Oscar omissions: they coulda been contenders

REEL NEWS:Another year, another series of awards controversies. Let's start with the fiasco involving the Oscar for best documentary.

Last week the Academy announced its long list. Right-thinking punters were outraged at a number of stunning omissions. Senna,a study of Aarton Senna; Werner Herzog's I nto the Abyss, a pondering of the US death penalty; and The Interrupters, an investigation of gang trouble in Chicago, were all conspicuous by their absence. The films had, to that point, all been seen as potential winners. Project Nimdid make it in, but the list – involving the usual bias towards military-themed pieces – still looks weirdly underpowered.

Elsewhere, Judd Apatow commented on the under- performance of comedies in the big competition. “Since comedies are rarely up for Oscars, it does make sense to have a comedy category,” he tweeted. “It’s been like five times in a zillion years that [a comedy has] won best picture.”

Of course, The Golden Globes has, for many years, made just this distinction. Controversy has, however, often gathered around that body's prize for best musical or comedy. This year is no exception. The distributors of The Help– perhaps spying a certain win – submitted their film to the Globes as a comedy. Really?

Quite correctly, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which runs the Globes, was having none of it. The Help will be running in the drama category.