Leonardo DiCaprio Didn't Win An Oscar...And That's Okay

Last night something happened that has happened every other single day in history: Leonardo DiCaprio did not win an Oscar.

This has become a bit of a joke amongst movie fans. Despite being one of the most recognizable stars of the screen, DiCaprio has never won an Oscar, and some people (including me) find this particularly hilarious. The thing is that he clearly wants it so badly. He continuously takes on what people refer to as “Oscary” roles, and every year, it feels like there are several projects that have Oscar buzz for Leo, only for him to be left out in the cold come Oscar night. Many jokes have been made. They are all funny.

 

But with the jokes, there is also a genuine consensus that DiCaprio is overdue. He is generally considered the #1 actor to have been snubbed by the Oscars. In reading predictions for this year’s awards—which is a thing I do in my spare time why do you ask doesn’t everybody?—I  saw one reason for why DiCaprio wouldn’t win listed over and over again: that “The Oscars just don’t like him.” And some argued that DiCaprio might “finally” win the award this year. Basically, DiCaprio is seen as an actor who is consistently overlooked time and time again by The Oscars—never getting recognized despite giving superior performances. Sure enough, after McConaughey won the Oscar, there was a wave of people saying that, once again, Leonardo DiCaprio was denied “his award.”

But why? Why have we singled out DiCaprio as forever being the Oscars anti-darling. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great actor, but I have always been confused as to why he’s treated as if this award is more elusive for him than for anyone else. So, I’d like to analyze why I think DiCaprio is really not all that hated by the Academy—at least not to deserve the reputation he has. And I shall pepper this post with multiple pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio looking sad because there are sooooooooo many.

So, so many.

First, let’s start with the Oscar race this year. Now, it’s no secret that I wasn’t a fan of The Wolf ofWall Street, and although DiCaprio gives a strong and committed performance, I think there were better choices to be nominated this year. But even if I loved his performance, there simply wasn’t a precedent for him to win this year. Matthew McConaughey won pretty much every other major award leading up to the Oscars (the exception being the BAFTA, where he wasn’t nominated—and that didn’t go to DiCaprio either, it went to Chiwetel Ejiofor). DiCaprio’s loss this year is not a slight—it was basically expected by everyone.

The fact that he was nominated at all should be a sign that the Oscars don’t hate Leonardo DiCaprio. He has been nominated five times. That’s not too shabby at all. And in such a competitive year, he beat out numerous other buzzed-about performances, including those of Tom Hanks, Forest Whitaker, and Robert Redford. Speaking of Robert Redford, he has been nominated for acting a total of one time in his entire career. And he’s considered a screen legend whose career has spanned considerably more years than DiCaprio. Yeah, DiCaprio hasn’t won yet, but he’s certainly been more recognized than most actors. Some may say, though, that DiCaprio has given consistently strong enough performances throughout the years and that sets him apart—but there are many consistent actors who have fared far worse. Gary Oldman, who it feels like has appeared in every film ever made, has been nominated exactly one time for his efforts. John Malkovich has been nominated twice. Neither has won. To be fair, these actors are not exactly playing the same roles as DiCaprio, but what about some of DiCaprio’s contemporaries? Matt Damon and Ethan Hawke are two tremendous actors who have given many fantastic performances, yet Damon has been nominated for his acting twice, and Hawke has been nominated once. And none of the actors I just mentioned have ever won either. DiCaprio has at least twice as many nominations than any of these actors. And it’s not cliché to say that it’s just an honor to be nominated—it really is. Those nominations are accolades in their own right. the point that I'm making is that DiCaprio might not be as decorated by the Academy as some think he should be, but there are other acclaimed actors who have, in fact, been given less recognition by the Academy.

By the way, Cary Grant—voted by the American Film Institute as the second greatest male movie star of all time, was only nominated for an Oscar twice in his entire career. If he had not been given an honorary Oscar at the end of his life, he would never have won at all.

