Farewell Oscar Hopeful! (Snubs That Hurt Us)
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 8:38PM Last night at 4 AM this was the only image my brain would settle on...
I don't normally spend time in the middle of the night thinking of Fassbender lying naked in bed (Shush!). It's just that I had the worst insomnia I'd had in months. As I stared down at this still image in my state of delirious sleep deprivation I'm reasonably certain that he stared back, his eyes shifting just a little. He must have seen a mirror image of his vacant orbs and haunted zombie expressionless. Only with less handsomeness.
Brandon's addiction was sex and mine is the Oscars but either way we are powerless against our disease. Perhaps it was all the Oscar Morn Excitement catching up to me? Fassy's frozen image reminded me that I forgot to offer my condolescences to the Oscar Forgotten yesterday. Some people and cinematic contributions you'd be really happy to spend another 32 days celebrating but the time has come to say goodbye. [sniffle]
Farewell Oscar Hopeful. Better Luck Next Time
8 Snubs/Omissions That Hurt The Most
08 Melancholia Best Anything
Given that mad Dane Lars von Trier's sole nomination is in songwriting (find a more hilarious Oscar statistic, I dare you!) we never suspected that this would be an Oscar film. But the tiny scattered awards crumbs for his dreamy apocalyptic depression metaphor, arguably his best film in a decade, allowed us to pretend in a feverish bipolar sort of way that miracles would occur and it would wake up as the nomination leader. No, not really. But it's a shame that that masterful Cinematography and Kirsten Dunst's spooky narcoleptic bride won so little traction.
07 Viggo Mortensen Best Supporting Actor A Dangerous Method.
We love saying "Viggo". And he loved puffing expressively on the cigar in David Cronenberg's latest. He was the movie's MVP, perfectly serving the movie with his egoistic shifts in temperament. Plus h
06 Captain America: The First Avenger Best Visual Effects
Now we won't be able to watch Chris Evans emerge all muscle bound from his futuristic metal cocoon in all the montages of Oscar nominees.
year after year the Academy rejects the few movie songs people seem to like
05 Best Original Song.
The Music Branch is just fucking with us now. Year after year they absolutely refuse to entertain us, as if they're art film purists who scoff at the idea of "songs" altogether. In the past decade they've denied us big show moments with Cher, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and Moulin Rouge! on technicalities or impossibly complicated voting systems or maybe just the world's worst taste. When they do accidentally trip and land on a pretty song sung by a nobody they give it to a bigger star to mangle. This year they denied us Oscar night magic with Madonna and Mary J. Blige taking themselves super seriously, The Muppets doing a frolicsome happy number, and a 40s pastiche kick line with Captain America. The music branch of the Academy is filled with sadists. That's the only explanation. They hate the very idea of entertaining us on Oscar night. And if they don't believe in this always gratuitous category, why should we?
Memo to Academy: Fix your rules or cancel this category altogether. You can't please everyone but this is literally the only category that manages the bizarre feat of pleasing no one year after year.
04 Charlize Theron and/or Tilda Swinton Best Actress
Because they are irreplaceable on the red carpet both in terms of actual personality (they are only themselves) and style-style-style. Because they are great interview subjects. Because a lot of people really valued their work this year.
03 Maria Djurkovic Art Direction Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
I didn't understand half of this movie but my god was the production design and set decoration rich, evocative, engaging, creepy, fascinating, and tension-filled. It was just gorgeously conceived and executed, the very definition of awards worthy. If you ask me Maria Djurkovic is "Best in Show". Sorry actors!
02 Nicolas Winding Refn Best Director Drive.
Because he says crazy immensely quotable things and imagine how much more of a platform an Oscar nomination would be. Because he often brings best man Ryan Gosling around with him. But mostly because he totally deserved it.
01 Michael Fassbender Best Actor Shame.
A condolence: he'll be in another hundred movies over the next ten years.
Other New Oscar Posts
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Reader Comments (74)
The Fassbender snub almost made me cry. As an aspiring actor, his performance in Hunger made me want to become an actor and I have been a die-hard fan ever since. After seeing the best performance of the year in Shame, I couldn't believe they snubbed him. O well, he will probably get a nom. for his next great performance. Long live the FASS.
