It’s been a year and the story remains the same. The 90th Academy Awards ceremony will be hostless again after the Kevin Hart controversy of 2018, and most importantly, many of 2019’s favorites were robbed of their nominations.
Jordan Peele’s sophomore film “Us” took the world of horror by storm in March. Between the world that we know and that of “the tethered,” Peele managed to craft another nearly-flawless critique of current race relations in the United States. But not only does the lack of a nomination sting the horror community, but the oversight in not nominating Lupita Nyong’o for Best Leading Actress adds to the #OscarsSoWhite issue of today.
In early-July, horror fans were once again treated to another genre film that’s also been snubbed. Following 2018’s bar-raiser “Hereditary,” director Ari Aster brought horror into the daytime with “Midsommar.” In the film, Aster shows the already-toxic relationship between Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) finally implode while on a psychedelic-infused visit to Sweden for a mid-summer festival.
While the film didn’t get any nominations, its leading actress received one for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in director Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women.”
Lastly, the Christmas Day release of Josh and Benny Safdie’s “Uncut Gems” was completely absent from the nominations. With Adam Sandler in the lead role — and a serious one! — it was expected to shine bright. In fact, due to its box office success, several publications predicted that the film and its lead actor would easily be a contender. Sander said he’d intentionally make the worst movie ever if he didn’t receive a nomination.
Five men are nominated for Best Director: Martin Scorcese for “The Irishman,” Todd Phillips for “Joker,” Sam Mendes for “1917,” Quentin Tarantino for “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood” and Bong Joon-ho for “Parasite.” One thing is sorely lacking from this slate of nominees: women!
Last year saw the release of three phenomenal films directed by women. Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age period drama “Little Women,” Celine Sciamma’s queer period film about a trans-class romance “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and Lulu Wang’s don’t-tell-Grandma-she’s-dying comedy “The Farewell” were three of the years’ finest films, but the directors were snubbed.
Apparently, the Academy didn’t hear Natalie Portman’s shade while announcing the “all-male nominees” during 2018’s awards show.
It came as no surprise that John Williams would be nominated — his 52nd time — for his score to “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.” Another score nomination that’s not surprising is Randy Newman’s for Netflix’s “Marriage Story.” The scores to “Joker,” “1917” and “Little Women” were also nominated.
An eye-opening absence from the Best Original Score nominations this year is Alan Silvestri’s score for “Avengers: Endgame.” Arguably, he should have been nominated in the past for 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War,” but was absent, too, and the award went to Ludwig Göransson’s score for “Black Panther,” also within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Even with the many nomination snubs for the Best Director, Best Picture and Best Music or Original Score Awards, there were a few pleasant surprises.
It’s great to see both Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actor in a Supporting Role, respectively, for their performances in Netflix’s “The Two Popes.” Even more exciting is the Best Cinematography nomination for Roger Eggers’ black-and-white horror ode to 18th-century lighthouse keeping, “The Lighthouse.”
Regardless of the many absences during this year’s Academy Award nominations, it will be exciting to see who does actually win on Feb. 9. Likely, it will be one of three films: “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood,” ”Joker” or “The Irishman” — three of the years most polarizing films — that will dominate and sweep numerous awards. However, “1917” is now a major competitor after it won Best Picture at the Producers Guild Awards on Jan. 18.
Previous errors have been corrected.