Oscar Nominations: Good, Bad, Ugly, or Ridiculous?

So I kind of love the Academy Awards and the hype and the dresses and the guessing who will win. That's why nomination day is sort of fun for me - it's the real beginning of the madness that starts with the Golden Globes. Usually there is bitching and moaning about who got the nod and who didn't, and who am I to keep out of the fray? You can view a short list of the high-profile categories here, and many of them are not surprises, but there are just a couple of quirks I need to vent about.

First, I'm ecstatic that Jakey got a nomination for best supporting actor. Then I'm all excuse me, WHAT? Supporting huh? It's bad enough Heath Ledger gets all the glory for Brokeback Mountain. Yes, I'm biased, but I think I successfully argued my case to Jeff after the movie that Jake's performance is a more subtle one and Heath wouldn't look nearly as good (acting-wise) acting with let's say, Keanu, as he does paired with Jake - they compliment each other. Heath is showered with praise just because he's the one filled with angst. I ain't demeaning it, just saying don't overlook Jake.
But here we go - Jake's not overlooked, but he is downgraded. I originally complained about this demotion to Jeff who pointed out that Brokeback is more centrally focused around Heath's character. To a certain degree, yes. But here's the thing - if this were a romance about two straight people, no way in hell one or the other leading actors gets second-class supporting status. I think there was similar debate after Pulp Fiction and another recent movie I can't think of - maybe The Hours - where people actually calculated screentime. Come on people - we don't need to get technical with it. You're just making shit up so that you can honor a stellar cast in a great movie without them blocking each other out. I'm down - but let's not pretend that Jake actually was a supporting actor in that movie. There's just no way. They are both on the poster, and both of their names are at the "top". (although, now that I look at it, Jake is in the background, and Heath's name got top billing, but still. Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams - those were supporting characters. Jake = lead.)

Second, Judi Dench is nominated for best actress. I haven't seen her movie, I don't know what it's about, and I don't care if her performance was good. She's nominated almost every single year. Seriously. It's like the Academy is under the impression she is the best actress of all time and no one else should ever get recognition. Maybe that's not her fault (unless she's blowing them all) - there's something to be said for the fact that our starlets these days aren't exactly quality performers. But STILL. SOMEBODY out there besides her, Reese Witherspoon, and Charlize Theron that is doing quality work. Good grief, if we can nominate Keira Knightly for Pride and freaking Prejudice, we can find someone to nominate beside Judi Dench. I suppose I may still be bitter about a fiasco where Judi Dench won for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth for like, literally 5 minutes, in Shakespeare in Love and beat an outstanding Lynn Redgrave in Gods and Monsters. Come on guys, Lynn Redgrave is British, too, we're not thinking that far outside the box. And she actually came to work on the film for more than one day. In fact, she's probably got at least 45 mins or more of screen time and she actually did something besides deliver a speech and put on some crazy make-up and costumes. Judi Dench - you're good. I'm glad. I GOT THE PICTURE THE LAST 48 TIMES THEY NOMINATED YOU. Now step away from the podium and let someone else have a go.

My final tirade concerns the presentation of the list of nominees on the official Academy Awards website. Why do the lists for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor come before the list for Best Actress? Why not put the Best Actor/Actress one after the order, then Best Supporters after - seems a bit sexist to me. I mean, maybe it's alphabetical order, but not really. It's probably just a stroke of luck that the Actor categories come first since they begin with A. Then they do the alphabetical thing to be diplomatic. Yeah, a mountain and a molehill, but it's been a bad day, thank you Congress, so a little bit of sexism really goes with the theme.

I'm off to bed now, soon, but if you've got any peeves with the noms or with me, shout 'em out - as I'm learning in First Amendment class, freedom of speech is integral to the political discourse and the truth can only be found from free-flow of ideas. Right.