When the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences (AMPAS) selects nominations, they are voted on by the thousands of members that make up the AMPAS. How they nominate a movie to be a nominee of an award to begin with, I don't know. And every year, snubs are discussed. Usually, I myself am content with the nominations for the awards. And rarely is there a category where I couldn't care less about who or what wins. I almost always have a favorite in each category that I want to win.
Then there are omissions. But first, I want to clarify the difference between my definition of a "snub" and an "omission." A "snub" is a movie or person(s) that didn't get nominated for a specific category. An "omission" is a movie that didn't receive any nominations.
The Golden Globes (while still prestigious) are considered by me as the blueprints for the Academy Awards. Not just the winners, but the nominations. I don't consider the Golden Globes a crystal ball, telling me who might win or will win at the Oscars. But what to expect. Get a glimpse of. They influence people on what to see or consider seeing. Then the Oscar nominations can act as a reassurance or correction. And just because you didn't like a movie or a character doesn't mean it shouldn't win (not just because of personal preference). Popularity, box office numbers, and reviews influence the public on what is good and bad, before seeing the movie and determining for themselves. People often say that this person or that movie "deserves an Academy Award" (implying that it should win, not just be nominated). "Oscar buzz" influences the public (and maybe or maybe not the Academy). In addition to popularity, resumes come into effect for some. But a filmmaker with an immaculate resume can't produce a movie that is absolutely amazingly bad or disappointing and be nominated.
Three years ago, the AMPAS increased the number of Best Picture nominees from five to 10. Part of the reason was due to displeasure from many for "The Dark Knight," directed by Christopher Nolan, not being nominated. So while every other category has up to five nominees, Best Picture gets up to 10. There were 10 nominees in 2010, as well as 2011. But there were only nine nominees in 2012. And again in 2013, there are only nine Best Picture nominees:
-Amour
-Argo
-Beasts of the Southern Wild
-Django Unchained
-Les Miserables
-Life of Pi
-Lincoln
-Silver Linings Playbook
-Zero Dark Thirty
And there are five nominees for Best Director every year, so some directors are left out. The five nominees for Best Director all had their movie nominated for Best Picture (this hasn't always been the case). John Singleton got a directing nomination for "Boyz n the Hood," his debut feature film, but no Best Picture nomination. Singleton did not win. But the year before that, Kevin Costner won Best Director for his debut film "Dances with Wolves" (as well as Best Picture).
The four Best Picture nominees this year that didn't receive a nomination for Best Director: "Argo," "Django Unchained," "Les Miserables," and "Zero Dark Thirty." Those directors are Ben Affleck, Quentin Tarantino, Tom Hooper, and Kathryn Bigelow.
Tarantino, Hooper and Bigelow each have received Best Director nominations in the past (both Oscars and Golden Globes). Bigelow and Hooper have also won an Oscar for directing. Bigelow won in 2010 for "The Hurt Locker" and Hooper won in 2011 for "The King's Speech." Tarantino, Bigelow, and Hooper each had their previous film nominated for Best Director at both the Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards. None won at both shows. Ben Affleck was nominated for Best Director at the Golden Globes, and his film "Argo" received a nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and Best Picture - Drama at the Golden Globes. The Golden Globe awards for those categories were given to Ben Affleck and "Argo."
But Ben Affleck didn't get an Oscar nomination for directing. He has a short list of directing on his resume (three feature films), but he's not a rookie like Singleton and Costner were. Benh Zeitlin got a Best Director nomination for his debut feature film "Beasts of the Southern Wild." "Argo" was more well received by critics and grossed more money than "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Affleck's previous two films "Gone Baby Gone" and "The Town" each received an Academy Award nomination for a supporting acting role. Obviously the AMPAS doesn't pay attention to the Golden Globes for influence. But winning, on top of being nominated for, the Golden Globe for Best Director should garner (no pun intended) at least an Academy Award nomination for the same category.
