There are always winners and losers when it comes to the Academy Awards and the nominations game is no different. This year, with so many races wide open, the list of snubs and surprises was long and varied. Here are some of the big ones everyone in the industry will be buzzing about for the next few days or so.
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SNUB: Nicole Kidman
A Best Actress winner for “The Hours” in 2003, Kidman has been nominated five times overall, including, most recently, in 2022 for playing Lucile Ball in “Being the Ricardos.” Her Venice Film Festival-winning performance in “Babygirl” was supposed to be a relative shoo-in. Instead, Kidman was overlooked both by SAG and BAFTA and, finally, by her peers in the Acting Branch. Considering we’d heard several actresses her age couldn’t finish the movie on screener, we weren’t that surprised.
SNUB: Marianne Jean-Baptiste
She won the Best Actress honor from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the National Society of Film Critics. Her performance in Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” is arguably the greatest performance of the decade. Somehow, it wasn’t enough.
SNUB: Angelina Jolie
Everyone saw this coming a mile away, but one of Hollywood’s greatest humanitarians and the winner of the prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2014 came up short this year. Despite strong individual notices for her performance as legendary opera diva Maria Callas, the movie itself, “Maria,” earned middling reviews. The third in Pablo Larrain‘s series on iconic women of the 20th Century, perhaps it landed too soon after 2021’s “Spencer.” Or, maybe it felt too commercial for even The Academy’s tastes. Some will gossip it’s because Jolie isn’t beloved by her peers, but we find that decidedly suspicious. It’s almost always about the movie, and that was likely the case here.
SURPRISE: Sebastian Stan
The good news for Stan fans is he didn’t cancel himself out. The MCU’s “Winter Soldier” had competing Best Picture performances in both “The Apprentice” and “A Different Man” being recognized by different critics groups and industry organizations over the past few months. And the fact he was playing a still unpopular president in Hollywood, didn’t hurt him as he landed his first Best Actor nomination for the latter.
SNUB: Daniel Craig
How wild is it that Craig’s performance in Luca Guadagino’s artistically ambitious “Queer” was recognized by SAG with a Best Actor nomination but snubbed by both BAFTA and The Academy. If anything, you would have assumed Craig’s peers in the guild, a much broader group, would have dismissed it. Nope.
SURPRISE: “Nickel Boys”
After being snubbed by the PGA Awards and BAFTA it was supposed to be over. Instead, the Amazon MGM Studios release pulled an Oscar morning comeback landing an Adapted Screenpay nod for RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes as well as a Best Picture nomination. An incredible morning for a film fighting against strong headwinds all awards season.
SURPRISE: James Mangold
It was a surprise when James Mangold earned a DGA nomination for “A Complete Unknown” a few weeks ago and many assumed he’d be the odd person out when the Oscars came around. Nope. The “Ford vs. Ferrari” helmer earned his third nomination, but, finally, one as a director. “Unknown” also has eight nominations, including Best Picture, a fantastic result for a movie that finished filming in…June.
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SURPRISE: “September 5“
The little Paramount Pictures release that could! Tim Fehlbaum’s chronicle of the historic ABC Sports broadcast during the Munich Olympics terror attack landed just one nomination, Adapted Screenplay, but that was still unexpected. The movie was assisted by a 95-minute runtime (perfect for screeners) and a very timely subject matter.
SNUB: Luca Guadagnino
Not only did Guadagnino find himself out of the Best Director race, but both his films “Challengers” and “Queer” were complete no-shows with The Academy. We would argue Guadagnino compounded matters by insisting “Queer” release this year, thereby diverting his ability to campaign for “Challengers,” still one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2024 and, oh yeah, a box office hit. Maybe it didn’t matter. Maybe The Academy simply was uninterested in both, but it’s certainly a case study many awards consultants will reference for decades.
SURPRISE: Jermy Strong
Not only did Sebastian Stan earn an Oscar nomination for “The Apprentice,” a movie no major distributor wanted to release, but so did his co-star Jeremy Strong. The “Succession” veteran already has an Emmy Award and Tony Award (this past June) on his mantle and now has his first Oscar nomination in the Supporting Actor category. Could he go three-quarters of the way to EGOT?
SNUB: “Challengers” score
Not only did “Challengers” go away without one nomination, but somehow, Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor‘s incredible score was overlooked by the Academy. Considering Ross and Reznor are three-time nominees and won this category in 2011 that’s pretty wild.
SNUB: Jamie Lee Curtis
The Supporting Actress winner for “Everything Everywhere All At Once” earned surprising SAG and BAFTA Awards nominations for “The Last Showgirl,” but couldn’t pull out the Oscar nom. Still, a surprising awards season for a movie that was still hunting for distribution at TIFF.
SNUB: “Kiss the Sky” from “The Wild Robot”
There are a lot of disappointments this Oscar nomination morning, but “Kiss the Sky” from “The Wild Robot” not making the cut is a big one. The Academy clearly loves the movie. It earned an Animated Feature, Original Score, and, in a surprise, Sound, nominations. But the Original Song “Kiss the Sky,” an integral part of the movie, was shockingly overlooked. If it was because it has six songwriters (nothing new in the music business), the Music Branch has. some serious soul-searching to do. We’re also sad for Maren Morris who brought the song to life.
SURPRISE: Elton John
Maren Morris’ loss was Elton John, Brandi Carlisle, and Bernie Taupin’s gain. The trio earned Original Song nominations for “Never Too Late” from the documentary “Elton John: Never Too Late.” This is John’s sixth nomination, he’s won three times previously including in 2020 for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman” (Taupin shared in that win). This is the first nomination for Brandi Carlisle, an 11-time Grammy Award winner.
SURPRISE: “The Girl With the Needle”
The fifth slot for the International Film category was always something of a question mark. The question was supposed to be whether Latvia’s animated wonder “Flow,” which has zero dialogue, would make it. Ireland’s entry, the art-house box office success “Kneecap,” was supposed to be a given. Not so fast. The last nomination ended up going to
SNUB: “I’m Still Here”
O.K. online stans, you can celebrate. Not only did Fernanda Torres crack the Best Actress field, but Walter Salles’ poignant drama earned a shocking Best Picture nomination (oh, and an expected International Film nod, too). Once again proving you should never, ever, ever count out Michael Barker and Tom Bernard at Sony Pictures Classics. They bring it to you (almost) every time.
The 97th Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday, March 2 at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET live on ABC and Hulu
