5 Surprises for Oscar Nominations

Every year there are always a couple of surprises when the Oscar nominations are announced, whether someone is snubbed or someone locks a nomination at the 11th hour. Last year, Gary Oldman earned a Best Actor nomination for the skillful and slow-moving Tinker Tailor Solider Spy (it took this long for him to earn any recognition for his talent) while Tilda Swinton was not nominated for Best Actress for the creepy We Need to Talk About Kevin. Here are five possible surprises that could occur tomorrow morning.

Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt-Looper

In this bizarre and innovative sci-fi thriller, a ''looper'' (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) must hunt down his older self (Bruce Willis), who decides to kill the one they call the "rainmaker", a man who wreaks havoc in the future and sentences him to death. Emily Blunt is the mother of this future-evildoer, a smart and observant boy who resemblances Damien from "The Omen." As the single mother trying to raise her child in a good home, it's not easy, since she is terrified of what he is capable of.

Best Supporting Actor

Erza Miller-The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Though the story is about Charlie (Logan Lerman), a painfully shy high school freshmen struggling with himself and society, the highlight of this remarkable film was Patrick, portrayed by the promising and entertaining Ezra Miller. As the lone-out guy in circa 1991 Pittsburgh, Patrick does not let his sexuality define him and refuses to be pushed around by anybody.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Judd Apatow-This is 40

Comedy is the underdog as few have been nominated (and literally a handful of people winning for comedic fare). But the first two pages of Apatow's insightful script should be more than enough to recognize his talent for storytelling.

Best Picture
Amour

The most surprising film from Michael Haneke's canon is this painful and unsentimental look at a elderly couple as the husband (Jean-Louis Trintignant) cares for his wife (Emmanuelle Riva, who just might earn an Oscar nod for Best Actress), after she has been paralyzed from a stroke. Few foreign-language films have been nominated for Best Picture, so it's chances at the top prize are very slim. But possible.

Best Picture
The Perks of Being a Wallflower

This won't happen at all, but this was my favorite movie of 2012, (and yes, I have seen Lincoln, Les Mis, Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, etc.) and I can't wait until it's out on DVD, so I can buy it and watch it over and over.