Christopher Nolan Snubbed! Does the Academy Hate the 'Inception' Director?

He has directed some of the most critically acclaimed, visually arresting movies of our time and has been celebrated by his colleagues, but this morning Christopher Nolan's name was a notable snub on the list of Best Director Oscar nominees.

Nolan -- a three-time Directors Guild of America nominee for 'Memento,' 'The Dark Knight' and 'Inception' -- has yet to be recognized in the director category by the Academy. Sure, his movies often score nominations galore; 'Inception,' for example, is up for eight awards this year, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. But for some reason, the Academy continues to ignore him as a directing contender. Now our friend from Moviefone, Sharon Knolle, dives deeper.

Could it be because his inventive movies are typically also enormous blockbusters? Doubtful. Enormous box-office success didn't prevent Steven Spielberg from joining the nominees' circle early in his career (for 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind,' 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,' all popcorn flicks). And it certainly hasn't hurt two-time-winner James Cameron.

The Academy does have something of a history of snubbing commercial directors. After all, despite his early nominations, it took Spielberg until 1993's 'Schindler's List' to actually win a directing Oscar, and wildly popular director Alfred Hitchcock never won an award in the category. However, it's still surprising that Nolan got the shaft with 'Inception.' It's not like he hasn't been racking up the kudos for the Leonardo DiCaprio film. First came a Golden Globe nomination, then one from Directors Guild of America; back home, the London-born Nolan also reeled in his first BAFTA nomination for Achievement in Direction. Yet no love from the Academy.

The 'Dark Knight' slight moved Nolan's brother Jonathan (who co-wrote 'Memento' with him) to respond with an e-mail to fans: "Any nominations for a comic book movie is a thing of beauty no matter how you slice it, and that takes the sting out a bit. Besides, I've been to the big show before, and, like any of these things, it's a little disappointing. Did you know it's not even an open bar once the show starts? At least this time I would have remembered to bring a little cash so I could buy myself a drink after losing."

So, what will it take for Nolan to be recognized by the Academy for his directing skills? Does he need to make a movie about Facebook, World War II or blue aliens to stand a chance? Or does he simply have to hang in there for 20 or 30 more years until the Academy finally decides it's his time? Or could it be that the Academy just confused Nolan's 'Inception' with one of the many popular Internet memes relating to the movie?

Popeater

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Recording Academy Makes Series of Sweeping Changes to the Grammy Awards

In a shocking move, the Recording Academy has announced a series of broad and sweeping changes to the Grammy Awards that will see the number of prizes presented reduced from 109 to 78 and gender-based categories in pop, R&B, rock and country stripped away entirely with awards for "solo performance" in each genre being awarded instead.

"Every year, we diligently examine our awards structure to develop an overall guiding vision and ensure that it remains a balanced and viable process," Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said in a statement. "After careful and extensive review and analysis of all categories and fields, it was objectively determined that our Grammy categories be restructured to the continued competition and prestige of the highest and only peer-recognized award in music."
A number of instrumental categories have been dropped, and many other categories have been folded in an effort to consolidate. For example, Best Contemporary R&B Album has been eliminated as a stand-alone category, though sets that would have qualified for the prize will remain eligible in the broader category of Best R&B Album. All told, four R&B awards will now be handed out instead of eight. Rock, country and pop will also hand out four prizes, down from the seven each genre awarded at last year's 53rd Grammy Awards.

The General Field categories -- Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist -- were not affected by today's announcement.

The Academy has also amended its rules on entries and voting. For a category to move forward with five nominations, it must receive no less than 40 artist, album or song submissions. If a category receives between 25 and 39 entries, only three nominations will be announced.

If less than 25 submissions are received for any given category, an award will not be presented that year, and if the category continues to receive fewer than 25 entries for three consecutive years it will be discontinued.

Next year's ceremony will mark the first time since 1991 that fewer than 80 Grammys will be awarded. (A vast majority of prizes are handed out during a non-televised ceremony that immediately precedes CBS' broadcast; only 10 awards were handed out during the televised event.)

The reason why so few awards are handed out during the televised ceremony: performances.

Relive Lady Gaga's show-stopping take on 'Born This Way' below:



"The part that not everybody will be happy about at first is getting their heads around the fact that things have changed," Portnow told Billboard. "But the fact is: Everybody

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