RIP Oscar Hopeful (Dec 2nd, 2010 - Jan 25th, 2011)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 2:49PM For the next month everyone including everyone here at The Film Experience will be fawning all over the twenty thespians lucky enough to be Oscar nominated as well as another few handfuls of people in various races that people will be honoring/discussing/interviewing. But snubs are what has to happen when Oscar goes gaga for the films they go gaga for in multiple categories each year. Quoth the Coen Bros this morning...
“Ten seems like an awful lot. We don't want to take anyone else's."
-Joel & Ethan Coen responding to the True Grit nominations.
So our condolescences to all the industry professionals whose hard work went unrewarded this morning. Not everyone can be nominated.
THE MAJOR SNUBS
And we mean "snub" in the sense of films or performances many thought would place. Qualitative snubbing is a different discussion with some overlap depending on one's own opinion.
Mila Kunis (Black Swan) joins Cameron Diaz in that rare list of beauties who've been Globe and SAG nominated but have not gone on to an Oscar nomination. Was it going down on that sweet girl Natalie Portman? Was it merely that the Academy just wasn't as into Black Swan as precursor voting bodies were? Was fellow Swan snubee Barbara Hershey also pulling a significant amount of votes away? Was it Black Swan fatigue? It has been omnipresent for over a month now.
How she could console herself: Her electric but relaxed life force in the movie -- as Nick recently observed how often does someone seem "casual" yet still impresses in an Aronofsky movie? -- will undoubtedly endear her to auteurs. She doesn't seem at all fearless, does she? And she's 27, the idealish age for actressy job offers.
Next up: Friends With Benefits (2011) another showdown of sorts with Natalie Portman given that Portman is in theaters right now with similarly themed movie.
Robert Duvall (Get Low) was, for some time, looking at his 7th nomination for playing an eccentric hermit who stages his own funeral party. Perhaps the mellow film t'was what undid him; eccentric hermits should possibly come with more eccentric films? Perhaps it was the release date though I'm always loathe to suggest that every film should wait until late in the year too appear and the early release date sure didn't hurt Jacki Weaver or Toy Story 3 or The Kids Are All Right team. Maybe it was just too many men in the running and Jeff Bridges's blocking the Great American Actor establishment vote?
How he could console himself: nomination or no, he's still one of the most rewarded and legendary actors of American cinema.
Next up: Seven Days in Utopia (2011), a sports drama with Melissa Leo and his Get Low co-star Lucas Black
Christopher Nolan (Inception) is beloved by his peers in the Director's Guild but not beloved by the tiny percentage of his peers in the Director's Branch of AMPAS. He's now won 3 DGA nominations (Memento, The Dark Knight, Inception) none of which were converted to Oscar nominations. This is a very uncommon situation though Rob Reiner must know how he feels after three similar golden cliff dives for Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men.
How he could console himself: He's still an Oscar nominee (Screenplay, though he's a better director than a writer so that's a bit...odd) and with his vast fortunes, he could probably buy the Academy and reshape it in his own image. Plus: If his populist appeal continues he's easily looking at a Steven Spielberg like trajectory with Oscar wherein as soon as he makes a film in a genre they love (World War II? Dramatic Story Without Genre Elements?) they will shower him with gold.
Next up: The Dark Knight Rises (2012) the casting for which we just discussed.
Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) provided his zeitgeisty movie with a beating everyman heart. But today it was life imitating art.
You're going to get left behind!
How he could console himself: Every little boy dreams of being a superhero but he gets to do it; nobody else gets to be the new Peter Parker/ Spider-Man. There's that plus the multiple offers that will be coming his way after a meteoric rise these past two years with four films that greatly benefitted from his gifts (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Red Riding Hood, Never Let Me Go, and The Social Network)
Next up: Spider-Man (2012) though we suspect that he'll film something else right after it and see that released before the webslinger arrives.
Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine) he may be the best actor of his generation but Oscar likes their Best Actor nominees to be closer to middle age. This year the field was already pushing the limits of their invisible age barriers with Jesse Eisenberg and James Franco both in the mix.
How he could console himself: Hey Girl, whenever he plays the romantic lead, his co-star gets tons of attention and great reviews (Kirsten Dunst, Rachel McAdams and Michelle Williams) which means that every actress in his age range wants him. I mean wants to co-star with him.
Next up: Crazy Stupid Love a romantic comedy with an all star cast, Drive a dramatic action flick with Carey Mulligan and the stage adaptation The Ides of March with an all star cast of Oscar nominees plus Evan Rachel Wood
Finally...
Though the following films were not really expected to place in a major way they came up with ZERO nominations despite a hefty presence involving one specific category or another in the discussions this year. The zero tally films:
- Conviction - had an outside shot at two acting races. Nothing materialized.
- Made in Dagenham -seemed like a supporting actress & costume option early on.
- Never Let Me Go -seemed like it had a shot at Original Score.
- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World -was never going to place but that's not for lack of worthiness, particular in the visual effects department where the artists had so much fun with the vidgame stylizations.
- Shutter Island -seemed like it could get anywhere from zero to 5 nominations what with its busy much lauded below the line talent. Zero was the correct answer.
