Zimmer "can't believe" Nolan Oscar snub

Hans Zimmer has admitted that he is stunned Christopher Nolan has not been nominated for a 'Best Director' Oscar for Inception.

Although Nolan is recognised in the 'Original Screenplay' category, he lost out on a place in the 'Director' line-up to Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), David Fincher (The Social Network), Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), David O. Russell (The Fighter) and the Coen brothers (True Grit).

Inception's composer Zimmer picked up an 'Original Score' nod for his work on the picture, but called the moment "bittersweet", since he was so disappointed that Nolan and editor Lee Smith were not nominated in their respective fields.

He told Billboard: "I cannot believe it. I just think it's amazing. How could they leave those two guys out? The film really was different, and it really was a different vision.

"Everybody's always harping on, 'Can we do something new that's successful?' Well, he did something new that was immensely successful. I think... a little something creeps in that if it is successful, it suddenly can't be judged as art anymore."

Zimmer - who successfully contested the decision to exclude his score for The Dark Knight from 2009's Oscars after the Academy decreed that it had too many composers to be considered - added: "I've always had a somewhat complicated, shall we say, relationship with the Oscars.

"In a funny way, the Oscars do mean something because it is your peers, you know? And you want all of that to stay relevant and current, so you don't want them to make too many missteps."

> In Full: Oscars 2011 - Nominees