• Fashion
  • Jewels & Watches
  • Beauty
  • BAZAAR Man
  • Life
  • Exclusives
  • BAZAAR TV
  • Fashion
    • Fashion
    • News & Trends
    • Street Style
    • Red Carpet
    • Shopping
    • Accessories
    • Designers
    • Fashion Week
  • Jewels & Watches
    • Jewels & Watches
    • News & Trends
    • Watches
    • Jewellery
  • Beauty
    • Beauty
    • News & Trends
    • Fragrances
    • Hair, Makeup & Nails
    • Skincare
    • Health & Wellness
    • Spas & Salons
  • BAZAAR Man
    • BAZAAR Man
    • Fashion
    • Accessories
    • Grooming
    • Lifestyle
    • Watches
  • Life
    • Life
    • Celebrities
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Culture
    • BAZAAR Art
  • Exclusives
    • Exclusives
    • Magazine
    • BAZAAR Events
    • BAZAAR NewGen Award
    • BAZAAR Art Prize
    • Giveaways
  • BAZAAR Junior
    • Junior
    • News & Trends
    • Fashion
    • Health & Wellness
    • Enrichment
    • Culture
    • Awards
  • BAZAAR NewGen
  • BAZAAR Art
  • BAZAAR TV
  • Subscribe
Subscribe Now!
  • Also available at:
Privacy Menu
  • CONTACT US
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • ABOUT US
  • CONDITION OF ACCESS
  • PDPA
  • PRIVACY POLICY
SPH Magazine

Copyright© SPH Magazines Pte Ltd. Co. Reg. No 196900476M. All Rights Reserved.

  • Fashion
  • Jewels & Watches
  • Beauty
  • BAZAAR Man
  • Life
  • Exclusives
  • BAZAAR TV

Culture

12 Snubs And Surprises From The 2020 Oscar Nominations

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Search in posts
Search in pages
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Search in posts
Search in pages
Life

12 Snubs And Surprises From The 2020 Oscar Nominations

Women directors, Jennifer Lopez, The Farewell, and Lupita Nyong’o deserved better

January 16, 2020

The 2020 Oscar nominations were announced Monday morning, and they gave us one of the most frustrating lists of honorees on public record in recent history. But on the other hand, you might be happy to learn that South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s magnificent film Parasite has managed to clear any foreign language barriers and reigns as one of the most nominated films of the year. So, as the Bible says, the Academy giveth, and it taketh away.

Let’s unpack it all.

This article originally appeared on Harper’s BAZAAR US.

https://www.harpersbazaar.com.sg/gallery/12-snubs-surprises-from-2020-oscar-nominations/
12 Snubs And Surprises From The 2020 Oscar Nominations
1 | THE BEST PICTURE CATEGORY IS PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ENTIRE NOMINATIONS LIST.
image

As usual, the Best Picture race is mostly white and mostly male (save only for Parasite and Little Women), which sums up the general sentiments of the Academy voting committee this year. This top-prize category also represents the films that appear multiple times in other areas on the noms list. It seems voters watched only these nine films on a loop all year round. How boring.

Photo: Everett

2 | THERE IS NOT A SINGLE NOMINATION FOR HUSTLERS.
image

But seriously, did the voters see this movie or nah? You can’t blame lack of marketing. You can’t blame the studio’s lack of “campaigning.” And you certainly can’t blame a lack of presence at literally every award precursor ceremony leading up to Monday’s announcement (should-be Oscar nominee and star Jennifer Lopez attended almost every show). The complete shutout of writer/director Lorene Scafaria’s masterwork is intentional, and, man, does it burn. Not only should the film be nominated for Best Picture and Jennifer Lopez for supporting actress, but it should have also shown up in the best editing, cinematography, adapted screenplay, costume design, and directing categories. This is a travesty.

Photo: Courtesy

3 | AND SPEAKING OF TRAGICOMEDIES, THE FAREWELL WAS ALSO IGNORED.
image

It’s not just that the gracious director Lulu Wang was on the press circuit for a full year since her wonderful dramedy premiered at Sundance last January, but The Farewell has also been on almost every best-of list (including ours) for the last several months. It seemed like a shoo-in that it would not only be nominated for an Oscar, but also win—especially since star Awkwafina has collected a few major awards, including the Golden Globe for best actress. On top of that, after much hullaballoo about relegating the movie as a foreign language feature despite the fact that The Farewell is an American movie largely set in China, it doesn’t even make it in the newly renamed best International Feature Film category. WTF?

