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Oscar Nominations have been announced! There's still time to catch up on any of the nominees you may have missed before the awards are handed out March 7. I just saw An Education last weekend and plan to see The Blind Side, as well. You can print out your official ballot here. Surely I'm not the only one who likes to consult her completed ballot during the ceremony? I'll be making my picks (and choosing who I think will really win) as the ceremony gets closer.


And for an alternative look at the Academy Awards, the 20/20 Awards should be announcing their nominees any day now (their website has not been updated, though nominations were to be announced yesterday). "Correcting the Academy with 20 years of hindsight," the Felix awards for films released in 1989 will be handed out March 14.

Turner Classic Movies will be holding their first Classic Film Festival this April in Los Angeles. Alas, the high ticket prices prevent me from attending this year; however, I hope the first festival is a success so that they keep producing it and perhaps one year I can attend. The festival schedule includes many restored or new prints of classic films, ranging from the dark satire The King of Comedy to the cheerful musical Sunnyside Up. The opening night event is the world premiere of a restored version of A Star is Born, starring Judy Garland. However, I think another highly anticipated showing will be a newly discovered print of Metropolis, this will be its North American debut.

Finally, if you tend to roll your eyes at Oscar-bait roles in which a glamorous actress attempts to look plain and downtrodden, then you may laugh at this essay and slideshow from Slate. I like to imagine what criteria is used by the costume designer tasked with finding the ugliest, frumpiest sweater ever knitted for the leading lady's profanity-filled breakdown scene. "It must be oversized, faded, droopy, and preferably the color of dishwater..."

Hindsight is 20/20 in Seattle

The 20/20 Awards aim to correct the Academy Awards with 20/20 hindsight. This new annual event based in Seattle will look back to the Oscar winners from 20 twenty years prior and, allegedly, correct any shortsighted "mistakes" the voters may have made that year. The first event will take on the 1990 Academy Awards, meaning any film released in 1989 is eligible. The winners of the first ever 20/20 Awards, known as the "Felix," will be announced at a live ceremony on March 15, 2010, one week after the 2010 Oscars. Members of a voting syndicate selected from the Seattle film community will make nominations, and the same voters will pick the eventual winners.

All winners and nominees from the 1990 Oscars are eligible for the 20/20 Awards, so it's possible that Daniel Day-Lewis, for example, could be named Best Actor again for My Left Foot. However, I would be surprised if Do the Right Thing was once again snubbed in the Best Picture category, as it was in 1990. The fact that Spike Lee's film wasn't nominated for Best Picture was considered an oversight at the time (presenter Kim Basinger even chastised the Academy during the ceremony); I imagine that this is exactly the sort of "shortsighted" decision the 20/20 organizers are looking to correct. They'll be voting in 15 major categories. I'm not sure if Best Original Song is one of them; however, "Under the Sea" is pretty great, so I'm hoping it will triumph again and win the 2010 Felix.

To jog your memory, here's a list of films released in 1989:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Crimes and Misdemeanors
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
Say Anything...
Steel Magnolias
When Harry Met Sally...
Uncle Buck
Casualties of War
Heathers
Roger and Me
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Drugstore Cowboy
(...and this doesn't include the Best Picture nominees from that year). For a more exhaustive list look here. I can imagine some of the above films being recognized with a Felix nomination this year (you guess which ones).

For a list of the winners and nominees from the 1990 Oscars click here. Remember Shirley Valentine (2 nominations) or Enemies: A Love Story (3 nominations)? How about Blaze, which was nominated for Best Cinematography? No, it's not about fire, it's about a woman named Blaze and it stars Paul Newman and Lolita Davidovich. I actually remember watching this one on video at the time, but it came out the same year as Miss Firecracker (no nominations - sorry Holly Hunter, you'll have to wait a few years for your Oscar) so I often get the two movies confused.

After looking through the lists of winners and 1989 releases, I've decided to seek out some of the films I haven't seen yet; especially ones that received some recognition, but have stayed far off my radar until now. I'll admit it, I rented Black Rain last weekend. I'm not sure about the quality of the writing, acting, or directing overall, but gosh darn it, the sound and sound editing were top notch (or so I am led to believe by the Academy). I'll be checking back to see which films snag a nomination for the 20/20 Awards, which will be announced February 9.