Oscar Snubs 2018: The One That Was Deserved, And The Ones That Weren't

By Tori Preston | Film | January 23, 2018 |

Well, it finally happened. After months of speculation, the Academy Award nominations have been announced — and we ain’t mad! They got a lot of things right! Both Jordan Peele AND Greta Gerwig cracked the Best Director category, and that right there is cause for celebration. Not to mention the fact that both of their lead actors, Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya and Lady Bird’s Saoirse Ronan, also got nominated for Best Actor/Actress.

Overall it seems like a balanced pool of nominees, with your old Oscar standbys (Meryl, Denzel, Nolan, PTA) rubbing shoulders with an exciting crop of newcomers.

I just spoke to Daniel. You know when you’re on the phone trying to disguise the sound of an ugly cry? I failed at that.
— Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) January 23, 2018

In other notable news, this year a straight up Oscar snub also seems like a good call to us… because James Franco got shut the fuck out, as an actor and a director. The Disaster Artist got a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, but that’s not on Franco. And while we might be able to chalk this up to the sexual misconduct allegations against Franco, the reality is… well, look at who DID get the nominations for Best Actor and Best Director. Is there anyone you’d want to substitute for Franco? I think the current list of nominees are all deserving of recognition (though to be fair, Oldman has his own history of alleged misconduct), so maybe this is just the way the alleged creep cookie crumbles.

But as the Overlords reflected on the nominations this morning, some overlooked actors and films became apparent, and though we are definitely surprisingly pleased by the nominations… well, let’s get nitpicky, shall we?

Logan

It got a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, which is frankly the best we could have reasonably hoped for. It is, after all, a movie about the X-Men, and specifically about a dude with goddamn claws. But it also is a movie that transcended the superhero genre, and exposed real human (mutant?) pathos. Not to mention the fact that the direction, acting and cinematography were all superb. This wasn’t just a good superhero movie, it was a GREAT film. One of the best films, really! No other movie this year made me ugly-cry, in an emotionally cathartic, weight-lifted-off-my-soul way, the way that Logan did. So yeah, I wish it had gotten recognized in some bigger categories.

Mudbound

Like Logan, Mudbound got a nomination for Adapted Screenplay. And Mary J. Blige got nominated for Best Original Song and as Supporting Actress, so it’s not like this one was overlooked. Really, it fared better than we expected. But goddamn it, Dee Rees is one we would have loved to see in the Director category too.

Call Me By Your Name: The Other Actors

In which we bemoan the fact that Armie Hammer and Michael Stuhlbarg were overlooked for Supporting Actor.

Lego Batman

Really, Oscars? How you gonna nominate fuckin’ Boss Baby and goddamn Ferdinand as Best Animated Feature, and not show some love to the Dark Brick Knight?

Donnie Yen

Best Supporting Actor, xXx: Return of Xander Cage. His sexual chemistry with Vin Diesel was off the hook, and obviously his punching was fucking sick. This was a fucking snub, and that’s the hill I’m prepared to die on. COME AT ME.