And frankly, though I believe the film to be painfully formulaic, it certainly had more merit than some of the other nominees at hand (which shall remain unspoken). But recognizing cinematic merit in this case, over the name , shows progress. We have, for the first time in my lifetime, the real chance for a woman to take home the Best Director prize. Let's make it happen, rather than allow James Cameron's ego to get any larger.

Hopeful Surprises
Well as much as the nominations fail to impress me, I hope that as voting for these categories ensues, the Academy chooses to think beyond box office numbers and traditional award winners. Spice this thing up a bit, I need a little excitement, for without award season, all I have is terrible chick flicks and b wolf movies to entertain me...