Some might say, however, that the very fact that he has been nominated so many times and still hasn’t won is indication that the Oscars hate him—that he simply cannot win. But, take a look at DiCaprio’s Catch Me If You Can co-star Amy Adams. She has been nominated five times and never won. Not just that, but those five nominations have been awarded over the span of only eight years. That’s pretty incredible. Yet there is not the same feeling surrounding her that the Oscar keeps falling out of her grasp, as there is with DiCaprio. DiCaprio's Titanic co-star Kate Winslet-- who is perfect in pretty much everything-- didn't win the award until her fifth nomination. And then there’s Meryl Streep. Now, I’m not going to pretend that Streep is not an Oscar darling. After all, she has won an impressive three Oscars (one of only six actors in history to do so). But…she has been nominated eighteen times.  EIGHTEEN! That means she has not won five times more than she has won. And there was a gap of 29 years and twelve nominations between her second and third wins. If DiCaprio wins the Oscar on his next nomination (and considering how much the Academy likes to reward people because it’s “their time,” that’s pretty likely), he will have a better win to nomination ratio than Streep.

And, look at the actors who I have compared to DiCaprio. Notice one thing about them? They're all white. Only four black actors have won Best Actor in a Leading Role in the 86 years the Oscars have been around. That's fewer than the number of nominations DiCaprio has received. And Halle Berry remains the only black actress to have won Best Actress in a Leading Role. I don't want to go into this point too much right now, because it's part of a larger problem that many others have addressed in a much more eloquent way than I ever could, but I felt I had to bring it up.

But then there’s the argument that…it just really really really seems like Leo wants an Oscar. And that’s what makes it seem so elusive for him. But, I’ll let you in on a secret. EVERY ACTOR WANTS AN OSCAR! I mean, take the reigning “Best Actor,” Matthew McConaughey. A few years ago it would have been ridiculous for him to have ever hoped to be an Oscar nominee, let alone a winner, considering the films he was in. But then he started taking on more and more challenging and dramatic roles. Yeah, some of it might have been to further his reputation as an actual artist and prove his acting ability, but I’m sure the thought of an Oscar was in the back of his mind. This is the award that every actor dreams of—not just Leonardo DiCaprio. Of course, with DiCaprio, the sheer quantity of Oscar-baity movies he has been in is ridiculously huge. But, many of those films eventually kind of fizzled out, and any buzz they had faded. The Great Gatsby was at one point considered a Best Picture contender (until it was released). The same goes for DiCaprio-helmed films like J. Edgar and Shutter Island. Perhaps the best example of this, though, is Revolutionary Road, which gained just three nominations despite being heralded the Best Picture frontrunner a year before its release (again, buzz kind of faded as soon it was released. I wonder if this is coincidental or if there is some sort of link).

  

But, then there’s the list of performances that many people think DiCaprio should have been nominated for. In reading about how DiCaprio is constantly snubbed, people mention that it’s “outrageous” that he was not nominated for his work in films like Titanic, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed, J. Edgar, Shutter Island, Inception, and Django Unchained. An impressive lineup, but our memories are definitely distorted here. Let’s look at them one by one. Films like J. Edgar, and Shutter Island were incredibly disappointing and there was never any Oscar buzz surrounding DiCaprio. Titanic and Inception were critically acclaimed films, but certainly not for DiCaprio’s performances. I’m not saying that he’s bad in these, but they’re just not Oscar-worthy roles.  As for  Catch Me If You Can, which strikes me as DiCaprio’s most underrated performance (it’s such an incredible movie and he’s spot-on in it). But, again, it was not expected for him to get nominated here. For this film, he was only nominated for one major award—the Golden Globe, which is hardly the most esteemed of awards. That's hardly a precedent.

The only two non-nominations for Leo which I think can actually be described as “snubs,” are Django Unchained and The Departed. But, again, these were not major upsets. The fact that he wasn’t nominated for Django Unchained is probably considered the biggest snub against him. People bring this up all the time—“How could he not have been nominated for that movie?!” But…again, our memories have been distorted. I think many would be surprised to learn that DiCaprio was, again, only nominated for one major award for his performance in Django Unchained. And, again, that was the Golden Globe. DiCaprio was not snubbed for Django Unchained, he was actively not expected to get a nomination. Sure, there was some minor buzz, but it was as a dark horse, never as a serious contender.