Apart from these former hopefuls, who were you most sad for this morning?
Reader Comments (66)
Ryan Gosling... best male performance of the year, give or take Bale
That's pretty ridiculous that Nolan is held to some kind of standard that so many directors of leeser stock than him aren't. He's never been nodded for his directing, but Stephen Daldry, Opie, Jason Reitman, Lee Daniels, Taylor Hackford are? It just boggles the mind. Horrible genre bias that really needs to stop already. It's silly and petty and makes voters look like out-of-touch relics.
Twenty years ago the Best Actress prize went to a horror movie. Twenty years ago Annette Bening lost. I’m so in love with Jeff Bridges right now – I don’t care what his detractors say he’s America and the Academy’s favorite thing. Colin Firth represents twenty years ago when Jeremy Irons won. Melissa Leo is Whoopi – recently lost a bid at Best Actress wins Supporting.
A few thoughts...
- Did Chris Nolan run over the Academy's dog or something? You'd think he'd finally get some recognition for... oh... making The Dark Knight, Memento, Inception, Batman Begins... but not a crumb. At least they threw a nod for the complex screenplay, even if it didn't contain a lot of memorable dialogue (but many memorable ideas).
- Nice to see Javier Bardem get in. I'm thinking the Academy may have done this to be P.C. because otherwise it would have been 20/20 for Whites in the acting categories. They were probably tempted like hell to nominate Ryan Gosling for his amazing work in Blue Valentine, but the cultural factor helped Javier. I always love him and hope the movie opens soon nearby.
-Julianne will get her Oscar some day, and I'm kind of glad she's not nominated again in a year she can't win. I think Academy will finally nominate her when they really think she has a shot at the gold... In this crowded year, with Annette and Natalie the only real possibilities, it would have just been another bittersweet loss.
-VERY disappointing about Andrew Garfield... he was the heart of that film, and did a really great job - MUCH better work than the lackluster performance from Mark Ruffalo as Mark Ruffalo (Sorry! I loved him in You Can Count On Me, but not so much here), or Jeremy Renner's solid but not award-worthy work. John Hawkes was a nice surprise, but I feel the movie was terribly overrated.
-Thought we might get a surprise with Barbara Hershey. I KNEW Mila Kunis wasn't Oscar-ready... least-surprising snub of the year... Its between Melissa and Hailee now. I'm really interested to see how that turns out.
-In a very sad story, one of the very best (possibly the best) performances of the year... Lesley Manville in Another Year, goes unnoticed. I was a bit surprised because they're usually so generous to Mike Leigh, and thought perhaps they would want to atone for snubbing Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky in 2008, but alas...
I have enjoyed all the films and performances so much this year that it is hard to complain about anything. For Mila, I think the performance itself is the reward. She's always been good, but she was great in Black Swan and that will serve her well going forward. She'll be back. The Garfield snub is a big one for me, but frankly, he should have been nominated for Never Let Me Go. Still don't understand why that film didn't get more attention. He'll be back. I'm thrilled for Michelle Williams, and maybe I'm in the minority, but I do think she was luminous in Blue Valentine -- the girl chooses some seriously tough roles and I'm glad she's being reward for being gutsy. Ryan will be back. The only one that bugs me (besides The Town getting anything) is the absence of Lesley Manville. I mean, imagine what that's going to do to poor Mary! Just saw it on Sunday, and that performance is so raw and so powerful, Lesley deserved a category all to herself. Okay, so I'm also disappointed that Ghost Writer and Made in Dagenham were ignored. Both delightful films, but not everything can be nominated. I think I missed the point of Scott Pilgrim. Amused to see Hereafter get in as I thought that film was very odd, but the tsunami was pretty good.
I guess the Gosling snub is more surprising because enough people saw Blue Valentine to nominate Williams and she is in arguably the stronger category this year with stiffer competition. Did they really need to nominate Jeff Bridges again so soon ?
Mila Kunis, I think there is a feeling that maybe this will be her 'best shot' at getting one, depending on how she manages her career from now on.
You're the best, Julia! I knew you could use that mouth of yours for good when you wanted to!
Besties forever,
Javier
did not know that cameron diaz has had the globe-sag combo lead to nada at the oscars twice now - for john malkovich and vanilla sky.
personally, i think she should have been nominated for theres something about mary.
HappyMOD APK is a trusted medium of providing workable and 100% secure modified files for any app that you wish to download.Mod is a modified version of any file that has improved and additional features.
Apkmodpro is the best online platform to download the latest android mod apk and games for free. It has a massive collection of trending and popular android apps & games.
Thanks for sharing this info also check this new UK lottery result.thunderball results for tonight
An application that looks great, everything is very neat, looks very attractive to the eyes, and I have a great entertainment application that I often use after tiring working hours I will recommend for you dead trigger 2 mod apk
This information is really good. I want more posts like this. Apk Mod app gives you completely free games with many new functions
perfect article. see more free apk mod apps for you to entertain
Thank you for the article. Download roja directa pirlo tv on Android to your device to enjoy relaxing moments with attractive football matches
We have compiled the best online games you can play right now you can check out Unblocked Games to discover today's most popular games.