On Thursday, January 10, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announces its 2012 nominations. Normally this is the time I'd announce my nominations, just for fun, but now it's crunch time. That is, movieogers like me are now getting crunched between the studios, who release prestige pictures later and later, and the critics groups and the Academy, which announce nominees and winners earlier and earlier.

Not having seen everything (“Amour,” “Rust and Bone,” “The Gatekeepers”), I'll hold off for a bit. In the meantime, here are some less-talked-about performances I wouldn't mind seeing nominated but which probably won't be:

Best Picture

• “End of Watch”

Best Actor

• Jake Gyllenhaal in “End of Watch”
• Ethan Hawke in “The Woman in the Fifth”

Best Supporting Actor

• Ed Norton in “Moonrise Kingdom”
• James Spader in “Lincoln”
• Mark Ruffalo in “The Avengers”
• Jason Clarke in “Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Supporting Actress

• Laura Dern in “The Master”

That's about it. As I've said before, and despite Roger Ebert's pronouncements, this has been a shitty year for movies.

What about you? Who would you like to see nominated?

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena in “End of Watch,” an underrated movie in an overrated movie year.

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