Once the Oscars nominations have been revealed, the next move is of course to start complaining about them. What did they get wrong? Who should’ve been nominated instead of someone else? No award show is ever going to be perfect to everyone, and they do generally get most of their nominations correct, so let’s take a look at some of the snubs and surprises from this years Oscar nominations.
Snub – Martin McDonagh, Best Director
With the amount of buzz that Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has had coming into Awards Season and with how well it did at the Golden Globes, it’s interesting that while the film got 7 total nominations, it’s director wasn’t one of them, though he was nominated for Best Original Screenplay so he at least has that. McDonagh was nominated for Best Director at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, and is nominated at the upcoming British Academy (BAFTA) Film Awards and Directors Guild of America Awards.
Surprise – Jordan Peele, Best Director and Greta Gerwig, Best Director
Ok, this isn’t actually a surprise. Maybe I should’ve called this pleasantly surprised instead. Not that I thought they didn’t have a shot, but the Oscars hasn’t always been the awards show that gets things right. After both were snubbed at the Golden Globes, it certainly seemed like a possibility that we could see it happen again at the Oscars. But they were both nominated at the Critics’ Choice Awards and are nominated at the Directors Guild of America Awards. Who I really should have listed as the surprise in the Best Director category is Paul Thomas Anderson, who wasn’t nominated at any other major award show in this category.
Snub – James Franco, Best Actor
The star of The Disaster Artist came into Awards Season red hot and with his win at the Golden Globes, plus nominations at the Critics’ Choice Awards and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, he looked to be a shoe in. I could probably make a whole section devoted to The Disaster Artist in general, since the movie looked like a good bet coming into Awards Season, but walks away with only one nomination, for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Surprise – Logan, Best Adapted Screenplay
Speaking of Best Adapted Screenplay, one of the films that’ll be competing with The Disaster Artist is surprisingly a comic book movie. It’s nice to see a comic book movie that took a chance by straying from what have become the standards of the genre get some recognition. It’s also always nice to see the Academy recognize a film in a genre that they normally don’t, the same way horror and fantasy are getting some nice recognition through Get Out and The Shape of Water respectively.
Snub – The 10th Best Picture Slot
Yes, this isn’t really a specific snub, and yes, I know the Academy doesn’t have to have ten Best Picture nominees, but it’s interesting that the Academy didn’t end up maxing out the category this year. The Disaster Artist, I, Tonya, or even The Big Sick all could’ve easily taken that tenth spot and no one would’ve been surprised. All three were nominated at other major awards show, but I guess whatever formula the Academy uses to come up with nominees had these three all short. Doesn’t mean they didn’t deserve it.
Surprise – The Post isn’t the Oscars juggernaut it looked to be
Not that I necessarily want The Post to be nominated in every category or think it deserves to be, but after coming away with 6 nominations at the Golden Globes and 8 at the Critics’ Choice Awards, bested at both only by The Shape of Water, it seemed like it would again rack them up at the Oscars. There was even a joke at the Golden Globes about how The Post was that kind of film that seems like it’ll inevitably win a bunch of awards. But even after being shut out at both those awards shows, it’s still surprising that it only came away with two Oscar nominations, Best Picture and Best Actress for Meryl Streep. Nothing for the screenplay. Nothing for Spielberg. Nothing for Tom Hanks. Did any of them really deserve it more than those that were nominated? According to the Academy, no.
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Feature image courtesy of The Academy.
