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Movies & TV

True Grit, Winter’s Bone, and the Oscar nominations

Take that, Golden Globes.

After being completely shut out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Coen brothers and True Grit, their fine remake of the John Wayne western, got lots of love from Oscars this morning, winning 10 nominations, including deserving nods for picture, director, adapted screenplay, lead actor (Jeff Bridges), and – although it’s really a lead performance – supporting actress (Hailee Steinfeld).

It, along with The King’s Speech (12 nominations), The Social Network (8) and Black Swan (5), were the predictable names on the list.

Canadians can all breathe a little easier now that Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies made the cut for best foreign language picture – although come February 27, it may have a tough time beating Biutiful, which also scored a surprise nomination for actor Javier Bardem (looks like Julia Roberts’s campaign paid off). Golden Globe-winner Paul Giamatti didn’t get a best actor nomination for the Canuck-made Barney’s Version, but the film did get a nod for best makeup, which, come to think of it, was one of the most convincing things about it.

The biggest overall surprise this morning was the strong showing by Winter’s Bone, a quiet, intense picture about poverty in the Ozarks, released early in 2010. Lead actress Jennifer Lawrence’s nomination was pretty much a given, but it was interesting to see nominations for picture, supporting actor John Hawkes and adapted screenplay. Not that any of them will win.

It was good to see Mark Ruffalo and Oscar co-host James Franco score first-time nominations, the former for his charming supporting turn as a sperm donor in The Kids Are All Right, the latter as mountain climber Aron Ralston in 127 Hours.

Some disappointments came in the director category. Best picture nominees 127 Hours and Inception were completely director-driven vehicles, but neither Danny Boyle nor Christopher Nolan got any credit. Strangely, Nolan’s Inception, with its bravura cutting between three or four storylines, didn’t get an editing nomination, yet The King’s Speech did.

I’m also disappointed that none of the supporting actors from The Social Network – Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake or Armie Hammer – got noticed for their work. Garfield was the obvious pick, but JT was campaigning awfully hard to have the “Oscar-nominated…” tag before his name. Speaking of supporting actors, also it was sad not to see Matt Damon’s work in True Grit acknowledged. His great timing adds a lot of comic relief to the film.

On the subject of comedy and relief, let’s all be grateful that the Golden Globe-nominated Burlesque was completely shut out, even in the best song category. On the plus side, that means no Cher or Xtina performance on the negative side, that means no Cher red carpet dress.

Here’s a complete list of nominees:

BEST PICTURE

127 Hours

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King’s Speech

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter’s Bone

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

BEST ACTOR

Javier Bardem, Biutiful

Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

James Franco, 127 Hours

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams, The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech

Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale, The Fighter

John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone

Jeremy Renner, The Town

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

BEST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

David Fincher, The Social Network

Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

David O. Russell, The Fighter

BEST ANIMATED FILM

How to Train Your Dragon

The Illusionist

Toy Story 3

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Algeria)

Incendies (Canada)

In a Better World (Denmark)

Dogtooth (Greece)

Biutiful (Mexico)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right

Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson, The Fighter

Mike Leigh, Another Year

Christopher Nolan, Inception

David Seidler, The King’s Speech

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3

Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours

Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

Debra Granik and Anne Roselini, Winter’s Bone

Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

BEST ART DIRECTION

Alice in Wonderland

Happy Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1

Inception

The King’s Speech

True Grit

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Black Swan

Inception

The King’s Speech

The Social Network

True Grit

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Alice in Wonderland

I Am Love

The King’s Speech

The Tempest

True Grit

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Gasland

Inside Job

Restrepo

Waste Land

BEST EDITING

127 Hours

Black Swan

The Fighter

The King’s Speech

The Social Network

BEST MAKEUP

Barney’s Version

The Way Back

The Wolfman

BEST SCORE

127 Hours

How to Train Your Dragon

Inception

The King’s Speech

The Social Network

BEST SONG

“Coming Home,” Country Strong

“I See the Light,” Tangled

“If I Rise,” 127 Hours

“We Belong Together,” Toy Story 3

BEST SOUND EDITING

Inception

Toy Story 3

TRON: Legacy

True Grit

Unstoppable

BEST SOUND MIXING

Inception

The King’s Speech

Salt

The Social Network

True Grit

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Alice in Wonderland

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1

Hereafter

Inception

Iron Man 2

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Killing in the Name

Poster Girl

Strangers No More

Sun Come Up

The Warriors of Qiugang

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Day & Night

The Gruffalo

Let’s Pollute

The Lost Thing

Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

The Confession

The Crush

God of Love

Na Wewe

Wish 143

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