T[image-1]he nominations for the Academy Awards that will be held on February 27 in Hollywood were announced this morning, and the big winners were the expected ones in terms of nominations: The Social Network, The King's Speech, True Grit and The Fighter.
When I listed my top ten films of the year back on December 17, those last three films had yet to be released in Tampa Bay.
The one film that I would add to that list if I could get a do-over would be David O. Russell's The Fighter, an absolutely dynamic film, filled with intensity and emotion, that came as a bit of surprise to this viewer.
Why's that? Simply because, well, how many boxing movies can we take? And the trailer to the film frankly made it appear to be a bit cliched.
But it's hardly that. And it's great that in addition to another awesome performance by Christian Bale (who is undoubtedly the favorite for Best Supporting Actor as he plays a crack addict) are the best supporting actress nominations for Melissa Leo and Amy Adams.
Other highlights this morning include the entire list of Best Supporting Actor nominees: Jeremy Renner in The Town, John Hawkes for Winter's Bone, Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech, and Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right.
The complete list of the big nominations are below:
BEST PICTURE
127 HOURS (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
INCEPTION (Warner Bros Pictures)
THE FIGHTER (Relativity Media/Paramount Pictures)
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
THE KING'S SPEECH (The Weinstein Co)
THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
TOY STORY 3 (Pixar/Walt Disney Studios)
TRUE GRIT (Paramount Pictures)
WINTER'S BONE Roadside Attractions
BEST ACTOR
JEFF BRIDGES - TRUE GRIT (Paramount Pictures)
JAVIER BARDEM - BIUTIFUL (Roadside Attractions)
JESSE EISENBERG - THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
COLIN FIRTH - THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)
JAMES FRANCO - 127 HOURS (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
BEST ACTRESS
ANNETTE BENING - THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
NICOLE KIDMAN - RABBIT HOLE (Lionsgate)
JENNIFER LAWRENCE - WINTER’S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
NATALIE PORTMAN - BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
MICHELLE WILLIAMS - BLUE VALENTINE (The Weinstein Co)
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
CHRISTIAN BALE - THE FIGHTER (Paramount Pictures)
JOHN HAWKES - WINTER’S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
JEREMY RENNER - THE TOWN (Warner Bros Pictures)
MARK RUFFALO - THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
GEOFFREY RUSH - THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
AMY ADAMS - THE FIGHTER (Paramount Pictures)
HELENA BONHAM CARTER - THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)
MELISSA LEO - THE FIGHTER (Paramount Pictures)
HAILEE STEINFELD - TRUE GRIT (Paramount Pictures)
JACKIE WEAVER - ANIMAL KINGDOM (Sony Pictures Classics)
BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (DreamWorks Animation)
TOY STORY 3 (Pixar/Walt Disney Studios)
THE ILLUSIONIST (Sony Pictures Classics)
BEST DIRECTOR
DARREN ARONOFSKY - BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
DAVID FINCHER - THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
TOM HOOPER - THE KING'S SPEECH (The Weinstein Co.)
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN - TRUE GRIT (Paramount Pictures)
DAVID O. RUSSELL - THE FIGHTER (Paramount Pictures)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ANOTHER YEAR, Mike Leigh (Sony Pictures Classics)
THE FIGHTER, Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson (Paramount Pictures)
INCEPTION, Christopher Nolan (Warner Bros Pictures)
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg (Focus Features)
THE KING'S SPEECH, David Seidler (The Weinstein Co)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 HOURS, Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy (Fox Searchlight)
TOY STORY 3 (Pixar/Walt Disney Studios)
THE SOCIAL NETWORK, Aaron Sorkin (Sony Pictures)
WINTER'S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
TRUE GRIT, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Paramount Pictures)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Algeria, “Hors la Loi” (“Outside the Law”), Rachid Bouchareb, director;
Canada, “Incendies,” Denis Villeneuve, director;
Denmark, “In a Better World,” Susanne Bier, director;
Greece, “Dogtooth,” Yorgos Lanthimos, director;
Mexico, “Biutiful,” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director;
