Who would have have guessed that two of Albert Brooks' most die-hard fans are the unlikely pair of Russell Crowe and Adolf Hitler. And they're both mad as hell at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members who have bypassed Brooks in the Best Supporting Actor category for his critically acclaimed performance as a nasty gangster in Nicolas Winding Refn's thriller Drive.
On January 25, the Gladiator Academy Award winner and Man of Steel co-star Russell Crowe tweeted: "[Drive's] Ryan Gosling didn't get an Academy nomination? There's some bullshit right there." He then added, "Albert Brooks you were excellent in Drive. Excellent."
Now, Crowe's reaction to Brooks' omission from the Academy Awards' Best Supporting Actor shortlist was nothing compared to that of Hitler. The German Führer was particularly galled that Moneyball's Jonah Hill managed to sneak in, considering that Hill had Superbad stolen from him by Michael Cera. In Hitler's view, that's as low as you can get. See below:
For the record, in addition to Jonah Hill, the 2012 Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominees are Christopher Plummer for Mike Mills' Beginners, Nick Nolte for Gavin O'Connor's Warrior, Kenneth Branagh (as Laurence Olivier) for Simon Curtis' My Week with Marilyn, and Max von Sydow for Stephen Daldry's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Bennett Miller directed Moneyball, which also features Brad Pitt and Robin Wright.
A FilmDistrict release, Drive received a single Oscar nomination, for Best Sound Editing for Victor Ray Ennis and Lon Bender.
As for the Hitler clip, that's European Film Award nominee Bruno Ganz in Oliver Hirschbiegel's Der Untergang / Downfall, nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award in early 2005. A controversial box-office hit in Germany, Downfall was criticized by some for portraying Hitler in a "sympathetic" light. The historical drama depicting the last days of Adolf Hitler went on to win Best Foreign Language Film awards in Argentina (Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards), Denmark (Bodil Awards), the United Kingdom (British Independent Film Awards), Norway (Amanda Awards), and the United States (National Board of Review, Online Film Critics Society).
Albert Brooks/Drive photo: Richard Foreman / FilmDistrict