Oscar Eve: Nominations Tomorrow!

Gentlemen (and ladies), start your chainsaws.

Tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM the gasps and screams will echo across Hollywood, as the nominations are announced for the 88^th Academy Awards.

At the bottom of the hour, directors Ang Lee and Guillermo del Toro (!!!) will announce the nominees in categories such as cinematography, costume design, makeup, sound editing, etc.

At 5:38 (like a Swiss watch – not 5:39!), Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs and John Krasinski (?!) will get into the meat and potatoes of actor, actress, screenplay, directing, visual effects, and all the strays.

The nominations will be broadcast and stream live at www.oscars.org/live

Oscar night itself will be held on Sunday, February 28^th at the Dolby Theatre, hosted by Chris Rock – excellent call, Academy!

We need someone who’ll bring some vitality and brutal honesty to things and help deflate too much self-importance. Rock will deliver that and more, reminding us what century we live in.

Since the number of Best Picture candidates has expanded from five, it’s a lot weirder to forecast now. The hot race ends up being who the five are that get the nod for Best Director. This year, the Director’s Guild tapped Alejandro Iñárritu (The Revenant), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), Adam McKay (The Big Short), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road) and Ridley Scott (The Martian). No Steven Spielberg (Bridge of Spies), no Todd Haynes (Carol) and no Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight). Will these same five be nominated for a Directing Oscar? What’s really cool about the DGA is their brand new category, designed to recognize emerging talent, Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Director. Very deservingly both Joel Edgerton (The Gift) and Alex Garland (Ex Machina) got tapped, along with Fernando Coimbra (A Wolf at the Door), László Nemes (Son of Saul) and Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl). Personally, I think Garland really has a shot at Academy recognition, but as phenomenal a year as both George Miller and Ridley Scott enjoyed, the weathervane says it feels like a slam-dunk for Alejandro Iñárritu this year.

There are directors I’d love to see acknowledged, like Denis Vileneuve (Sicario) and J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), but I find Tarantino’s omission the most baffling. I think Quentin’s public persona works against him with his peers, but damn, if The Hateful Eight wasn’t one of the most amazing pictures of the year. Even if Hateful’s not nominated for Director, it’ll be a ridiculous shame if it’s not for Best Picture. I’m also rooting for Robert Richardson, for Hateful’s staggering 70mm Ultra Panavision cinematography, as he got denied by the ASC this year, too.

As always, there’s bound to a surprise or two, and plenty of frantic Thursday morning analysis.

So we’ll meet back here tomorrow and see who got asked to dance.