Academy Awards Nominations 2011

The nominees are in for the 2010/2011 Academy Awards, and I'm happy to say there are more than a couple of suprises. Well, surprises in the acting categories. The Best Film nominees were uniformly pretty obvious. Hell, I'm just chuffed that Jacki Weaver got a nomination!

BEST PICTURE
Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter's Bone

I'm relieved that no junk made it in courtesy of the 10-picture rule. I was a little nervous that Alice in Wonderland might get in at the expense of something decent. It's a shame to see that The Town didn't make it, and as much as it was a long shot it would've been awesome to see Animal Kingdom get nominated too. I'm not too sure what will win Best Picture... I mean, I'm fairly sure it will be The Social Network but this is a very strong set of films. I'll be backing Black Swan.

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem (Beautiful), Jeff Bridges (True Grit), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), James Franco (127 Hours)

Javier Bardem! This guy is a legend and it's great to see him get nominated again. Colin Firth is the favourite to win at the moment, I can't really see any of these others guy beating him. Franco and Eisenberg are both fairly young so it's highly unlikely they'll win, people will see their nominations as reward enough... a little unfair perhaps but in my mind Firth's performance probably deserves it the most anyway. In an ideal world Michael Caine might've got a nomination for Harry Brown but I'm not sure if it was even eligible for nomination.

BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right), Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole), Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

The only one of these performances I'm yet to see is Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine. I'm prett sure Portman will win, and she's far and away the best I've seen this year. Her strongest competition is Annette Bening, who has the veteran's vote on her side.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale (The Fighter), John Hawks (Winter's Bone), Jeremy Renner (The Town), Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right), Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

Christian Bale will get it. Jeremy Renner is totally just nominated because he got nominated last year, and as good as Geoffrey Rush is, his isn't the sort of performance to justify a second Oscar win. John Hawks is a surprising nomination. I think Ruffalo or Renner could've been bumped in favour of Vincent Cassel's great work in Black Swan though.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams (The Fighter), Helena Bonham-Carter (The King's Speech), Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

I'm so happy for Jacki Weaver, I'll be backing her but she'll never win in a million years because most of the voters probably won't even bother to watch their Animal Kingdom screeners. Melissa Leo is the favourite, she's already won a Golden Globe, but I'm not sure how this category will pan out. Helena Bonham-Carter and Amy Adams are both fairly strong, and Hailee Steinfeld is really good in True Grit, so she might surprise everyone. I thought Barbara Hershey might've got one of those comeback nominations, but I guess there's only five slots to fill!

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), Ethan and Joel Coen (True Grit), David Fincher (The Social Network), Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), David O. Russell (The Fighter)

Fincher will probably win it, he's had a lot of attention over the years and he's the biggest hitter amongst the names if you don't count the Coens (as they already have an Oscar for No Country for Old Men). I'd love to see Darren Aronofsky take it though, his work is the most striking and original out of the nominees and he might get it as a consolation prize if Black Swan doesn't win Best Picture. David O. Russell is another great unsung director too, but I can't really see him winning for The Fighter.