What hurt the most was the lack of Fassbender and Charlize. Swinton, too but my love for the Charbender (get it?! hehe) sees no bounds. Speaking of which, their chemistry is through the ROOF in the Oscar roundtable. I highly recommend watching it!
Glenn Close should have never ever ever ever been in contention. That movie is awful. Janet McTeer is the only good thing about it.
We will all look back on this year nominees and think 'wow that was embarrassing." (Minus Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Tree of Life, Scorsese, Malick, and Midnight in Paris).
Totally nailed everything here - particularly the Best Song people. As regards the actual ceremony, it's one element that absolutely needs to change. I actually like having entire song performances (even if I don't like the song). But IF they actually awarded entertaining songs AND gave them performance time, the ceremony would instantly be sooo much better.
Bring back the achievement awards too! DAMNIT! Respect these people whom deserve our respect! FACK!
Another snub worth mentioning: Harry Potter DH2. Love it or hate it, the film deserved way more love than it got (especially over the heinous EL&IC).
I need Charlize and Fassy to have a torrid career spanning tormented affair a la Taylor and Burton. I want them to smash up the world!
Have to agree with KD just for the fact that the Dark Knight exclusion was a significant factor that led to increasing Best Picture nominees and yet DH Part 2 was also the top of the box office for the year and even better reviewed but didn't even seem to be in the running.
I'm definitely not one of the people complaining about Oscar not reflecting what the masses like (shudder) but it should be more accepting of itself instead of looking awkward as it has been with the rule changes.
Hee, I spent my sleepless night last night making two lists in my head. 1- all the people who've been nominated and never won (ie Chaplin, Stanwyck, Lombard, Garland, Cary Grant, Hitchcock and on and on and on) and 2- all the people who were never even nominated (Marilyn Monroe, Howard Hawks, Joseph Cotten, Mae West, and on and on and on). I don't know if this was comforting or more depressing.
I'm going with Melancholia Charbender (nice coinage, KD) as my three biggest disappointments. Also Carey Mulligan.
The songs need to go. This is a category that gave Oscars to "Talk to the Animals" and that Phil Collins monstrosity from Tarzan. (They did get it right with Annie Lennox - only because she is awesome.)
Elizabeth Olsen hurts me. Especially over ho-hum Rooney Mara.
I feel like Mara got her nomination for her Social Network performance and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo hype. NOT her performance in it. God, she's just so unlikable.
Perhaps the worst and most saddening snub was Vanessa Redgrave (for Coriolanus obv). All that buzz, and then the Weinstein's royally screwed the film over. I understand the only reason she didn't get a nomination is because not enough people ( / Academy members) actually saw the film, but she was a force of nature. Her performance towers over all the Supporting Actress nominees and it's easily one of Redgrave's best performances, certainly the best in this latter part of her career. With being out of the game for 20 years it would have been a beautiful and deserving welcome back :(
Dean, while HP7.2 was technically reviewed better than TDK (if you're going by stats or whatnot) I wish people would stop leaning on that because it's not REALLY true, you know. I think we can all admit that HP7.2 was being reviewed AS a goodbye, not as a movie. The reviews were really really not about the movie. You could tell by reading them. Hell, I even gave it a fresh on rotten tomatoes but i thought it was quite average but even i who didn't care about the franchise felt a little like awwww, it's ending (for a little bit) and I didn't feel right about going thumbs down for something that was wrapping up a franchise that I thought was fine but no great shakes as cinema goes. TDK was also not strictly being reviewed as a movie -- there was a whole lot of strange Ledger mourning stuff going on -- but it didn't have 10 years of cumulative emotion powering it to coast on.
anyway. just a thought. i really wish the oscars would go back to 5. It's going to skew ALL all time stats now since it's so much easier for movies to get nominated.
Steven. Yeah i almost included her but I was trying to lean more towards things that felt possible (with the exception of melancholia). But yeah, Redgrave crushes that entire supporting actress list, as good as all of them actually are (it's a good lineup!)
