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11 Thoughts On The 2019 Academy Awards Nominations

Thoughts below.

1. “BlacKkKlansman” was one of the top tier films of 2018 and it was great to see it nab a whopping 5 nominations including one for Adam Driver (one of the best actors in the biz) and Spike Lee (his first ever nomination if you can believe it). It’s unfortunate that John David Washington didn’t grab a nom though.

2. Emily Blunt had a banner year in 2018 with award worthy performances in both “A Quiet Place” and “Mary Poppins Returns.” Somehow, she didn’t get nominated for either role. Of all of the snubs, this was the most egregious.

3. Geeks everywhere unite! While the snubs for for Ryan Coogler (director) and Michael B. Jordan are a bummer, it’s thrilling to see “Black Panther” be the first ever comic book movie nominated for Best Picture. This is a huge step forward for comic book movies getting the respect they deserve.

4. Thom Yorke’s haunting and hypnotic score and songs were the best part of “Suspiria” by a longshot, but they were ignored by the Academy.

5. South Korea’s “Burning” was far and away one of the best foreign films of 2018, but both it and Steven Yuen got no love from the Academy. Baffling.

6. There’s nothing worse than predictable Oscar nominations, but thankfully, there were plenty of surprises. Nothing was more surprising than the Best Director category. Who saw Pawel Pawlikowski getting a spot for “Cold War” and Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”), Bradley Cooper (“A Star is Born”) and Peter Farrelly (“Green Book”) getting shut out? Snubs aside, it’s pretty much a sure thing at this point that Alfonso Cuarón will win for Netflix’s Roma (which also has a legitimate chance to win Best Picture).

7. “Crazy Rich Asians” was one of 2018’s most important and most successful films and it even received major PGA and Golden Globes noms. From the Academy Awards? Not a single nomination.

8. I was overjoyed to see the underrated “Ready Player One” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story” get noms for visual effects, but was genuinely puzzled as to how “Christopher Robin” scored one over “Aquaman,” “Bumblebee,” and “Black Panther.” Nothing against the FX in ‘Robin,’ but it wasn’t in the same league as the other three.

9. It’s crazy that Paul Schrader has never been nominated before, but he finally scored one for his screenwriting work on “First Reformed.” Ethan Hawke and the film itself, however, missed the cut.

10. “First Man” received 4 technical awards (and rightly so), but was shut out of Best Picture, cinematography, director, actor, supporting actress, and, most confusingly, best score (Justin Hurwitz was supposed to be a lock).

11. “Three Identical Strangers” was the best documentary film of last year and it shockingly didn’t get nominated in the documentary category. Fan favorite “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” was also denied in the category.

January 22, 2019 - Posted by nicklyons1 | List | 11 Thoughts On The 2019 Academy Awards Nominations, Academy Awards Nominations, Best Director, Black Panther, Blackkklansman, Burning, Crazy Rich Asians, Emily Blunt, First Man, Oscar Snubs, Oscars, Oscars 2019, Roma, Spike Lee, Thom Yorke