Then there’s The Departed. This time, there was reason to believe that he might have been nominated, having been previously nominated for a BAFTA, a Critic’s Choice Award, and a SAG Award for this role. And also a Golden Globe. But while it was definitely possible for him to have been nominated, look at who was nominated that year. It was a tough year with five great performances being nominated—including DiCaprio’s The Departed co-star Mark Wahlberg. The only surprising nominee of the five was Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children, and even he had some precedent, having been nominated for a SAG Award and giving a truly incredible performance. And this same year, DiCaprio got a nomination in the Best Actor category for Blood Diamond, which might have influenced his lack of a nomination here. While it was a snub, it wasn’t really a major one. As you can see, the preconceived notion that DiCaprio is consistently passed over for a nomination is kind of unfounded.

But, to be fair, the argument isn’t that he can’t get nominated for an Oscar, it’s that he can’t win an Oscar. But, there’s a really good reason he hasn’t won yet. Are you ready for it? The reason he hasn’t won yet is because…he never gave the best performance in any given year. It’s as simple as that. Of course, judging performances is completely subjective business, and some people may think that he did in fact give the best performance in one or more of the years he was nominated. But, given the times he has been nominated for Best Actor, he lost, in turn, to Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland, Jamie Foxx for Ray, and now Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club. Not only are all three strong performances, but all three were HEAVILY FAVORED TO WIN THE AWARD. So, when faced against juggernaut performances like that, how can DiCaprio's not winning possible be seen as a slight against him personally?

The award he had the best chance of winning was for his very first nomination—for Best Supporting Actor in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (which remains, for my money, his best performance).   

I criticized Wolf of Wall Street, and have now spent a whole article not feeling sorry for him, so I felt he needed some deserved praise. As you can see, though, he's still sad.

He lost to Tommy Lee Jones for The Fugitive, which was indeed a bit of a surprise. But, even though Tommy Lee Jones was not the favorite, neither was DiCaprio. The favorite going into the award was Ralph Fiennes for Schindler's List. Once again, DiCaprio was not snubbed—he was actively expected not to win each of these years. Like I said, you may think he deserved to win one, or more than one, of these years. His girlfriend at the time, Gisele Bundchen, famously said that DiCaprio in The Aviator should have won the Oscar of Foxx for Ray. But there is nothing to quantify this. And there is nothing in DiCaprio’s performance that is objectively better than Foxx’s. Foxx was the favorite going in, not DiCaprio, so how can it be a snub when DiCaprio doesn’t win an award he wasn’t expected to win anyway?

 I’m sure that DiCaprio will win an Oscar one day. It’s basically guaranteed. As I already mentioned, the Academy likes to reward people because it’s “their time.” They’re like the GOP that way (also because they’re all old white men). The Departed happened to be a great movie, but Scorsese would have won Best Director that year even if he had released a movie of Jack Nicholson flossing. At this point, the perceived slights against Leonardo DiCaprio have become so pervasive that the consensus is that he’s “due.” And that will win him an award. It’s generally accepted, for example, that Dame Judi Dench’s Oscar for Shakespeare in Love had little to do with her performance in that film (which is basically just a cameo) and everything to do with her not winning for Mrs. Brown. And Leonardo DiCaprio will similarly win an award, and everyone will say that “it’s about time,” and congratulate the Oscars on correcting the error of their ways.

But I think this cheapens the meaning of the Oscars. As flawed as they are—and they really are quite flawed—the idea is that the award should be given to the best performance of the year. Like I’ve said, DiCaprio is an incredible actor, and he has given consistently amazing performances all throughout his career. He has rightfully earned his place as one of the best actors of his generation. But the Oscars are not given to a body of work—they are given to individual performances. DiCaprio gives some great ones, but he simply has not held the distinction of giving the best performance in any given year. That’s why he hasn’t gotten the Oscar. Not because The Oscars hate him, and not because of some grand conspiracy against him. By all means, let’s keep making jokes about how much he wants to win an Oscar, but let’s not take them too seriously. And let’s not pretend that The Oscars are like a Little League game where the winner is whoever “wants it more.” If that were the case, then Lee Daniels’ The Butler would have won Best Picture this year.

