It wasn’t always this way. Back in 2001, when a historical biopic could share the Best Picture lineup with a musical, a crime drama and a fantasy epic, viewers didn’t have to love every nominee. In fact, they could argue against every one of them. What people did have, though, was something to root for, with films that moved them in a way the others didn’t, a reason to sit in front of the TV and actually give a damn who won. There was room for debate, and the debate was epic.
Flash forward to 2011. The nominees for Best Picture: Nine films, two of them actually about filmmaking. In a year filled with inspiring, varied work — when an actor’s portrayal of an ape carried an entire film, when a story about surviving cancer drew as many laughs as it did tears, when a movie about cage-fighting fought its way onto every top 10 list that mattered — we’ve summed it all up to … this?
It’s a sad time for cinephiles. The votes are in and dream though we might, there’s nothing we can do to change them. What we can do, however, is talk about what deserved to be picked, so for what it’s worth, here’s one lowly film geek’s list of would-be nominees for the best of 2011:
Best Actor
Michael Shannon – “Take Shelter”
Runners-up:
Brendan Gleeson – “The Guard”
Andy Serkis – “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Dominic Cooper – “The Devil’s Double”
Michael Fassbender – “Shame”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – “50/50”
Best Actress
Rooney Mara – “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Runners-up:
Adepero Oduye – “Pariah”
Michelle Williams – “My Week With Marilyn”
Elizabeth Olsen – “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
Viola Davis – “The Help”
Charlize Theron – “Young Adult”
Best Supporting Actor
Nick Nolte – “Warrior”
Runners-up:
Benedict Cumberbatch – “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Philip Seymour Hoffman – “Moneyball”_
Stanley Tucci – “Margin Call”
Paul Giamatti – “The Ides of March”
Corey Stoll – “Midnight In Paris”
Best Supporting Actress
Marion Cotillard – “Midnight In Paris”
Runners-up:
Melissa McCarthy – “Bridesmaids”_
Jodie Foster – “Carnage”
Elle Fanning – “Super 8”
Evan Rachel Wood – “The Ides of March”
Jessica Chastain – “Take Shelter”
Best Animated Film
“Arthur Christmas”
Runners-up:
“Kung Fu Panda 2”
“Rango”
“The Adventures of Tintin”
Best Cinematography
“Drive” – Newton Thomas Sigel
Runners-up:
“Moneyball” – Wally Pfister
“The Tree of Life” – Emmanuel Lubezki
“Hugo” – Robert Richardson
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” – Hoyt Van Hoytema
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II” – Eduardo Serra
Best Director
Gavin O’Connor – “Warrior”
Runners-up:
Joe Cornish – “Attack the Block”
Jeff Nichols – “Take Shelter”
Nicholas Winding Refn – “Drive”
Cameron Crowe – “We Bought A Zoo”
J.C. Chandor – “Margin Call”
Best Documentary
“Louder Than A Bomb” (dir. Greg Jacobs, Jon Siskel)
Runners-up:
“Strongman” (dir. Zachary Levy)
“Into the Abyss” (dir. Werner Herzog)
“Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” (dir. Rodman Flender)
Best Editing
“Carnage” – Hervé de Luze
Runners-up:
“Mission: Impossible, Ghost Protocol” – Paul Hirsch
“Drive” – Matthew Newman
“Attack the Block” – Jonathan Amos
“Bridesmaids” – William Kerr, Michael Sale
“J. Edgar” – Joel Cox
Best Foreign Film
“I Saw the Devil” (South Korea, dir. Ji-Woon Kim)
Runners-up:
“Attack the Block” (United Kingdom, dir. Joe Cornish)
“A Separation” (Iran, dir. Asghar Farhadi)
Best Original Score
“The Tree of Life” – Alexandre Desplat
Runners-up:
“The Adjustment Bureau” – Thomas Newman
“Hugo” – Howard Shore
“X-Men: First Class” – Henry Jackman
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
“War Horse” – John Williams
“Cowboys & Aliens” – Harry Gregson-Williams
Best Special Effects
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Runners-up:
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II”
“Attack the Block”
“Captain America: The First Avenger”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”
Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Ides of March” – Grant Heslov, George Clooney, Beau Willimon
Runners-up:
“Everything Must Go” – Dan Rush
“We Bought A Zoo” – Cameron Crowe, Aline Brosh McKenna
“The Help” – Tate Taylor
“Carnage” – Yasmina Reza
“The Descendants” – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Best Original Screenplay
“50/50” – Will Reiser
Runners-up:
“Margin Call” – J.C. Chandor
“The Guard” – John Michael McDonagh
“Source Code” – Ben Ripley
“Midnight In Paris” – Woody Allen
“Horrible Bosses” – Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley
Best Picture
“The Ides of March” (dir. George Clooney)
Runners-up:
“Warrior” (dir. Gavin O’Connor)
“50/50” (dir. Jonathan Levine)
“Drive” (dir. Nicholas Winding Refn)
“Midnight In Paris” (dir. Woody Allen)
“Source Code” (dir. Duncan Jones)
“Attack the Block” (dir. Joe Cornish)