Photo: Everett

4 | ON TO SOME GOOD NEWS: PARASITE CONTINUES TO BE AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE.
image

There was a whole lot of talk about Parasite potentially going the route of Roma (a completely different film that just so happens to also be in a non-English language) last year, in that it would pick up a lot of steam ahead of the Oscars and not clench Best Picture. But after winning almost every award it’s been nominated for, and almost unanimously topping people’s favourite film of 2019 lists, it would be an embarrassment to not bestow Bong’s modern classic with Hollywood’s top prize (the first for a Korean film). It’s also rightly nominated in the original screenplay, editing, director, international film, and production design categories. Parasite is a slick genre-defying film with timeless “eat the rich” appeal, celebrated by some of the most pretentious, affluent (white) people in the world. I love to see it.

Related article: Why Did The Oscars Fail To Nominate Any Female Directors Again?

Photo: Courtesy

5 | BUT NONE OF THE ACTORS IN PARASITE WERE NOMINATED. CHARLIZE THERON AND CYNTHIA ERIVO SOMEHOW WERE.
image

The actors who played both families in Ho’s fabulous film could have actually filled up the acting nominees lists (kind of like how The Irishman, Marriage Story, and Little Women did). That certainly would have made things more interesting, justified, and significantly less white. Instead, not one but two actresses from the misguided and borderline cartoonish Bombshell get nominated; Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie in the best lead and supporting categories, respectively. Obviously, director Jay Roach assembled a cast of wonderful actresses, but the movie does each of its leading ladies a disservice.

A similar thing can be said of Cynthia Erivo’s nomination for Harriet. Like Theron and Robbie, Erivo is a fine actress. But the mediocre Harriet is not a good indication of her talent. These slots should have gone to Awkwafina, Lopez, Lopez’s Hustlers costar Constance Wu, and/or anyone from Parasite. This is just more proof that, especially when it comes to nominating women, the Academy makes uninformed choices.

Photo: Glen Wilson

6 | SPEAKING OF WHICH, IN WHAT WORLD IS KATHY BATES’S PERFORMANCE IN RICHARD JEWELL BETTER THAN JENNIFER LOPEZ’S IN HUSTLERS?
image

Kathy Bates has been a remarkable actress for decades, and she is far better than her performance in the middling Richard Jewell. Full stop. Lopez, however, brings such a breathless, seemingly effortless blend of manic desperation, sincerity, and deviance to Hustlers that to nominate anyone else who doesn’t bring at least that caliber to the screen is just a crime.

  • Photo: Everett
7 | FORMER NFL PLAYER MATTHEW CHERRY RECEIVES AN OSCAR NOMINATION FOR AN ANIMATED FILM ABOUT NATURAL BLACK HAIR.
image

If you are unfamiliar with Matthew Cherry, then you must not be paying close enough attention to Twitter. The former wide receiver-turned-filmmaker is a huge advocate for black and brown talent on-screen and last year compiled all his resources, including a crowdfunding campaign, to make Hair Love, an animated short film about a black dad learning to do his young daughter’s natural hair. And now he’s an Oscar nominee.

Photo: Courtesy

8 | KNIVES OUT HOLDS IT DOWN AS THE ONLY TRUE GENRE FILM TO BE RECOGNIZED—IN THE SAME YEAR THAT US HAPPENED.
image

It’s no secret that the Academy has a huge bias against acknowledging genre films (the recent recognition for Get Out was evidently a fluke). But deciding to honour writer/director Rian Johnson’s Agatha Christie–adjacent mystery for best original screenplay and not the flawed-yet-superior Us or any of these horror genre gems is a head-scratcher.

Related article: Oscar Nominations 2020: The Full List

Photo: Claire Folger

9 | THE MAGNIFICENT AD ASTRA EARNED JUST ONE NOMINATION.
image

Not to compare two space movies, but last year, First Man was nominated for four Oscars (winning one), and this year the much more excellent—and at one point, universally lauded—Ad Astra earns just one? Director/co-writer James Gray’s epic film totally deserves to win its sound editing category, but star Brad Pitt (who’s had a hell of a year with this and the fantastic Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood) is overlooked, as well as all other technical achievements in this film. I call BS.

Photo: Courtesy

10 | AFTER NEARLY 40 YEARS OF ACTING IN HOLLYWOOD, ANTONIO BANDERAS FINALLY GETS HIS DUE.
image

It is about time that the Hollywood elite recognise Antonio Banderas for the masterful actor that he’s always been by finally nominating him for an Oscar. It’s even more fulfilling that it’s for a role in writer/director Pedro Almodóvar’s marvelous (and nominated) film. The two have worked together several times in the past, so this acknowledgement is extra sweet. No rant here, just gushing.

