History was made across the board with the 93rd Oscar nominations. Steven Yeun became the first Asian-American nominated for Best Actor. Chloe Zhao and Emerald Fennell became the first women nominated for Best Director in the same year. And Riz Ahmed became the first public Muslim nominated for Best Actor. “Judas and the Black Messiah” became the first feature with all African-American producers nominated for Best Picture. Amongst all those celebrations, however, there were some disappointments. Hence, the annual snubs and surprises.
READ MORE: 2021 Oscar Nominations [Complete List]
One semi-surprise confirmed during the morning announcement that deserves some attention is the fact AMPAS president David Rubin confirmed that this year’s telecast will take place not only at the Dolby Theater but at Los Angeles’ historic Union Station. How Oscars producers Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher, and Steven Soderbergh incorporate a working Amtrak station into the ceremony remains to be seen.
Snub: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Despite PGA Award and a SAG Ensemble nomination, the adaption of August Wilson’s seminal play did not crack the Best Picture race. It still earned five nominations including Best Actress (Viola Davis) and Best Actor (Chadwick Boseman), but this was not what anyone expected considering the stellar reviews and the Best Picture nod “Fences,” another Wilson play, earned in 2017.
Surprise: Thomas Vinterberg, “Another Round”
We actually called it, but many were surprised the “Another Round” director landed his first Oscar nomination from his peers despite a BAFTA Award nomination last week.
Surprise: No three Best Picture nominees for Netflix
In a year where the pandemic pushed streaming to the forefront for qualifying Oscar films, Netflix was expected to be the first studio since 1982 to earn three Best Picture nominations. Instead, they landed just two, “Mank” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” There are likely many reasons for this, but longtime observers will insist even in a virtual environment it’s extremely difficult for a studio to campaign more than two Best Picture nominees at one time. Netflix, and other studios, will have a shot at it next year, however, as the Best Picture field expands to 10 nominations.
Surprise: Lakeith Stanfield, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
It’s very rare that AMPAS members ignore the categories that studios suggest for their FYC campaigns. The last time it happened with dramatic effect was when Kate Winslet was nominated for “The Reader” in the Best Actress category instead of Supporting Actress (she was also campaigning for “Revolutionary Road” at the time). This year, the Actors branch decided upon themselves to put Stanfield in Supporting Actor instead of Best Actor which, um, was odd since he was clearly the lead in the film.
Snub: Regina King and “One Night in Miami…”
The Amazon Studios release was considered a Best Picture nominee by many since its debut at the Venice Film Festival last year. As the months wore on, however, there were signs that a Best Director nomination for King wasn’t in the cards. Despite PGA and SAG Ensemble nods (see “Ma Rainey”), that might have been the biggest sign that a Best Picture nomination was also not meant to be.
Snub: Delroy Lindo, “Da 5 Bloods”
Lindo had fallen from contention after individual SAG, Golden Globe, and BAFTA snubs, but considering the critic’s group love, it was still surprising he didn’t make the cut. In fact, despite critical acclaim upon release, “Da 5 Bloods” only earned one nomination, a genuine surprise as Terrance Blanchard made the Original Score cut.
Surprise: “Sound of Metal”
Perhaps the ultimate underdog of the entire Oscar season, Darius Marder‘s drama debuted with a minor amount of fanfare at TIFF in 2019. Almost a year and a half later, it ended up with six nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor (Riz Ahmed), Best Supporting Actor (Paul Raci), Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Sound.
Surprise and Snubs: International Film
Like the Documentary category, International Film was seen as highly competitive even after the shortlist. That being said, the fact highly touted and campaigned contenders such as “I’m No Longer Here” (Mexico), “La Llorona,” (Guatemala), “Two of Us” (France), “Charlatan” (Czech Republic), and “A Sun” (Taiwan) didn’t crack the five was shocking. Almost no one had Hong Kong’s “Better Days” making the five.
Snub: “First Cow”
The A24 release was a long shot in the Adapted Screenplay category, but considering how much love it received throughout the extended season the fact it didn’t resonate more with the Academy was puzzling. The Kelly Reichardt drama won Best Film from the New York Film Critics Circle and earned top nominations from both the Gotham Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards.
Snub: “All In: The Fight for Democracy”
There were always going to be many snubs in the highly competitive Documentary category this year and “Welcome to Chechnya,” “Dick Johnson is Dead,” “The Truffle Hunters” and “Boys State” are just the beginning of worthy docs that didn’t make the cut. One that stings slight more than others was Amazon Studios chronicling of Stacey Abrams’ fight against voter suppression that helped turn Georgia Blue not once, but twice over the past few months. Equally surprising was that Janelle Monae’s original song, “Turntables,” was snubbed as well.
Surprise: Double Nominations for Sacha Baron Cohen
Cohen, a previous Adapted Screenplay nominee for “Borat” in 2007, was long seen as a Supporting Actor contender for “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” What wasn’t expect was that Cohen would return to the Adapted Screenplay 14 years later with “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” Partially because of how competitive the category was, but also because the screenplay has nine (!) credited writers. That’s usually a “no-no” from the Writer’s Branch. It appears, however, the political significance of the film (hello Rudy Giuliani) outweighed those concerns.
The 93rd Oscars will be held on Sunday, April 25, and will be televised live on ABC at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET.