Every year, the entire world waits with bated breath for the Motion Picture Academy to descend from its Olympus-like hill from which it is able to flawlessly and objectively judge every movie and, to the joyous shouts of all, release that most wonderful list of the year, the Oscar nominees. Today was that day and the list is indeed wonderful. There were no major surprises, other than both Ben Affleck (Argo) and Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) getting directorial snubs. As expected, Quvenzhané Wallis, the 6-year-old wonderworker in Beasts of the Southern Wild and youngest woman to ever be nominated for best lead actress, will be going head-to-head with Amour‘s Emmanuelle Riva, the oldest-ever woman in the same category. As expected, Seth MacFarlane, who will be hosting the ceremony, announced the nominees with stunningly unfunny jokes and managed, somehow, to make a Hitler one. Truly, a momentous occasion …