He can play happy too! That, my friends, is called "range."

2014 Oscars: Final Thoughts

So, the 86th annual Academy Awards are over. My obsession and overly-thorough analysis of the race is now officially useless information, although, I'm pretty proud of predicting 19/24 categories correctly. And now, all that's left for me is to provide my final thoughts on the ceremony.

And, I have to say, this ceremony was really fantastic. And they were fantastic for one major reason: Ellen DeGeneres. Everyone expected her to be a great host, but she exceeded my already high expectations. There was just a general tone of joviality to the whole evening. And, especially when compared to last year's atrocity of a host, her jokes were never mean-spirited. She was having fun, so were the people in the audience, and so were those of us watching at home. And that's what an awards show should be.

The selfie on twitter idea was genius (and I loved when she pointed out that the fact that it broke a record truly made everyone a winner), and the fact that they ordered pizza was one of the greatest awards moments in history. Seriously, how amazing was that? I will see few things in my life greater than Meryl Streep looking really, really excited about getting a slice of pizza. This summed up, for me, why Ellen is such a great host: she does things just because they're funny.

Nothing will top the pizza for me, but here are some of my thoughts-- both good and bad-- on the night.

Although there were no real upsets in the major awards, there were some upsets in the categories of Best Animated Short Film and Best Live Action Short Film. The frontrunners in these categories did not win, but the best films of the nominees did. Which is a rather beautiful and reaffirming thing. I cheered when Mr. Hublot was announced instead of Get a Horse!. They're great films and see them for yourself-- I think you'll agree that the right films won.

Despite my thoughts on "Let It Go," it's exciting that Bobby Lopez won because he is now an official member of the coveted EGOT club, for those who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. And the speech he and his wife gave accepting the award was pure delight.

The fact that The Great Beauty won Best Foreign Language film means that Italy is now tied with France for the most number of wins in that category.

It's very rare for the director of the Best Picture winner to not win Best Director, which happened again this year. Not only that, but this is the second year in a row that this happened. The last time that these awards were split in two consecutive years was in 1952.

American Hustle, which I really loved but which seems to be getting a lot of criticism lately which I think is rather undeserved, failed to win a single award despite 11 nominations. It is now tied with The Turning Point and The Color Purple for the most nominations a without a win.

The speeches were, for the most part, rather spot on. But I found the speeches by the men of Dallas Buyers Club to be some of the lower points of the night. Jared Leto tried to bring up some important issues-- which I'd always wished he'd done when accepting awards-- but was mentioning issues that had nothing to do with Dallas Buyers Club. At the very end of his rambling speech, he finally mentioned "those out there who have ever felt injustice for who you are," yet still refused to say the word "transgender" when discussing his transgender character. Unbelievable. And then there's Matthew McConaughey who gave a completely meandering and rather incoherent speech. I get that his point was that people should strive to keep being the best version of themselves, but I find it a little odd that he spent the speech not thanking anyone-- and that he views himself as his own hero (even if it is a future version of himself).

Speaking of low points of the evening...John Travolta messing up Idina Menzel's name. What even was that? Did he say "Adela Manzeem?" It was one of the strangest things I've ever seen. It was even worse than the guy on the pre-show red carpet coverage who referred to Julia Roberts as "Jessica."

Interesting note about Best Documentary Feature Film. In my predictions for that category, I dismissed the ultimate winner 20 Feet From Stardom due to its more upbeat nature. But, I found out tonight, there has actually been a change in how this category is voted upon. It used to simply be documentarians voting, but now it's open to more people in the academy, which means it's likely that this category will feature more and more crowd-pleasers as the year goes on. Although, I can't help but feel that The Act of Killing got robbed because of this change.

Back to positives-- I loved the choice to cut the live audio feed while the In Memoriam section was running. I always love that section-- and the opportunity it gives to reflect on the work of so many great artists. But I've always found the applause during that kiiiiiiiiiiinda baffling. I know it's to honor the late, great talent...but it still always feels like "YAY! I'M GLAD THEY'RE DEAD!" So I appreciated that we didn't have to listen to the audience applause over it.

