entertainmentdissected

In a hardly shocking turn of events, this year’s Oscar nominees do not include The Dark Knight as a contender for Best Picture.

Apparently, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences couldn’t get past the fact that Knight is a superhero movie. If it could, Batman’s epic film would have found itself as one of the five nominees.

The buzz was that Knight and Doubt were going to vie for the fifth slot, with the four shoo-in’s being The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and Slumdog Millionaire. Instead, out of nowhere, Kate Winslet’s The Reader took the fifth slot. Go figure.

(Knight expectedly garnered several technical award nominations. And, like the film, director Christopher Nolan got snubbed.)

Revolutionary Road, Winslet’s reunion with Leonardo DiCaprio, received pre-release Oscar buzz, but when the film hit, the mixed critical reception hurt its Oscar potential. Winslet nonetheless won the Best Actress Golden Globe for her Revolutionary role, and the Supporting Actress prize for The Reader.

Oscar voters, however, chose to recognize Winslet’s Reader performance in the Best Actress category, after pretty much every Oscar predictor out there thought her Revolutionary turn would get the nod.

Just when you think you have Oscar all figured out, he pulls an oddity out of his hat. Kinda like back in the early 1990s, when Marisa Tomei won Best Supporting Actress for her comedic role in My Cousin Vinny. It was a strong, effective performance- but Oscar-worthy, competing against other actress’ dramatic roles? Voters must have thought so.

Will the Academy reward Tomei again this year? She’s up for the same prize for her heralded role in Mickey Rourke’s The Wrestler. if she wins this time out, it will be the dramatics that do the trick. Naysayers won’t be able to scratch their heads wondering why THAT girl won.

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