Today is the Great Day of Press Releases, of Oscar nominees or their people issuing brief outbursts of joy and pride from their good fortune. Rarely are the quotes anything but generic 'it's such an honor!' cries followed by a deferrment of praise to other people involved. If you'd like to see a ton of them, In Contention has a plentiful roundup.
But here are six that stood out for me from all the emails that I'd like to say one or two sentences about.
I woke up to a text and thought, 'Am I still dreaming?' What an absolute honor to be nominated. Thank you to the Academy on behalf of the entire cast, crew, our swashbuckling cat and his boots! This is beyond a thrill...and I'm pretty sure I'm awake."
-Chris Miller (Animated Feature) Puss in Boots
Funny is always good. And we're always suckers for that old standby classic intro 'I just woke up' . P.S. I'm pretty happy at the way the animated category worked out, aren't you?
It's an honor to be nominated a second time, it is a personal accomplishment and triumph for women and women of color. I'm so glad the film has been recognized, it was a labor of love from the moment it was conceived and it is rewarding to see the impact it is having."
-Viola Davis (Best Actress) The Help
This one is fairly standard until you realize how rare this truly is and why shouldn't Viola point it out!
Only one other woman of color has been twice nominated and that would be Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg (The Color Purple and Ghost). Women of color seem to only get one shot at the Oscar. The same is fortunately not true for the men, who have had better luck with career longevity and multiple visits with Oscar.
I am humbled and over-joyed to learn of my Oscar nomination. Last week I came to Hollywood for the first time in my life, which in of itself, was a dream come true. I started playing the accordion when I was 8 years old, I wish I could go back in time at tell myself about today, the dream continues!"
Ludovic Bource (Original Score) The Artist
Time-travel! Accordions!!! This is wonderfully attuned to the theme of the 84th Oscar which is totally NOSTALGIA-MANIA.
It’s a shot in the arm for a young kid of 82 to receive an Academy Award nomination this morning. My gratitude to writer/director Michael Mills, the Academy, and to everyone involved with Beginners.”
-Christopher Plummer (Supporting Actor) Beginners
Plummer has settled on this "I'm young again" motif for his campaign, speeches and it's kind of wonderful. He's been working in movies since he was 29 years old in 1958. Pretty soon he'll be shooting his 100th movie.
It is an incredible honor to be nominated this morning. We set out to do something different with 'Rango,' and this distinction is a testament to everyone who tirelessly dedicated themselves to creating our neurotic lizard. 'Rango' was looking for an audience who shared his love of cinema and I’m humbled that he found one. It has been a remarkable journey, and one that I am grateful to share with our entire creative team, Paramount, and all of the virtuosos at Industrial, Light and Magic."
- Gore Verbinski (Best Animated Feature), "Rango"
Verbinski is totally anthropomorphizing his digital lizard here, turning him into the animated equivalent of Michel Hazanavicius and Marty Scorsese. "He loves the cinema, too!" Rango hopes to some day be the first reptile to be nominated for Best Director.
"I was actually working on a 'Skyfall' scene that films in London tomorrow, so had to run from my computer to watch the nominations and then right back to 007. I'm enormously honored to have heard my name read alongside those other talented writers. It's a head-spinning company. 'Hugo' has been one of the great joys of my writing life and I'm beyond proud the movie has been so recognized."
John Logan (Adapted Screenplay) Hugo
This is a surprising new spin on humility, express your disbelief at your good fortune while bragging about your busy career and hot new project! I kind of love it. Why shouldn't you brag if you're a freaking Oscar nominee.
Congratulations to all!
WHAT WOULD YOUR PRESS RELEASE LOOK LIKE IF YOU WERE NOMINATED FOR AN OSCAR?
Who would you thank? Would you pretend you just woke up rather than lying awake all night with your eyes wide open worrying about whether or not they'd call your name?