The Academy Awards nominations are in, and we had a mixed bag of reactions. Keep reading to hear what made us smile, laugh, cringe, mark our calendars, and just plain cry.

What made us smile… Jennifer Lawrence getting a nomination for Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook. After she came out in Elle and said she didn’t want to become too skinny to play Katniss since she knows how it affects young girls’ perceptions of their heroine and themselves, we just had to be on her team.

What caused us to fist pump… Bradley Cooper and Hugh Jackman are both great and entertaining actors, but we usually think of them in movies such as The Hangover and X-Men, respectively. Who knew that both of these actors had some real, emotion-altering stage presence and a range of acting skills to play such complicated characters? We knew that Hugh Jackman could sing (heck, he won a Tony) but his acting was top-notch. Bradley Cooper was also convincing as a man suffering from bi-polar disorder. It’s hard to make a serious movie that accurately deals with the issues surrounding mental illness, but he does a smashing job.

What made us sad… The pitiful number of nominations for The Hobbit. Yes, it was not nearly as great as Return of the King, but you know Peter Jackson may be regretting the decision to split this story into 3 movies and completely change some plot lines. You can’t just insertanotherGandalf-ish wizard into the mix that wasn’t seen in the trilogy or The Hobbit.

What made us angry… The fact that Quvenzhané Wallis from “Beasts of the Southern Wild” was nominated at all. She auditioned for the role of Hushpuppy when she was 5, and even now she’s probably not above 3rd or 4th grade. Yes, you can be accomplished at an art that young, but actors that young are chosen for their physical and behavioral proximity to the role, not exactly how much they can warp to play it. Therefore, we’re frankly extremely disappointed in The Academy for putting her next to the likes of Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Naomi Watts, and Emmanuelle Riva.

What disappointed us… Some prominent directors were snubbed, and after Ben Affleck’s awesome directorial debut and central acting role for Argo, we thought he’d have the chance to compete for an Oscar statue for at least one of these categories.

What movies are now on my must-see list before February?
Silver Linings Playbook
Lincoln

What movies are now on your must-see list?