The 84th Annual Academy Awards nominations: "There's something for everyone!" (Not that I'm happy about it.)

As a writer and film reviewer, I've been watching the Annual Academy Awards Nominations special on cable TV with huge anticipation and disappointment. While looking at my list, I cannot help but wonder "what are this year's surprises" or "have I forgotten this or that" before the nominees are announced.

This morning (5:45 a.m., Pacific time), I got the same feeling. (I woke up at five in the morning just to go over my list and add a few more entries --- Kristen Wiig's Bridesmaids original screenplay included.) "Brace for some shockers and predictable ones" is my mantra. And by the time AMPAS President Tom Sherak and last year's Best Actress nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone; 2012's The Hunger Games) entered the stage and introduced the broadcast, programming officially begins.

THE GOOD:
1. The Artist earns 10 nods (including Best Actor and Best Sup. Actress for Berenice Bejo as George Valentin's/Jean Dujardin's partner Peppy Miller).
2. Asghar Farhadi's critically adored A Separation scored two nods: Best Foreign Film (only the second Iranian movie to be nominated after Majid Majidi's 1998 feature Children of Heaven) and for Farhadi's intense original screenplay (alongside The Artist's Michel Hazanavicius; Woody Allen for four-time nominated Midnight in Paris, Best Picture and Director among them; Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo for Bridesmaids; and first time scribe and helmer J. C. Chandor for last year's indie hit (and Wall Street 2008 financial crisis drama) Margin Call).
3. Martin Scorsese's homage to film preservation, his first 3D feature Hugo, lead this year's awards with 11 nominations. It's a bittersweet year for Scorsese since the movie was a huge financial disaster despite its immense critical approbation.
4. The elusive filmmaker Terrence Malick earned his second Best Picture and Director nod for last year's Cannes Palme d'Or winner The Tree of Life (ditto cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki in his sixth Oscar nom). The man deserves it.
5. Racial diversity wins this year (African-American contenders Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for Best Picture nominee The Help; Demian Bechir for A Better Life; Dujardin and Bejo for The Artist, and Farhadi for A Separation. Ditto the Chinese director of Kung Fu Panda 2.)

THE BAD:
1. Tilda Swinton was snubbed for one of 2011's critically acclaimed films, Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin in favor of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's Rooney Mara as Best Actress. (Cannot fathom Tilda's snub despite being cited by the Globes, SAG, and BAFTA.)
2. No Michael Fassbender (for Steve McQueen's NC-17 rated feature Shame), Michael Shannon (in Jeff Nichols' apocalyptic thriller Take Shelter), and Leonardo diCaprio (as controversial FBI founder J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's latest picture) for Best Actor. Instead, Gary Oldman was cited for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (this is his first nomination, and I have to watch the movie ASAP!), ditto Mexican actor Bechir for A Better Life (I bought the DVD last week at Blockbuster as a three films for $14.99 promo, and I have to watch it soon.)
3. Most handsome actors and best buddies George Clooney and Brad Pitt were shortlisted for Alexander Payne's The Descendants (five nods inc. Best Picture) and Bennett Miller's Moneyball (which Pitt co-produced, making him a two-time nominee this year), respectively. Give me a Fassbinder and Shannon instead!

THE INTERESTING:
1. The divisive critical and box office reception for Daldry's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was this year's most shocking inclusion at the Oscars. With the 2011 line-up of nine Best Film nominees (and ELAIC as the last to be announced), it overshadowed five-time nominated The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as a potential Best Film frontrunner. I have to watch it before going back to the Philippines.
2. 1988 nominees Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) and Max von Sydow (ELAIC) were shortlisted this year. (For the record, they were cited as Best Actress and Best Actor nominees for Dangerous Liaisons and Best Foreign Film honoree Pelle the Conqueror, respectively.)
3. There are only two Original Song nominees this year (for The Muppets and Rio, respectively). I cannot believe this.