Academy Award Nominations Announced

For those of you waking up from a coma today or those "sitting in a cave...on Mars...with your figers in your ears" this week, you should know that the Academy Award nominations were announced yesterday. Either due to the incredible amount of press coverage that certain films have received this year (you know who you are) or from the increase in awareness from playing the Fantasy Film Studio League, I really wasn't surprised by too many of the awards.

The Hurt Locker and Avatar tied for the most nominations. Not surprising given their dominance through much of the season. Other non-events were Christoph Walz and Mo'Nique being nominated for Best Supporting categories and Meryl Streep, George Clooney, and Jeff Bridges pulling out the leading categories. In a non-shock to all involved, Sandra Bullock pulled out a nomination for The Blind Side. As disclosure, I have not seen this movie. But I get the sense that this is a career nomination for her. Worse, I fear that this could be a career win. Meaning she didn't really deserve it this year but she's done other notable work (see Russell Crowe winning for Gladiator when he deserved it for The Insider or L.A. Confidential). The issue is that Sandra Bullock, in my opinion, has not done award-worthy work before. She's a very talented comic actress, a group who does not get their fare shake in Hollywood. But that doesn't deserve an Academy Award. Depending on who you read, she's got the win all but sewn up. Too bad for Gabourey Sidibe and Carey Mulligan who are earning nominations and kudos for early work.

Of course, this year also features the first 10 nominees for Best Picture in decades. Along with several of the Producer's Guild nominees, The Blind Side actually picked up a nod for Best Picture (I may have to eventually see this picture). Up also snagged a Best Picture although everyone seems to agree that it will win the Best Animated Film category.

The scoreboard has been updated with the nominations below. I got the most nomiations with 10 this week. Defending Champion Scott Engroff came in second with 6nominations. Kudos to everyone else for picking up some nominations this week as well. We're in the countdown now. Just a few weeks until the biggest event of the season. Don't forget, all of this fanatical examination of the awards season should make all of you more dangerous in our annual Academy Awards pool!

Name / Nominations / Wins / Points
Danny Sarnowski / 47 / 14 / 136
Defending Champion Scott Engroff / 25 / 6 / 68
Paul Hogseth / 25 / 2 / 56
The Dekkers / 26 / 0 / 52
Ann Sarnowski / 20 / 2 / 46
Jake & Rachel / 16 / 0 / 32
Dan Pavlovich / 14 / 1 / 31
Erin & Steve / 14 / 0 / 28
Jimmy Gordon / 9 / 0 / 18