2011 Oscar countdown: Best Picture, Documentary, Foreign Film and the Melissa Leo fiasco

The double Goya/Bafta award ceremonies on Sunday last week left me intellectually and literally hung-over. I had diligently stocked up the freezer with champagne in the unlikely eventuality of Lesley Manville's triumph in the supporting category at the Baftas. Helena Bonham Carter predictably prevailed for her role in The King's Speech, which didn't prevent champagne from flowing. Thus, on Monday I had to deal not only with my disappointment at Manville's loss but also with a splitting headache.

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2011 Oscar nominations: the aftermath

That to follow and scrutinize the film award season is a pointless exercise has always been clear to me.  It is also an unrewarding one. The proliferation of Oscar precursors and the Academy's faint-hearted choices have rendered the Oscar prognostication game easy and predictable.

Looking at this year's Oscar nominations, which have been announced earlier today, one might argue that absolutely nothing out of the ordinary has really happened, at least in the main categories.

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