comment #1

BNick says ...

Good for Leo but I think being nominated for the "wrong" movie hurts both his chances and The Departed's chances for Best Picture. Probably doesn't affect Marty either way.

Mark Wahlberg mostly played one note in The Departed but he played it beautifully and really lifted that movie up off the ground.

Is everyone thinking Whitaker is a lock for Best Actor? He's won everything so far but there are some academy-friendly faces in that category.

comment #2

milestogo says ...

Jim Broadbent won for Iris when he had extra support from the Moulin Rouge crowd.

George Clooney won for Syriana when he had extra support from the Good Night, and Good Luck crowd.

comment #3

Bart Smith says ...

If O'Toole wants it, it's his. But he's going to have to do something about it.

comment #4

BNick says ...

Good call, milestogo. Of course Clooney got up on stage when he won for Syriana and said, "I guess this mean's I'm not getting Best Director!"

comment #5

Mr. Gittes says ...

Jeff, what happened to Nicholson? I mean, I love that Wahlberg is nominated, but I think we can all agree that Jack's park had more meat to it and it's pretty shocking the academy didn't give him a nom because it's Jack Nicholson after all. By the way, I an already hear people touting the Letter from Iwo Jima horn right now, people are already giving it best pic. Go Departed!

comment #6

JD says ...

Everyone thinks Scorsese is a lock, but I'm not so sure. He's lost to Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, and Clint Eastwood in the past. Why wouldn't he lose to Clint Eastwood again? The Academy gives more awards for acting than anything else and they're living under the collective delusion that actors are inherently better filmmakers than actual directors, even the world's best. They'll throw out a charity Oscar to Soderbergh or Polanski every now and then -- just to be taken seriously -- but they'd much rather give directing Oscars to actors. Sorry to state the obvious, but it bears reminding.

comment #7

Josh Massey says ...

I think DiCaprio being nominated for Blood Diamond instead of The Departed is a huge boost for Whitaker.

comment #8

Bilge says ...

The lack of a Best Actor nom for The Departed might not have made a huge difference had the film racked up tons of nominations, but with only five nominations it looks slightly weaker than it did, say, yesterday. Hopefully it won't matter. As someone who really really didn't like Babel, I am praying it won't.

Warner does deserve credit for eking out so many major nominations for their films in a year when much of their slate wound up being financial disasters. I bet some people are going to be able to keep their jobs because of this. I guess all the talk about the "mistake" of rushing Letters into release can now cease.

comment #9

Colin says ...

For me, the best category is Best Cinematography:

COM, Pan's, The Illusionist, The Prestige, and, well The Black Dahlia.

My personal pick would be COM, but I would be thrilled with any of the first four taking the prize.

comment #10

milestogo says ...

Departed does look weaker without DiCaprio or Nicholson. But no Pitt, Watanabe, or Sheen make those respective films look weaker.

comment #11

florida25 says ...

Very happy to see Leo got a nod for his terrific BD performance

As to "The Departed" don't feel a lack of acting nod there for Leo means anything bad for the film's chances for BP as NO BP contender has a lead actor

Plus all know that Leo probably got lots of votes for "TD" as well but just more for "BD"

Very happy for Leo and very much hoping that Marty and TD win !

comment #12

Mr. Peel says ...

For that matter, why didn't Vera Farmiga get a nomination for The Departed?

comment #13

Colin says ...

I think that Farmiga is a tremendously talented actress, and she did a great job with a pretty small role in The Departed. That said, the role was pretty small, and I'm not sure that she deserved a nomination for it. She's definitely an actress to watch in the future, though.

comment #14

Dixon Steele says ...

Let's be honest, if the "legendary" Vilmos Z. hadn't shot BLACK DAHLIA, would it still have gotten a nom?

Hell no...

comment #15

corey3rd says ...

It's all about the Great Jackie Earle Haley this Oscar season.

comment #16

Colin says ...

Well, Dixon, Vilmos hasn't been nominated since 1985 ("The River"), so I'm not sure why he's getting love all of a sudden for a film that tanked commercially and critically. That said, I can't think of any other reason for the nom.

comment #17

RoyBatty says ...

