fpb | As expected...

...this year's Oscar nominations are a bit of a travesty. There have been three movies this year that have absolutely dominated the landscape, of which everyone had something to say, and they are, in the following order, FAHRENHEIT 9/11, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, and THE INCREDIBLES. And the way they have been treated is almost in reverse order. THE INCREDIBLES has been given a decent four nominations, but has been kept in the animation ghetto - surely a nomination for Best Feature Film was in order, especially since its other heavyweight nomination was for Best Original Screenplay. THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST has received three nominations in minor categories: cinematography (meaning it may be a piece of drek, but it is nicely shot), make-up, and music. But indubitably the big loser is Michael Moore, who did not pick up a single nomination. Given how Hollywood feels about the current President, this is beyond incredible. The only way I can make sense of it is that hubris undid him. He made sure that he would not be nominated in the Documentary section, feeling, no doubt, that his film was a big enough event to compete for Best Film; and as a result, it seems that (barring Special Jury Prizes or the like), the favourite film of all Bush-haters will have to be content with its Cannes Pame d'Or. I'm not sure what this means, apart of course from the everlasting ability of Academy voters to make monkeys of pundits and predictors, but I think one thing is certain: this will be remembered as one of those years where the wrong guys won.