It was a packed day in Hollywood with a few exceptions. Netflix and Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front would win an astonishing nine nominations, dominating not only in the Best International Film category, but also appearing to be a real contender for Best Picture following a string of technical awards. Similarly, Andrea Dominik's Blonde is still an Oscar-nominated film, with Ana de Armas pulling out a surprise nomination for Best Actress.
So for many people, especially those on Netflix, awakening Tuesday morning is a wonderful experience. However, every Oscar season also brings the famous Oscar snubs, and this year some of the most significant films of the year were slammed or at least partially ignored.
Tom Cruise was not nominated for Best Actor for his role in Top Gun: Maverick after half a year of being endorsed by studios and producers. (including by holding it up for two years until moviegoing established a strong foundation for a massive box office run), according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
After Cruise was similarly dismissed in the Best Actor category at the Screen Actor Guild Awards, Cruise was passed over in favor of Adam Sandler's work in Aftersun (bizarre after Sandler was himself snubbed by SAG three years ago for his magnificent performance in Uncut Gems). Despite Maverick's efforts in snubbing, we doubt the film's ability to deceive its way to the top prize of the night is dwindling.
Steven Spielberg's semi-autobiography about his childhood and parents won many awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and a Best Actress nomination for Michelle Williams... and Paul Dano did not. Yet Hirsch, who hasn't been nominated for an Oscar since 1981's Ordinary People, may have canceled Dano out, especially since Brian Tyree Henry had a surprise nomination in the category due to his involvement in Causeway.
De Armas becoming an Oscar nominated performer for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in Damien Chazelle's Babylon may have influenced other contenders. It wasn't until the SAG nominations that most began to suspect she'd be passed over for de Armas in an even more divisive portrayal of old Hollywood.
Andrea Riseborough was nominated for To Leslie, apparently based solely on a grassroots effort of friends and colleagues supporting the performance. The first and more spectacular was Viola Davis' impressive transformation into an African warrior in The Woman King, although it's equally shocking that Danielle Deadwyler's stunning performance as Mamie Till-Mobley was completely ignored in Chinonye Chukwu's Till.
Despite the Academy's selection of Sarah Polley for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, neither woman was nominated in the Best Director category. This is particularly striking because the Academy has awarded two women for the coveted award in the previous two years: Chloé Zhao for Nomadland and Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog.
Even as the Academy's special effects package reached $2 billion this past weekend, James Cameron was notably snubbed for directdirecting Avatar: The Way of Water. This may indicate a drop in respect for Cameron, who was once considered one of the two frontrunners in this category for the first Avatar.
Avatar: The Way of Water was nominated for Best Picture, a category that mostly ran smoothly as expected. Despite support from below-the-line Academy members, the film was a box office failure and a divisive one at that. Notably, Brad Pitt was also snubbed in the Best Supporting Actor category, joining Robbie and the film itself as receiving the cold shoulder above the line.
The Cinderella tale around S.S. Rajamouli's RRR sadly never came true. For the barn burning "Naatu, Naatu," it is doomed to be slashed with only one nomination. Then again, Park Chan-wook's stunning Decision to Leave was inexplicably snubbed in the Best International Film category.
The entire list of nominees is given below.
Best Picture
"All Quiet on the Western Front""Avatar: The Way of Water""The Banshees of Inisherin""Elvis""Everything All at Once""The Fabelmans'"Tár""Top Gun: Maverick""Triangle of Sadness""Women Talking"
Best Directorial
Martin McDonagh "Everything All at Once" Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert "The Fabelmans" Steven Spielberg "Tár" Todd Field "Triangle of Sadness" Ruben stlund "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Austin Butler in "Elvis"Colin Farrell in "The Banshees of Inisherin"Brendan Fraser in "The Whale"Paul Mescal in "Aftersun"Bill Nighy in "Living"
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett in "Tár"Ana de Armas in "Blonde"Andrea Riseborough in "To Leslie"Michelle Williams in "The Fabelmans"Michelle Yeoh in "Everything Everything All at Once"
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Brendan Gleeson in "The Banshees of Inisherin"Judd Hirsch in "The Fabelmans"Barry Keoghan in "The Banshees of Inisherin"Ke Huy Quan in "Everything All at Once"
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Angela Bassett in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"Hong Chau in "The Whale"Kerry Condon in "The Banshees of Inisherin"Jamie Lee Curtis in "Everything Everywhere All at Once"Stephanie Hsu in "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Best Costume Design
"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" "Everything Everything at once" "Mrs. Harris Visits Paris"
Best Sound
"All Quiet on the Western Front""Avatar: The Way of Water""The Batman""Elvis""Top Gun: Maverick"
Original Score for Best
Volker Bertelmann "Babylon," Justin Hurwitz "The Banshees of Inisherin," Carter Burwell"Everything All at One" Son Lux"The Fabelmans" John Williams
Best Adapted Screenplay
Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, and Ian Stokell "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" Written by Kazuo Ishiguro "Top Gun: Maverick" Screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie "Women Talking" Screenplay by Sarah Polley
Original Screenplay: The Best
Martin McDonagh's "The Banshees of Inisherin" Written by Steven Spielberg and Daniel Scheinert"The Fabelmans" Written by Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner"Tár" Written by Todd Field"Triangle of Sadness" Written by Ruben stlund
Best Live-Action Short Film
Tom Berkeley and Ross White“Ivalu” Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan“Le Pupille” Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón“Night Ride” Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen“The Red Suitcase” Cyrus Neshvad
Best Animated Short Film
Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud“The Flying Sailor” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby“Ice Merchants” Joo Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano“My Year of Dicks” Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Believe It” Lachlan Pendragon
Best Animated Film
"Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On" "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" "The Sea Beast""Turning Red"
Original Song: The Best
“Lift Me Up” from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"„Naatu Naatu" from "RRR"“This Is A Life" from "Everything All At Once";
Best International Feature Film
Germany "All Quiet on the Western Front" Argentina "Close" Belgium"EO" Poland"The Quiet Girl" Ireland
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
"All Quiet on the Western Front" "The Batman" "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" "Elvis" "The Whale"
Best Production Design
"All Quiet on the Western Front""Avatar: The Way of Water""Babylon""Elvis"The Fabelmans"
Best Cinematography
"All Quiet on the Western Front" "Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths""Elvis""Empire of Light""Tár"
The Best Visual Effects
"All Quiet on the Western Front""Avatar: The Way of Water""The Batman""Black Panther: Wakanda Forever""Top Gun: Maverick"
Best Documentary Feature
"All That Breathes""All the Beauty and the Bloodshed""Fire of Love""A House Made of Splinters" "Navalny"
Shortest Documentary Subject
Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga“Haulout” Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev“How Do You Measure a Year?” Jay Rosenblatt“The Martha Mitchell Effect” Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison“Stranger at the Gate” Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
Editing for Films: The Best
"The Banshees of Inisherin""Elvis""Everything All at Once""Tár""Top Gun: Maverick