KD -- i haven't been able to find a full video of that charlize.fassy experience. just a few clips. I hate that it's not the full hour. ugh.
I'll admit it: I *love* the fact of the Best Song category, and some of my fondest Oscar memories are watching people like Angela Lansbury, Aimee Mann, Dolly Parton, Mitch & Mickey, etc., perform tunes I knew better than the movies themselves because I had played them on loop for months. But good god the lineup this year is an embarrassment.
I would find it easier to pardon the music branch's vile taste if it at least nominated a full set of five songs. When there are five nominees, I can at least say my favorite song was beat by another contender. This year I am in love with the two Muppets songs that didn't make it. And what did they lose out to? What took their spot? Nothing. In its wisdom the music branch decided it was better for telecast viewers to see NOTHING AT ALL than to watch Kermit & Swedish Chef. Can somebody PLEASE pass the music branch's nominating guidelines to Michael Moore?
Chiming in to defend Mara just because I really like the movie and her in it. I'm more angry about Glenn Close getting nominated instead of Charlize.
Oh. Another snub that stung: No Brad Pitt for Tree of Life. I'd hoped a double nod would give him the boost he needed to bypass Clooney in the race for actor.
The Charlize snub hurts.
The Melancholia snub, for at least something like Cinemotography, really hurts. Not that it was likely (Kirsten Dunst was actually probably the most likely Melancholia player, so that hurts too), but still, that cinematography was so good.
And the one I was really hoping for and felt was possible was Bridesmaids for Best Picture. Wasn't the point of expanding the field to let in diversity? From blockbusters, to comedies, to sci-fi -- these were all supposed to have real chances. And despite a clear support of the movie, showing up in every guild aside from Director's, it still missed out. Instead, the went over the extremely BLAH typical choices like ELIC and War Horse. Gag me with a spoon.
Oh, Dusty, I agree. After seeing the nominations and clear support of Tree of Life, it seems like it might've been possible for Brad to get in twice. I wish he had.
Glenn Close deserves every single Oscar nomination she can receive. She's been robbed more times than Meryl Streep and Annette Bening combined. You don't like Glenn you can eat me from the back. Now that I got the Nicki Minaj out of my system for the day.
I'm mainly sad for Charlize Theron. She's my new baby. While Kidman is becoming stale and Blanchett seems to be wasted on the stage -- there's Chastain and Theron for me.
Yes yes yes about Original Song. And you're absolutely correct-- the inability of Melancholia to catch on for cinematography is really odd. It was *beautiful* even if weird at moments. I thought AMPAS loves shiny, pretty things!
(P.S. It's unsettling that there's another Evan posting on this board. Haha.)
your top 3 hurtful snubs are also mine. its really ridiculous. and just the other day fassy was saying how production companies often think the audience are not 'ready' for challenging films. well the nominations this yr just reaffirm that completely.
It is truly comforting to read this post. : ) Well, at least we have a pic of Swinton and Theron together to remember; and a roundtable that includes Fassbender, Theron and Swinton to cherish.
Oscar-it is not the only way to acknowledge the best of the best.
Boy Nathaniel looks like the Oscar snubs have thrown you off your usual game. How can have forgotten Emily Watson's best actress nomination for Breaking the Waves directed by Lars von Trier? Guess we'll all have to look for another hilarious statistic.
Pat: But although the Watson nom came from a Von Trier film Lars was not, himself, nominated.
Michael Shannon for Take Shelter! My favourite performance of all of them - gave me goosebumps, electrifying. Very sad that he didn't make it in. Chastain was also far superior in Take Shelter to The Help.
Project Nim and Bill Cunningham New York missing Best Documentary pretty much invalidates that category.
I don't think I've ever been this upset over Oscar nominations. I know I'm probably too invested, but I still can't get over the fact that Fassy, Tilda, Charlize, and Carey are not Oscar-nominated this year, considering all four of them gave explosive performances. Honestly, I'm not super crazy about any of the acting nominees this year, even if I do admire a lot of their other work (Michelle, Max von Sydow, Pitt, etc.). And ugh, I know it's not her fault, but shame on the Academy for rewarding Glenn Close for that comatose performance in that dreadful film...it especially hurts this year when there were about 500 women doing much, much, much stronger work this year. Last year's Best Actress lineup was SOOOO good and this year is just...mehhhh
And I agree with what others have said earlier regarding Vanessa Redgrave...she trounces every single woman in that supporting actress category. I 100% blame Weinstein for botching that campaign. That 1 week qualifying shit killed her chances and the sad thing is I really think he would have had a slam-dunk win with her if he had gotten that film out. SUCKS!
