The plot thickens: Oscar precursors

On the awards circuit, it's been a quite a few days which began to pick up speed over the weekend with the LA Film Critics announcement where their top prize went to "The Descendants".  Pile on every single critics group in every major city and already there seemed to be momentum building for "The Aritst", "The Descendants", and performances from George Clooney, Viola Davis and Meryl Streep. This week alone saw the Broadcast Film Critics Association announce, the Screen Actors Guild (the first of the major guilds to announce their nominations) and this morning, the Golden Globe Awards nominations.

What is there really to make of this year?  That's a good question.  It appears that the Weinstein Company looks to strike it big again as "The Artist" seems to have emerged as a real frontrunner.  I'm always a believer that anything can happen down to the very last minute though.  We saw it happen last year as "The Social Network" seemed to coast through awards season, winning everything in its path before losing the Academy Award to "The King's Speech", undoubtedly much more Academy friendly and pulling on the heartstrings when it was needed in the final stretch.  I really do admire the love letter to Hollywood that "The Artist" so wonderfully exemplifies, I just can't say that it's the film that has touched me the most emotionally so far this year.  For me, that film is "The Descendants", a heartfelt rumination on life and death and the many facets of forgiveness.  It's been an odd year, as I've found myself talking to friends who also haven't found a ton of films that they have truly been blown away by.  Even though I thoroughly enjoyed "The Artist", I've found myself more drawn to the movie magic of films like "Hugo" and "My Week with Marilyn", which carry similar themes.

Although in some ways this year seems predictable already in terms of Best Picture, a lot can change in the month before Oscar nominations, as members now have the time during their winter breaks to sit down and take in all of the films.  Films like "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", which were recognized by the BFCA but ignored by SAG and the HFPA, may be given new life in the coming weeks, especially seeing as the film was screened far too late to make much of an impact according to many top Oscar prognosticators.  Perhaps actors who were left off by a major group or two will find love with the Academy.  Patton Oswalt in "Young Adult", Carey Mulligan in "Shame", Charlize Theron in "Young Adult" and Thomas Horn, Sandra Bullock and Max von Sydow from "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" are just some of the names who come to mind.  The changes in acting category nominations over the past few days may be the key to what will make this Oscar race exciting.  It's brought a smile to my face to see truly exceptional dramatic work recognized from the likes of Tilda Swinton and Michelle Williams.  It's also been nice to see those who have been in the business a long time, yet have rarely garned attention, nominated for their work, actors like Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  I have a lot to catch up in the coming month, but I have no doubt that this year is going to keep me guessing in a lot of ways.  I'm ready for it and bring on the surprises please!