Oscar nominations - first impressions

Glad to see Jennifer Lawrence was included, and, bonus, her co-star, John Hawkes (as her creepy uncle) got nominated for Best Supporting Actor. 

I think Toy Story 3 is vastly overrated, and I don't think it deserves a slot in the main picture category, but it's a crowd pleaser to do that, and it did make a billion dollars worldwide. 

Christian Bale was amazing, and is favored to win, but, as I have said many times before, I really hate it when they fill slots in the Supporting categories with big A-list performers, and leave out character actors who are unlikely to ever get a shot at larger roles; plus the big name actor sucks up all the attention (and usually the award), leaving the character actors (and true supporting performers) in the wings.

I was surprised that Mila Kunis (Black Swan) and Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) were considered "snubbed" in the Supporting categories - I don't think either of them were especially powerful in their respective films. I think the fuss about them has more to do with them being attractive and popular, as opposed to true admiration for their performances.

I'll write more later, when I've had more time to think about it.

Suzanne's comment (I agree): "I admit it *is* fun to have 10 nominees - keeps things interesting. I think in the old system of just 5 best picture nominations, The Fighter would fight Winter's Bone for the last spot." [Asterisks indicate which she think would have been nominated if only 5]:

 * Black Swan
 * The Fighter
 Inception
 The Kids Are All Right
* The King's Speech
127 Hours
* The Social Network
Toy Story 3
* True Grit
Winter's Bone