Ok, we’re going a little overboard with the Oscar coverage. This will be the last one for a while.
What films got snubbed? Well, “snubbed” is a relative and fairly subjective term.
“Into the Wild,” really made a comeback at the SAG awards, but both Sean Penn as director, the film itself and Emile Hirsch all got locked out. In fact, it was snubbed nearly everywhere and we figured it would at least score an Best cinematography nod (maybe it’s all those lefty causes of Penn’s that piss people off).
Note, these are snubs from others perspective – the pundits at large if you will – we’re fine with what we felt was the mostly average “Wild” being looked over (and our favorite part about it, Hal Holbrook got his nomination so we’re happy; the film also got an editing nom).
We’re pleased as punch that “Atonement” and “American Gangster” were (sort-of) overlooked. Ok, not exactly for the British WWII epic. The film did score itself a Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay Nod (7 noms in all, not shabby), but director Joe Wright was passed over as were the cast’s principal players (hacktress Keira Knightly and James McAvoy) and we view that as a small victory and a sign this film isn’t going to win any major awards (another sign? It didn’t get nominated for Best Editing).
The extremely mediocre ‘Gangster’ didn’t score any major recognitions either except a nod for Ruby Dee in the Best Supporting Actress category (she doesn’t have a prayer). We would have been sincerely outraged if Ridley Scott, Denzel or the film were nominated and thankfully they weren’t.
We actually liked Angelina Jolie in “A Mighty Heart” and her breakdown scene is the kind of stuff that Oscar nomination highlight reels are made of, but it was not meant to be for the pouty-lipped, adoption-happy actress.
All in all, we’re surprisingly happy with this year’s Oscar nominations. We were afraid that populist crap like ‘Gangster,’ “Charlie Wilson’s War” and “Atonement” were going to dominate (and yes, to a degree Atonement did, 7 noms is nothing to slouch at), but aside from the latter, they didn’t make much of a dent.
Other Snubs:
Isn’t Randy Newman supposed to earn a mandatory Oscar nod each year? He was nowhere to be found this year. Judd Apatow couldn’t get a “Knocked Up” screenplay nod, but that wasn’t a huge surprise. Catherine Keener earned herself a SAG nom for ‘Wild,’ but was shut out (much like the rest of the film). Ryan Gosling collected himself a SAG nod, but other than original screenplay “Lars & The Real Girl” was totally out in the cold. Tim Burton and ‘Sweeney Todd’ were thankfully (mostly ignored) as well.
Musical Snubs
Well, Jonny Greenwood got fucked on a technicality which sucks for him. Another guy who many expected to see at the Oscars was Eddie Vedder. He won a Golden Globe, but got dismissed here which is no crying shame for us. As far as we’re concerned Nick Cave and Warren Ellis were robbed in the Best Original Score category. We’re a little annoyed that Loudon Wainwright III was ignored for “Knocked-Up,” but the Oscars love shit like “Enchanted” and “Hairspray” so we can’t say this is a big shock. While it was also not unexpected, none of the “Walk Hard” songs could find themselves a nomination either.
Yeah, movies we really wanted to earn some respect like “The Assassination of Jesse James,” “Margot At The Wedding,” “Knocked-Up” and “I’m Not There” were largely overlooked, but as we said in our For Your Consideration piece we weren’t naive enough to think they would’ve gained noms and therefore they don’t qualify as “snubs” and are more just personal disappointments.
Wanna hear nuts? The box-office numbers for the Best Picture nominees. Usually it’s studio pictures with big numbers and an indie or two that sneaks in there will low receipts, right? But of all the Best Picture nominees – “Atonement,” “Juno,” “No Country For Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood,” and Michael Clayton”? The highest grossing of all these films is “Juno” with $85 million so far. The second highest grossing film is barely half that. ‘No Country’ has earned $48.6 million so far. That’s like the little-train-that-could “Little Miss Sunshine” outshining the competition the year it was a dark horse. Very, very odd times we live in.
And not a good sign when it comes to Hollywood business. There’s a lot of good Oscar factoids about this year’s nominees here.
Personally, I couldn’t stand Into the Wild — if Penn’s aim was to get me to sympathize with his spoiled, petulant lead character, it didn’t work. I appreciate the fact that Emile Hirsch starved himself to play those final scenes, but I don’t want to give him an award for it.
On the other hand, I loved Sweeney Todd. I’m rooting for Depp for the win and was upset that it was shut out of both the Best Picture and Best Director categories. But — diff’rent strokes and all that …
All I ask is that you read before you post. See our thoughts about “Wild.” They are basically the same as yours.