Maybe this time (I'll win)...

So. This year's Oscar nominees have been announced. You might have been expecting my yearly rant. You still might get it, depending on who does eventually win. But for the first time in a long time, I have hope. Sure I've only seen Toy Story 3, The King's Speech, Inception and The Social Network thus far, and there's a chance that my high levels of anticipation for Black Swan and True Grit might end in disappointment. Sure there's a Danny Boyle film sludging up the nominations - admittedly, I have yet to see 127 Hours, but I doubt even my love for James Franco could redeem the typical Boyle fare: the massively overrated Trainspotting, the mediocre Sunshine, the equally mediocre The Beach, and Slumdog Millionaire, undoubtedly one of the worst films ever to win an Oscar. Sure, there's a creeping dread that Toy Story 3 and Inception feel like honourary nods, ticking the boxes, films that deserve the recognition but can't win because of the Academy's apparent disregard recently for animated films (Up, Wall-E, The Incredibles), Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight), genre films (sci-fi or fantasy) or box office successes (Dark Knight again, Avatar). But... call it a feeling, an intuition, a conjecture, if you will - a deserving film will win the Oscar this year.

As I've argued before, the Academy's bad streak runs some way back. Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire, No Country For Old Men, The Departed, Crash, Million Dollar Baby - it's been an unstoppable deluge of shit. Poorly acted, poorly written, unengaging, overhyped shit, each wholly short of meriting the highest accolade the Hollywood film industry, united under one banner, can bestow. You have to go back to 2003 for the last deserving winner - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, which, both as a film itself, and as a proxy for the entire trilogy, stood head and shoulders above its competitors that year (Lost in Translation, Master and Commander, Mystic River and Seabiscuit). But this year, I could not begrudge any of the nominees I have seen the victory, nor could I pick between them. And I hold out further hope that those I have yet to see will live up to the same standards. My major excitement is reserved for Black Swan and True Grit, which would push the number of worthy winners to 6 of the 10 nominees (assuming they live up to my expectations), perhaps even 8 at a stretch, if I am surprised by the Fighter and The Kids Are Alright. I profess to know very little about Winter's Bone, which leaves only one remaining objection, in the form of 127 Hours, which, admittedly, I have yet to see. Unfair as that might sound, it is not random - my dislike of Danny Boyle as a filmmaker runs deep, and is based on not inconsiderable viewing experience, hence my joy that he is not included in the best director nods. Based on what I have seen so far, Tom Hooper or David Fincher have equal claim to that prize, just as their leading men (Colin Firth and Jesse Eisenberg respectively) do to the best actor gong. Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush are both thoroughly deserving of their supporting nominations, though, having nothing to compare them to as of yet, I can't make a stronger claim than that.

If I had one gripe, it might be that Harry Potter doesn't appear in any of the major nominations. Now it could be that, like with Return of the King, they are simply waiting for the final installment to serve again as proxy, and award a massive and thoroughly well deserved nod to the franchise as a whole. Which would probably be fair enough, if this hadn't been far and away the best directed, acted and arguably written installment so far. I will admit to being slightly inebriated the first time I saw it, partly by the atmosphere of the midnight showing, and partly by some actual mojitos, but it lost absolutely nothing in the second viewing a few days later, and I dare say, perhaps even improved. One can only imagine the seismic force of the cultural event that will be the finale come July 15, an epic imprint of a generational zeitgeist, a moment of which people will later say "I was there". And obviously that anticipation holds some sway, which, again, as I reiterate, makes such reasoning, if that is their reasoning (rather than the dislikes of genre and box office success I listed above), entirely understandable. But it does seem a shame, and perhaps even a minor slap in the face, to not recognise Deathly Hallows Part 1 as an accomplishment on a grand scale, a maturation and change in tone that I hitherto did not credit anyone involved to be capable of achieving, despite my enjoyment of the franchise since the 3rd film.

Regardless, tonight, I am optimistic. I will endeavour to add True Grit and Black Swan at least to my consciousness by the time the night arrives. Perhaps, by then, a stronger contender may emerge from the murky pool of my sentiments and opinions. But, as it stands, there are 4 definitely worthy winners in the running. And that alone is cause for hope.