It’s awards season, and with that comes the nominations for the 85th Academy Awards. This year had many predictable entries such as “Life Of Pi” and Steven Spielberg’s biopic “Lincoln.” However, there were quite a number of pleasant, and unpleasant, surprises which many could not have seen coming.
First on the list of pleasant surprises is the four nominations given to “Beasts Of The Southern Wild,” a small independent film that got critical acclaim, but not much Oscar buzz. It managed to snag up much deserved nominations for Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, a directing nod for first-time nominee Benh Zietlin and a Best Actress nod for nine-year-old Quvenzhan’ÛΩ Wallis. Wallis is now the youngest nominee for Best Actress in the history of the Oscars, a feat few thought would ever be surpassed.
Another fantastic surprise is the love for Michael Haneke’s devastating French film “Amour,” which managed to snag five nominations, including Best Director and a much deserved Best Actress nod to Emmanuelle Riva, who is heartbreaking as a woman suffering a stroke in the midst of a marriage that is falling apart. It’s shocking that Haneke and Zietlin beat out sure-fire nominees Kathryn Bigelow and Ben Affleck for Best Director, but it’s a kind of pleasant shock. It’s nice to see two seemingly forgotten films getting so much recognition.
Along with these two films, seeing David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” got a Best Picture nomination despite controversy. The bigger surprise is Christoph Waltz getting a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his outstanding work in