Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart (top); Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw in The Blind Side (bottom)
Those expecting to find major surprises in the 2010 Oscar nominations were in for a major surprise: there were very, very few truly unexpected nominees.
All five Directors Guild nominees, Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino, Lee Daniels, and Jason Reitman were shortlisted by the Academy. All but one of the 20 Screen Actors Guild nominees received matching Academy Award nods; the sole exception was Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds), who was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart).
Gyllenhaal's nomination, in fact, could be considered the biggest Oscar surprise this morning. Many were predicting that some other actress would take Kruger's place at the Oscars, but most were expecting Julianne Moore (A Single Man), Samantha Morton (The Messenger), or Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds).
Other surprises of various sizes, shapes, and degrees of magnitude were the following:
The Blind Side for best picture
Considering that former best picture nominees include Ghost, The Green Mile, Titanic, Erin Brockovich, and Ray, that actually should be no surprise at all. Many feared (and a couple of us at Alt Film Guide hoped) that the expanded best picture category would feature at least two or three small, daring films, but no such luck. A Serious Man got in, but there was no room for The White Ribbon, Broken Embraces, The Messenger, and numerous other worthy — and obscure (in Hollywood) — candidates. Even the unusual sleeper hit (500) Days of Summer was left out.
The Secret of Kells for best animated feature
I don't believe The Secret of Kells was under most people's radar, even though it did get an European Film Award nomination last year. Directed by Tomm Moore, this French-Irish production is set in 9th-century Ireland, where a twelve-year-old boy discovers a way to protect the locals from Viking raids.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for best cinematography
Bruno Delbonnel's work on the latest installment of the fantasy movie franchise failed to get a nod from the American Society of Cinematographers. Delbonnel took the spot of Dion Beebe for Nine.
Photos: Crazy Heart (Lorey Sebastian / 20th Century Fox); The Blind Side (Ralph Nelson / Warner Bros.)