15 Documentary Features Continue in 2009 Oscar Race

AMPAS has announced the 15 documentaries that will compete for five nomination slots for this year's Academy Awards. They are:

• “The Beaches of Agnes”
• “Burma VJ”
  
• “The Cove”
  
• “Every Little Step”
• “Facing Ali”
  
• “Food, Inc.”
  
• “Garbage Dreams”
  
• “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders”
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
• “Mugabe and the White African”
  
• “Sergio”
  
• “Soundtrack for a Revolution”
• “Under Our Skin”
  
• “Valentino The Last Emperor”
• “Which Way Home”

Food, Inc., The Cove, and Burma VJ are all shoo-ins. But where is the year's finest doc, Unmistaken Child? Or Capitalism: A Love Story? Or Anvil: The Story of Anvil? Or Tyson? This is a screwy list, with some major omissions. But I have come to expect nothing less of AMPAS. It's not really worth complaining about anymore.