The 84th Annual Academy Awards

The nominations are finally out! The Academy went with nine Best Picture nominees. I went with eight in my predictions and all eight of those made the list. How could I have known EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE would snag a nod in the top category? And what? A tenth film would have really been that bad? Round it out, people!

First of all, I was 82% right with my predictions. My worst showing came from the Original Screenplay category. MARGIN CALL? Who knew? There are some mistakes I'm quite pleased about. The first is Terrence Malick for Best Director for THE TREE OF LIFE, which also made its way into the Best Picture race when so many people had written it off. The new Best Picture voting system favours films that have passionate followings and that definitely applies to this polarizing picture.

Other happy surprises this morning include Gary Oldman's Best Actor nomination for TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, which also managed a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination; Melissa McCarthy for Best Supporting Actress in BRIDESMAIDS, which also scored a Best Original Screenplay nod; and Max von Sydow for Best Supporting Actor in EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE. All three names were tossed around but were never sure things and I'm happy to see them amongst this list.

Unacceptable oversights on the Academy's part include Michael Fassbender for Best Actor in SHAME. This snub is reason enough for me to consider not watching the show. Tilda Swinton in WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN was also overlooked. I never really thought she could make it in such a competitive year but Elizabeth Olsen was incredible in MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE. 50/50 missed on the Best Original Screenplay category too. And Albert Brooks was overlooked for his delicious turn in DRIVE. Oh, and what about PROJECT NIM for Documentary Feature or the Golden Globe winner for Best Animated Feature, THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN?! And to top it off, all of these incredible films were ignored completely in all the other categories (except for DRIVE, which scored a Sound Editing, and TINTIN, which scored an Original Score nod).

Oh, and did anyone notice that THE HELP did not score a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination? I guess that Best Picture win is looking a little less likely.

Here is the full list of nominees for the 84th annual Academy Awards. The winners will be announced on February 26, 2012.

(Scroll over any film title for the original Black Sheep review.)

BEST PICTURE

THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
THE HELP
HUGO
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
MONEYBALL
THE TREE OF LIFE
WAR HORSE

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Demian Bichir in A BETTER LIFE
George Clooney in THE DESCENDANTS
Jean Dujardin in THE ARTIST
Gary Oldman in TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Brad Pitt in MONEYBALL

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Glenn Close in ALBERT NOBBS
Viola Davis in THE HELP
Rooney Mara in THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Meryl Streep in THE IRON LADY
Michelle Williams in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Kenneth Brannagh in MY WEEK WITH MARIYLN
Jonah Hill in MONEYBALL
Nick Nolte in WARRIOR
Christopher Plummer in BEGINNERS
Max von Sydow in EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Berenice Bejo in THE ARTIST
Jessica Chastain in THE HELP
Melissa McCarthy in BRIDESMAIDS
Janet McTeer in ALBERT NOBBS
Octavia Spencer in THE HELP

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

A CAT IN PARIS
CHICO AND RITA
KUNG FU PANDA 2
PUSS IN BOOTS
RANGO

CINEMATOGRAPHY

THE ARTIST
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
HUGO
THE TREE OF LIFE
WAR HORSE

ART DIRECTION

THE ARTIST
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2
HUGO
WAR HORSE

COSTUME DESIGN

ANONYMOUS
THE ARTIST
HUGO
JANE EYRE
W.E.

DIRECTING

THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
HUGO
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
THE TREE OF LIFE

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

HELL AND BACK AGAIN
IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT
PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY
PINA
UNDEFEATED

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM: FOOT SOLDIER OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
GOD IS THE BIGGER ELVIS
INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD
SAVING FACE
THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM

FILM EDITING

THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
HUGO
MONEYBALL

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BULLHEAD (Belgium)
MONSIEUR LAZHAR (Canada)
A SEPARATION (Iran)
FOOTNOTE (Israel)
IN DARKNESS (Poland)

MAKEUP

ALBERT NOBBS
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2
THE IRON LADY

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
THE ARTIST
HUGO
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
WAR HORSE

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

MAN OR MUPPET from THE MUPPETS
REAL IN RIO from RIO

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

DIMANCHE/SUNDAY
THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE
LA LUNA
A MORNING STROLL
WILD LIFE

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

PENTECOST
RAJU
THE SHORE
TIME FREAK
TUBA ATLANTIC

SOUND EDITING

DRIVE
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
HUGO
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
WAR HORSE

SOUND MIXING

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
HUGO
MONEYBALL
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
WAR HORSE

VISUAL EFFECTS

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2
HUGO
REAL STEAL
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

THE DESCENDANTS
HUGO
THE IDES OF MARCH
MONEYBALL
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

THE ARTIST
BRIDESMAIDS
MARGIN CALL
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
A SEPARATION

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
Written by Eric Roth
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Starring Thomas Horn, Sandra Bullock, Max von Sydow and Tom Hanks

Making movies about the September 11 tragedies is unquestionably tricky. You don’t want to gloss over the facts and you definitely don’t want to exploit the pain but you also have to ensure that your movie is not so bleak and depressing that no one ends up seeing it. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, the latest film by Oscar nominee, Stephen Daldry (THE READER), does a pretty decent job of oscillating between the morose and the uplifting, without ever succumbing too much to either side, but it also never truly finds its voice as a result.

The story itself, adapted from the well regarded novel of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer, is a poignant one. Young, precocious, Thomas Schell (played by Teen Jeopardy winner, Thomas Horn, in his first film), loses his father (Tom Hanks) in the September 11 attacks. Naturally, this causes his already rampant anxiety to expand greatly. He no longer takes trains, fears tall buildings and carries a tambourine around with him at all times to help ease his mounting tension. All of this makes his quest to find the lock for a key he found amongst his father’s belongings particularly difficult. Before his father passed away, he would orchestrate mysterious puzzles for his son to solve and Thomas sees this key as a way to keep his father alive just a little bit longer. Not surprisingly, he pushes away his mother (a touching Sandra Bullock) in the process and subsequently befriends a stranger (Max von Sydow, in an incredibly telling turn considering the character is mute) in an effort to replace his absent father figure. Across the board, the acting is quite understated and very respectful to the horror that inspired this story. The way the events unfold though is at times too whimsical to be fully believed.

What I found most moving about EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE was how perfectly it captured that newfound sense of danger, apprehension and confusion that didn’t exist in Western society before the World Trade Center towers collapsed. At nine years old, Thomas cannot make sense of what happened on that day. Heck, most adults couldn’t make sense of it. And so, without being able to understand how his father was taken from him when planes flew into buildings, he now fears most everything instead. The beauty in the final journey Thomas finds himself on, is that it not only brings him closer to his father, but it also brings him closer to healing without his even realizing it. Maybe Daldry will have the same effect on you.