Don’t Snub on Me: Three Infuriating Oscar Snubs
Every year the Oscars snub very deserving performances or films and every year I continue to be upset by them. This awards show wants to see my downfall.
The 92nd Academy Awards nominations have been announced and frankly I’m very upset and I know I shouldn’t be surprised by the Oscars displaying distinct Oscar behavior. See, for those of you who don’t put an inane amount of stock into an award show whose awards and nominations ultimately mean nothing, the Oscars tend to follow a pattern. They tend not to award or even nominate women in directing categories, they don’t respect performances from people of color, and they take the bait. Oscar loves Oscar bait. They love big over the top performances, they love historical epics, they love breaking my heart. This year’s academy awards are no different, and I don’t know why I expected any different. I would like to mention a few choice snubs and then suggest the removal of a film from the category to make space for my picks. I’m going to be ranking the snubs from least offensive and heart breaking to most “Oh my God I can’t believe they didn’t nominate this person.”
3. Best Achievement in Cinematography, Hoyte Van Hoytema for Ad Astra
James Gray’s quiet and contemplative daddy issues movie set in space is criminally underrated. Rare do we see Brad Pitt crack in films. Even at his absolute worst in movies, we don’t see Pitt go into the depths of solitude and pain that he does in Ad Astra and Van Hoytema communicates those emotions brilliantly. Whether it’s a rover chase, a free fall from the ISS, or Brad Pitt beginning to come apart at the seams, Van Hoytema knows how to communicate it. Ad Astra feels like the perfect opportunity to celebrate his prowess because it feels like a combination of painterly, still moments and kinetic action sequences. I have faith that soon enough we will celebrate him, Hoyte took the mantle as Christopher Nolan’s Director of Photography from Wally Pfister, earning him a nomination for Dunkirk. Tenant may be the opportunity to see Van Hoytema lift Oscar into the air and the film world will celebrate. Joker feels like the best pick to pull from this category, because everything else in the category is an unbelievable achievement in its craft (i.e. 1917 and The Lighthouse) or is a perfect thematic companion to the performances and the screenplay it follows (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and The Irishman).
2. Best Achievement in Directing, Greta Gerwig for Little Women
As previously mentioned, the Oscars seem to have some issues with recognizing brilliant female filmmakers. And for that we should feel sorry, because there were two beautiful films this year that deserve more recognition by the Academy. That’s not why this snub hurts so much. This hurts because Little Women is better than three of the five films nominated and Greta Gerwig is a brilliant director with three Oscar nominations and a long career ahead of her. I feel weird calling a movie a classic when it is already a classic work of literature, but that’s what Little Women feels like. A beautiful and touching portrait of family, brimming with commentary on a womans place in post-Civil War capitalist society that also happens to have a pair of Oscar worthy performances, some of the best costume design seen this year, and an incredible score by Alexandre Desplat. Give me Little Women and Greta Gerwig over most active filmmakers today, and get Todd Phillips and Joker out of this Best Director race.
1. Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Adam Sandler for Uncut Gems
I am inconsolable. JUSTICE FOR SANDMAN. I truly feel like this is a case of all of us asking for too much. Uncut Gems is a phenomenal movie that will be talked about for years with a tight script, wonderful first time performances, and one of the most tense endings to a movie I’ve ever experienced. It also can’t be overstated that Gems has been much more successful than I think anyone could have predicted. I knew it would fit right into my wheelhouse, being that I loved the Safdie’s previous project Good Time and that I love Kevin Garnett, but the amount of people from all over the place expressing their love for the film feels like it has to be worth some discussion. Sandler is really what carries Gems though, and in it he does some of the best work this year and his best performance to date. You need him to have a Leo style meltdown? Done. Wail like Adam Driver? You got it. Be an absolute Joaquin-esque maniac? All day. Sandler manages to be the most lovable dirt bag you know, and when Howard wins, we all win. I love you, Sandler. Please keep working with the Safdies. Or maybe call PTA again, I don’t care, I just want to see you celebrated for the unbelievably talented entertainer you are. Jonathan Pryce in The Two Popes has to go.
The Academy Awards are designed to ruin my life, but it isn’t all bad. I’m so excited to see Bong Joon-Ho nominated in Best Director and Best Screenplay. I yelled in my car when I saw that Florence Pugh received a Little Women nod. Antonio Banderas is finally getting the recognition he deserves from the Academy! And yet there’s tons of beautiful films that didn’t get any respect this year from the Oscars. For the next five weeks, I’ll be publishing a blog a week titled “In Defense Of” where I defend some of those movies that didn’t get any respect, I hope you read them, share them, and then go see those movies. Thank you.