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Tony’s 2011 Oscar® Nominations & Winners

by Tony Medley

This was a thin year for good films, which might be why a freak like "The Artist" captured so much attention. But it was a terrific year for supporting performances.

This year's Academy Awards Ceremony contained the alpha and the omega. The alpha was the return of Billy Crystal, which resulted in the best show in years. Don't ask the critics, who uniformly panned it; ask the normal people who watched it. The highlights were Crystal's opening number and the music accompanying the In Memoriam tribute.

The omega presented the lowlight of this year's show and one that will stand alone for a long time, Meryl Streep's egoistic, ungracious acceptance speech. Streep managed to get through the entire talk without once mentioning the person she impersonated, Margaret Thatcher. But, then, it's all about Meryl, isn't it? And her performance, once again giving a Rich Little impersonation rather than acting, was one of the most disgraceful in recent history, picturing one of the greatest women of the 20th Century as an unsure, mentally deficient octogenarian. So when the Academy gives awards to "The Artist" and Streep, I'm once again called into action to speak for the ordinary moviegoer, who values entertainment above all.

So here are my nominations and awards for 2011. These are not predictions, because I generally disagree with the decisions of the Academy. These are just the way I would have nominated (since they are my nominations, I’m not limited to five and I don't have to have at least five). My winner is indicated by an asterisk:

 

Best Original Screenplay

*Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)

Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid Love)

J. C. Chandor (Margin Call)

 

Best Adapted Screenplay

Moira Buffini (Jane Eyre)

Richard LaGravanese (Water for Elephants)

Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin (Moneyball)

Adrian Hodges (My Week with Marilyn)

*Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (The Descendants)

George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon (The Ides of March)

John Logan (Hugo)

Oliver Butcher & Stephen Cornwell (Unknown)

 

Best Supporting Actor

Hal Holbrook (Water for Elephants)

Christoph Waltz (Water for Elephants)

Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris)

Jonah Bobo (Crazy, Stupid Love)

Jonah Hill (Moneyball)

Albert Brooks (Drive)

Brett Cullen (Puncture)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Ides of March)

Paul Giamatti (The Ides of March)

*Nick Krause (The Descendants)

Kenneth Brannagh (My Week with Marilyn)

 

Best Supporting Actress

Marion Cotillard (Midnight in Paris)

*Emma Stone (Crazy, Stupid Love)

Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help)

Octavia Spencer (The Help)

 

Best Actor

Michael Fassbender (Jane Eyre)

Brad Pitt (Moneyball)

Ryan Gosling (Drive)

George Clooney (The Descendants)

*Viggo Mortensen (A Dangerous Method)

Liam Neeson (Unknown)

 

Best Actress

Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre)

Helen Mirren (The Debt)

*Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

Emily Blount (The Adjustment Bureau)

 

Best Director

Cary Joji Fukunaga (Jane Eyre)

*Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)

Glenn Ficarra and John Recqua (Crazy, Stupid Love)

Bennett Miller (Moneyball)

Steven Soderbergh (Contagion)

Simon Curtis (My Week with Marilyn)

Alexander Payne (The Descendants)

Martin Scorcese (Hugo)

 

Best Movie

Jane Eyre

*Midnight in Paris

Crazy, Stupid Love

Moneyball

Contagion

My Week with Marilyn

The Descendants

Hugo

 

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