So the Oscar nominations are out. As it turns out, the only movies I have seen that received a nomination were "The Incredibles" and "Harry Potter 3." (Come to think of it, those are close to the entire list of 2004 movies that I saw at all, so my selection process must be pretty good!)

As a big "Incredibles" fan, I was sad to see that it didn't get a nomination for Best Picture, but rather was relegated to "Best Animated Feature" along with the only other animated features to be released in 2004, "Shrek 2" and "Shark Tale."

I have two concerns with this:

1) "Beauty and the Beast" caused a stir when it became the first animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture. Since then, no other animated movie has. But recently the Oscars created the new category of "Best Animated Feature." I wonder if, even if it's unspoken, there's an understanding that animated movies are somehow ineligible for the Best Picture award, no matter how good they are. I really hope that's not the case. Of course, "The Incredibles" was nominated by the Golden Globes, but they have twice as many Best Picture nominations because they divide it up between "Drama" and "Musical or Comedy." (Their rationale behind that is hard to figure out--we're not comparing apples and oranges here. They're all movies! Oh wait--the rationale is so that they can nominate and give the award to twice the number of movies, who will then brag about their Golden Globe Best Picture nomination/award, thus raising the exposure of the Golden Globes, and helping them compete for legitimacy with the Oscars. That makes a lot of business sense, when you think about it.) But it didn't make the cut with the Oscars.

2) So whether or not animated movies are eligible for Best Picture, why would you create a category that is so limited in its application that every single movie made in a year that could conceivably be eligible for nomination actually gets nominated? I mean, sure there were probably a couple of indie animated features or something, but this year, it was really just "The Incredibles," "Shrek 2," and "Shark Tale." Why not have a category for Best Supporting Chimp? Best Picture Set In Nazi Germany? Best G-Rated Picture? I mean, how good is "The Incredibles" going to feel when it is named the best movie in a field of three?