Oscar Nominations Are Out

Here my Off-The-Top-of-My-Head thoughts on the Oscar nominations that were announced this morning.

• Of the eight Best Picture nominees, I have seen four of them: Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, The Martian, and Spotlight.
• Of the four I have not seen, I would like to see The Big Short.  No desire at all to see Mad Max, Room, or The Revenant.
• Based on the four I have seen, my vote goes to Spotlight, followed by The Martian, Brooklyn, and Bridge of Spies.
• Of the twenty acting nominations, I have seen five of them - Matt Damon, Saoirse Ronan, Mark Ruffalo, Mark Rylance, and Rachel McAdams, so I can't make an educated prediction, but I CAN say that all five of those actors were terrific in their roles.
• No love for Will Smith or "Concussion".  The NFL wins again.
• The "awards tide" seems to indicate that Leonardo DiCaprio and The Revenant will be big winners this year.  I have seen the trailer, and I have read the reviews, and sorry, I'm still not going to see what looks to be a very grim and unpleasant viewing experience.  Two and a half hours of watching Leo get mauled by a bear, grunt and groan, and eat raw buffalo liver.  Nope.  Not for me.
• Eddie Redmayne gets a nod by playing a man who receives an operation to become a woman.  This is after playing Steven Hawking last year.  Does this guy ever play just, you know, a regular person?  On the other hand, the Motion Picture Academy just loves people who play roles like this.
• I'm pulling for Inside Out to win Best Animated Feature film.  I've seen that one, and really was good.
• Why is there still an award for Original Song?

I'm sure I'll be writing more between now and Oscar night.