The Oscar Wildcard

It seems to me that at the Oscars, in every category there is always a fifth nominee that is always slightly unexpected and surprising, last year for example, Naomi Watts was nominated for best actress and Denzel Washington for best actor, both of these were slightly unexpected and rather surprising, I'm attempting to see out of this years nominees which nominees were surprises, and which slightly missed the mark, i will only be talking about major categories here, and i will be skipping best picture entirely, because this category is too open to discuss properly, seeing as we now have nine nominees.

BEST ACTOR: Well, the fabled fifth nominee here seems to be Bruce Dern, nominated for his performance in Nebraska, it is nice for an older actor to be recognized, particularly after such a fine career, however i will say that Bruce Dern does seem to be a fitting nominee, and is not too much a surprise.

BEST ACTRESS: The fifth nominee here is Meryl Streep, this is really the only nominee that annoys me, Streep, whilst perhaps being one of the greatest actors of her generation, her performance in August Osage County wasn't without its detractors, and it would have been nice for someone more surprising or younger to be nominated, Greta Gerwig was fantastic in Frances Ha and Julia Louis Dreyfus was also great in Enough Said, both of these films are comedies not directed by Woody Allen, and thus can't expect to have much success at the Oscars, however it would have been nice to see them nominated. Also a possible nominee was Julie Delpy in Before Midnight who was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: I couldn't be more happy about this categories wildcard, Jonah Hill, now a two time academy award nominee received a nomination for his work on The Wolf Of Wall Street, he was undeniably fantastic in this film, and despite him being a mostly comic actor, he is a fine one at that, and in this film Hill walks a high wire act between comedy and drama, seemingly never faltering.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Again, here i am thrilled by this categories fifth nominee, Sally Hawkins was nominated for her work in Blue Jasmine. Her performance risks being overshadowed by Cate Blanchett's powerhouse performance, but Hawkins manages to leave her mark on this film nonetheless, and Ginger's chemistry with Blanchett's Jasmine is magical.

BEST DIRECTOR: Here there are some fantastic nominees, however the most unexpected is Martin Scorsese, who, in my humble opinion, is a legend and an icon, and that's really all there is to say.