The Snubs & Surprises Of The 2017 Oscar Nominations

People get excited about Oscar nominations day in part to see how their favorite films or actors do with the Academy. But we also get to see, after months of prognostication, precursors and predictions, what curveballs are thrown by voters, which sure bets end up missing out, and which seeming no-hopers suddenly become Oscar nominees.

The 2017 batch, revealed this morning by some awkward pre-shot interview clips and the voice of a “Westworld” murderbot, delivered on both fronts. Below, you’ll find the most notable snubs and surprises of this year’s nominees — weigh in on which you saw coming, and which left you dumbfounded.

SNUBS

annettebening20thcenturywomen

Best Actress – Annette Bening – “20th Century Women”
Perhaps the biggest surprises in the Oscar nominations this year were in the Best Acting category. Ruth Negga muscled her way in (“Loving”) and so did Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”). But this meant someone had to go. You’d think given her estimable career, veteran status and a terrific performance in “20th Century Women,” the great Annette Bening would make the cut. Alas, she was snubbed, which is a shame. When will be the next time she’s given such a meaty role, and hasn’t Meryl Streep been nominated enough? A24 must be seriously bummed and we can’t blame them; Bening carries the movie, but of course, only five nominees make the cut (some are also surprised that Taraji P. Henson didn’t get in, but she was always a longer shot).

arrival-amy-adams-arrival_045Best Actress – Amy Adams – “Arrival”
Something of a shock considering “Arrival” earned itself eight nominations including Best Picture and Best Director, many assumed Amy Adams — who’s been nominated for Oscar five times now (sometimes in the Best Actress, but also Best Supporting Actress category) — couldn’t make the cut. Her snub may be due to the fact that it’s a commanding but quiet performance. But it’s a shame given it’s so nuanced and much like Bening, the star carries the picture — it’s hard to imagine that “Arrival” would have had its success without Adams’ performance

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

Best Visual Effects — “Arrival,” “Fantastic Beasts” and “Civil War”
Visual Effects is often a hard one to predict in some ways, with a mix of giant blockbusters and whatever Best Picture nominee has the CGI in it. This year turned up an odd mix of nominees: along with the surprises (see below), “Doctor Strange” made it in over the bigger-grossing Marvel stablemate “Captain America; Civil War” (and neither DC movie was even on the shortlist). But “Arrival,” which picked up 8 nominations elsewhere and would normally thought to be a dead cert for a category like this, missed out, as did “Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them,” which received a couple of other technical nominations. We’re not complaining so much — the films that took their place were deserving — but this is definitely not how many thought the nominations were going to go down.

DEADPOOL

“Deadpool” Shut Out, But “Suicide Squad” Nominated
One can only imagine that Ryan Reynolds was planning some savage Deadpool tweets for this morning, but he’ll have to bin them. Despite the R-rated breakout superhero movie scoring lots of love from the major guilds — WGA, PGA, DGA — which generally serve as strong precursors to the Oscars, the film was totally shut out. Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick had the best shot at getting the film any kind of Oscar recognition, but they couldn’t break through (and they would’ve had to crack a very tough Best Adapted Screenplay field). Even more, the critically thrashed “Suicide Squad” managed to score a nomination for Best Makeup & Hairstyling. It looks like some people out there liked Jared Leto’s Ed Hardy Joker look after all. And for what it’s worth, “Doctor Strange” was another superhero movie that beat “Deadpool” to the Oscar post for Best Visual Effects.

jackie-natalie-portman-movie-jackie-5Best Picture – “Jackie”
There are certain mistakes the Academy has made over the years. Never giving Annette Bening or Amy Adams an Oscar are two of them. Snubbing “The Dark Knight” and “Dreamgirls” for Best Picture are also prominently on the list. Not giving the critically acclaimed “Jackie” a Best Picture nod let alone a Best Director nod for Pablo Larrain is one of this year’s major missteps. Along with the Foreign Language Film snub for “Elle,” which we knew of weeks ago, this snub will cause cinephiles years from now to wonder, “What happened?” long after “Hacksaw Ridge” and “Hidden Figures” have been forgotten.

