Oscar Picks Are In (for real this time) -Yay!

Yay!!!

The Oscar nominations are in, and my new favorite movie is included! And Dreck is out! Did my earlier rant make the difference? You make the call!

I'll be accepting messages from anyone in Hollywood who needs that extra push.

Here are the nominations for the animation categories:

Best Animated Feature Film:

Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf's Up

Best Animated Short Film:

I Met the Walrus
Madame Tutli-Putli
Even Pigeons Go to Heaven (Meme Les Pigeons Vont Au Paradis)
My Love (Moya Lyubov)
Peter & the Wolf

Two excellent picks for animated feature. Surf's Up looked alright, at least from the clips playing at Barnes & Nobles, but it's pretty much standard Hollywood studio cartoon fare. Satoshi Kon's Paprika, I'm told, was considered last year.

The shorts category is interesting. I haven't heard of any of 'em, but I expect to see the touring show at Lagoon Cinema sometime after the Oscars. Too bad they can't be seen by a wider audience. This is just the sort of thing digital distribution is made for.

One extra note: Ratatouille was also nominated for Music Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Original Screenplay. Those are some excellent picks, especially the latter one. We're in a very interesting position as animation fans. If the Academy plays it right, the medium could receive a desperately-needed push.

I fully expect Pixar to get the animation Oscar, since Juno is certain to score the Screenplay Oscar. But I'm still rooting for Persepolis to score an upset. Let Brad Bird win in all the other categories.

Finally, from the Dept. of George Bush Oscar Picks - Norbit was nominated for an Oscar. No, really. Norbit was nominated for the Makeup category. I'm pretty sure that's a sign of the coming apocalypse.