So: HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS. Please note that this post will be crammed with half-assed observations and futile diatribes from yours truly, who for whatever reason has some VERY STRONG FEELINGS about these goddamn things, despite the fact that every year, as the 16-hour-long Oscar telecast finally winds down, I pull myself up from my fetal position on the floor and swear upon all that is holy and good that I won't ever give a shit about the Oscars anymore. Well, Oscars, you've sucked me in yet again to your pomp, circumstance, and marketing schemes! Nice work, I suppose. I hate you.
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Oh, so we're doing 10 nominees again, are we? Even in a year as crappy as this one? Okay, sure, whatever. I'm stoked to see The Kids Are All Right nominated, here, and same with Toy Story 3, which has busted right on out of that stupid "Best Animated Feature Film" category established by the Academy a few years ago precisely to keep themselves from having to face the indignity of nominating a cartoon for Best Picture. Ha! (Still, Toy Story 3 is nominated in that category, too—meaning it'll win there and not here, meaning this is a token nomination.)
At least three of these films don't deserve this nomination: the goofy Black Swan, the striking but clumsy Inception, the melodramatic TV-movie-of-the-week The Fighter. Other than that, this is a pretty solid, pretty predictable lineup, and I'd be happy to see True Grit, Winter's Bone, The Social Network, or even Scott Pilgrim vs. the World win. Wait, Scott Pilgrim wasn't nominated? For anything? Huh. That's stupid. Well, okay, in that case, then, I'm gonna root for Winter's Bone; as good as True Grit and The Social Network are, everybody expected them to be that good, while the scrappy, tough Winter's Bone had to prove itself, and did a damn fine job doing so.
[ADDENDUM, FROM AVOWED TOY STORY HATER WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY, WHO ALSO CLAIMS TO LOATHE THE BEATLES AND BOB DYLAN: "It speaks volumes that the passing trifle that is Toy Story 3 garnered an Academy Award nomination. In that case, where's Beverly Hills Chihuahua II?"]