It’s that time of year again, and by that we mean nominations have been made for Hollywood’s own Super Bowl—the Academy Awards.
This year’s nominees, announced Thursday morning by funnyman Seth MacFarlane and actress Emma Stone, include Lincoln, which had the most nominations at 12, and Les Miserables, which has nine nominations.
Surprisingly, there was no best director nod for Ben Affleck for his critically acclaimed film Argo, which is nominated for seven awards, including Best Picture.
The movie will compete alongside Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty in that category.
Similar directing shutouts occurred for other highly-praised pictures, among them Tom Hooper, director of Les Mis, Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained and Kathryn Bigelow of Zero Dark Thirty.
In the Best Actor category, Daniel Day-Lewis is a favorite for his work in Lincoln. Rounding out that category are Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master) and Denzel Washington, (Flight).
At 9, Quvenzhane Wallis is the youngest person ever to be nominated for Best Actress for her work in Beasts of the Southern Wild while 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) is the oldest. They join Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) and Naomi Watts (The Impossible) in that category.
Included in the Best Supporting Actress nominations are favorite Anne Hathaway, who sang her way through Les Miserables, and Sally Field, who gained 25 pounds to play Mary Todd Lincoln.
Receiving nods in the Best Actor Category were a plethora of past Oscar winners, including Alan Arkin (Argo), Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook) and Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln).
The 85th annual Academy Awards takes place Feb. 24 on ABC. While the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially votes on the Oscars, we at Patch don’t care about that. We want to know what you think!
Who do you think should win an Oscar? Was there a movie that you think should have been nominated, but wasn’t? Have you seen all (or any) of the nominated films?
- Appointed Generals that targeted civilians. See Sherman's March to the Sea - Suspended the writ of habeas corpus allowing the arrest of citizens without due process (even after the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional) - He won re-election by using Union troops to intimidate voters. - His response to the Sioux Uprising (caused by treaty violation by the U.S.) was to destroy reservations, negate treaties, put bounties on scalps. The end result was mass execution of Sioux and internment camps. - Civil War prison camps killed 50k+ people - Suppressed the press (look up how many newspapers were shut down) - Spent money without congressional authorization - Implemented a blockade (act of war) - Imprisoned 20k Confederate 'sympathizers' without trial - His corporate interests (see the railroad industry) - Greenbacks! And finally, for what he is most popular for, slavery: - He fought to PRESERVE slavery, but turned to emancipation to keep the Confederacy from secession. - He viewed African Americans as genetically inferior to Caucasians (his words) - He wanted to depart slaves He nor the Civil War ended slavery (every other country did so without a war). He was a blatant racist.
"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it" "I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races," he announced in his Aug. 21, 1858, debate with Stephen Douglas. "I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong having the superior position." And, "Free them [slaves] and make them politically and socially our equals? My own feelings will not admit of this. We cannot, then, make them equals." "It is still in our power to direct the process of emancipation, and deportation, peaceably, and in such degrees, as the evil will wear off insensibly; and their places be . . . filled up by free white laborers." "Almost from the commencement of this administration, the subject of deporting the colored race has been discussed . . . As early as May 1861, a great pressure was made upon me to enter into a coal contract with (a) company. The President was in earnest in the matter, wished to send the Negroes out of the country." He was an awful person. Apologists will say he changed his tune on racism later in life, but that doesn't change what he did during the Civil War.