There Will Be Oscars

Oscar nominations this morning were basically as expected (for me, at least), but four things in particular are worth mentioning:

1. Tommy Lee Jones’ nomination for In the Valley of Elah was an awesome surprise. I liked the movie, and Jones’ performance in it is one of the best of the year. I said it when I saw the movie and I'm saying it now. Jones totally deserves his spot on the list. Even if he had to take the spot from Ryan Gosling or Denzel Washington.

2. That there is no nomination for Jonny Greenwood’s score for There Will Be Blood is just a crime. Music is as integral a part of that movie as Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance, and it too deserved to be recognized. Blood would still be great without the score, but it’s even better with it. [Update: Apparently, the score was not eligible. Who knew?]

3. Overjoyed that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova got a nomination for “Falling Slowly,” the song from Once. But jeez, the rest of that category is just embarrassing. Nothing from Hairspray or Into the Wild?? Hopefully “Falling Slowly” will be a lock to win now. As it should be anyway. (And in a perfect world, Once would also have been nominated for Best Picture.)

4. Norbit: 1, Hairspray: 0. That's just wrong on so many levels, even if Norbit's nom is for makeup (no surprise, I guess).

You know, some people make a big deal about how “no one’s seen (or heard of) the nominated films.” Well, whose problem is that? The films nominated are very good. Go see them! Especially There Will Be Blood. I may actually go see it for a second time this weekend. And I guess I'm going to have to go see Atonement now after all, even though I really don't have much interest.

But in the meantime, I'm rooting for most anything Blood-related. And so should you.