OK, Academy Awards presenters, start practicing pronouncing the name Michel Hazanavicius.
Who says there are no surprises anymore in the movie industry? If anyone had predicted a year ago that a black-and-white, virtually silent film without name stars would be released in 2011, earn 10 Oscar nominations including best picture and be the favorite to win, that person would be shuttled off to a padded cell.
But that is exactly what has happened for The Artist, the Cinderella story of the year, a romantic comedy set in the days of Hollywood as silent films are giving way — making and ruining careers — to talkies.
At this morning’s nominations announcement, The Artist walked off with nominations for performers Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo (inexplicably relegated to the supporting actress category), two for director/screenwriter Hazanavicius, plus mentions for art direction, cinematography, costume design, film editing and music. If it only had more sound, it would surely have run the table with nods for sound editing and sound mixing.
By the time of this morning’s announcements, of course, The Artist was already the front-runner, having picked up best picture wins from the Golden Globes and the Producers Guild. Now the public has to discover the film because, since it was released in the United States in November, it has only grossed a paltry $9.2 million domestically.
The film’s presumed closest rival is Alexander Payne’s Hawaiian dramedy The Descendants, nominated for best picture, Payne’s direction and co-written adapted screenplay and best actor George Clooney. But in one of the day’s most glaring snubs, supporting actress Shailene Woodley came up empty-handed. Still, if an anti-French campaign emerges against The Artist — or even a backlash against its overbearing producer, Harvey Weinstein — the top Oscar could go to The Descendants, which also won a best picture Golden Globe (for drama).
This is the year the Academy changed the rules about the number of best picture nominees, requiring a film to get 5 percent of the first place votes to make the cut. As a result, there could be between five and ten movies in the field and when the dust settled the category had nine entries. Also included are The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse. Probably the ninth nominee in terms of vote totals is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the quirky 9-11 aftermath film that I like a lot, but has been receiving brutally negative reviews. (See it.)
Much talked about for a best picture slot was Bridesmaids, the girls-can-be-vulgar-too comedy which had to settle for a supporting actress nod for Melissa McCarthy and an original screenplay nomination for her co-star Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo.
If I ruled the Oscars, the best picture nominees would have also included Girl with a Dragon Tattoo and the cancer comedy, 50/50. But I don’t.
No surprises for best actress, which looks like a two-horse race between Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Viola Davis (The Help). Poor Meryl has only won twice, and her most recent victory was 20 years ago, probably because she is expected to be brilliant every time out. The other three nominees — Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Rooney Mara (Dragon Tattoo) and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) — have to be considered long shots.
The best actor field is more competitive, led by Hollywood golden boys George Clooney (The Descendants) and Brad Pitt (Moneyball), even though Pitt was more impressive in the less audience-friendly The Tree of Life. Also in the running are Dujardin, Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Demian Bichir (A Better Life). Bichir is the surprise, though an admirable choice in a little-seen picture. He takes the place of such more expected nominees as Michael Fassbinder (Shame), Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar) and, my choice, Michael Shannon (Take Shelter).
Nominated actors in their 80s tend to be sentimental favorites, but this year the supporting actor category has two of them. Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), both 82, will be vying for their first Oscar. Hoping to stop them will be Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn), Jonah Hill (Moneyball) and Nick Nolte (Warrior), but put your money on one of the octogenarians.
The supporting actress field is mostly Oscar rookies, with only Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) a returning nominee. If there is an Artist sweep, the award could go to Bejo. Otherwise it is wide open, with Bridesmaids’ McCarthy and two actresses from The Help (Jessica Chastain, Octavia Spencer) potentially cancelling each other out.
With nine best picture nominees and only five for best director, the only surprises are snubs. In the category are Hazanavicius and Payne, as well as Martin Scorsese (Hugo), comeback kid Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) and Terence Malick (The Tree of Life). The most prominent snubbee is surely Steven Spielberg, whose War Horse was noted for art direction, cinematography and music.
Perhaps more puzzling is the failure of Spielberg’s other 2011 picture, The Adventures of Tintin, to gain a nomination for animated feature. They went instead to Rango, Puss in Boots and Kung Fu Panda 2, as well as two foreign-made films, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita. Not surprising in its absence is the Pixar dud Cars 2, though this is one of the few time since the category was created that the studio is not in the running.
The 84th Academy Awards will be telecast Sunday, Feb. 26, with popular veteran emcee Billy Crystal returning to the assignment after many years away.