Did Black Panther Deserve A Nomination? Did Bradley Cooper Get Snubbed? Breaking Down Oscars Noms...
Did ‘Black Panther’ deserve the nomination for Best Picture? Will it win? Was Bradley Cooper snubbed for Best Director? Those are some of the big questions with the 91st Academy Awards nominations being released earlier this morning (the Oscars, if you’re not a snob) and. As always, there were a handful of surprises. The Academy, despite “diversifying” and trying to change their ways, still managed to swing and miss on a few categories. They’ll never get it perfect, but it is still worth hammering The Academy for some of their nomination choices. Let’s take a look at the snubs and favorites to win…
BEST DIRECTOR
THE SNUBS: The big snub here has to be Bradley Cooper for ‘A Star Is Born’, he was considered one of the Top 3 favorites according to GoldDerby.com to gain a nomination. Had he gotten the nod, he’d have been in the categories of BEST PICTURE, BEST ACTOR and BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY. It could have been a monumental occasion for the career of the Hollywood star, but The Academy picked Adam McKay for ‘Vice’ and Pawel Pawlikowski for ‘Cold War’ instead. I also want to give a little love to Barry Jenkins and ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’, a director and movie who were more than deserving of a nomination in this category.
THE FAVORITE: Had he been nominated, I would have said Bradley Cooper would be the only one to challenge Alfonso Cuaron for ‘Roma’, but, alas, that isn’t the case. It is widely expected that Alfonso Cuaron will win his second BEST DIRECTOR Oscar since 2013, which would also mean Mexican born directors will have won five of the last six years in the category. If Curaon wins the award at the Director’s Guild Award ceremony, this will be a lock and all but over with.
BEST SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL & ADAPTED)
THE SNUBS: There were no real notable snubs in the ADAPTED SCREENPLAY side of things, even though I was surprised ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ wasn’t in the opposite category. Speaking of the ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY category, ‘Eighth Grade’ from Bo Burnham was hands down my biggest snub and maybe the biggest snub for me throughout all nominations. I’ve said it multiple times, but it was an intricate, personal and relatable script that deserves tons of recognition. The only thing that somewhat balances it out for me is the fact that ‘First Reformed’ did get some love with it being the fifth nominee.
THE FAVORITE: Ha, here’s a funny line, ‘The Favourite’ is probably the favorite in the ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY category. ‘Roma’ also has a good shot, as it’s clear from the nominations that The Academy loved the movie. ‘Green Book’ had a lot of steam following the Golden Globes, but the controversies surrounding the movie have most likely derailed its chances. The screenplay award is sometimes a consolation for the losers of the BEST PICTURE category, so, like ‘Roma’, ‘A Star Is Born’ and ‘BlacKkKlansman’ (my favorite) might find themselves in the lead here if the other grabs the night’s top prize. It would also serve as a tip of the cap to Bradley Cooper to give it to ‘A Star Is Born’ after leaving him out of the BEST DIRECTOR category. The consolation point can also be made for ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’, but I have no idea what to really make of its chances after not picking up a BEST PICTURE nomination.
BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
THE SNUBS: None.
THE FAVORITE: It is ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ and it would be a shock to see it not win. You never know with Pixar, which has ‘Incredibles 2’ up, or Wes Anderson, who has ‘Isle of Dogs’ nominated, but I will fucking riot if ‘Spider-Verse’ doesn’t win.
BEST SONG
THE SNUBS: It’s hard to call them snubs because they didn’t really have a chance, but three songs from ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ were worthy of a nomination in my eyes. “Sunflower” by Post Malone, “Home” by Vince Staples and “What’s Up Danger” by Blackway and Black Caviar were all great. Each song had a wonderful integration into the movie and a nomination for any of them would have been great.
