Satellite Nominees are an Embarrassment of Snubs
'Benjamin Button' gets the international shaft
The International Press Academy announced their nominees for the 13th Annual Satellite Awards and it is a mixed bag of snubs across the board and further proof the idea of separating Drama, Comedy and Musicals is just about the dumbest idea around as they are REALLY reaching by including Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist as a comedy or a musical. I would even say Happy-Go-Lucky and Vicky Cristina Barcelona don't fit the category. What was so funny about Poppy being attacked by her driving instructor? Where was the comedy in VCB? Gimme a break. it's going to be even worse when the Globes nominate something like High School Musical 3 and Mamma Mia! instantly giving them some kind of credibility.
However, category distinction aside the absence of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button from all categories makes me wonder if any of these people even saw all the films. Take for example the fact Valkyrie hasn't had a press screening yet that I know of. From what I understand my screening of it here in Seattle on Dec. 9 is going to be three-days in advance of the junket screening unless I am mistaken. This also speaks to the fact that the National Board of Review, Los Angeles Critics and New York Critics will have either announced their 2008 top tens or have voted on them before ever seeing Valkyrie. Are we to the point where we don't even need to see all the films before we decide which ones are best?
That said, you won't see The Dark Knight in the Best Picture field despite its six nominees and director Chris Nolan's nom for Best Director. You won't see Button anywhere. The other Oscar pundit fav, Doubt, misses out on a picture nomination, but manages to earn a couple of acting nods. The ignoring of Elsa Zylberstein for I've Love You So Long I find to be extremely insulting seeing how Beyoncé Knowles and even Anjelica Huston earned noms in the supporting category.
Take a look at the list below and get the full scorecard right here. Personally, I am giving these picks no more thought.
BEST PICTURE, DRAMA
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire
- Revolutionary Road
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- Frozen River
BEST PICTURE, COMEDY/MUSICAL
- Happy-Go-Lucky
- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- Tropic Thunder
- In Bruges
- Choke
BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
- Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
- Mark Ruffalo, What Doesn't Kill You
- Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
- Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
- Leonardo Dicaprio, Revolutionary Road
- Sean Penn, Milk
BEST ACTOR, COMEDY/MUSICAL
- Ricky Gervais, Ghost Town
- Sam Rockwell, Choke
- Josh Brolin, W.
- Michael Cera, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
- Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges
- Michael Cera, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
- Mark Ruffalo, The Brothers Bloom
BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
- Melissa Leo, Frozen River
- Angelina Jolie, Changeling
- Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
- Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long
- Meryl Streep, Doubt
- Kate Winslet, The Reader
BEST ACTRESS: COMEDY/MUSICAL
- Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
- Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia!
- Lisa Kudrow, Kabluey
- Kat Dennings, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
- Catherine Deneuve, A Christmas Tale
- Debra Messing, Nothing Like the Holidays
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married
- Penelope Cruz, Elegy
- Anjelica Huston, Choke
- Sophie Okonedo, The Secret Life of Bees
- Emma Thompson, Brideshead Revisited
- Beyoncé Knowles, Cadillac Records
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
- Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
- Rade Sherbedgia, Fugitive Pieces
- James Franco, Milk
- Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
BEST DIRECTOR
- Thomas McCarthy, The Visitor
- Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
- Gus Van Sant, Milk
- Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
- Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
- Stephen Daldry, The Reader
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The funniest thing was how Viola Davis was initially nominated, and later in the day disappeared from the list
@Chris C.: Really?!?! I hadn't seen that. It seems like such an amazing approach to nominating films… and a completely worthless one if you ask me.
I actually called their hotline and inquired about it; the woman who picked up said that initially she had earned a nom, but then more votes came in and she got bumped off. The woman was then quick to say about how she had voted for Viola and how wrong her snub was.
Go figure
Kabluey? Seriously? I mean, good for them to remember films released more than two months ago, but damn. That's random.
It's weird that they have room for six nominations in each category, but some of them are complete jokes, while seriously good performances aren't mentioned at all. Who exactly gets to vote for this stuff? Because I'm pretty sure they did not watch half of the films.
hhmmm! you rile against their choices just because the IPA doesn't share many of yours…i suspect the only difference between all those who prognosticate on these boards as to who are supposedly most deserving of any artistic merit for the year and the members of the IPA is that the latter actually have the courage to support their pronouncements with an actual award —trophy and all. so why don't you?
Check out the New Media section. Nominated in the DVD Extras category is The Assassination Of Jesse James (Widescreen). Where I come from (Region 1) the release is a standard disc with zero additional content related to the film. I guess the trailers for One Missed Call and 10,000 BC were better than I thought.
This is absolutely ridiculous!
Way to early to do something like this when potentially big films have not even been viewed! stupid.
@alluhrey: Are you asking me why I don't have an award show?
Horrible. Lets just hope The Golden Globes nominations, which will be announced on the morning of December 11th, will be a lot better.