Oscar Nominee Kudos :) & Snubs :(

And so the Road to Oscar begins with the 83rd Academy Award Nominees! Looks like my predictions were spot on in almost all of the categories with few exceptions including Biutiful's Javier Bardem, Winter's Bone nominee John Hawkes, and Animal Kingdom's Jacki Weaver.

Congratulations are in order for The King's Speech which nabbed 12 nominations, more than any other Best Picture nominee. I salute thee! Cheers to my favorite film of the year!

And of course, like every year, the Academy pisses off moviegoers when it neglects to recognize popular talent. It's usually a blessing the average enthusiast can't vote (I'd curse the heavens if kudos were given to Robin Hood or Knight and Day) but maybe this year polling the public wouldn't have been such a bad thing. Below the list of Oscar nods in the Top 8 categories is my Top 10 list of most shameful snubs (Don't cry Mr. Nolan, we all thought you were a shoo-in too!).

BEST PICTURE

The Social Network

The King's Speech

Inception

The Fighter

Toy Story 3

Black Swan

True Grit

The Kids Are All Right

127 Hours

Winter's Bone

BEST ACTOR

Jeff Bridges (True Grit)

James Franco (127 Hours)

Colin Firth (The King's Speech)

Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)

Javier Bardem (Biutiful)

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)

Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)

Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

Christian Bale (The Fighter)

John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)

Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)

Jeremy Renner (The Town)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Melissa Leo (The Fighter)

Amy Adams (The Fighter)

Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)

Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)

BEST DIRECTOR

David O. Russell (The Fighter)

Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)

David Fincher (The Social Network)

Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)

Joel & Ethan Coen (True Grit)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)

Joel & Ethan Coen (True Grit)

Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours)

Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3)

Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini (Winter's Bone)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

David Seidler (The King's Speech)

Christopher Nolan (Inception)

Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg (The Kids Are All Right)

Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson (The Fighter)

Mike Leigh (Another Year)

AN AMATEUR'S TOP 10 OSCAR SNUBS (in order of most shameful!):

1. Christopher Nolan (Inception) - Best Director

2. Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right) - Best Actress

3. Robert Duvall (Get Low) - Best Actor

4. Mila Kunis (Black Swan) - Best Supporting Actress

5. Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) - Best Supporting Actor

6. Ben Affleck (The Town) - Best Director

7. Aaron Eckhart (Rabbit Hole) - Best Actor

8. Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine) - Best Actor

9. Danny Boyle (127 Hours) - Best Director

10. Despicable Me - Best Animated Film

The week before the Academy Awards on February 27, I'll be predicting the winners so be sure to check back in with this Amateur in February. Until then, au revoir!