James Mangold has directed several awards darlings, including Ford v Ferrari and Walk the Line but had consistently missed out on a best director nomination, until this year with A Complete Unknown. It may have come at the expense of Edward Berger, who missed out on a nod for Conclave or Denis Villeneuve for Dune: Part Two.
SNUB: Daniel Craig, ‘Queer’
Daniel Craig gave one of his best performances as an American expat in Mexico in the torrid May-December romance in Queer, but it hasn’t been resonating with awards voters. The Oscar snub is the final piece in a puzzle that just never came together.
SNUB: Angelina Jolie, ‘Maria’
If there ever were a shoo-in for a nomination and an Oscar, on paper at least, it would be for Angelina Jolie playing opera legend Maria Callas. Filmmaker Pablo Larraín had not missed yet in getting best actress nominations for his famous, tragic women biopics, including Natalie Portman for Jackie and Kristen Stewart for Spencer. But somehow Jolie did not make the cut in the end.
SNUB: Nicole Kidman, ‘Babygirl’
Babygirl is not a cliche awards movie by a long stretch, but Nicole Kidman’s performance as Romy, the buttoned-up, married CEO who begins a dangerous affair with a young intern at her company was undeniable. But a best actress win at the Venice Film Festival has never guaranteed Oscar success.
SURPRISE: Felicity Jones, ‘The Brutalist’
Despite the wide love for The Brutalist, Felicity Jones has been curiously absent from many nominations lists for her sharp portrayal of Erzsébet Tóth. The cast did not even get recognized by SAG. But it just goes to show that it’s never too late to sneak in for the big one
A few years after Danielle Deadwyler was famously snubbed for Till, she has another snub to add to her resume for Malcolm Washington’s adaptation of The Piano Lesson. This latest campaign might not have had as much steam behind it as Till, but at the very least one would assume that it could have been a make good.
SURPRISE: Monica Barbaro, ‘A Complete Unknown’
Supporting actress was one of the more chaotic and unpredictable categories this year, with so many deserving performers in the mix. Monica Barbaro was one of those that was on the fringe of possibilities for her turn as Joan Baez, singing and all, for A Complete Unknown.
One who was not so lucky was Selena Gomez for Emilia Pérez, perhaps because she was partially competing with her co-star, Zoë Saldaña who simply had more momentum (and gave a moving speech at the Golden Globes).
SNUB: Clarence Maclin, ‘Sing Sing’
The incarceration drama Sing Sing did get several significant nominations including for Colman Domingo, adapted screenplay and original song. But Clarence Divine Eye Maclin, who delivered a revelatory performance based on his own experience, was not among them. He is, however, credited with helping to write the story.
Margaret Qualley seems to have been unfairly left out of much of the awards conversation around The Substance, a movie that only works with a great Sue. But the focus has been more on Demi Moore, overdue for such recognition, and Coralie Fargeat — the only woman to score a best director nomination.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross delivered one of their most popular scores ever this year for Challengers and yet were left off in a batch of nominees that included The Brutalist, Conclave, Emilia Pérez, Wicked and The Wild Robot. It’s not even that they’re consistently overlooked by the academy — they’ve already won twice, for Soul and The Social Network.
SURPRISE: ‘Flow’
Everyone expected the Latvian cat movie Flow to get a best animated feature nomination, especially after it won the Golden Globe. But the big surprise is that it got a second for best international feature — a first for Latvia. This is not a first for an animated movie to get into the international category, though: Waltz with Bashir and Flee had the honor before Flow, but neither ended up winning.
RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys has had quite the rollercoaster awards season journey, even though it’s widely considered one of the best films of the year. The film academy thought so too, including it among the 10 best picture nominees (alongside other relative surprises like I’m Still Here and Dune: Part Two). Oddly, though, it missed out on cinematography despite its inventive first-person point of view.
SNUB: Denzel Washington, ‘Gladiator II’
