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• The snubbing of 300. Heaven knows I wasn't a fan of what I deem The Ultimate Fanboy Movie, but let's give credit where credit's due, shall we? Aside from Across the Universe and the barely seen sci-fi yarn Sunshine, the only 2007 release with comparably excellent special effects was Transformers, and that's been rewarded via its inclusion in the Best Visual Effects contest. 300 should be at its side, knocking out either The Golden Compass (with its hot-and-cold effects) or the been-there-done-that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (whose predecessor won the award last year). Nods for 300's makeup, costume and set designs also wouldn't have been out of line.
• The controversy surrounding the Best Foreign Language Film category. Admittedly, this tempest began a few weeks ago, but it still stings. After a record 63 countries each submitted a picture for consideration, the members of the Academy's foreign language film committee -- mainly, older and more conservative voters who have time to watch all these movies -- pared the list down to nine, from which the five nominees were selected. But the brouhaha began when the list of nine didn't include three highly praised titles: Romania's 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, France's Persepolis (which did manage to snag a Best Animated Feature Film nod, as noted above) and Spain's The Orphanage. Meanwhile, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the most lauded import of last year, wasn't even eligible for the prize since France chose not to submit it (it scored four major nods elsewhere, though, including one for Best Director). Except for the Documentary Feature category, this has long proven the most troublesome for the Academy, and its officers promise once again to work out an improved voting system.
• The Best Makeup nomination for Norbit. It doesn't bother me (as it does other scribes) that we'll be referring to this movie as "the Academy Award-nominated Norbit" from now on -- after all, we've had to refer to "the Academy Award-nominated Patch Adams" for years (that wretched movie picked up a nod for its music score). It's just that the makeup designs in the film aren't especially fresh or innovative. This marks the sixth collaboration between ace makeup artist Rick Baker and Eddie Murphy, and the fourth time Baker's been nominated for these joint endeavors (he deservedly won for The Nutty Professor). In this category, I'll be rooting for La Vie En Rose's Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald to win: Their transformation of the beautiful, 32-year-old Marion Cotillard into the frail and sickly Edith Piaf is astonishing.
• The poor showing of musicals. From the giddiness of Hairspray to the psychedelia of Across the Universe, from the melancholy of Once to the moods of I'm Not There, musicals emerged as a viable genre again in 2007. Yet by and large, the Academy chose to ignore them, shutting out Hairspray and Control (as well as several documentaries about notable rock icons) and awarding solitary nods to Across the Universe (Best Costume Design), Once (Best Original Song) and I'm Not There (Best Supporting Actress).
Other Points Of Interest:
• For the third year in a row, penguins continue to make their presence known at the Academy Awards. In the 2005 contest, they were the stars of the Best Documentary Feature winner March of the Penguins, and for 2006, they were the stars of the Best Animated Feature winner Happy Feet. Now they're back as the stars of the Best Animated Feature nominee Surf's Up. Their winning streak will doubtless come to an end, though, as the movie's pitted against the critically acclaimed Persepolis and the critically and commercially revered front-runner, Ratatouille.
• Two of last year's five nominees in the Best Documentary Feature category focused on Bush's disastrous war in Iraq. This year, that number has risen to three, as a trio of movies -- No End In Sight, Taxi to the Dark Side and Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience -- center on the debacle (and as a side result convincingly make the case that it's still not too late to impeach this war criminal of a president). For the record, the other two nominees are the affecting War/Dance, which earned two major awards at last fall's Asheville Film Festival, and Michael Moore's gripping Sicko, which sticks it to the insurance companies (and the politicians who coddle them) the way they stick it to ordinary Americans.
• Thanks to Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Johnny Depp has earned his third Best Actor nomination in a five-year span. Cate Blanchett isn't slacking off, either: She now has four nominations (lead and supporting) in a four-year span and five in the past decade.