I Heart Oscar Nominations

I have a lifetime of memories of Academy Award nominations where my favorite films were almost always relegated to the best screenplay category. I am so happy that this year my top three films were actually given the respect they deserve, with their respective filmmakers nominated for best picture, best director, AND best screenplay. In fact, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood received 8 nominations each (including best cinematography and editing), and Michael Clayton had 7. There are solid nominations in the acting categories as well, with appropriate recognition for Daniel Day-Lewis, George Clooney, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett, Javier Bardem, Casey Affleck, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan, and Tilda Swinton.

This has been my favorite year of movie releases since I was born. I am not saying that the single best movie of my lifetime was released this year, but I have never seen so many good movies come out in one year. And it is nice that this is also the year that my favorites actually received appropriate recognition. Now of course, there are still some odd choices by the Academy. I don’t understand why they have such a boner for Juno and the Ruby Dee nomination for American Gangster is kind of perplexing (to name a few). But I am definitely excited this year to see who ends up winning, whether by award show or press conference.

Here are my top 10 films of the year...