Oscar Watch »

The nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards have been announced and they have everyone saying the same four words - "The Secret of Kells?" Yes, "the animated story of the boy behind the famed Book of Kells" (as goes the IMDB synopsis) grabbed one of the five slots for Best Animated Feature. It has to be the biggest surprise of the morning just because nobody has ever heard of it. But there were certainly a few others as well.

THE FIVE BIGGEST SNUBS (not involving The Secret of Kells)

1.Invictus for Best Picture
This is what qualifies as a snub despite many of us being aware that it was in the bottom five (maybe even the bottom three) for consideration. Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon both got their nominations. Eastwood was on everyone's list as a potential wild card for Director, but the lukewarm response must have finally caught up with it and the Academy chose to go with a bad box office success (The Blind Side) than a decent box office disappointment.

2. (500) Days of Summer for Best Original Screenplay
The best thing that can be said about this snub is that it didn't involve being replaced by either Avatar or The Hangover. It was The Messenger that took its place, taking a little but not all of the sting out of it for Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber

3. Julianne Moore for Best Supporting Actress
In the category that opened the nominees, we must have all been a little worried that we were in for a surprise-filled morning. Penelope Cruz has been in the conversation all through awards season, but the Nine backlash figured her for the cutting room floor. But Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart? The least believable aspect (her character, not the performance) of the entire film? Mo'Nique, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick were the only true locks, so it's not out there to suggest the other two were up for grabs. But you could have gone with Diane Kruger or Samantha Morton and not drawn as much attention to the snubbing.

Finally, it comes down to this. 10 Best Pictures. Only 5 Best Directors. The suspense is fierce over which five films would not have normally been nominated and have absolutely zero chance in actually winning. Testing that theory over just how honored it is to be nominated when the cynical amongst us see ten nominees as a way to boost interest in generally one of the most watched televised events of the year anyway. Will guilt over The Dark Knight sneak in less worthy blockbusters or a tripling of fanboy genre representation? Do any indie films really stand a chance? Is this the year when a second animated feature cracks the best-of-the-year list, thus guaranteeing its win in its own specialized category? The questions will be answered this Tuesday, Feb. 2 and the debate will reign on long after the winners announced on March 7. But first, the potential nominees.

THE LOCKS
Four groups with critics of varying respects and three major Guilds will make up this particular breakdown. As we did with the actors and the screenplays, we will look at what has been lauded by the Broadcast "Film Critics" Association, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (aka The Golden Globes), the Chicago Film Critics Association, the British Academy of Film And Television (or BAFTA) and three Guilds made up of Producers, Writers and Directors. Seven groups that have nominated 13 films in unison since 2001 (when the BFCA began nominations.)

A Beautiful Mind (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Good Night and Good Luck (2005), Babel (2006), The Departed (2006), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), No Country For Old Men (2007), There Will Be Blood (2007), The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (2008), Slumdog Millionaire (2008)