One omission that caught my attention was "Rust and Bone." It received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film and Marion Cotillard was nominated for Best Actress - Drama for her performance as Stephanie. While "Rust and Bone" not getting a nomination for Best Foreign Film (which disappointed me) may go unnoticed, Cotillard's snub did not sneak by. Cotillard has only one Oscar nomination, which she won Best Actress for "La Vie en Rose" in 2008. Since then she has been in a lot of movies States-side. Prior to "La Vie en Rose" most of her work was across the pond.
Many critics were ready to give her the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in "Rust and Bone." But she didn't get the nomination. This made me tip my head in confusion. Cotillard plays Stephanie, a woman in her early to mid-thirties who works at France's version of Sea World, Marineland, as an orca trainer. An accident that wasn't her fault results in her having both legs amputated at the knee. Bound to a wheelchair, she becomes more dependent on others. She doesn't want anyone's pity while striving to be as independent as she can.
This has Oscar on his knees begging to go home with Marion Cotillard. The Academy tend to be suckers for vulnerable characters facing adversity. Tom Hanks played Andrew Beckett in "Philadelphia." Beckett is a gay man diagnosed with AIDS who is fired by his law firm. He believes he was discriminated against and fired for having AIDS. He is in turn represented by an outspoken homophobe played by Denzel Washington. Hilary Swank played Brandon Teena, a transgender who is ridiculed by his/her peers and is sexually assaulted in "Boy's Don't Cry." Both Hanks and Swank respectively won an Academy Award for their performances, both leading performances. But Cotillard will not get an Oscar for her performance in "Rust and Bone."
The recognition (or lack thereof) of "The Dark Knight Rises" wasn't necessarily conspicuous, but puzzling when known. No nominations whatsoever were given to the film for any category. The last Batman movie to not get any Oscar nominations was "Batman & Robin." "Batman Begins," the first chapter in the Dark Knight trilogy, was nominated for cinematography (Wally Pfister). The second chapter, "The Dark Knight," got eight nominations. It won two; Sound Editing went to Richard King, and Supporting Actor went to Heath Ledger posthumously. Heath Ledger won the same award at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, SAG Awards, and Critics' Choice Award. The absence of a Best Picture nomination contributed to the increase of nominees in the category.
But its sequel, TDKR, was not recognized by the Academy for any achievement. Other trilogy finales that were recognized by the Academy include "The Godfather Part III" and "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Even "Alien 3" got a visual effects nomination. But TDKR got shafted. Most of the nominees would've been in the technical categories. However, Warner Bros. pushed for an acting nomination for Anne Hathaway, but failed. A Best Picture nominee was also a legitimate possibility. But probably not a Best Director nomination for Christopher Nolan.
Tom Hardy's performance as Bane was thrilling and terrifying. I would vouch for Tom Hardy getting a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Nearly his entire face was covered by a mask except for his eyes. His mouth, chin, and cheeks were covered. This prohibited him from smiling, grinning, frowning, appear in total awe, frustration, or serenity. Those are what express most human emotion on the face. But his eyes and eyebrows allowed him to channel his emotions. The fight in the sewer briefly showed this. But the speech he gave outside of Blackgate Prison was his shining moment.
The reason for omissions and snubs are not just because there are other films that some people may like more than others. Limitation is the invisible reason. With such a large amount of movies and people worthy of recognition, there's too much distribution of votes. Some Academy members may be undecided on some categories or torn between multiple choices in a category. They either can't make up their mind, take a shot in the dark, or make an uncertain vote. Had Tarantino, Bigelow, and Affleck gotten Best Director nominations instead of Benh Zeitlin, David O. Russell, and Michael Haneke, the Academy could be even more split on votes. Of all the Best Picture nominations, four of the directors have won Best Director: Spielberg, Bigelow, Lee, and Hooper. It's nearly impossible to vote for an MVP on a Dream Team. The snubs and omissions that I've talked about (and the ones that I didn't discuss) are akin to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Each person can cast only so many votes. And their votes are immensely outnumbered by worthy candidates. Normally, the one candidate that wins in the end loses votes during the voting process to one or two other worthy candidates in the category. When you have four or five worthy nominees, you have more candidates to take votes away from the eventual winner.
