With all the attention going to this year’s winners, there were quite a few Oscar-worthy films that were left out of the nominations.
Artwork by Anna Becker
Every year, as the Oscar season comes and goes, people are rushing into theaters (or to their DVD players), trying to watch the winners and nominations. However, every year when the Oscars are announced, their are always some disappointments or, as they are also known, snubs. Last year, a few phenomenal movies in my opinion, Gran Torino, Valkyrie, Cadillac Records, and The Secret Life of Bees, all failed to receive a single nomination, and this year it seems there are even more films that got snubbed, some more so than others (at least some made it into at least one category). So, while most may be trying to watch the winning and nominated films such as Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Crazy Heart, and The Blind Side, here is what I think the categories should have managed to squeeze in.
BEST PICTURE – When Kathryn Bigelow’s war movie, The Hurt Locker, took home quite a few Oscars including the biggest award: Best Picture, I could not help but think a few films were snubbed for Best Picture. Many critics did not think of it as “number one,” but I really enjoyed Michael Mann’s gangster flick. Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp as “Public Enemy Number One” John Dillinger, consisted of superb acting, a great story, and plenty of action. Four films that were released with a lot of hype prior to their release, Nine, Invictus, A Single Man, and The Soloist, were all snubbed a Best Picture nomination, and I cannot understand why. While it may have only been an HBO movie, Grey Gardens was a superb biography flick that starred Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange as the famous Beale’s who left their New York society and took refuge in their Long Island summer Home, Grey Gardens.
BEST ACTOR – As excited as I was when Jeff Bridges won the Best Actor Oscar for Crazy Heart, I felt many great actors were snubbed a nomination. After seeing Johnny Depp’s performance in Public Enemies as John Dillinger, I was almost positive he would earn an Oscar nomination, as he nailed an iconic role, as did Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes, where he portrayed the famous detective. Unfortunately, since The Soloist was pushed back a year, by the time Oscar season arrived, many forgot about it, regardless of Jamie Foxx’s excellent performance as homeless musical prodigy Nathaniel Ayers. Logan Lerman’s portrayal of the childhood of legendary actor George Hamilton in the little-seen My One and Only, was also left out for a Best Actor nomination, as were Ben Whishaw’s portrayal of famous poet John Keats in Bright Star, Paul Bettany’s portrayal of The Origins of Species scribe Charles Darwin in Creation, Matt Damon’s humorous role as whistle blower Mark Whitcare in The Informant, Nicholas Cage’s role as a bad cop in The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, and Clive Owen’s dramatic role as a single father raising two sons in The Boys Are Back.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Although I preferred Woody Harrelson’s performance in The Messenger over Best Supporting Actor-winner, Christophe Waltz, a few supporting actors were left out. Harrelson gave another superb performance as the tough, zombie-killing Tallahassee in Zombieland. The Soloist had a second phenomenal performance with Robert Downey Jr., as he was great as Foxx’s friend, newspaper columnist Steve Lopez.
BEST ACTRESS – Sandra Bullock may have one the Best Actress Oscar, but many other phenomenal actresses were snubbed from that category. Not one, but two Amelia Earhart’s: Hillary Swank’s biographical portrayal (Amelia), and Amy Adams’ humorous version (Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian), did not earn a nomination, nor did Abbie Cornish for portraying poet John Keats’ lover, Fanny Brawne, in Bright Star. Renee Zellweger portrayed George Hamilton’s mother in My One and Only, Emily Blunt portrayed Queen Victoria in The Young Victoria, Ellen Page played roller derby Hurl Scout, Babe Ruthless in Whip It, and a huge snub, Drew Barrymore, was phenomenal as Edith Bouvier Beale (Jackie Onassis’ first cousin) in the HBO film, Grey Gardens.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Although Mo’Nique may have deservedly taken home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Precious, while not many were snubbed, there were other great supporting actresses this year. Penelope Cruz may have gotten nominated for her seductive role in Nine, but she was not the best out of seven women, as Kate Hudson, Fergie, and Marion Cotillard had better musical performances. Cotillard was also just as good in Public Enemies where she portrayed Dillinger’s lover, Billie Frechette. The Academy may not fancy comedies that much, but Bettie White’s performance as the hilarious grandma Annie in The Proposal was so memorable, it was Oscar-worthy, and so was Julianne Moore’s serious performance in A Single Man.
BEST DIRECTOR – If the Academy can honor people like Oscar winner, Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), then why not also honor talented directors Clint Eastwood (Invictus), and Peter Jackson (The Lovely Bones), or even newcomers Drew Barrymore (Whip It), and fashion designer, Tom Ford (A Single Man) as they all did fantastic jobs in directing great movies.
