Oscars: Affleck And Bigelow Get Snubbed; Plus: Could “Playbook” Upset “Lincoln”?
It isn’t everyday that the jaw-dropping omissions in the Oscar nominations, announced at dawn this morning from Los Angeles, come in the Best Directing category. Ben Affleck had been widely tipped as the only person who could possibly upset Steven Spielberg, who helmed “Lincoln,” and Affleck was left out in the desert cold. Similarly snubbed was Kathryn Bigelow, who directed “Zero Dark Thirty.” Although I sense a bit of sexism in not including her, she already has a statuette for “The Hurt Locker,” so that cushions the blow. But Affleck, who has emerged from his post-“Good Will Hunting” acting hell as a very fine director, has got to be feeling the pain this morning, even though his movie got a respectable seven noms. The most noms, twelve, went to “Lincoln,” which now is the indubitable frontrunner for Best Picture when the awards arrive on February 24th. One final surprise worth noting: John Hawkes, who was very fine in “The Sessions,” got left out. I guess what excites people at hippish Sundance, where the movie premiered, doesn’t necessarily excite old Academy voters. My big thought for the day: “Silver Linings Playbook” did better than expected, with 8 noms. If it wins SAG ensemble award at the end of the month and people tire of “Lincoln,” could “SLP” pull off a best-pic upset? Harvey Weinstein is pushing the movie, and never count him out. And if you need proof of how popular “Silver Linings” is with the Academy, consider this: it’s the first movie since “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in 1966 to score noms in all four acting categories.