Can we talk about Lupita Nyong'o? She has won multiple awards already for her performance in 12 Years a Slave and has impressed me by giving such incredible speeches every time. Seriously, look them up. In every acceptance speech, she is not only very eloquent and gracious, but she brings up important issues and takes the time she has been given to really make a statement (take note, Leto). And it's always something different. Tonight, however, was the first time we really got to see her get emotional. She was still as poised as always, but she really gave herself time to take in the fact that she won an Oscar, and it was a beautiful and touching thing to see. Similarly, when Steve McQueen spoke after 12 Years a Slave won Best Picture, I love that he gave a really composed and important speech...and then once the serious stuff was out of the way began jumping up and down.

I really want to hear the full speech that Geoffrey Rush gave to honor Angela Lansbury at the Governor's Ball. If the little snippet we heard is any indication, it was incredible.

And, of course, one of my favorite parts of the evening was that The Wolf of Wall Street walked away with nothing. When they were announcing the award for Best Film Editing, they said something like "Without a good editor, a film would be four hours long and not as good as it could have been." That statement reeeeeeeeeeeally made me think of The Wolf of Wall Street. Although, to be fair, it's not the worst film I've seen recently.

So, there we are. A great Oscar ceremony to cap off a really incredible year for film. Sure, the ceremony ran long, but I don't care. It's the Oscars-- it's supposed to run long! And while not all of the video montages (which most likely padded the ceremony and were responsible for its long duration) were all that necessary, they were all quite well done. I don't have much to say because I really enjoyed it-- and it's easier to say things about something that you are ripping to shreds. So, my comments might not be as expansive as they have been in past years, but that's a good thing. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners, and here's to another great year for film in 2014!

2014 Oscar Predictions: Best Picture

So, I promise this blog will focus on other subjects come March when the Oscars are over, but for now, it's still Oscar time and I am in an Oscar frenzy, which means it's time to start with the predictions of who will win the coveted Academy Award. It's almost a month before the Oscars, so things are still subject to change, but despite the wide array of great films this year, things are starting to settle in and the frontrunners in the major awards have already become fairly clear.

I will be releasing my full list of predictions in every category, and to start, here's the big one-- Best Picture.

Nominees:

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Will Win: 12 Years a Slave

Let's start off with the main category of the night, which features a rather incredible lineup of nine films. This is really one of the best list of nominees in a long time. But, of this list, three films have emerged as frontrunners: 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, and Gravity. Expect Gravity to clean up the technical categories-- it's going to rake in a bunch of awards-- and that might give it the edge it would need to take home Best Picture. But, 12 Years and Hustle are the two real contenders here.

Of the two, 12 Years has always been the real frontrunner. An enormous wave of critical acclaim for Hustle pushed it into the spotlight, so that it was a major player in multiple awards ceremonies. And it had a great showing when nominations were announced. Receiving nominations in all four acting categories is no small feat. David O. Russell has done it two years in a row, getting four acting nominations for Hustle and for Silver Linings Playbook last year-- but the last time this had happened was for the film Reds. In 1981. And given Russell's recent string of successes in the past few years, he's seen as an Oscar darling at the moment and the Academy is famous for awarding people when it's "their time." But, despite the near universal acclaim and buzz when American Hustle first premiered, there has since been backlash against the film, with more and more people coming out of the woodwork to declare the film overrated. 12 Years a Slave, meanwhile, is still riding high and seems like a near lock for the prize. Unless something shifts in the next month, it will be named best picture of the year.

A lot of the backlash against American Hustle has been, in my opinion, because people are comparing it to 12 Years a Slave, which I think is incredibly unfair. Both are great films, but both are also incredibly different movies, obviously. Between the two, I actually prefer American Hustle but not because I necessarily think it's a "better" film. It's just the type of film that I personally enjoy more. 12 Years a Slave is a more important film, certainly, and I don't wish to take anything away from it and will be perfectly happy if/when it wins Best Picture. But American Hustle is a smart and slick film, which features a really strong screenplay and great performances all around (while I thought Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o gave some of the best performances of the year, the supporting performances in 12 Years didn't thrill me, while I thought American Hustle had an impeccable performnces from even the smaller roles). Both are great films, and should be celebrated for their many strengths.