THE FAVORITE: It’s “Shallow” by Lady Gaga from ‘A Star Is Born’. She is going to win.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS AND ACTOR
THE SNUBS: The SUPPORTING ACTRESS nominations went as expected, with Claire Foy in ‘First Man’ being the only one who could be considered a snub. In the SUPPORTING ACTOR category, there were a few different actors I felt that deserved a spot in the group of nominees. Many people felt Timothee Chalamet was a snub for his role in ‘Beautiful Boy’, but my biggest snub Daniel Kaluuya in ‘Widows’. He didn’t have much of a chance, but I found his character to be one of the better villains of the year. I also think Michael B. Jordan in ‘Black Panther’ was a bit of a miss, especially over a smaller role like Sam Rockwell in ‘Vice’. With the movie nominated, I think not recognizing the best performance in the movie is a bit strange.
THE FAVORITES: Regina King for ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ is the strong, strong favorite on the female side with the same being said on the male side with Mahershala Ali for ‘Green Book’. Amy Adams for ‘Vice’ has a very small outside shot, but Richard E. Grant for ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ has a bit larger of an outside shot against the former winner in Ali. He was superb in a movie that, thankfully, got a good amount of recognition in the Oscars nomination pool for this year. I also want to note that Sam Elliott for ‘A Star Is Born’ would be a great underdog pick if you’re gambling on the Oscars. If ‘A Star Is Born’ has a big night, which is very possible, I could see Elliott pulling the upset. The SUPPORTING ACTOR category is always prone to upsets.
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BEST LEAD ACTRESS AND ACTOR
THE SNUBS: I would have personally picked Emily Blunt for ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ for a LEAD ACTRESS nomination, but, other than that, there isn’t much anyone can complain about here. Like the SUPPORTING ACTOR category, the LEAD ACTOR category had some snubs. Willem Dafoe was fine ‘At Eternity’s Gate’, but I don’t understand him getting a nomination. He was actually a massive longshot. Ethan Hawke for ‘First Reformed, ‘John David Washington’ for ‘BlacKkKlansman’, ‘Joaquin Phoenix’ for ‘You Were Never Really Here’ and Stephan James for ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ were all far more deserving in my eyes.
THE FAVORITES: This is essentially 50-50 toss-up between Lady Gaga for ‘A Star Is Born’ and Glenn Close for ‘The Wife’. I am sure a smarter person than me has a good theory on Olivia Colman winning for ‘The Favourite’, but I just don’t see it. Currently, I will give the edge to Lady Gaga. The men’s side is also pretty muddied in terms of favorites. Seeing how the rest of award season goes will be key, but the race is between Bradley Cooper for ‘A Star Is Born’, Christian Bale for ‘Vice’ and Rami Malek for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. I feel like Cooper will be on the outside looking in, leaving the race to the two Golden Globes winners (an award show that usually has little-to-no indication on what happens at the Oscars).
BEST PICTURE
THE SNUBS: I don’t have the time two write a list of the 50+ movies I thought were far superior to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, but I will list a few that deserved the BEST PICTURE nomination more:
- ‘Eighth Grade’
- ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’
- ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’
- ‘The Death of Stalin’
- ‘Blindspotting’
- ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’
- ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’
I love Queen. I cannot stand ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. I thought ‘Black Panther’ was great, but the better superhero was ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’, which is unfortunate, because I feel like The Academy decided to nominate ‘Black Panther’ months ago. They expanded to a potential of 10 nominees for a reason, start nominating 10 movies, damnit!
THE FAVORITE: ‘Roma’ was the big nominations winner this morning and I have to lean on that as the current favorite. As I said earlier, ‘Green Book’ might be hurt due to the controversies surrounding its creators, but it still has a chance. ‘A Star Is Born’, ‘BlacKkKlansman’ and ‘The Favourite’ also all have a very good chance at taking home the top prize. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ won’t win, which is enough to make me happy.
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What do you think? Who was snubbed? Who should win? Sound off below or tweet us at @LightsCameraPod. We will go further into the nominations this week on Lights, Camera, Barstool, make sure to subscribe.