fbpx

The 2010 Oscar Nominations…for Jews

[additional-authors]
February 2, 2010

In a quick ten minute announcement, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and actress Anne Hathaway announced the 2010 Oscar nominations.

Here’s a roundup of some of the nods that matter to the Jews: (Criteria for films mattering to Jews means they either were created or performed by Jewish people or had some kind of Jewish theme or content)

UP IN THE AIR: Best Picture (Daniel Dubiecki, Jason Reitman, Ivan Reitman), Directing (Jason Reitman), Adapted Screenplay (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner), Lead Actor (George Clooney), Supporting Actress X 2 (Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick)

***Reitman’s screenwriting nod is controversial due to major dispute between Reitman and co-writer Sheldon Turner about who’d get credit. Reitman took sole credit all along until the two writers had to go to arbitration before the WGA—and Turner won. See ‘A screenwriting dispute over Reitman’s ‘Up in the Air’

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS: Best Picture (Lawrence Bender), Original Screenplay (Quentin Tarantino), Directing (Quentin Tarantino, Supporting Actor (Christophe Waltz)

***Tarantino should get an honorary Jew menschen for his historical revision of WWII in which a bunch of strong-armed Jewish bandits take Hitler and Himmler down in a fiery blaze. See “Revenge of the Jews, Tarantino Style

A SERIOUS MAN: Best Picture (Joel and Ethan Coen), Original Screenplay (Joel and Ethan Coen)

***Some accused the Coen bros’ most Jewish film of being soberingly stereotypical. Based on their Midwestern Jewish upbringing, the film raises timeless questions about faith and certainly didn’t portray rabbis with any kind of reverence.

AN EDUCATION: Best Picture (Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey), Lead Actress (Carey Mulligan), Adapted Screenplay (Nick Hornby)

***This film has generated a fair amount of anti-Semitic discussion for featuring a skeezy, unscrupulous Jewish character in the lead. But is it realism or anti-Semitism?

THE HURT LOCKER: Best Picture, Directing (Kathryn Bigelow), Original Screenplay (Mark Boal)

***Screenwriter Mark Boal is Jewish so look out for an upcoming profile in our Feb. 26 Oscar issue

AJAMI: Foreign Language Film (Israel)

Israel’s Ajami is co-written and directed by a Jew and an Arab and features dialogue mainly in Arabic. The New York Times said of the film, “In a conflict where each side lives and breathes its own victimhood, feeling the hurt of the other is a challenge. ‘Ajami’ meets it.”

ALSO NOMINATED in the Supporting Actress category is Maggie Gyllenhaal for CRAZY HEART

Stay tuned to Hollywood Jew for continuing Oscar coverage through the March 7 ceremony…

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Difficult Choices

Jews have always believed in the importance of higher education. Today, with the rise in antisemitism across many college campuses, Jewish high school seniors are facing difficult choices.

All Aboard the Lifeboat

These are excruciating times for Israel, and for the Jewish people.  It is so tempting to succumb to despair. That is why we must keep our eyes open and revel in any blessing we can find.  

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.