Oscar Nominations: Surprises

I HEART the Oscars and love this time of the year. Yesterday, right before the tragedy of one time Oscar-nominee Heath Ledger's death hit the media, the nominations for the 80th Academy Awards were announced, and there were a couple of surprises. A little later on in the month, I will be doing my predictions of who should/will win, but for now here are the complete nominations, and the surprises/snubs:

* Angelina Jolie failed to receive a Best Actress nom for A Mighty Heart, instead the Academy chose to recognize Laura Linney (The Savages)
* Not 1, but TWO acting nods for Cate Blanchett: Best Actress (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) and Best Supporting Actress (I'm Not There)
* No acting nominations for Keira Knightly and James McAvoy for Atonement, nor any for its director Joe Wright
* No love for The Simpsons in the Best Animated Feature category, perhaps it's too low-brow for the Academy's taste?
* Norbit got an Oscar nomination? Even if it's for Best Achievement in Makeup, that's pretty sad. So, to recap this year's nominations, Norbit: 1, Angelina Jolie: 0.