Pre-Oscar Nomination musings

For me, nothing emulates the giddy joy of hopping out of bed early Christmas morning to see what Santa brought, like the morning the Oscar Nominations are announced at 5:30am Pacific time. The Academy announcement tomorrow January 10th will bring out similar squeals of delight and joy from me. Sometimes the nominations are even a birthday gift, nominations have been announced on my bday several times in the past few years. This year the Academy wanted to push the calendar up, beat award season fatigue and as a result the nominations are out before the Golden Globes air Sunday, January 13th at 5pm Pacific time/8pm Eastern on NBC.

Emma Stone and Seth MacFarlane will be announcing the nominations. This is the first time since 1972 that a host of the Oscar show has announced the nominees. 

Prior to the announcement, I couldn't help but wonder what the repercussions of the online Academy voting system might be. This is the first time voting has taken place online. The old Hollywood presence in the Academy often anchors the Oscars in honoring more traditional films. Older folks notoriously use less technology and it will be interesting to see how this change to the nomination process will affect the nominations.

There can be anywhere from 5-10 films nominated for Best Picture. I am predicting that 8 films will be nominated for Best Picture. Dave Karger, formerly of EW and my personal Oscar guru of many years, now found on Fandango, predicts 6 nominated films (Argo, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty). Check out his video for his full run down. Karger's EW replacement, Anthony Breznican, whom EW has dubbed their Prize Fighter (we'll see about that), is listing 10 Best Picture nominees and saying that just the first 6 are definite: 1. Lincoln 2. Zero Dark Thirty 3. Les Misérables 4. Argo 5. Life of Pi 6. Silver Linings Playbook 7. Amour 8. Beasts of the Southern Wild 9. Moonrise Kingdom 10. Skyfall.

Earlier this week on 1/8, the Director's Guild announced their nominees:
• Ben Affleck, Argo
• Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
• Hooper, Les Miserables
• Ang Lee, Life of Pi
• Steven Spielberg, Lincoln.

The Writer's Guild nominations were announced January 4th and are as follows. I did not include the Documentary Screenplay category because there is no equivalent in the Oscars and documentaries having screenplays seems odd, possibly even questionable.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
• Flight Written by John Gatins
• Looper Written by Rian Johnson
• The Master Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
• Moonrise Kingdom Written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
• Zero Dark Thirty Written by Mark Boal
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
• Argo Screenplay by Chris Terrio; Based on a selection from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article “The Great Escape” by Joshuah Bearman
• Life of Pi Screenplay by David Magee; Based on the novel by Yann Martel
• Lincoln Screenplay by Tony Kushner; Based in part on the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower Screenplay by Stephen Chbosky; Based on his own novel
• Silver Linings Playbook Screenplay by David O. Russell; Based on the novel by Matthew Quick

Here is an interesting link to an EW article that discusses winners and nominated films prior to the kickoff of the Oscar race.

As we get into Oscar month I will also share and discuss the Independent Spirit Award nominations and the BAFTAs.

For today, in an effort to provide you with well-rounded information, the Screen Actor's Guild nominations that have been out since December 12th are listed below. The SAG Awards will be broadcast on TBS and TNT on January 27th.
FILM
Male Actor, Lead
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Denzel Washington, Flight
Male Actor, Supporting
Alan Arkin, Argo
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Female Actor, Lead
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Female Actor, Supporting
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Cast in a Motion Picture
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Misérables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
TV
Male Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries
Kevin Costner, Hatfields and McCoys
Woody Harrelson, Game Change
Ed Harris, Game Change
Clive Owen, Hemingway and Gellhorn
Bill Paxton, Hatfields and McCoys
Female Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries
Nicole Kidman, Hemingway and Gellhorn
Julianne Moore, Game Change
Charlotte Rampling, Restless
Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals
Alfre Woodard, Steel Magnolias
Male Actor, Drama Series
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Female Actor, Drama Series
Claire Danes, Homeland
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Asylum
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Male Actor, Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Louis CK, Louis
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Female Actor, Comedy Series
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland 
Ensemble, Comedy
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie
The Office
Ensemble, Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Homeland
Mad Men
Life Achievement Award
Dick Van Dyke