Oscar selective picking
movies The Academy Awards listed their nominees and, sure enough, movies that shouldn't have been in the Best Picture category ended up there (The Blind Side and District 9) because the number of nominees was increased from 5 to 10. So now, when The Hurt Locker wins Best Picture, some will view it as a diluted win thanks to its company. First off, those people would be idiots to slight a Best Picture winner just because other nominees aren't deserving. Secondly, it's more of a disservice to the other categories that had people who should and would have been nominated if their categories were increased to something more than 5.
In the actress categories, the two women from Inglorious Basterds weren't nominated; Diane Kruger and Melanie Laurent both deserved recognition for their work, and the cast of Inglorious Basterds has been honored elsewhere such as the SAG and Golden Globes, so it's also a surprise. What about the first timer, preteen youngster Bailee Madison from Brothers? Also, in a physically demanding and emotionally draining performance, Charlotte Gainsbourg went through a lot for the bizarre and mostly detested Antichrist. If the woman in the movie In The Realm of the Senses played the part with nuance and depth, then I might even bother to compare Gainsbourg's performance with her's. Also, the young lady in the dreadful The Lovely Bones.
For the men, Sam Rockwell was robbed. He did the same thing Tom Hanks did in Cast Away (who was robbed himself by Russell Crowe) and has received such little widespread acclaim. Christian McKay did a great job as Orson Welles. Lastly, Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man never overplayed the zany situations he continually found himself in. Matt Damon should have been nominated for The Informant! instead.
For the rest of the categories, Where The Wild Things Are deserved an adaptation nomination as well as cinematography. At least one nomination for Watchmen would have been nice. But, such is life, and things go on as they are.