Should Win: Philomena

But, honestly, looking at the list of nominees, my personal favorite on the list was the somewhat unexpected nominee Philomena. A charming film which takes an unexpected dark turn, Philomena was one of the most surprising films of the year and I think has the potential to become a classic years from now. It doesn't have any chance of winning, but I encourage everyone to see it if they have not already. It doesn't make as much of a statement as 12 Years a Slave or have the panache of  American Hustle, or the unconventional storytelling techniques of Gravity, but it's also not just a fun fluff piece. It's just a great story that is told wonderfully, with beautiful work from the always amazing Dame Judi Dench, and surprisingly understated work from Steve Coogan.

Should Have Been Nominated: Prisoners

As for which film I think should have been nominated, there are really a lot of options. Many films with Oscar buzz ended up out of the running, such as Inside Llewyn Davis, Rush, Lee Daniels' The Butler, August: Osage County, and Saving Mr Banks. Of these four, the first two are the ones that I feel actually deserved a place on this list. Inside Llewyn Davis is one of the Coen Brothers' best and most intriguing films to date, and Rush is one of the more underrated films in a long time, which could have been a contender had the producers marketed it more wisely.

But my personal favorite film of the year was the now forgotten Prisoners, which is deservedly nominated for Best Cinematography. Prisoners is, at any given moment, a gripping emotional drama, a philosophical puzzle, an expertly crafted mystery, and even a perverse horror film. There had been some minor buzz for Hugh Jackman to win Best Actor, and he is good in the film, but the film features many incredible performances who, I think, outshine the somewhat hammy Jackman in the movie. Jake Gyllenhaal gives a beautifully restrained performance as a beleagured detective, Paul Dano gives an intriguing and devastating performance as the prime suspect in the kidnapping of two children, Melissa Leo is spot-on and intense as Dano's aunt, Terrence Howard and Viola Davis are both great as the friends of Jackman who worry about their friend's behavior, and Maria Bello gives a heart-wrenching performance in a minor role as Jackman's wife who grows withdrawn at the kidnapping of her daughter. It's an unrecognized gem, and I have high hopes that director Denis Villeneuve's next film, Enemy, will match Prisoners in quality and gain recognition. Villeneuve is already well-respected in Canada and, if Prisoners is any indication, he's bound to break into the mainstream in the United States soon.

What are your thoughts? What film will win? What film should win? And what film would have been nominated? Do you agree with me? Do you think I'm way off the mark? Let me know in the comments!

Oscar Nominations: Winners and Losers

People have been telling me for a while that I need to create a film blog, and at long last, I have finally heeded their advice. And I figured that there was no better way to kick off said blog than with a discussion of something about which I care most: The Oscars!

Oscar nominations were released this morning and, while there was not too much that came way out of left field, with such a great year for film and a field that was packed with awards contenders, there were definitely some films which got edged out. So, let's talk about the biggest surprises of the year!

THE SNUBS:

Films: August: Osage County, Lee Daniels' The Butler, Inside Llewyn Davis, Rush, Saving Mr. Banks

These five films had a good amount of Oscar buzz going for them as they approached the Oscar season. The Butler seemed like the most awards-baity awards bait of all time, featuring a standout ensemble cast and an important subject matter. Over time, the buzz faded a bit, but it was still in the running to receive acting nominations for Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey. Not only did Whitaker and Winfrey end up out of the running (which is especially surprising for Winfrey, who many had claimed would win the prize when the film was released), but the film received zero nominations and will be unrepresented on Oscar night. Also unrepresented is Ron Howard's gripping racing drama Rush. While Rush had never been a huge contender, it made a strong case for some technical awards, and seemed like a definite lock for a Best Supporting Actor nomination for star Daniel Bruhl. Now, Bruhl is not a big name, but he has been nominated for just about every other acting award there is for this film (BAFTA, SAG, Golden Globe, and several Critic's Choice Awards). Bruhl's snub here might be overshadowed, by, say, Oprah Winfrey's, but is one of the more shocking omissions for me at least.

