And The Nominees Are . . .

You know what I don’t remember? I don’t remember back in 2008 saying to Mrs. “I really wish there were more best picture nominees at the Academy Awards. Five nominations just aren’t cutting it.” But regardless, the Academy Awards now has ten best picture nominees. This is the kind of thinking that leads to the NCAA tournament expanding to 96 teams and every college football team going to a bowl game. I don’t know why they needed more movies in the mix. The next thing you know we’ll have a three way tie for best picture because they just couldn’t narrow it down to one.

Anyway, the Academy Award nominations came out last week and once again I haven’t seen most of the films yet. The ten best picture nominees can be put into the following categories:

Movies I’ve Seen:

True Grit – Hey, I’ve seen one of the nominees! I definitely enjoyed it and highly recommend it, but I’m not sure it’s really a “best picture”.

Movies I’d Like To See:

Inception – Mrs. has an aversion to movies that are hard to follow, which we understand this to be. But I still want to see it. I’m sure we’ll see this at some point and I’ll explain it to her afterward (even if I have to read the synopsis on Wikipedia because I didn’t follow it either).

The Social Network – When I first heard of this movie I’m pretty sure I assumed it was a made for TV movie, and now it’s going to win best picture. I’m officially intrigued and interested to see it, if for no other reason than because the best SNL cast member Justin Timberlake is in it.

Movies I’ll Probably See Because I’m Married:

The King’s Speech – I could see this being a really well acted and interesting character study. Or I could see it being incredibly boring. But it has Mrs. fave Colin Firth, so I could imagine this being an On Demand viewing later in the year.

Black Swan – I would never see this movie unless Mrs. wanted to. I’m of the impression it is about ballet, but Mrs. tells me she heard it was also a “horror” movie. That actually might make it more appealing.

Movies I’ll Likely Never See:

The Fighter – I know people who liked this movie, but I’m just not into boxing.

The Kids Are All Right – I’m sure it’s a fine film, but nothing about it stands out. Too many movies in the queue for us to get to this one.

127 Hours – For whatever reason nothing about this movie appeals to me. Especially a man cutting off his own arm. Add in Mrs.’ claustrophobia and my fear of heights, and I think we can say we're out on this film.

Toy Story 3 – I’ve never seen the first two, and I doubt I’ll be starting with the third. Maybe if we had kids.

Movies I Never Heard Of Prior To The Nominees Being Announced:

Winter’s Bone – Yep, never heard of it. And I’m usually on top of these things.

So there you have it. If I had to guess I would say that The Social Network, The King’s Speech, Black Swan, The Fighter, and I guess True Grit would have been the five nominated films before the Academy went to the “everybody’s a winner” nomination process. My money is on The Social Network for best picture. This is based, of course, on pure speculation. Mrs. thinks it will be The King’s Speech. Good luck to all of the nominees and hopefully next year the powers that be can squeeze in twenty nominations so no one feels left out.