I always thought Leonardo DiCaprio's way too obvious and very unsubtle performance in THE DEPARTED was one of the weaker things about the film. I think the rat-on-a-railing ending was only thing worse. Really, he's supposed to be deep undercover yet only my then-twelve year old brother acted more guiltily than that character.

Last year, the Academy voters resisted having MUNICH crammed down their throats as the presumptive winner. Here's hoping Greengrass/UNITED 93 or Eastwood, along with SUNSHINE, keep this overrated hamfest from being crammed down their throats for Director & Picture this year.

comment #18

RoyBatty says ...

Just noticed the Santa Barbara Film Fest ad running along side this page - almost makes me feel sorry for Condon. You just know he thought he would be riding high on a nomination when he appeared and now he's the only name up there that DIDN'T get a nomination. Even Al Gore's film did.

Ouch...

comment #19

christian says ...

and of course, jeff was wrong about jackie earl haley. i believe jeff wrote that because of the role, haley's chances were limited.

best supporting actor/actress is always the most interesting category.

comment #20

dre says ...

I love, love, love the wahlberg nom

comment #21

MAGGA says ...

Looks to me like the academy has topped itself this year by not nomiating a single interesting film. I have yet to see Babel, but since most people I know tell me it has pulled off the almost impossible feat of making incredibly interesting stories and themes cinematically uninteresting, my hopes are low. Borat, Little Childern, Children of Men and A Scanner Darkly would all have been more deserving than these nominees, yet I am not upset, as the final nail in the academys coffin was giving Crash best picture last year. Will probably not even watch the ceremony this year

comment #22

Filipe says ...

Zilgmond got in, because cinematographers really like it (I put him in my prediction when I notice that it was only his second guild nod). Nobody likes the film, it has no studio support an legend or not, he is not a favorite of the academy. Academy voters sometimes react strongly about a work that simply is not getting buzz and get behind it (remember Hawke's supporting actor nod for a few years ago).

comment #23

corey3rd says ...

while Jackie's character might be a bit too creepy for normal Oscar voters, his comeback story probably helped him get folks not screw him over like James Woods in the Onion Fields. Also helps that Kate Winslet is in the film - those Academy members love Kate. Watch for her to upset Helen Mirren. Although if Helen and Peter O'Toole win - it'll be a Caligula reunion!

Jackie has a good shot at the Oscar because Jack is out of the picture. Eddie Murphy's future plans have derailed his vote - Norbit isn't a prime follow up. The Academy screwed Bill Murray because of all those damn Garfield ads. Plus he has the Kate coattails.

comment #24

actionman says ...

any awards ceremony that nominates THE GOOD SHEPHERD and CLICK for the same amount of awards needs to pull their heads outta their asses

comment #25

Nick Rogers says ...

Right on, actionman. The only thing I remember about "Click's" makeup is that Rick Baker managed to make Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner look as if they came from the set of "Planet of the Apes." Not that I'm all aflutter about the Makeup category, but that should definitely be "Pan's Labyrinth's" to lose.

comment #26

austin111 says ...

Much as I loved Leo in The Departed, a really great performance, I have to say that his work in Blood Diamond, an inferior film, literally made me sit up in my seat in the theater. I'm not sure what I was expecting after some of the pans, but it was a damn fine piece of work as well, a fully sustained adult performance that seemed to signal the advent of a welcome new phase in the actor's career. If only the film had been better. I hope he can build on it.

Personally, I agree with Anne Thompson who wrote in her Risky Biz blog that he must have gotten a lot of votes for both roles. I suspect that his Departed votes were split between Best Actor and Supporting to some extent due to category confusion (Thanks, Warners!!!), leaving him nominated for Diamond instead (thank god he was nominated for something).

comment #27

MarkVH says ...

All I know is that Wahlberg's nomination should make for some terrific episodes of Entourage (as it's loosely based on his career.

Wouldn't you just love to see Billy Bush making some has-been crack about Johnny Drama on the red carpet, and Drama decking him in the face for it?

Actually, I'd love to see just about anyone punching Billy Bush. Wells, who do we call to arrange this?