Unlike The Butler and Rush, Saving Mr. Banks and Inside Llewyn Davis did receive nominations, but still underperformed. Saving Mr. Banks had always been a bit of a wild card-- it didn't really have a lock on any nomination, but was never quite out of the running for Best Picture, Best Actress (Emma Thompson) or Best Supporting Actor (Tom Hanks). Unfortunately for it, none of its wild card spots actually paid off and the Oscar hopeful ended up with just a single nomination in the Best Original Score category. A film which had quite a bit more buzz was Inside Llewyn Davis, from Oscar darlings the Coen Brothers. But despite buzz in lots of major categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay, its only two nominations come in Sound Mixing and Cinematography. It's certainly a disappointing showing for the well-received film, which couldn't even garner a Best Original Song nomination for the fun and fantastic "Please Mr. Kennedy."

August: Osage County didn't do too terribly, with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts picking up expected nominations in the acting categories, but the film had a disappointing showing nonetheless. A film once named the early favorite to win the whole shebang, its lukewarm reception was not enough to overcome the desperate marketing attempts of the producers. I thought it would score a Best Picture nomination on the influence of the producers alone, but am honestly glad to see it failed to make the list. Another big blow for this film is not receiving a best screenplay nomination-- as it was written by Tracy Letts, based on his Pulitzer-prize winning play.

Acting: Daniel Bruhl, James Gandolfini, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford, Oprah Winfrey

I've already spoken about Bruhl and Winfrey in the previous section. Gandolfini's snub here is, I think, deserved-- he gives a sweet and understated performance in Enough Said, but if he had been nominated, it would have simply been in recognition of his whole career, and would have taken the spot from someone more deserving for this year. Still, especially coming off of a SAG nomination, Gandolfini had seemed like a strong possibility and he should be included in any list of surprises. Some would also say that Robert Redford's lack of nomination for All Is Lost is a snub, although I personally never thought he'd make the list. Bruce Dern had the old-guy-comeback nomination all wrapped up. Still, it is sad that Redford will not be recognized on what might be his last chance.

But, the big shock here-- even bigger than Winfrey being overlooked-- is Tom Hanks not getting a nod for Captain Phillips. Hanks had at one point seemed like he would be a double nominee this year, getting nominations for both Phillips and Saving Mr. Banks, but ends up completely empty-handed, being beaten to the nomination by Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street. Hanks gives a powerful performance-- especially in the film's final moments-- and was seen as a lock by almost everybody. But, the Oscars clearly favored American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street this year (which I'll touch on more in a bit) and so their stars grabbed the final two spots and Hanks got edged out. This bodes poorly for Captain Phillips' chances as a whole. Although it racked up an impressive 6 nominations, including Best Picture, three of those nominations are in the editing and mixing categories. With director Paul Greengrass not getting a nomination, and Hanks also being snubbed, this film's chances are rather dead in the water and it will likely leave empty-handed on Oscar night.

Other:

One of the bigger snubs for me actually comes in the Best Documentary Feature category. The SeaWorld expose' Blackfish was pegged by many as an early favorite to win (and should be seen by everyone-- it's on Netflix!) yet fails to score a nomination. I'm personally hoping this means that the award will go to the powerful, disturbing, and completely unique The Act of Killing which truly attempts something unlike anything I've ever seen in a film before.

While it was never going to be a frontrunner in the major categories, it's still surprising to see zero nominations in the technical categories for this summer's giant-robots-versus-subterranean-aliens flick Pacific Rim. Remember, even the Transformers films have received nominations in the past for their visual effects, and Pacific Rim excelled technically. Yet, it's empty-handed. Also in this vein is The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Another film with strong technical achievements, and a great popular reception (not to mention an Oscar-winner fronting the franchise), this is the second time a Hunger Games film has been completely left out of the running for the Oscars. Again, this isn't terribly surprising, but especially with the positive reception to Catching Fire, it seemed as if a technical nomination was not completely out of this film's grasp.

Another notable name missing from the list is Pixar. The studio which churned out Best Animated Feature after Best Animated Feature fails to get a nomination for Monsters University, which will be especially painful if the frontrunner-- Frozen-- wins, as it's from Pixar's rival studio.


