This morning I appeared on Good Morning Texas to riff on some early picks for the 86th Academy Awards. I basically went with the picks I made even before the nominees were announced, with one exception. I thought Emma Thompson was a shoe-in at least for a nomination for her turn in Saving Mr. Banks. It was one of a few “snubs,” which included omissions like:
– Robert Redford for best actor in All Is Lost
– Joaquim Phoenix for best actor in Her
– Spike Jonze for best director of Her
– Blue is the Warmest Color for best foreign film
– The Stories We Tell for best documetnary
– Paul Greengrass for his direction of Captain Phillips (surprising perhaps only because the movie did get a best picture nod)
– Basically anything having to do with one of my favorite films of the year Inside Llewyn Davis
Other omissions, but not as surprising: I had hoped Michael Jordan would receive a long-shot nomination for his performance in Fruitvale Station. And in my dream world both director Paolo Sorrentino and Toni Servillo would receive noms for their work as director and lead actor, respectively, in The Great Beauty. Also, Woody Allen’s resurgence will go without official lauds, not surprisingly.
So who do I think is going to win the Oscars this year? Check it out below (and ignore the early gaffe when I’m introduced as a writer for the Dallas Morning News; they make the correction at the end of the piece).
