by Nathaniel R
A lot of people -- including me! -- wanted to see Delroy Lindo nominated
Cláudio will be sounding off on the "almost there" class of 2020 soon but until then, let's get the disappointments out of our system before we concentrate on enjoying the rest of the Oscar race, which has now entered it's second phase.
Here's to the fallen! Which misses on Oscar nom morning -- our Christmas! -- are the closest things to coals in your stocking? I'll start with the five I (virtually) weep for outside of the acting categories...
5. Florian Zeller missing in Best Director
Though we've been fans of Another Round's Thomas Vinterberg for 22 years (starting with the incredible Celebration in 1998) we were hoping for Zeller to be the surprise nominee. Of all the play-to-movie adaptations this year, his was the one that most succeeded in reinventing itself as cinema. But his work was subtle and therefore unlikely. But let's end with a happy thought: The Best Director nominations are quite fabulous this year in multiple ways so this is a very minor sorrow AND Zeller is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay so he is still being honored for this great movie.
4. First Cow missing for Adapted Screenplay OR Palm Springs missing in Original
Either of these well loved pictures landing in screenplay -- they're both nominees right here -- would have reminded audiences that great cinema can happen at any time of the year. Greatness need not wait around until Oscar campaigning begins. Both were beauifully written and superior to a few of the Academy chosen.
3. Multiple Short Films.
This year we were able to screen 27 of the 30 finalists for the three short film categories and we're actually quie disappointed in the sets of nominees chosen. That's especially true for Kapaemahu in Animated an evocative short about transgender spirits and Hawaiian mythology (two of the ten finalists in that category were queer but both LGBT options missed the nomination), Speed Cubers in doc short which should have won handily but didn't even score a nod (must have been too happy for the Academy in the category often focused on misery) and Almodovar's The Human Voice in live action which really towers over most of the selections in artistry.
2. Promising Young Woman missing in Best Costume Design
We knew this was unlikely despite the CDG nomination. Oscar only very rarely acknowledges that contemporary films employ designers of any kind. But costuming superbly in modern era films is not a piece of cake and there's so many fun detail in these choices -- we especially love the progressive saturation of pink florals as Cassie starts dropping her guard around the new man in her life.
1. Welcome to Chechnya missing for Visual Effects
It's quite disappointing that Oscar's VFX branch went as traditional and CG cartoon as they could, ignoring the only VFX work that was literally life changing and will continue to be used and developed for future documentaries. It was the very best of the 10 finalists but wasn't even granted a nomination. This miss truly stings.