The Oscar nominationswere unveiled this morning, and as always there are a few snubs and surprises to sift through. Whatwasn’ta surprise wasJokerleading the pack with 11 nominations in total. Anyone who thought the gritty DC adaptation wasn’t a major awards player was fooling themselves.Todd Phillips’ ambitious drama hopped on the Oscar trail way back in August after scoring the Venice Film Festival’s top prize, and it’s been picking up steam ever since. It is now officially the second “superhero movie” ever to earn a Best Picture nomination afterBlack Pantherbroke down that barrier last year.
AndOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood,The Irishman, and1917running the table in terms of nominations isalsonot surprising. These four aforementioned films are major frontrunners, and picked up nearly every nomination expected of them—and then some.
As for surprises, however, there are a few. Let’s dig deeper into specifics as we run down the major Oscar snubs and surprises of this year.
No Jennifer Lopez for ‘Hustlers’
Alas,Jennifer Lopezis not an Oscar nominee after all.Hustlerswas something of a surprise awards contender after breaking out at TIFF in September, and almost immediately buzz began building for Lopez to earn a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her terrific performance in the film. She picked up the SAG nomination, but it still felt like there was a chance the Academy’s acting branch (which does the nominating for the acting categories) may go another way. And go another way they did, asKathy Batesended up earning a nod for her turn inRichard Jewell—a slight surprise but not a shocker, asClint Eastwood’s films tend to be well-liked by the actors branch. Unfortunately that left Lopez out in the cold.
Tom Hanks’ First Nomination in Nearly 20 Years
Okay so many prognosticatorsdidpredictTom Hanksto earn a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance as Mister Rogers inA Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, but you weren’t crazy for thinking he’d be snubbed. Again. In truth, the Academy has failed to nominate Hanks year after year. His most recent Oscar nomination came all the way back in 2001 forCast Away, meaning he was passed over for turns inCaptain Phillips,Sully,Saving Mr. Banks,The Post, andBridge of Spies. So yeah, it’s safe to call Hanks’ nominationa littlebit surprising, given that the Academy previously gave the impression that they had no interest in America’s Sweetheart.
No Lupita Nyong’o for ‘Us’
Lupita Nyong’owon an Oscar for her breakout role in12 Years a Slaveand has been tearing up the critics awards for her stunning turn inUs,but she was unfortunately snubbed in the Best Actress category this year. While it’s wonderful to see an actress as talented asCynthia Erivonominated for her turn in the historical dramaHarriet, it is hard to ignore the trend that when playing slaves, African-American and African actors and actresses get noticed, but when playing complex characters—like with Nyong’o inUs,Viola DavisinWidows,and even Erivo inBad Times at the El Royale—they often get passed over.
‘Frozen II’ Shut Out of Best Animated Feature
Disney may be dominating the box office, but this one has to hurt.Frozen IIis officially the highest-grossing animated film of all time, and yet the highly anticipated sequel was left out in the cold when it came time for the Academy’s animation branch to select the Best Animated Feature nominees. The Netflix holiday filmKlaus“took” what many believed would be a slot forFrozen II, and while Disney made it in withToy Story 4, the snub here is a little bit embarrassing—although ultimately notsupershocking. The follow-up earned so-so reviews and the enthusiasm that surrounded the firstFrozenjust wasn’t there. But Disney being Disney, most expected the film would at least earn a nomination. Not so, apparently!
Although as a consolation, at least the earworm “Into the Unknown” made it into the Best Original Song category, providing the hope for an"Adel Dazeem"sequel during the telecast.
The All-Male Best Director Nominees
Another not-super-surprising “snub” here, but the Academy’s director’s branch once again went with an all-male lineup of Best Director nominees despite the fact that plenty of female filmmakers turned in Oscar-level work this year. Chief among them isGreta Gerwig, whose radical adaptation ofLittle Womenhas been fighting a perception that it’s lagging behind in the awards race. While the film did earn six nominations in total, Gerwig didn’t land in the director’s circle. Nor didLulu WangforThe Farewell. OrMarielle HellerforA Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. OrLorene ScafariaforHustlers. In favor of ::checks notes:: theHangoverdude’s “gritty” DC Comics adaptation that ultimately fails to make clear what it’s actually about, or what it wants to say, or wtf even actually happened in the story. Cool. Cool cool cool.
Documentary Branch Snubs the Frontrunner. Again.
If you had “Documentary Branch Does Something Crazy” on your Oscar nominations bingo card, mark that one down. One of the branches most notorious for snubbing frontrunners was entirely on brand in leaving the documentaryApollo 11off of its shortlist. The film—which presents high-quality footage from theApollo 11mission in breathtaking detail—was considered the frontrunner to win Best Documentary Feature, but alas it wasn’t even nominated. The same thing happened to the Mister Rogers documentaryWon’t You Be My Neighbor?last year, so it’s in good company.
Other Misses
There were a few other misses that I don’t necessarily think qualify as “snubs,” but didn’t happen regardless. Despite A24’s best efforts,Adam Sandlercouldn’t crack the highly competitive Best Actor category for his tremendous performance inUncut Gems. DittoTaron Egerton, who picked up a Golden Globes win forRocketmanand has been on the campaign trail for months, andEddie Murphywho had a comeback narrative behind hisDolemite Is My Nameperformance.Awkwafinaalso didn’t make it into the Best Actress race, as the Sundance hitThe Farewellwas also passed over in the Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay categories. And the Academy’s music branch said “that don’t impress me much” toBeyonce’s original song “Spirit” fromThe Lion King, robbing audiences of a Beyonce performance during the telecast.
