The nominations for this year's Academy Awards were announced yesterday, with many expected nominations and many that seemingly came out of nowhere. Today I'm going to count down my top five snubs and top five surprises from the batch of films. I'm also only going to cover films I truly thought had a chance for nominations, so while I think Blindspotting and American Animals deserve nominations, they just weren't really in the conversation so I'm leaving them off. There are also some contenders like Toni Collette for Hereditary that are clearly people that deserve nominations but due to genre didn't seem likely to get in. There's a lot to talk about here so let's get down to it.
Surprise #5 - Vice
This shouldn't be a big surprise with how awards season has gone so far, but Vice picked up many nominations I found very undeserved. I found the script very messy and riddled with clunky dialogue, but here it is with a screenwriting nomination. The editing of the film is bizarre and doesn't work well, yet it came in with a best editing nomination. Adam McKay did a decent job but his nomination came with the snubbing of Bradley Cooper whom many believed to be one of the front runners for best director. Sam Rockwell also snuck in with one of his performances that has impressed me much less than his others. I love Rockwell but this just wasn't his best work. I also think Bohemian Rhapsody got some undeserved awards, and seeing it alongside Vice for best picture doesn't sit with me, but I honestly don't consider Vice to even be a good movie.
Snub #5 - John David Washington and Robert Redford
Robert Redford was a less realistic hope of mine, but with The Old Man and the Gun being his final film and his performance being so strong I had hopes. John David Washington on the other hand was someone I expected to get nominated. It seems as though it's Willem Dafoe that took his spot, which I'm okay with. However I found Washington's performance much stronger than Rami Malek and Viggo Mortensen, and maybe even Bradley Coooper.
Surprise #4 - Christopher Robin
The visual effects of Black Panther have been snatching up awards despite being one of the worst parts of the film. While I didn't think it was deserved I assumed it would earn a nomination. Then all of the sudden Christopher Robin snuck in and took its spot. I found this a weird choice for a best visual effects nomination but the CGI of the animals is pretty great so I guess I'm okay with it. I would have preferred to see something like Paddington 2 in this spot but this is an interesting choice that I can get behind.
Snub #4 - Timothee Chalamet
How did this man miss out on a nomination. Before the Green Book hype train revved up I thought Chalamet was the front runner, now we see him on the outside looking in. Chalamet's performance is hard to watch at times due to the very authentic feeling of his performance. This was an emotional rollercoaster, and yet Sam Rockwell is nominated for about ten minutes of a Bush impression over him. Hopefully Chalamet keeps up his hot streak and scores more nominations in the future.
Surprise #3 - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
I found myself pleasantly surprised by this film, but I in no way saw its nominations coming. I didn't even consider it for a best adapted screenplay nomination, hell I didn't even know it was adapted from anything. The best costume design nomination was a surprise, but understandable given the pretty great work the designers put in. Then it gets nominated for best original song as well? It was crazy seeing this film come up so many times but it was a fairly pleasant one.
Snub #3 - Bradley Cooper
For much of awards season A Star is Born seemed like the front runner for many categories. That no longer seems to be the case. Once Roma was released Alfonso Cuaron became the front runner for best director, but Bradley Cooper seemed to be the runner up. Now he isn't even one of the five, with the undeserving Adam McKay and the little known Pawel Pawlikowski taking his place. This was certainly a big shock.
Surprise #2 - The Women of Roma
One of the most pleasant surprises of the morning came right away, as Roma's Marina De Tavira came seemingly out of nowhere to score a best supporting actress. She was then followed by Yalitza Aparicio for her leading role. While these performances are great they've gotten little attention from other big awards groups, so seeing them recognized was really great. Cuaron is no doubt the star of the film but these two are fantastic and their nominations are well deserved.
Snub #2 - Justin Hurwitz and First Man
The front runner for best original score was easily Justin Hurwitz. He is now not even on the ballot. This year hasn't had many outstanding scores, but First Man's was no doubt one of the best. Along with that snub, it also missed out on editing, a category where two poorly edited films did earn nominations, and also cinematography. This is also a snub for If Beale Street could talk as both films missed out on the cinematography recognition.
Surprise #1 - Cold War and Never Look Away
It seems as though First Man and If Beale Street Could Talk were replaced by these two films. Haven't heard of them? That may be because they're both foreign language films. Cold War has gotten a decent amount of attention, but its nominations for both cinematography and directing came out of nowhere. As for Never Look Away, this nomination was so unexpected you couldn't even predict it on Gold Derby. Best cinematography has three foreign films in its nominations, something I would have never expected.
Snub #1 - The Documentaries
WHAT??? HOW??? HUH??? Won't you be my Neighbor? has been the assumed winner of best documentary since it first debuted. The film made quite a lot of money at the box office and captured the hearts of everyone who saw it. Three Identical Strangers is a film I enjoyed even more, providing a crazy and captivating story that I and many others have been swept up in. Somehow neither got nominated. This is the most bizarre snub I have ever seen, as like I said, EVERYONE loved Won't you be my Neighbor? The Academy has a history of best documentary being a fishy category, and this really pushes that notion. Three Identical Strangers missing out I'd understand, but Mister Rogers has no reason to be on the outside looking in.
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