Tom Hanks in'Sully'

Best Actor – Tom Hanks
This isn’t necessarily the most shocking of snubs — the Best Category played out more or less as most predicted it to, and lined up exactly with the SAG, which doesn’t always happen. But it’s still notable that Tom Hanks didn’t make the cut this time. When “Sully” opened in September, it seemed like the A-lister would have a nomination sewn up: he was surfing a wave of America’s dad adoration, and toplined a movie that proved to be a surprise smash, with some of the best reviews that director Clint Eastwood has had in recent years. Indeed, many thought that Hanks would make it partly as a make-up for his more surprising snub for “Captain Phillips” a few years back. But the buzz died gradually as other contenders emerged, and Hanks was on the outside again this morning: as such, Hanks still hasn’t been nominated since “Cast Away” sixteen years ago.

Florence Foster Jenkins Meryl Streep Hugh GrantBest Supporting Actor – Hugh Grant
Of all the expecting acting nods that didn’t materialize this morning, the saddest might have been Hugh Grant for “Florence Foster Jenkins.” The British star is someone who’s occasionally been accused of coasting, of not always taking roles that lived up to his obvious talents. Whatever the film’s flaws, Grant stepped marginally out of his comfort zone for “Florence Foster Jenkins” and delivered the best performance of his career, and after SAG and BAFTA nods was widely expected to pick up a nod today. But instead, he lost out to Michael Shannon (see below). In part, it was shaky campaigning: co-star Simon Helberg might have taken some votes away from him, and he campaigned in Best Actor with BAFTA, which could have caused confusion from voters who go for both. Either way, we hope this doesn’t stop Grant from trying to challenge himself. Maybe there’ll be a consolation nomination for playing the villain in “Paddington 2” next year?…

hidden-figuresBest Original Song – “Sing Street” and Pharrell Williams
With “La La Land” expected to take at least two slots, and “Moana” thought to be a sure thing, competition was stiffer than usual in the Best Original Song category (hey, remember five years ago when they could only find two songs to nominate?), which meant that someone was going to lose out. One major casualty was John Carney’s Irish musical “Sing Street,” which had a number of catchy original songs, but may not have been seen by enough voters to crack the field. Perhaps more surprising, given the love of nominating big-name performers in the category, and the film’s success in other categories, was a miss for Pharrell Williams for his song “Runnin’” from “Hidden Figures” (he also missed a nod for score for the same film). Ultimately, Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop The Feeling!” from “Trolls” was likely better known, and took the slot instead.

The BFGBest Original Score – John Williams, “The BFG”
With five Oscars and a staggering 50 nominations, it’s not like veteran composer John Williams is lacking in Oscar nods. But nevertheless, he’s usually honored by the Academy regardless of the quality of the movie he’s involved in, with nods for movies like “Sabrina,” “The Patriot,” “Sleepers” and, in 2013, “The Book Thief,” a movie that literally no one saw. So despite the film flopping and receiving tepid reviews, most expected that he would make the cut for “The BFG” this year. However, it saw a rare Williams miss, with some interesting (Mica Levi!) and less interesting (“Passengers”) picks getting in instead. Still, he’ll likely be back in the mix for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” next year.

bts2-cameraperson-kirsten-johnson-cr-lynsey-addarioBest Documentary – “Cameraperson,” “Weiner”
The documentary category, which is nominated by a smaller group, is always an unpredictable one, and every year brings at least one shock absence, particularly with a line-up as strong as it was this time. In 2017, “Cameraperson” and “Weiner” are the big misses. Kristen Johnson’s film was beaten only by “OJ: Made In America” to be the most acclaimed non-fiction film of the year, but may have proven too esoteric for the documentary branch. Meanwhile, “Weiner” was one of the most popular and topical films of the year, but was also left out in the cold — perhaps a reflection of the role its subject ended up playing in the election. Still, it’s hard to begrudge the excellent line up of films that took their places.

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS“Nocturnal Animals” On The Whole (Minus Michael Shannon)
Curious is the narrative for “Nocturnal Animals.” An uneven film which was met with a mixed response, no pundits really believed the Tom Ford-directed film was going to be on the radar. But the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes changed all that. Ford’s movie was nominated in several categories including Best Director and Best Picture. And Aaron Taylor-Johnson surprised with a Supporting Golden Globes nod. It was unlikely it would win anything, but the “Nocturnal Animals” narrative was rising. Could it be much of an upsetter? Nope (one nomination only, see below).

Click to the next page for the biggest surprises of the nominations.