Here at Behind the Thrills, we love us some Theme Parks. No doubt about it. However, there is a great big world out there, and sometimes we need to take a step out of the parks and look at something else. Join us as we take a look outside of the world of theme parks and into the world of movies, music, television, hotels…pretty much anything else we happen to stumble across. However whatever we look at will have some relation to the theme park world, granted not directly…but in a round about sort of way. So join us now as we lift up the harnesses, put down our cup of Butterbeer and take a walk…Offsite.
……..More
This weeks offsite adventure: The 84th Annual Academy Award nominations
Today the Academy of Motion Pictures and blah blah blah announced their nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards, otherwise known as Oscar. The nominees are below.
Best picture
“War Horse”
“The Artist”
“Midnight in Paris”
“Moneyball”
“The Descendants”
“The Tree of Life”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Best supporting actress:
Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
Best supporting actor
Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Best actress
Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”
Best actor
Demian Bachir, “A Better Life”
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Gary Oldman, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”
Best director
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
Terrence Malick, “Tree of Life”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Best original screenplay
“The Artist”
“Bridesmaids”
“Margin Call”
“Midnight in Paris”
“A Separation”
Best adapted screenplay
“The Descendants”
“Hugo”
“The Ides of March”
“Moneyball”
“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
Best foreign language film
“Bullhead”
“Footnote”
“In Darkness”
“Monsieur Lazhar”
“A Separation”
Best animated feature
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Kung Fu Panda 2”
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”
Best animated short film
“Dimanche/Sunday”
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
“La Luna”
“A Morning Stroll”
“Wild Life”
Best live action short film
“Pentecost”
“Raju”
“The Shore”
“Time Freak”
“Tuba Atlantic”
Best art direction
“The Artist”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“War Horse”
Best cinematography
“The Artist”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”
Best costumes
“Anonymous”
“The Artist”
“Hugo”
“Jane Eyre”
“W.E.”
Best documentary feature
“Hell and Back Again”
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Libration Front”
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
“Pina”
“Undefeated”
Documentary short subject
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
“God is the Bigger Elvis”
“Incident in New Baghdad”
“Saving Face”
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Film editing
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
Make-up
“Albert Nobbs”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
“The Iron Lady”
Original score
“The Adventures of TinTin”
“The Artist”
“Hugo”
“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy:
“War Horse”
Original song
“Man or Muppet”
“Real in Rio”
Sound editing
“Drive”
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”
Visual effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
“Hugo”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Relates to theme parks how?
A lot of our favorite attractions start out as movies, or at least are inspired by movies. This year, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Harry Potter both received nominations.
Reactions
The biggest things that stick out for me is the absence of anything Disney, if which I’m glad. The academy tends to have a soft spot for Disney films, and they are often nominated just for being Disney films. This year marks the first time since the Best Animated Feature award was created that Pixar has not had a film nominated in that category. Good. Cars 2 was terrible.
Also notable is the absence of Harry Potter from the major categories. This will have fans in an uproar, bit honestly, these films aren’t Oscar material. They’re good, don’t get me wrong, but not Oscar caliber. Instead they’re good for making assloads of money, and pleasing fans. That should be enough for fans of the series. Besides, how many Oscar nominated films this year have their own mega theme park attractions? See my point?
Overall this years crop of films seems very strong. I’ll make my predictions later, but I want to hear your predictions. Who do you think will take home gold?
