Oscar nominations morning is a highly anticipated day for both the film industry and for film lovers. If you’re like us, you wake up bright and early to watch the livestream, this year hosted by Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan. This fun duo announced this year’s Oscar nominations – and some of the names called out were pleasant surprises, while others were sorely missing.
Let’s start with those fun surprises:
The Academy loved Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, which was both produced and filmed in Canada. It snuck in for a surprise Best Picture nomination, as well as nominations in Production Design, Cinematography and Costume Design.
The Best Actress race became way more interesting today, when Penélope Cruz snuck in for her performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers. She’s up against Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos), Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter) and Kristen Stewart, who we’re so happy to see earn her first ever Oscar nomination for Spencer. This category is truly anybody’s game.
Jessie Buckley scored a Best Supporting Actress nomination for The Lost Daughter, which is super deserved for this rising star. She’s up against the likes of Judi Dench (Belfast) and Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog). The frontrunner here however is Ariana DeBose’s stunning performance as Anita in West Side Story, a role that also won Rita Moreno an Oscar back in the 1960s.
The critically acclaimed Japanese film Drive My Car surprised with four major nominations. Not only did it secure the Best International Feature nom, but it has also been recognized in Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture – a huge deal for an international film. It’s also exciting to see Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World land its expected place in the International Feature category, as well as a Best Original Screenplay nomination.
Now onto the snubs…
House of Gucci, which many believed to be an Oscar player, was almost completely shut out this morning. It snagged a Best Makeup and Hairstyling nomination but missed out on literally everything else. Many expected Lady Gaga or Jared Leto to get acting nominations, but it was not meant to be.
While Dune received a staggering 10 nominations (the second most nominated film after The Power of the Dog), there was one glaring omission – Denis Villeneuve for Best Director. While many expected the Canadian visionary would be honoured here, he somehow missed out – but we expect Dune 2 will make up for this.
While Licorice Pizza received a lot of love today – earning Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay nominations, it did not get any love for actors Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman or Bradley Cooper – who all would’ve been worthy nominees. We know this is just the beginning for Haim and Hoffman and can’t wait to see what they do next.
West Side Story was a big hit today, with 7 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress, but star Rachel Zegler was missing from the Best Actress category, as well as Mike Faistfor Best Supporting Actor and Tony Kushner for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch was completely overlooked by the Academy today – we expected it would’ve taken nominations for Best Production Design and Best Original Score at the very least, but it was not Anderson’s year. Another film we loved this year that was completely overlooked was Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon. We had high hopes it would at least get a Best Original Screenplay nomination, and maybe some love for actor Woody Norman.
Many expected both Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan to be nominated for their performances in Belfast, but it was instead Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds who picked up the nominations in Best Supporting Actress and Actor. Belfast also missed out on Cinematography and Film Editing – but the film did receive 7 nominations.
The Best Actor category was probably the most predictable category for this year, but it would’ve been fun to see Red Rocket’s Simon Rex sneak a place in. We’re also slightly surprised that Leonardo DiCaprio missed out for Don’t Look Up when the polarizing film managed to land 4 nominations. Surprisingly, none of those were for Best Original Song “Just Look Up.” It would’ve been cool to call Ariana Grande an Oscar nominee.
Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut Passing missed out completely – we expected Ruth Negga to land a Best Supporting Actress nomination, and potentially Screenplay and Cinematography noms.
While we’re ecstatic that Kristen Stewart landed a nomination for her portrayal of Princess Diana in Spencer, the film was otherwise completely shut out. What was once thought to be a major Oscar player, Spencer’s only chance to win Oscar gold is with Stewart, and that would be a very worthy win.
All in all, 2021 was an amazing year for cinema and we’re so excited to see who wins at this year’s Oscars.
Let’s start with those fun surprises:
The Academy loved Guillermo Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, which was both produced and filmed in Canada. It snuck in for a surprise Best Picture nomination, as well as nominations in Production Design, Cinematography and Costume Design.
The Best Actress race became way more interesting today, when Penélope Cruz snuck in for her performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers. She’s up against Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos), Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter) and Kristen Stewart, who we’re so happy to see earn her first ever Oscar nomination for Spencer. This category is truly anybody’s game.
Jessie Buckley scored a Best Supporting Actress nomination for The Lost Daughter, which is super deserved for this rising star. She’s up against the likes of Judi Dench (Belfast) and Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog). The frontrunner here however is Ariana DeBose’s stunning performance as Anita in West Side Story, a role that also won Rita Moreno an Oscar back in the 1960s.
The critically acclaimed Japanese film Drive My Car surprised with four major nominations. Not only did it secure the Best International Feature nom, but it has also been recognized in Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture – a huge deal for an international film. It’s also exciting to see Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World land its expected place in the International Feature category, as well as a Best Original Screenplay nomination.
Now onto the snubs…
House of Gucci, which many believed to be an Oscar player, was almost completely shut out this morning. It snagged a Best Makeup and Hairstyling nomination but missed out on literally everything else. Many expected Lady Gaga or Jared Leto to get acting nominations, but it was not meant to be.
While Dune received a staggering 10 nominations (the second most nominated film after The Power of the Dog), there was one glaring omission – Denis Villeneuve for Best Director. While many expected the Canadian visionary would be honoured here, he somehow missed out – but we expect Dune 2 will make up for this.
While Licorice Pizza received a lot of love today – earning Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay nominations, it did not get any love for actors Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman or Bradley Cooper – who all would’ve been worthy nominees. We know this is just the beginning for Haim and Hoffman and can’t wait to see what they do next.
West Side Story was a big hit today, with 7 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress, but star Rachel Zegler was missing from the Best Actress category, as well as Mike Faistfor Best Supporting Actor and Tony Kushner for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch was completely overlooked by the Academy today – we expected it would’ve taken nominations for Best Production Design and Best Original Score at the very least, but it was not Anderson’s year. Another film we loved this year that was completely overlooked was Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon. We had high hopes it would at least get a Best Original Screenplay nomination, and maybe some love for actor Woody Norman.
Many expected both Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan to be nominated for their performances in Belfast, but it was instead Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds who picked up the nominations in Best Supporting Actress and Actor. Belfast also missed out on Cinematography and Film Editing – but the film did receive 7 nominations.
The Best Actor category was probably the most predictable category for this year, but it would’ve been fun to see Red Rocket’s Simon Rex sneak a place in. We’re also slightly surprised that Leonardo DiCaprio missed out for Don’t Look Up when the polarizing film managed to land 4 nominations. Surprisingly, none of those were for Best Original Song “Just Look Up.” It would’ve been cool to call Ariana Grande an Oscar nominee.
Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut Passing missed out completely – we expected Ruth Negga to land a Best Supporting Actress nomination, and potentially Screenplay and Cinematography noms.
While we’re ecstatic that Kristen Stewart landed a nomination for her portrayal of Princess Diana in Spencer, the film was otherwise completely shut out. What was once thought to be a major Oscar player, Spencer’s only chance to win Oscar gold is with Stewart, and that would be a very worthy win.
All in all, 2021 was an amazing year for cinema and we’re so excited to see who wins at this year’s Oscars.
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