When this year's Oscars nominations were announced this morning after months of guessing games, we yawned and went back to wondering whether Scarlett Johansson and Jason Sudekis are actually couple. Almost immediately following the announcements, bloggers and reporters honed in on the only reason anyone cares about the announcement anyway -- to see who got snubbed. The chatter centered on about five people: Andrew Garfield, Mila Kunis, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, and Christopher Nolan. The tiny indie Winter's Bone scoring four noms is a feel-good story, but besides that, where was the suspense? The surprises? Oh, right. There were none.

Most award prognosticators -- who have this thing down to a science -- and even people who just like this stuff, were able to predict the Oscar front-runners down to a tee. The reason, in case you haven't figured it out, is because for months now, film critic circles from all over the country have been naming their best of the year, and by the time the Oscar nominations are announced, it feels like the Academy is just trying to fit in, rather than lead the pack, as it should be doing. The Academy Awards represent the official end to awards season, but shouldn't the Oscar nominations represent the beginning?

Our suggestion for making this time honored tradition more meaningful is a simple one: Just reorganize awards season! Whoever holds any power in Hollywood -- Johnny Depp, Betty White, whoever -- needs to get to their subterranean lair and figure this shit out. We say push the whole thing back. The Oscar nominations should have been announced last year, before any other official award was dished out. That way, all throughout January, everyone can revel in an orgy of hardware and acceptance speeches, right up until the Oscar telecast at the end of the month puts an exclamation point on the proceedings. (Imagine holding the Oscars the weekend before the Super Bowl. Back-to-back reasons to use your friend for their flatscreen!) This way, the Academy will look like bestowers of greatness upon the year's cinematic achievements -- with everyone else following their lead -- instead of the other way around. More importantly, it might actually give us a reason to wake up at seven in the morning to hear Mo'Nique read out the names of some people we want to date.