But, now that we've talked about the snubs, let's look at the list as a whole. Which films fared the best? Here are my picks for the three biggest "winners" of the nominations.

THE WINNERS:

American Hustle-- The best picture race has always been a three way heat between 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, and Gravity, with the former two the more likely films to win. American Hustle and Gravity each received 10 nominations while 12 Years received 9, so all had great showings, but American Hustle has one major advantage after today's nominations: it received nominations in all four acting categories. This is a rather large feat. Although another David O. Russell film, Silver Linings Playbook, managed this last year, the last time this had been done before that was in 1981 for Reds. And while Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence seemed like locks for a nomination, Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper certainly were not, and their inclusion in these competitive categories bodes well for the film's chances. It's still a close race between American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave (although don't be shocked if Alfonso Cuaron wins best director for Gravity) but after these nominations, American Hustle got a push in the direction it wants to go in.

The Wolf of Wall Street-- This film has always been a bit of an enigma, with its late release meaning that it didn't get much consideration at some of the early awards shows. It received positive reviews, but amongst it there were some decidedly negative ones, and with such a good year for film, some predicted it would simply be beaten out in the major categories. I never thought it would fare badly-- the Oscars love Scorsese and his name alone gave it good chances in the Best Picture and Best Director categories. But this film succeeded well beyond what would have originally been predicted. It may have only received five nominations, but they're in major categories (picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, and Best Screenplay) and overall had a great showing. Perhaps most surprising-- even moreso than DiCaprio beating out Tom Hanks-- is the inclusion of Jonah Hill in the supporting category. The film is unlikely to win any of these five awards, but it still performed better than expected.

Nebraska-- This film has always been a strong bet for a Best Picture nomination, and had rather secure nominations for Bruce Dern and June Squibb, but the reason I name it as one of the big winners of the nominations list is for one reason only: Alexander Payne's nomination for Best Director. Payne's understated style makes him very different from the other four nominees on this list, and is one of the bigger surprises here. While his nomination was always a possibility, it seemed like the fifth spot would be going to someone like Greengrass, or Spike Jonze for Her, or Jean-Marc Vallee for the extraordinarily well-received Dallas Buyers Club (by the way, Vallee's exclusion here officially kills the chances of Dallas Buyers Club gaining a surprise Best Picture win). Again, Payne won't win, but his inclusion marks that among the nine best picture nominees, Nebraska slightly edges out some of the rest in terms of courting Oscar voters' favor.


Other thoughts:

Not only do we have to say "Oscar-nominee Jonah Hill," but now it's two-time Oscar-nominee Jonah Hill. And good for him-- it's an impressive run for someone who is still seen primarily as a goofy comedian.

I loved Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine but hated the film (I'm so glad it didn't get a Best Picture nomination, as some thought it would), and am especially perplexed by Sally Hawkins' inclusion in the Best Supporting Actress category.  Hawkins is a wonderful actress, but her role is simply not a nomination-worthy role, and that she is here over Winfrey is rather mind-boggling to me. Her inclusion might have more to do with her infamous snub for her starring role in Happy-Go-Lucky than with anything else, as the Oscars love to play catch up and right any perceived wrongs they've made in the past. Which means that maybe there's still hope Jim Carrey actually will be nominated one day...though don't hold your breath.

The Best Makeup category is always fun for me because it often leads to critically-reviled films scoring a nomination (in previous years, films like Click and Norbit were able to say they were Oscar-nominees because of this category). This year is no exception. Along with the acclaimed Dallas Buyers Club, the other nominees in Makeup and Hairstyling are The Lone Ranger and Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. Great.

As always, if you have a chance to see any of the nominated shorts (live action short, documentary short subject, or animated short) then do it. They're often some of the best films of the year.

I love  the love for Philomena. This film was released without much fanfare and has managed some major nominations here based almost entirely on the fact that the film is just really good. It was not originally seen as a strong awards-contender, but has performed well and received four nominations, including for Best Picture. Yes, good. See this movie. You will like it. I can all but guarantee you will like it.

What do you think are the major snubs and surprises? Please comment and discuss, and stay tuned for more Oscar talk, including my predictions for the winners as the Oscars draw nearer!