I'm glad to learn that I wasn't the only one losing sleep last night over Fassbender's snub. It really is the most disgusting omission in Academy Award's nomination history. He's the most exciting actor coming to the big screen in recent years, and his performance in Shame will certainly be remembered for years to come. None of the five nominated ones will stand the test of time as his.
The worst snubs imho were,
1 Kristen Wiig for acting when Melissa McCarthy got one for a punchline comedic performance.
2 Nicolas Winding Refn for hsi stellar work behind the camera, offering one of the best film of the year
3 Perennial snubnee Ryan Gosling subbed for body of work nomination wheras Chastain got one, deservingly so
4 Charlotte Gainsbourg who got absolutely no mentioned in the award race at all. At least Dunst had some, includng the big one from Cannes
5 Maria Djurkovic and Tomas Alfredson made TTSS. No love for them despite the love for the movie
6 While I have issues with Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan's in Shame, mostly due to the film and the direction, they gave some brave, brave performances in the film for movie stars of their stature
7 Nicole Beharie from Shame was not even mentioned anywhere this season
8 Venessa Redgrave, hard to not nominate her just for that scene alone. Too bad nobody saw it.
Re Harry Potter: Even if it was reviewed more as a movie than as a goodbye, and even if it was one of the best reviewed movies of the year, I still don't see it topping very many people's Ten Best lists at the end of the day, er, year. And that's what counts. If no one's putting it at #1—and really, besides the fanboys and fangirls who obviously aren't represented in the Academy, who is?—it's just not going to get that BP nod. By the way, I think you can pretty much say the same thing about Bridesmaids.
Well, the Academy always plays safe. We all know that and they made it very clear again.
I just don't quite get what happened with Fassbender. He's a great actor and he's charming. Was it really the nudity? Really? I mean, in 2012? I just don't get how his peers are so blind to ignore his talent (add Gosling too). I will mourn for weeks.
Other hurtful snubs are Tilda and Vanessa, but we all know they both speak their minds and they don't really care and that is fatal in terms of Oscar, specially with women.
Let me say this again: Tilda was not really good in We Need to Talk About Kevin, and the movie is not good, too. I'm done with in your face symbolisms, if you really want to know. I got the blood is red, ok?
I know it's customary to complain about the snubs, and there were a few that were breaking my heart (I would have loved more attention to the actors and visual effects in The Tree of Life, or any nominations for Melancholia or of course Fassy, or something wild and crazy like a Juliette Binoche or John Hawkes or Drive for Best Picture), but I gotta say, I'm still feeling pretty good. The Tree of Life is probably one of, if not the, most unusual films to ever be nominated for Best Picture, and in a very good way. The Academy embraced comedy in a big way this year, and it was laugh-out-loud, blockbuster comedy, something they never go for, and thankfully it was for a film as good as Bridesmaids. Viola Davis got nominated correctly as a Lead Actress, not Supporting, which you just know could have happened. In fact, one could argue that little to no category fraud occurred this year, which is a reward in-and-of-itself. Though of course there are things I didn't like about the nominations, all-in-all I'm happy with my Christmas presents this year.
Pat. I remember Watson. But I was talking about Lars Von Trier himself. He's widely regarded as one of the most important filmmakers of the past 20 years and he only has a songwriting nomination?
Six words to make it worse: Corey Stoll Martha Marcy May Marlene.
Remember: Jonah Hill > Corey Stoll. Damn.
Nat: I saw Breaking the Waves...the lead performance is phenomenal and the chapter intro cards are beautiful, but the pacing is a bit too slow, the family never focuses on restraining her, focusing most of their attention on the guy and, bleep, that ending scene: Although I'm an atheist, I'm open to religious imagery and subject matter in the things I read. That having been said, however, the bells were WAY too much. The final image of the oil workers giving her a burial at sea was powerful enough, but Von Trier decides to add an excessive bit of religious imagery.