Photo: Everett

11 | ADAM SANDLER WASN’T A HUMAN PUNCHING BAG FOR TWO HOURS IN UNCUT GEMS FOR HIM, AND THE FILM, TO GET SHUT OUT LIKE THIS.
image

I jest, but Adam Sandler’s character in the Benny and Josh Safdie–directed film goes through a lot. And in turn, it’s stressful AF to watch. The actor is much more than the man-child character he’s made a career out of (though his jewellery store character, Howard, isn’t exactly the sharpest screw in the toolshed). His moments of earnestness, mixed with genuine comedy and hopelessness, is what elevates the filmmaker’s already airtight film. It is certainly more fascinating to watch than Jonathan Pryce’s work in The Two Popes, the only mind-boggling best actor nomination among the bunch. Surely, Sandler could have slid in there instead.

Photo: Everett

12 | DOLEMITE IS MY NAME DOESN’T EVEN GET A COSTUME DESIGN NOD?
image

The injustice. It became clear earlier this awards season that the Eddie Murphy starrer was one of the redheaded stepchildren, considering that it rarely received any attention. But you’d think after legendary costume designer Ruth E. Carter won for her brilliant work in Black Panther last year, she had clenched the respect of the Academy. Her detailed, retro styling in the Craig Brewer–directed ’70s-set comedy is just as fabulous as nominee Arianne Phillips’s threads for Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood and far more distinct than Mark Bridges’s nominated designs for Joker. A shame. The fact that Clay A. Griffith’s meticulous production design in Dolemite Is My Name couldn’t have even secured a nod, perhaps over The Irishman’s slot, also stings.

Related article: The 45 Best Films Of The 2010s

Photo: François Duhamel / Netflix

  • TAGS:
  • Academy Awards
  • Adam Sandler
  • Antonio Banderas
  • Awkwafina
  • Bong Joon Ho
  • Brad Pitt
  • Charlize Theron
  • Culture
  • Cynthia Erivo
  • Dolemite Is My Name
  • Eddie Murphy
  • Film
  • films
  • Hair Love
  • James Gray
  • Jennifer Lopez
  • Kathy Bates
  • Life
  • Lorene Scafaria
  • Lulu Wang
  • Lupita Nyong'o
  • Matthew Cherry
  • Movies
  • Oscar Nominations 2020
  • Oscars 2020
  • Parasite
  • Rian Johnson
  • Richard Jewell
  • The Farewell
SHARE THIS ON

Trending

Life

Harry Styles Joins Olivia Wilde’s 'Don’t Worry Darling' With Flor...

Life

Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, And Aria...

Life

Bridgerton Will Get Another Scandalous Season on Netflix

Life

10 Places To Go For A Festive Meal This Chinese New Year

Life

Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman Is Headed For The Super Bowl

Life

5 Local Lifestyle Brands To Elevate Your Home Décor

Life

Team BAZAAR On The Dream Guests They'd Invite Over For CNY

Life

Halle Berry Reveals How She Gets Such Taut Abs In A Sweaty Workou...

Life

‘The Morning Show’ Season 2: What We Know So Far

Life

Duchess Meghan Didn't Change Her Name On Archie's Birth Certifica...

Life

Everything You Need To Know About Spencer

Life

Actor Lawrence Wong Wants To Conquer The World With His Own Lifes...

BAZAAR TV
Actor Lawrence Wong Wants To Conquer The World With His Own Lifestyle Empire
Highlights
  • Fashion Inside The New Simone Rocha x H&M Collab
  • Life 5 Local Lifestyle Brands To Elevate Your Home Décor
  • Skincare The Best 2021 Beauty Trends That Will Help You Get Health...
  • Fashion Tory Burch Gives The Classic Bucket Bag An Eye-Catching U...
  • Fashion How To Up Your Chinese New Year Style Game With These Sin...
Editor’s Picks
  • Fashion BAZAAR’s Guide To Festive Dressing—the CNY edition
  • Jewels & Watches A Fresh Start: These Personalities Are Ready To Face The Year With Hope and D...
  • Fashion Beyond The Vines Aims To Put Singapore Designs On The World Map
Newsletter Subscribe
Get the latest fashion news, trends, street-style snaps and more from HarpersBAZAAR.com.sg straight to your inbox!
Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Statement
Footer Menu
  • CONTACT US
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • ABOUT US
  • CONDITION OF ACCESS
  • PDPA
  • PRIVACY POLICY
?>
SPH Magazine

Copyright© SPH Magazines Pte Ltd. Co. Reg. No 196900476M. All Rights Reserved.