Pleasantly Surprised and Seriously Offended

I would be remiss if I did not post about the Academy Award nominations, which were announced this morning.

It's way too early to handicap the races, but it's not too early to congratulate Terrence Howard for his leading actor nod. This was Howard's breakout year, and he knocked other more obvious contenders (ahem, Russell Crowe, ahem) out of the running.

It's also not too early to be pleased that Capote is getting the attention it richly deserves (direction, motion picture of the year, adapted screenplay). I know it is easy to focus on Hoffman's stellar work, and I'm pleased the Academy realized that it was the result of a trifecta (acting/directing/writing) working in perfect harmony.

As for the offenses (for they are numerous and grievous), let me just ask you this: who woke up one morning and said, "You know, that Keira Knightley is definitely on the same level as Judi Dench is all the time and Felicity Huffman is in Transamerica"? Who thought that up? I'm willing to accept that this version of Pride and Prejudice is all kinds of kick ass if someone will only help me come to terms with this insanity.

Finally, finally, someone needs to offer me the crack pipe next time I hear of more praise for Crash. This has got to stop. Crash isn't that good. I saw other, much better movies last year. It is not an achievement in anything, unless you think coaxing a great performance out of, say, Don Cheadle, is some big thing. I mean, isn't he "on" all the time? As for the lauded performance of Matt Dillon, again, I question the sanity of these people. Why single him out if it was such an ensemble movie? Why not single out Terrence Howard? If Jamie Foxx could score two different nominations last year, I think Howard deserves the same consideration.