Overall: Before seeing the bells, I'd say B+. After seeing him go there, I took it down to a B-.
While it may be semi-unpopular here, I was waaaaay bummed by the lack of Shailene Woodley. Truly, truly awesome.
I just can't believe the
fatguy from Superbad received an Oscar nomination before Jim Carrey, Steve Martin, John Cusack, Kevin Bacon, Dennis Quaid, Sam Rockwell, Martin Sheen, Donald Sutherland and Bruce Willis. I guess this travesty dispels your theory that Oscar wants all the men to wait.I haven't watched Moneyball, but did it have to be this fella?
I can't believe that noisy fat dude from Superbad received an Oscar nomination before Jim Carrey, Steve Martin, John Cusack, Kevin Bacon, Dennis Quaid, Sam Rockwell, Martin Sheen, Donald Sutherland and Bruce Willis. I guess this travesty dispels your theory that Oscar wants all the men to wait.
I haven't watched Moneyball, but did it have to be this fella?
Awesome list Nat. In such a ho-hum year, Melancholia and Drive stood out like beautifully sore thumbs. I'm so over this 2011 awards season. Seriously, it's been a while since we had a year where so many average films hogged the Oscar nominations. The only movies I really like that are in contention for anything are Moneyball and The Tree of Life.
Bring on 2012. I need some Nolan, Tarantino and PTA REAL BAD.
Great list, Nathaniel! I would only add Diablo Cody for that genius screenplay for Young Adult, Brad Pitt for the best performance of his career in Tree of Life (also the editing for both of those films, which was top-notch), and Vanessa Redgrave, who would have classed up the otherwise hard-to-quibble-with Best Supporting Actress category considerably.
Oh, and Patton Oswalt (how could I forget)!!! WHY, OH WHY did Jonah friggin' Hill get the comic-goes-serious Supporting Actor slot over this exquisitly judged performance?!?!?!
Lalaland: I have no real answer for most of those, but on Donald Sutherland: He's not as acclaimed as a great actor because of his droll, under-emotional voice. My personal pick for the best performance of his I've seen: Animal House, where he's absolutely best in show.
am i the only one who is *appalled* that Albert Brooks wasn't nominated? say, over Jonah Hill?!? i understand the phenomena of coaster nominees, but someone needs to sit me down and explain how someone (lots of someones) believed Hill turned in a worthy acting performance (was he even acting?) and Brooks did not. for the love of GOD.
side note: i'm also starting to believe i'm the only one who doesn't like Melissa McCarthy and thought her role in Bridesmaids was a misconceived mess.
It just kills me that they passed up Best Actresses who were actually in great movies: Kirsten Dunst, Elizabeth Olsen, Charlize Theron, Tilda Swinton--mainly. All of them should have been in there.
Albert Brooks was good but how many times have we seen that type of character on screen, the twisted crime boss, it was a decent performance but overpraised in my opinion. Really the stand out supporting actor that no one talks about from that film is Bryan Cranston. That scene with him and his suitcase , heartbreaking stuff. Also, a lot of acting is being 'natural' on screen, so yes what Jonah Hill did was excellent if not necessarily showy, for me anyway.
The song branch can still have their meeting where they play the clips and then give the songs scores, but it should just be the top five scorers get nominated, no minimum score required.
I was really hoping for Swinton to get nominated, just so the damn movie might have a chance of playing in Milwaukee.
is that so wrong?: Wait. I protest Albert Brooks not being in (before actually seeing the movie) because it turns it into a one man race. However: Shouldn''t more complaints be turned toward the inclusion of Max Von Sydow in Supporting Actor and Best Picture. If the Academy really sees this as having It's a Wonderful Life potential: Why? It's a Wonderful Life was mostly about a bitter and cynical James Stewart being blinded by repressed rage. SAD movie and one of my ten best EVER. This is a twee "Kid Quests for Self Discovery" film with 9/11 (a national tragedy) as the backdrop.