84th Academy Award nominations were announced today. As usual, the list of nominees is pretty uninteresting -- actually, even more so than usual. But there is a slim number of notable names for our purposes here on the blog...
A huge congratulations to Jennifer Yuh Nelson, director of Kung Fu Panda 2, which scored a nomination for Animated Feature Film. I think it's a wonderful film, and deserves to win. It also happens to be the highest grossing movie ever directed by a woman. Pretty Awesome.
Hell and Back Again, directed by Danfung Dennis, is nominated for Documentary Feature. The already-acclaimed film looks at the dangers American soldiers face in Afghanistan as well as the struggles they face trying to readjust to civilian life. I'm putting this one of my Netflix queue.
And Saving Face, directed by Daniel Jung (and not to be confused with the 2004 feature film of the same name), is nominated for Documentary Short. The film is about a plastic surgeon who works to help Pakistani women who have been injured in acid attacks, while his patients struggle to come to terms with the aftermath of their disfigurement.
And that's it, I guess. To see the full list of Academy Award nominees, go to the official Oscar website here. The winners will be announced on February 26.