The Oscar nominations are out and when it comes to snubs and surprises, everyone is talking about how there is no Jennifer Lopez. Since her Hustlers debuted at TIFF, sentiment had been building that the multifaceted talent was going to add Academy Award nominated actress to her resume. Sadly, for her and her fans, that did not happen.
Although I personally predicted that this would happen, it is indicative of a larger problem within the Academy. There is little in today’s nominations to illustrate that the Academy’s efforts to diversify are working. In fact, many of these snubs and surprises that The Movie Mensch’s Oscar Watch will detail today are based on the fact that there are no women directors nominated and only one black artist honored in the lead acting categories, Cynthia Erivo for Harriet.
First of all, yes, sorry J. Lo fans, she was not given a nod. But I had always thought that a movie about strippers ripping off Wall Street Hustlers was a longshot to earn a spot in the Oscar circle. It’s a solid movie, sure, but Oscar worthy? Sorry, no.
If there is something to be upset about it is the lack of love for The Farewell. Lulu Wang directed a sensationally emotional story that was riveting in every single humanity-based sense of the word. Awkafina delivered a career-defining performance that deserved some Oscar love, but alas the Academy’s prejudice not only against diversity, but comedy, reared its head in this film’s denial of any love. There was no love for Greta Gerwig for directing Little Women, is what many are hollering about this morning, but frankly I’d be equally as upset that what Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) or what Wang did with The Farewell is being ignored. Both films took bold choices and paid off in ways that push the narrative cinematic envelope.
There’s also, for the second year in a row, the absence of the documentary front-runner from the race. Nope, Apollo 11 did not get an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature. Last year, front-runner Won’t You Be My Neighbor failed to score a nod and it appears that the documentary wing doesn’t like the moniker “front-runner!”
A surprise arrives in the Supporting Actress nomination for Scarlett Johansson for Jojo Rabbit. Everyone and their grandmother knew that she would get a Best Actress nod for her work on the stunning Marriage Story. But to score nods in both available actress categories after not earning a single nod the entire rest of her career? What a day to be ScarJo!
Ford v. Ferrari makes the cut was a surprise. It deserves it, don’t get me wrong. But in every scenario where the Best Picture nods were analyzed, this stunning James Mangold film was on the outside looking in. Never been so happy to be wrong as the Matt Damon and Christian Bale true story is a triumph in every sense of the word. Glad to see it honored as such beyond its technical nominations for sound and editing.
There was no love for Uncut Gems in any form—whether Best Director for the Safdie brothers or Best Actor for Adam Sandler or even Best Picture, because it was one of the top 10 movies of 2019! But in the end, was that really a surprise? Did you really think that the Academy was going to anoint The Sandman a Best Actor nominee? The real crime here is the directing siblings who gave us one of the most sensationally surreal and piercing films of the year.
When it came to Best Animated Feature, the Academy ignored the box office numbers of Frozen II and instead listened to the Netflix campaign for Klaus. Now, Disney’s flick had divided critics since its debut, but it has now become the highest grossing animated film of all-time. Plus, it’s better than the original—there I said it. I can say that after seeing it four times!
This one hurts me, no Glasgow for Best Song from Wild Rose? The track has been nominated and winning critics awards, including last night’s Critics Choice Awards. What was the problem here that it didn’t get any Best Song love from the Academy? I’m upset, but not shocked because the Oscar folks have a long history of nominating at least one or two songs from films that hardly anyone saw whose songwriters they enjoy (Diane Warren?!).
There had been some mystery as to whether both of The Two Popes would get in—Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins. Stoked for these two, they both scored nods. It looks like the Oscar folks listened to the idea that people don’t act in a vacuum. If you nominate one, you nominate the other. This has not always been the case with the Oscars!
Kathy Bates for Richard Jewell is nice surprise but what appears to be missing is any love for Booksmart? It’s a female directed film (from Olivia Wilde), maybe that’s its issue. It’s a comedy. That could be a strike against it. It’s directed at teens (then again, it’s really directed at anyone who has ever been a teen), that too could be its third strike. None of those things are guaranteed Oscar nomination material.
Eddie Murphy put the entire Dolemite is My Name production on his back and took it to the heavens. Yet, Oscars want nothing to do with it. Sure, Murphy got snubbed for a Best Actor nod—but he’s been down that road before. But no adoration for the production for Best Costume Design? Please! Come on! You have got to be kidding me?
Lastly, I would argue that Taron Egerton not getting a nomination for playing Elton John in Rocketman is not a snub or a surprise. After all the love for Rami Malek last year for the Freddie Mercury and Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, the Academy had spent all its 70s rock star biopic love last year. Sadly, Rocketman is a better picture and Malek was brilliant, yes, but Egerton was sublime. It’s just not surprising for me, because I predicted it as soon as the film came out.