I’ve done this the past few years at The Awards Circuit, and this year seems like an even more apt time to do it. Consider this the alternate universe Oscar nominations, where only those who weren’t nominated for real are eligible. Essentially, for those of you who don’t remember this piece, I go through all the major categories and look at what each field would have looked like minus the films and performances that actually were nominated. The method I use is a combination of what/who got snubbed, what their likely next choices were, and I’ll admit it…a little wishful thinking as well. The point of this all is to both see what the biggest omissions were by the Academy as well as seeing how their slate stacks up. Do you prefer what they nominated or what I put down here as the alternate choice? For me, it varies by the category. Anyway, lets get on with it and see just how the Oscar nominations could have turned out in a different world.  Here goes nothing!

Best Picture

50/50
Beginners
Bridesmaids
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Ides of March
A Separation
Shame
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Warrior

-If there had been 10 films nominated, that last movie likely would have been either Bridesmaids, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or The Ides of March, so they’re obvious picks. Tinker Tailor was also well represented, along with A Separation, so you’d have to assume both would be in as well. The rest are a combination of overt snubs and films I extrapolate would have been their 10-19 choices.

Best Director

George Clooney- The Ides of March
Stephen Daldry- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
David Fincher- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Bennett Miller- Moneyball
Steven Spielberg- War Horse

-Going by what it seemed that The Academy liked this time around, one had to assume that Extremely Loud, War Horse and Moneyball would easily see their directors be among the next 5 nominated. As for the other two slots, I considered including either Tate Taylor for The Help or Tomas Alfredson for Tinker Tailor, but ultimately went with George Clooney (who Oscar clearly liked this year) for The Ides of March and the safe but edgy pick of David Fincher for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo over personal favorite Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive.

Best Actor

Michael Fassbender- Shame
Joseph Gordon-Levitt- 50/50
Ryan Gosling- The Ides of March
Tom Hardy- Warrior
Michael Shannon- Take Shelter

-Michael Fassbender for Shame was the obvious omission by the Academy, but you’d have to think with another 5 slots they’d cite Ryan Gosling’s tremendous year (most likely for the more voter friendly Ides than Drive) as well. They completely snubbed 50/50, but you’d have to think votes were there for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and while they voted for Nick Nolte, some would have had to have checked off Tom Hardy’s name for Warrior as well. That final slot could have gone a few ways, but trendy surprise pick Michael Shannon gets that citation in my eyes, since Oscar had nominated him without much precursor attention before and could have in another world done it again for Take Shelter.

Best Actress

Felicity Jones- Like Crazy
Elizabeth Olsen- Martha Marcy May Marlene
Tilda Swinton- We Need to Talk About Kevin
Charlize Theron- Young Adult
Kristin Wiig- Bridesmaids

-Best Actress was a bit top heavy this year, but the Academy clearly had some love for Tilda Swinton, but just not enough (nor for her film We Need to Talk About Kevin). The same goes for Kristin Wiig, who settled for a Screenplay nod for Bridesmaids instead. One assumes that Charlize Theron got votes for Young Adult (though the film was completely ignored), and a few had to go to Elizabeth Olson and Martha Marcy May Marlene as well, leaving Felicty Jones to fill out the last spot for her ignored turn in Like Crazy.

Best Supporting Actor

Albert Brooks- Drive
George Clooney- The Ides of March
Robert Forster- The Descendants
Ben Kingsley- Hugo
Corey Stoll- Midnight in Paris

-Obviously the big snub was Albert Brooks for Drive, but the film just wasn’t up their alley as much as we thought it seems, and members aren’t the biggest fans of Brooks as well…alas. As for the rest of the slots, I assume the Clooney love fest would continue with his supporting turn in The Ides of March, and since they nominated Hugo more than any other film, why not a nod to Ben Kingsley as well? The other two slots would likely go to films they enjoyed, so Robert Forster’s short but sweet role in The Descendants and Corey Stoll’s scene stealing performance in Midnight in Paris make a lot of sense here.

Best Supporting Actress

Marion Cotillard- Midnight in Paris
Carey Mulligan- Shame
Vanessa Redgrave- Coriolanus
Evan Rachel Wood- The Ides of March
Shailene Woodley- The Descendants

-The two surprising omissions were Vanessa Redgrave for Coriolanus (an early favorite to win) and Shailene Woodley for The Descendants. The same can be said for Carey Mulligan in Shame, but voters just didn’t seem to want to get around the NC-17 rating. As for the final two spots, stick with the films they liked. That leads to Marion Cotillard and Evan Rachel Wood getting the call, for Midnight in Paris and The Ides of March, respectively.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Drive (Hossain Amini)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Eric Roth)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Steven Zaillain)
The Help (Tate Taylor)
War Horse (Richard Curtis and Lee Hall)

-Let’s get the 3 Best Picture nominees out of the way first (Extremely Loud, The Help, and War Horse), which leaves us with only a few choices. They didn’t like Tintin, so instead I assume The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo came close. The last spot goes to Drive because, well…why not?

Best Original Screenplay

50/50 (Will Reiser)
Beginners (Mike Mills)
Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan)
The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)
Young Adult (Diablo Cody)

- The Tree of Life made Best Picture, so it obviously had votes here, and Beginners got Plummer nominated, so I included it as well. 50/50 was a huge snub, so it’s obviously there as well. The last two spots could have gone to things like Crazy Stupid Love, The Guard, Martha Marcy May Marlene, or Take Shelter, but I opted to include Margaret and Young Adult. I know most are surprised by Margaret’s inclusion, and while it’s a bit of a shot in the dark, I will say this though…if Fox Searchlight has really gone all in on Margaret, I think it just might have gotten in.

Best Animated Feature

The Adventures of Tintin
Cars 2
Happy Feet 2
Rio
Winnie the Pooh

-Tintin, Cars 2, and Winnie the Pooh were the surprising omissions to me, so they obviously would be my picks to fill in. As for Happy Feet 2, the first one was up their alley, and they gave Rio an Original Song citation, so they make sense to me as well. When it comes to this branch though, your guess is as good as mine.

There you have it…my picks (mostly educated guesses, really) as to what the “other” Oscar nomination list could have looked like. Who knows what their next choices actually were, but it’s certainly fun to speculate. What do you guys and gals all think? What just missed the cut? Was this grouping better than the real one? Did the Academy wind up picking the better flicks? Let me know!

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