BEST DOCUMENTARY – In a year where there seemed to be many great documentaries (the anti-dolphin slaughter piece, The Cove, was the winner), hardly any were recognized for the Oscar. While documentaries about Mike Tyson (Tyson), Michael Moore’s view on the economy (Capitalism: A love Story), the history of the electric guitar (It Might Get Loud), a band called Anvil (Anvil! The Story of Anvil), and the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine (The September Issue), all seemed to lose a nomination, the biggest disappointment would have to be the late Michael Jackson’s posthumous concert film, This Is It, which after seeing it, I expected it to receive at least a Best Documentary nomination.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE – Well, at least they got four out of five right when Up (which was the winner), The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Coraline, and The Princess and the Frog, were all nominated but why nominate an independent film from Ireland, The Secret of Kells, which hardly anyone has heard of? Since the Golden Globe nomination instead went to Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, I was expecting it to fill in the last Oscar slot or perhaps 9, A Christmas Carol, Monsters v Aliens, or most likely Disney’s other hand-drawn fantasy, Ponyo (which was the inspiration for The Little Mermaid) to be nominated for the fifth Animated Feature Oscar slot.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM – While foreign language films are sometimes hard to come across in the United States, the ones that came to my mind for Best Foreign Language Film, were left out of the Oscar category and the winner, The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentine), I have never even heard of. A few, however, had phenomenal acting such as Coco Before Chanel (France) starring Audrey Tautou as fashion designer Coco Chanel, and Broken Embraces (Spain) starring Penelope Cruz as an actress who has an affair with a famous film director, and The Maid (Spain) starring Catalina Saaverdra as a common house maid, and they all were forgotten.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – Few films are original nowadays. While the nominations for Best Original Screenplay are, in fact, original (The Hurt Locker, which is just another war movie, was the winner), I was hoping for films that went beyond originality. For (500) Days of Summer and Moon, as slow as the stories progressed, they were very original. While critics seemed to quickly forget the comical Gentlemen Broncos, after seeing the trailer (which consists of an author’s fantasy story being made into a movie), my first thought was, “As weird as this looks, it sure seems original.” Also snubbed for a Best Original Screenplay nomination were Zombie land, and The Imaginarium or Dr. Parnassus.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – It’s too bad that today, practically every film is an adapted screenplay because while the Academy could only nominate five (the winner was Precious), there were many forgotten. Both The Fantastic Mr. Fox (which gradually expanded the book’s simple story), and Where the Wild Things Are (which, as boring as it was, did do a great job of adapting from the book) were adapted from best-selling children’s books, and more serious films such as Taking Woodstock, Whip It, Julie and Julia, Invictus, The Road, and The Lovely Bones were also adapted, this time from best-selling novels. And let’s not forget Watchmen, which did an amazing job at adapting the best-selling graphic novel.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – As much as I love a good movie soundtrack, the score can sometimes be just as amazing. This year, four great scores were chosen: Avatar, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Hurt Locker, Sherlock Holmes, and Up (which was the winner). However, a few great scores were forgotten: The Soloist, Nine, Invictus, The Lovely Bones, and Taking Woodstock. A big snub in my opinion is Karen O (from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and the Kids, who created a wild but unique score for Where the Wild Things Are.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG – As one who is still waiting for Bruce Springsteen’s Oscar for his song, The Wrestler, I was glad that T-Bone Burnett won the Oscar this year for The Weary Kind from Crazy Heart. However, other songs were forgotten such as two new songs created for the movie, Nine (Guarda La Luna sung by Sophia Loren and Cinema Italiano sung by Kate Hudson), Michael Jackson’s last song, This Is It (Michael Jackson’s This Is It), Paul McCartney’s I Want to Come Home (Everybody’s Fine), U2’s Winter (Brothers), Leona Lewis’ I See You (Avatar), and the comical Stu’s Song from The Hangover.
BEST COSTUME – While I do agree on the five movies nominated for Best Costume (Bright Star, Coco Before Chanel, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Nine, and the winner, The Young Victoria), there were quite a few left out. Movies like Public Enemies, Sherlock Holmes, and Creation, seemed to consist of nothing but olden-era costumes (fedoras, suits, elegant dresses) while Watchmen consisted of superhero outfits that were each unique in their own way (even if one did resemble Batman’s), and Where the Wild Things Are used large, furry suits supplied by the Jim Henson Company to create the “Wild Things.”
BEST MAKEUP – In my opinion, the Academy really screwed up with the makeup category. I can see why Star Trek won, as the makeup involved with the Romulans was pretty great, but Il Divo and The Young Victoria? Another foreign movie hardly anyone has heard of and a film that uses all it’s makeup for hair! What about nominating movies where makeup was actually used on faces, such as the phenomenal use of it to age Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange in the HBO movie, Grey Gardens, to mutate Wikus’ arm into a prawn’s in District 9, to turn an elderly lady into a hideous gypsy and complete the horror ambiance seen in Drag Me to Hell, or to “zombiefy” most of the human population in Zombieland.
TECHNICAL CATEGORIES – There are about six different categories that revolve around the technical parts of movies (art direction, sound editing, sound mixing, visual effects, film editing, and cinematography), and this year, it seems either Avatar or The Hurt Locker won every single one. Well, Watchmen has it’s own blue person, and other visual wonders that frequent the movie such as a giant contraption built on Mars, a white tiger with antennae, and a giant airship that resembles an owl. Another huge use of CGI and special effects was Peter Jackson’s use of it to create Susie’s “in-between” world in The Lovely Bones. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was only nominated for cinematography when it deserved more technical nominations, and Terminator: Salvation, 2012, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and even G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (which, as overdone as it was, had great visual effects) all failed to receive a single nomination in any technical category, and for what? Blue people, Nazi-fighters, bomb squads, and Michael Bay’s giant robots that already won Oscars a few years ago. In my opinion, since there are so many technical categories, the films nominated should be diversified, not the same ones for each category.
