Heartland Film Fest flicks score Academy Award nominations

The Academy Award nominations were announced just minutes ago and while most of the media attention focuses on "Black Swan," "True Grit," and other big Hollywood films, a look deeper into the picks show some films that Hoosiers may be familiar with: Both Best Feature Documentary nominee "Waste Land" and Best Live Action Short Film nom "God of Love" played at the 2010 Heartland Film Festival.

Congrats to the Heartland folks for picking some potential winners.

———

After a quick look over the nominees in all categories, I've only got a few beefs:

–I'm sorry to see no love for "Never Let Me Go," a remarkable, original film. And Carey Mulligan is terrific in it.

–Nominating Hailee Steinfeld as Best Supporting Actress for her role in "True Grit" makes absolutely no sense. I don't care how young the actress is, hers is the lead character in the film and she is the leading actress. She's on screen nearly every moment–far more than Jeff Bridges, who is nominated for Best Actor.

–I'm sorry to see that there was no room for "Tangled" as a Best Animated Film nominee. Yes, it was a crowded year, but "Tangled" is Disney's best animated film in well over a decade. I hope the message isn't that the film isn't worthy. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

–I'm glad to see Michelle Williams get singled out for "Blue Valentine." But her co-star, Ryan Gosling, is equally deserving.

In case you haven't seen the list yet, the nominees for Best Film are:

"Black Swan"

"The Fighter"

"Inception"

"The Kids are Alright"

"The King's Speech"

"127 Hours"

"The Social Network"

"Toy Story 3"

"True Grit"

"Winter's Bone"

For a complete list of nominees, visit www.oscars.com.

Your thoughts?