Nomination morning looms

So here we are.  Oscar nomination morning is on Tuesday and a consensus seems to have been reached.  'The Artist' has become the clear front runner for Best Picture, with 'The Descendants', 'Hugo', 'The Help' and 'Midnight in Paris' in competition to be a second place finisher in some ways.  They always say the downside to being a front runner is backlash, though at this point it's hard to see anything mowing down 'The Artist' to take the top prize.  I always welcome a surprise though, especially as 'The Artist' doesn't personally rank in my top of the year, although I deeply admire the craftsmanship and the heart of the film quite a lot.

I can definitely see this being a year quite like the 'Brokeback Mountain'/'Crash' year (which I often don't like to think back on) where Best Director goes to the director of a film that doesn't win Best Picture.  I could easily see Alexander Payne or Martin Scorsese pulling this off.  As Dave Karger mentioned on GoldDerby with Tom O'Neil, only if the 'The Help' manages to pull off the Best Director nomination do things start to look a little more interesting.  But seeing as Tate Taylor was not recognized by the DGA likely in favor of David Fincher for that fifth slot, the chances of this happening appear to be slim.

Yes, I'm one of those crazy people here on the West Coast who voluntarily wakes up at 5:30 a.m. PT for the nominations and then promptly goes back to sleep.  For some reason, I find this exciting.  Also, it's kind of nice to see things as they happen live instead of immediately being greeted to the Facebook posts, Tweets and complaints about the nominations otherwise.

I will post my final predictions on Monday.  As far as those who could potentially be in danger on nomination morning, I'm rooting for Tilda Swinton, Melissa McCarthy and Michael Fassbender to get the nominations they deserve and keep their streaks going.  If AMPAS wants to give me something really out there and incredible like nominating Mia Wasikowska, or showering 'Drive' with love in any way, I'd be downright elated.