Johnny Simmons

The PGA nominations were announced today and only a few persons on twitter seemed interested. You know why? When the race gets upped to ten nominees there’s an obvious dilution of the importance of the nominees. Who cares which ten the PGA nominate when three-quarters of them will be also-rans. And the list is especially safe and banal – the PGA nominees look like this: 127 Hours / Black Swan / The Fighter / Inception / The Kids Are All Right / The King’s Speech / The Social Network / The Town / Toy Story III / True Grit

                   

That’s about as generic as you can get, and I kind of suppose that that could easily be what the nominations look like come Oscar morning. If there’s any palpable omission (as far as Oscar prognostics go) it’s the lack of love for Winter’s Bone, which I can’t say I’m surprised about. In the scheme of things I’d say The Town and Winter’s Bone are fighting for that final spot, and as much as I’m not in love with The Town it does have the obvious pedigree which Winter’s Bone is sorely lacking.

                          

But enough of PGA, more on the race – I suppose it’s time for me to cast off my longstanding stubbornness/stupidity and submit to the fact that True Grit is a serious Oscar contender, it’s even being tossed around as a potential one to upset the race. I’m not sure I’m buying that. I’d say there are the two films fighting for the top spot - The Social Network and The King’s Speech are fighting for the top, though fighting is probably the wrong word because even though I’d love Hooper’s drama (still unseen for me, bah) to take the prize I’m not one of those people who continue to doubt the power of Fincher’s drama. Underneath those two we’ve got Black Swan, Inception, The Fighter and yes, True Grit. More than True Grit I wonder if Black Swan could be a surprise of the evening, but then I don’t think there will BE any surprises.

The Kids Are All Right will apparently take up the comedy quotient which is lovely, but it’s a shame that Cholodenko doesn’t even seem like a contender in the directing category – but more on that later in the week. It’s difficult to decide just where 127 Hours sits, it seems – in theory – like a contender, but the deafening lack of buzz makes me dubious – I still don’t think that Franco is really a contender (in the way of a potential win) in the Actor category. And apparently Toy Story III is going to take the now annual Pixar nod, which I’m less enthused about. Which leaves us with spot #10 – Winter’s Bone or The Town.

                     

Excuse the cynicism, I suppose perhaps all the voters are enamoured with these flicks but it seems like such lazy choosing when there are other films available. I’m still nonplussed, offended even, at the egregious lack of love for Rabbit Hole but for Nicole. I’m still questioning whether the voters have actually seen this one. I guess Shutter Island is officially out of the race, but I’m a tad surprised it gained absolutely no love here. Then there’s Get Low, I’m not sure what to make of Schneider’s film’s chances. Even Duvall seems like a precarious prediction at the best of times, I had been thinking that love for him could spill over to this category, but in retrospect – that’s probably not going to happen. Sure would love to see them shake it up a bit, how about (insert gasp) How to Train Your Dragon in the place of Toy Story III. I don’t know, something – anything. Damn this race is looking especially bland. Ugh.