This year’s Oscars nominations have now been revealed, with a load of big-name stars and films from the last 12 months being recognised by the Academy, from Lady Gaga and Olivia Colman to Rami Malek and Mahershala Ali.
And while we have to say we’re disappointed that a few of our faves failed to make the cut, we were also left breathing a sigh of relief at a few pleasant surprises on the Academy Awards shortlist.
Here’s our list of surprises, snubs and things to note from this year’s list of nominees…
SURPRISE: ‘Black Panther’
Best Picture
We are so, so relieved.
It feels like ‘Black Panther’ was released aaaages ago, so even though there was a lot of awards buzz when it first hit cinemas, we were a little concerned that when Oscars o’clock ticked around, it might have slipped from the Academy’s mind.
Fortunately this is not the case and while we were disappointed that Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan and the many fantastic women from the cast are missing from the acting categories, ‘Black Panther’ being able to boast that it’s the first superhero film to ever be nominated for Best Picture is pretty cool.
In total, the film landed seven nominations in categories including Best Score, Best Costume Design and Best Original Song, for Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s ‘All The Stars’.
SURPRISE: ‘Roma’
Best Film, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress
Rising star Yalitza Aparicio shines as the lead in Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Roma’, so we were disappointed when she didn’t get recognition at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Thankfully, the Academy has pulled through, not just for Yalitza, but also her co-star Marina de Tariva, with both actresses landing their first ever Oscar nominations for their respective turns in ‘Roma’.
With 10 nominations, ‘Roma’ is the joint most-nominated Oscars film of 2019, along with ‘The Favourite’, marking the first time a Netflix original production has landed a coveted Best Picture shortlist spot.
What’s more, producer Gabriela Rodriguez is the first Hispanic woman to ever receive a Best Picture nod, while Yalitza’s nomination marks only the second time that an actress has been recognised for a debut performance in a language that wasn’t English.
SNUB: Timothée Chalamet
Best Supporting Actor
Everyone in the Best Supporting Actor category might as well get their “gracious losing face” ready, because that award is ‘Green Book’ star Mahershala Ali’s for the taking.
But still, we were surprised to see Timothée Chalamet not even in the running, given how critically lauded his performance in ‘Beautiful Boy’ has been so far, earning him recognition at the SAG Awards and Golden Globes.
Timothée was previously nominated last year for his leading role in ‘Call Me By Your Name’, but eventually lost out to Gary Oldman.
SNUB: Viola Davis
Best Actress
Really, Viola Davis should be at Meryl Streep levels of getting an Oscar nomination just for turning up to a film set, but alas it seems that status is still to come.
Seriously, though, ‘Widows’ was a really strong film, and we’re disappointed it didn’t get a single nomination, particularly for its always-impressive leading actress.
SNUB: Bradley Cooper
Best Director
Bradley Cooper probably shouldn’t be too put out, as ‘A Star Is Born’ has done very well in terms of Oscar nominations, landing nods in the Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Song, Best Cinematography and Best Sound Mixing (the one everyone really wants) categories.
Still, the fact it’s racked up so many nominations elsewhere makes Bradley’s absence from the list of directors all the more glaring…
SNUB: Toni Collette
Best Actress
We get it, the Academy has been known in the past to turn their noses up at horror films, but Toni Collette quite literally acted her head off in ‘Hereditary’, and part of us was holding out hope that her top-notch acting might have translated to an Oscar nomination.
Sadly, this was not the case, and our feelings about this are pretty much reflected in the photo above.
Interestingly, Toni’s only other Academy Award nod was for her role in another horror film, ‘The Sixth Sense’, though she eventually lost out to Angelina Jolie for ‘Girl, Interrupted’..
SNUB: Tilda Swinton
Best Supporting Actress
See above: but once again, regardless of your feelings towards the horror genre, there was no mistaking that Tilda Swinton’s performance in ‘Suspiria’ was award-worthy.
She even made a convincing old man (a role for which she had intended to go uncredited, until she was rumbled shortly before the film’s release), which is worthy of at least an Oscar nomination, surely.
SURPRISE: Richard E Grant
Best Supporting Actor
If you haven’t been keeping a close eye on awards season so far, it might have escaped your attention that Richard E Grant has been impressing pretty much everyone and now the band manager from ‘Spice World’ can now add “Oscar nominee” to his CV.
He’s currently starring in ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ opposite Melissa McCarthy, who landed her second Academy Award nomination (and first in the Best Actress category) for her role.
SNUB: ‘Mary Poppins Returns’
Best Film, Best Actress
Listen, we know that the odds of a Disney sequel, particularly one released 50 years after the original film, was always going to be a bit of a tough sell to the Academy, but after being completely won over by ‘Mary Poppins Returns’, we thought she might have cast her spell on them, too.
The film has been recognised for its costume, score and the gorgeous song ‘The Place Where Lost Things Go’, but it’d have been nice to see Emily Blunt following in her predecessor Julie Andrews’ practically perfect footsteps and at least landing a nomination.
As it stands, Emily is yet to be nominated for an Oscar, but she does already have a Bafta, Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award to her name, so things could be worse.
SURPRISE: Glenn Close
Again, if you’ve been following awards season this year, it’s probably no great surprise that Glenn Close has been nominated, as she’s already cleaned up at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice ceremonies (though at the latter, she was actually tied for Best Actress with Lady Gaga).
Now, don’t get us wrong, we love us some Yalitza, but if we could only root for one of this year’s Best Actress nominees, it would probably be for Glenn, if for no other reason than she’s the living actor with the most Oscar nominations and zero wins. Surely 2019 can be her year, right..?
SNUB: Nicole Kidman
Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress
Nicole had not one but two chances at an Oscar nomination this year, taking the lead in the crime drama ‘Destroyer’, as well as her supporting role in ‘Boy Erased’, which tells the true story of a young man whose parents send him to gay conversion therapy in America.
Sadly, neither led to Academy Award nominations for Nicole, meaning she and her unique applause stylings will most likely be absent from the ceremony this year.
In fact, despite being touted as a big awards draw for 2019, it came as a bit of a shock to us that ‘Boy Erased’ hasn’t racked up a single nomination at this year’s Oscars.
Leading man Lucas Hedges – who was lauded in 2018 for his stints in ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ – missed out on a Best Actor nod, while even Troye Sivan’s ‘Revelation’, which landed a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song, wound up being overlooked by the Academy.
SURPRISE: ‘Ready Player One’, ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ and ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
Best Visual Effects
Yep, thanks to the Special Effects category, all of these critically… *ahem* divisive films can now boast that they’re Oscar nominees.
