While the Academy Awards have always held surprises, this year’s nominations seem to be careful political grandstanding and interesting entries. Martin McDonagh is 2018’s Ben Affleck as his film has received a Best picture nod, but he has been forgotten in the Best Director category.
Here are the surprises and snubs of this year.
Surprises
Jordan Peele, Best Director, Get Out
Horror has never been the Academy’s favourite genre. The Silence of the Lambs was the last horror film to win Best picture and that was in 1991. But Jordan Peele’s film is about understanding the deep racist underbelly of a community of supposedly liberal white people, and after the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, the Academy does seem to have realigned its priorities in this respect.
Denzel Washington, Best Actor, Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Washington getting nominated to the Oscars is no biggie. He has, after all, won twice. However, his nomination for a film that did not do well in the box office, is quite a surprise, edging out James Franco and Tom Hanks. With just a 49% score in Rotten Tomatoes, the film did not score it big with critics as well.
Logan , Best Adapted Screenplay
This was quite a surprise! When was the last time we saw a heart-wrenching superhero movie? And then the movie getting nominated to the Big Leagues? Yep, that’s quite a win by itself. Logan, starring Hugh Jackman, refused to abide by the usual superhero motifs and stood out for its storyline which was elegant and thoughtful.
Breathing real cinema? Hugh Jackman in “Logan”
Daniel Kaluuya, Best Actor, Get Out
It isn’t everyday that a breakout role in a film like Get Out gets an Oscar nod, but it is 2018, and with everything that the world has seen, a role like his is exactly the cold splash of reality that we need. Daniel Kaluuya’s chances of winning the statuette are slim, but even this recognition is important.
Snubs
Wonder Woman , Best Picture
At a time when the Golden Globes went all out to lend more power to women, it was quite a surprise to not see any nomination for the fantastic Gal Gadot starrer Wonder Woman . Though the superhero flick was an all-out commercial venture, it was still a serious contender given its popularity and the rare depiction of a female superhero as an awe-inspiring person — a position usually reserved for their male counterparts.
This image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows Gal Gadot in a scene from "Wonder Woman"
James Franco, Best Actor, The Disaster Artist
Franco bagged the Best Actor Golden Globe for his performance in The Disaster Artist. Dubbed as one of the best films of 2017, the film was almost a sure shot way for Franco for a Best Actor nomination. Until of course, a sexual misconduct allegation by a former girlfriend surfaced. At a time when the #MeToo campaign is reaching a peak, is it any surprise that the Academy did not want to dip its toes in the latest controversy?
Martin McDonagh, Best Director, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Three Billboards scored seven nominations, a certain victory for a film of a mother seeking justice for her raped and murdered daughter. Martin was considered as a sure shot in the Best Director category as well, for the film which is a raw yet rich portrayal of a grieving mother. He was, however, edged out by the surprising nomination given to Jordan Peele for his horror flick Get Out and to Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread.
Frances McDormand and the cast of "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" accept the award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture at the 24th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles.
Jessica Chastain, Best Actor, Molly’s Game
Chastain plays the role of a former skier who runs a high stakes poker game. With a steely demeanour which she pulls off with ease, Chastain gives one of her best performances in ‘Molly’s Game’. Jessica Chastain has been nominated twice by the Academy for her performances in The Help and Zero Dark Thirty .
Armie Hammer, Best Supporting Actor, Call Me By Your Name
In this emotional coming-of-age film, which bagged four nominations, all eyes were on the young couple played by Timothée Chalamet and Arnie Hammer. Chalamet was nominated in the Best Actor category, the youngest to be nominated in almost 80 years. Arnie’s golden-boy graduate student role was superbly portrayed and Hammer earned a nomination for the film in the Golden Globes.
Steven Spielberg, Best Director, The Post
Steven Spielberg reportedly fast-forwarded this script through to production after Donald Trump’s inauguration. The press has never been more vital, and Spielberg, in this masterpiece proves just why. Which is why the complete dismissal of his name from the Best Director category comes as a surprise.
Tom Hanks, Best Actor, The Post
It is indeed surprising that Tom Hanks did not get a nomination for The Post , for reasons best known only to the Academy . He hasn’t gotten one since Cast Away. Hanks’ Ben Bradlee plays off Meryl Streep’s Katherine Graham in a way that makes both of them G.O.A.T (Greatest of All Time). Streep, incidentally, earned yet another nomination.
All the Money in the World , Best Film Editing
With the amount of re-shooting done for this film — all of Kevin Spacey’s scenes were reshot with Christopher Plummer — a nod for the editor’s painstaking work seems necessary. If nothing else, it could be to assure that allegations of sexual assault can (and should) affect the perpetrator economically too, a reality faced by victims every day.
