I saw both Revolutionary Road and The Changeling. I never thought I'd say this, but I though DeCaprio put in a far better performance than Winslet did. She's got enough natural talent to make a inferior performance by her standards still seem competent. But she seemed too much to be giving a number of line reads rather than emoting from a fully developed character.
Granted, I don't see the same overwhelming sex appeal in Jolie that so many others do, but she gave a fine understated performance in The Changeling. Unlike the characters of Revolutionary Road, who have no real problems other than of existential angst, Jolie's character is contending with a life shattering issue, which she addresses credibly.
Although Klein's made some irresponsible commentary in this article by criticizing an actress who's performance she hasn't seen, she does make a point about the gushing over Pitt's performance in Benjamin Button. There is definitely a sensibility about the movie that suggests Pitt's awesome performance irregardless of one's own opinion. Since I'm likely to see it tonight, I'd rather judge Pitt's acting on my own.

I'm not a big fan of Angelina Jolie's acting, but I have to say that she was very good in The Changeling. As for Bennie Button, that's a movie that just didn't need to be made. The story is pretty stupid (of all Fitzgerald's great short stories, why pick that one?); Cate Blanchett is really quite bad in it. Brad Pitt is best when he's little and old and shriveled. Revolutionary Road? Thank goodness it got overlooked. But The Reader?--get serious. That movie is a big snore. Not a great year for movies. Period.

I agree Sally Hawkins should have received a nomination but wholeheartedly disagree Angelina Jolie should have been the one left out. I'm not a huge fan of hers but thought this was the best performance of the year. Yes...even better than Ms. Hawkins. Despite what everyone else says...I'd take Anne Hathaway off this list. Not a terrible performance but hugely overrated.

I watched Happy-Go-Lucky in the theater hoping for a nice light hearted movie, but left thoroughly annoyed at having to watch her for so long. She plays an airhead with no redeeming qualities, bumbling through life unconsciously much like the story. The only scene I liked was the flamenco class and even that was brought down by her insane need for the spotlight. I'm convinced the critics that praise this movie only saw the trailer.

Leave Brangelina alone!!!!!!!!

To paraphrase a comment made about Robert Mitchum: Angelina Jolie doesn't so much act, as point her lips at the camera.
Outrageous that she should be nominated in the place of Sally Hawkins.

The subtlety and timing of the humor in Happy-Go-Lucky is perfect. I laughed all the way through. Either Hawkins is just naturally funny or she's a comic genius. Either way, her supporting actors contributed a lot to this, especially Alexis Zegerman. As far as nominations go, I think the issue is that the Academy doesn't usually acknowledge comedies. You'll notice that Hawkins took Best Actress in Musical or Comedy at the Globes though, which was incontestable.

The thing about the Oscars is that nominations aren't just about one performance, especially when there is no clear winner in a category. Sometimes people win for prior work like Denzel Washington for Training Day, Scorcese for The Departed, and Daniel Day Lewis for There Will Be Blood. This year Pitt got acknowledged for his acting in years past and for his make-up work in Benjamin Button. Make-up helped Nicole Kidman win for The Hours, Charlize Theron for Monster, and Hilary Swank for Boys Don't Cry. So maybe it won't be Pitt, but with 13 nominations, Benjamin Button's got to win something.

To JSPark. Yes!!! Happy-Go-Lucky was neither! The trailer was so upbeat, the reviews so joyous I thought I was going to see a happy movie. I had just suffered through Rachel Getting Married --a movie desperately in need of a zombie attack--a few days previously and I needed a little uplift. But no, another movie in need of zombies. Laughing insanely at everything does not mean anything is either happy or lucky, much less funny. In fact, laughing at the wrong moment can make people despise you. Much as I despise the Poppy character, the people who wrote her lines, the director that didn't make her stop laughing and the actress too. Bravo for passing her by.

I cannot speak for Brad Pitt in BenButton--I haven't been ableto motivate myself to see it--but, Dev Patel was robbed. He was excellent in SlumDogMill. And while I don't know that Grand Torino was high art, it was a lot better than many of the films receiving nominations.

I haven't seen Happy-Go-Lucky, nor do I intend to. Sally Hawkins' appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Show this week was more than enough for me.

1) Omit all staged performances, 2) Omit all stage tributes (film montages might still work), 3) Let winners talk longer, even the lowly tech people. Viewers turn in for the occasional, and incresingly rare, decent speech, not a 45 second snippet 4) No more 6 foot tall Oscars as stage decoration, for God's sake, get a new f**king idea, 5) No more gaudy stage design from the 'Carol Burnett Show' era.

Oh, and stop performing the Best Song nominees, and NO MORE Best Song nominations for a song that plays over the end credits (Peter Gabriel - Wall-E). A song used like that has no appreciable effect on a movie experience. The Oscar should point the way to how a song should be used in future movies, not more of this A.M. Gold throwaway crap.

Spot on re Happy-Go-Lucky! Sally wuz robbed :-(
Poppy is a brilliant creation, a wonderful, feeling, empathic person, looking at the world with affection. To those who feel she was laughing all the time I can only say you haven't seen this right. Far from being an airhead, her character is motivated by concern for her fellow human beings, reaching out to a small boy in distress as well as to a distraught homeless person. I thought she was full of love and empathy, and I for one was walking out of the movie theater with a spring in my step. Saw it three times, too!