Let’s Talk Cinema: The 2010’s

There’s something euphoric about correctly predicting Oscar nominations. You’ve spent months watching all the buzzed-about films, tracking festivals, reading the “important” reviews, following critics’ awards, navigating precursor wins and nominations, listening to speeches, cross-referencing stats—and finally, it all comes down to Oscar nomination morning. Your predictions are locked in, your fate sealed. You’ve chosen the hills you’ll die on, accepted the fate of your favorites, and then…it happens. The unthinkable. The unfathomable. The dreaded, heartbreaking, defeating SNUB. “The horror! The horror!”

Get it right, and you wear the badge of honor. Get it wrong, and you hang your head in shame, knowing you’ll have to relive it on Oscar night. Oscar predicting is an all-consuming process—many of us live in it for half the year. Somehow, we’ve found ourselves in this weird game, and we can’t get out—nor do we want to. Predicting the Oscars found me; I certainly didn’t seek it out (I’ve already told that story). I love cinema, but predicting the Oscars? I love that almost as much. I’m not as good as some of you, who keep meticulous tabs on everything. I wish I were more organized—that’s probably where I fall short. I learned something from one of my best film friends, Claudiu: he’s good because he ALWAYS follows the stats. I follow the stats until my heart whispers, “Die on the hill.” I wish I could ignore that voice—it would make gut-punching snubs less painful and would certainly help me win contests, especially against Claudiu. 😊

Nominees and winners come and go, but the snubs live longer in the minds of Oscar watchers. If you’ve read this far, you’ve already thought of a few that still feel like daggers to the heart. I’m still healing from Sing Sing last year. I often forget nominees, but those dagger wounds from those snubs stay. That’s the price of playing this wild game we’re all sucked into.

Now, when I say “snubbed,” I don’t mean losing. Just because a nominee doesn’t win, that’s not a snub. To me, a snub is when a movie or individual is recognized at major precursors—Critics’ Choice, Golden Globes, BAFTA, SAG, DGA, PGA, WGA—and then fails to get the Oscar nomination. And the other key factor? How it makes you feel. That’s where it gets dicey and subjective. Take Sing Sing: for people who didn’t like it, its exclusion from Best Picture and Clarence Maclin from Supporting Actor might not feel like snubs. But for me, and other Sing Sing lovers, those omissions were outrageous SNUBS. So, when I think of snubs, I consider their track record—AND how they made me feel. Is my system flawed? Probably. But I’m a feels person, through and through.

Which brings us to this week’s task: what snubs were painful for you? Which shocked you? And, if you want to stir the pot, which ones made you laugh with relief (I’m thinking of a movie that starts with “The” and has a recent acting nominee’s last name)? The 2010s had their fair share of snubs, so there’s plenty to choose from.

***For the record, we did a list of blockbuster films that “should have been considered” for Best Picture. That’s not the same as a snub. Many blockbusters were never going near the Oscars, so I don’t consider many of those to be snubs.***

Jerm’s 2010s Most Egregious Oscar Snubs

Inside Llewyn Davis

This film was harshly snubbed from Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay. Not only did this film hit many precursors, it was simply a brilliant piece of cinema. The Coens have many hits and a few misfires, but Inside Llewyn Davis to me is one of their finest films. It’s well-crafted, especially the cinematography and sound, and it has a unique and original screenplay. The story is at times witty and hilarious, and at other times heartbreaking, all set in the folk music world of Greenwich Village in the 60s. Oscar Isaac—who has been CRIMINALLY overlooked for an Oscar nomination time and time again—gave his most nomination-worthy performance here. He carried the weight of his friend and band partner’s death, the struggle of being broke and down on his luck, getting by with the kindness of friends he keeps at arm’s length, and all the many complicated relationships he navigates. He did it so expertly it felt like Isaac’s real life. Not only did he act brilliantly, he performed all the music (singing and playing) live. I could go on about my love for this film—how I drove over an hour to a hipster theater to see it, or how I loved the name Llewyn so much I gave it to my son (who, ironically, is playing my wife’s banjo as I type this). Inside Llewyn Davis is the Coens’ best of the 2010s and my third favorite of theirs overall, behind No Country for Old Men and Fargo. 2013 was one of the best years of cinema in the decade, and this film deserved to be part of the Oscars conversation.

Amy Adams, Arrival

HOW WAS SHE LEFT OUT?! She hit EVERY precursor she needed. Arrival had 8 nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Writing, and Editing, and somehow, they left out Amy? Usually, a film with that much support takes along an acting nomination—especially when that potential nominee gets all the prerequisites needed to be a frontrunner. Amy carried that film and delivered one of her most powerful performances. It feels like everyone is waiting for the “right” film to honor her, but this was it. Amy was WIN-worthy for Arrival. What does she have to do to win, or even to get nominated consistently? This should have been her moment to shine.

Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler

Like Amy, Jake hit every precursor. Unlike Amy, his film wasn’t universally praised. Nightcrawler isn’t a movie for everyone—it’s wild, uncomfortable, and unhinged. But Jake gave the best performance of his career. I don’t know, nor do I want to know, what it took to mentally get into that character, but he transformed into an entirely different human being. It’s frustrating to see work that strong get ignored. Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler > Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything.

Christopher Nolan, Inception AND Interstellar

When you ignore someone for so long, you create a massive hurdle for them to overcome. Would Nolan have won for Oppenheimer if he’d been properly recognized earlier? Before Dunkirk, he should have been nominated for Inception. I saw it three times in theaters—it was that brilliant. Some would argue The Dark Knight deserved his first nod, but Inception should have sealed it. Then came Interstellar. I already raved about it in the Blockbuster article, but it deserves repeating: it’s Nolan’s best. Some of you hate it, fine, but I rewatched it recently and still felt completely justified making it my number one blockbuster ignored by the Oscars. Dunkirk was fine, Oppenheimer was great, but Nolan was SNUBBED for Inception and Interstellar, and I’ll die on that hill.

Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

If this film had come out now, in a decade marked with too many school shootings, maybe it would resonate more? Maybe not. Either way, the subject matter was likely too heavy for the Academy, which often gravitates toward feel-good films. We Need to Talk About Kevin is brutal. Watching a mother who cannot connect with her child, realizing he’s psychologically disturbed yet manipulative enough to hide it, only for him to commit unspeakable acts—it’s devastating. Tilda Swinton, though she has an Oscar, is underappreciated. She’s a chameleon, disappearing into every role. In this film, she gave a layered, raw, and unforgettable performance. Ezra Miller was disturbingly good as Kevin too, but Tilda got all the precursors—until the Academy left her off the Best Actress list. To me, she was a step above everyone else that year.

Lupita Nyong’o, Us

Listen, I hate scary movies now. But when Us came out, I braved it. Bad choice. I watched it alone, at night, and regretted it immediately. I had to turn it off halfway through, sat up all night with the lights on, weapons in reach. Lupita… I don’t have words. She terrified me. Her dual performance was unforgettable. Genre bias hurt her, but she was a critics’ darling, and she deserved more. She acted circles around many of that year’s nominees. That face, that voice—it’ll haunt me forever.

Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel

I’m not a big Wes Anderson fan—most of his films lean too heavily on the same quirky schtick—but The Grand Budapest Hotel surprised me. I loved it, and Ralph Fiennes was the reason. His performance was comical, unexpected, and brilliant. The film scored 9 nominations and 4 wins, yet somehow, he was left out. The lack of a SAG nomination hinted at the snub, but still—no one else could have done what Fiennes did in that role. He should have at least 4 Oscar nominations by now. Maybe 5, if we count the greatest villain of all time—Lord Voldemort—but that’s a fight for another day. 😉

Mila Kunis, Black Swan AND Andrew Garfield, The Social Network

These two are lumped together because, in 2010, both delivered excellent supporting performances in strong, still-beloved films. Both had plenty of precursors. And both were shockingly snubbed. Their characters were pivotal—they created the drama and chaos that developed the climax of the film, without them, there is no film. Kunis and Garfield made those films the instant classics they have become, and no one will ever forget their brilliance, or their ridiculous snub by the Academy. Someone call the popo, because they were ROBBED.

Greta Gerwig, Little Women

Greta won some critics’ awards for directing Little Women and was nominated for more, but she wasn’t taken seriously as a contender. Because she wrote the screenplay, the Academy seemed to think that was enough. It wasn’t. After years of demanding more female directors be included and championed, she delivered Little Women, and they still ignored her. She made a classic story feel fresh, relevant, and timely, with all the nostalgia and sentiment intact, while subtly highlighting female empowerment. Without her touch, it wouldn’t have been as perfect. She deserved that directing nod. And just a sidenote, I want more Gerwig-Ronan-Chalamet collaborations!

David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo AND Gone Girl

Hot off the heels of The Social Network, Fincher delivered another banger—The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. An unflinching, relentless psychological thriller that I still find myself revisiting all these years later. PGA, WGA, and DGA all loved it, but the Academy dropped the ball. Somehow Rooney Mara scraped by with a surprise Best Actress nomination—WIN-worthy, in my opinion—alongside Viola Davis (no offense to the Queen of the Oscars, Meryl Streep, who won her third that year). History doesn’t look kindly on the Oscar races of 2011, an embarrassing lineup of Best Pictures that maybe had three or four worthy candidates. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo should have been a force to be reckoned with. It landed a few below-the-line nominations, luckily, but Fincher himself was shut out. So, he came back with another banger—Gone Girl, which I already praised (like Interstellar) in the blockbuster article. Another brilliant psychological thriller that kept you on your toes, never knowing how it would all turn out. Rosamund Pike—THE PERFORMANCE OF THAT YEAR—barely scraped by with the film’s ONLY Oscar nomination. Critics, Golden Globes, PGA, and WGA all gave the film, Fincher, and the screenplay the love they deserved, but again Oscar voters dropped the ball. HOW?! WHY?! What does Fincher need to do to get the Oscar glory he DESERVES?! At this point, he should have won Best Director at least twice (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network), but The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl should have brought him more nominations, and the films themselves should have been treated with far more respect and appreciation. Since Fight Club in 1999, Fincher hasn’t made a single bad film—one after another, he’s a master. The only director who, in my opinion, has that level of track record is Tarantino. Which brings us to Fincher’s next impending BANGER: he’s taking Tarantino’s character Cliff Booth from Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood and making an entire film around him. It smells like Oscar glory—and if it isn’t, I might cry. If it is, I also might cry. Either way, I’m starting the Fincher Oscar campaign now. Remember, you heard it here first from your pal, Jerm.

***Some Honorable Mention Snubs Worth Noting***

Skyfall — Picture, Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem)

Timothée Chalamet — Supporting Actor (Beautiful Boy)

Jennifer Aniston — Lead Actress (Cake)

Hell or High Water — Director (David Mackenzie), Supporting Actor (Ben Foster)

Molly’s Game — Picture, Lead Actress (Jessica Chastain)

Damien Chazelle — Director (Whiplash)

Django Unchained — Director (Tarantino), Supporting Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio)

Kathryn Bigelow — Director (Zero Dark Thirty)

Martin McDonagh — Director (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Bennett Miller — Director (Moneyball)

All of these snubs left me equal parts shocked, upset, and disheartened, and I will always be disappointed they didn’t get their day in the sun. Like I said, it comes with the game we play in predicting Oscars. Sasha always says Oscar voters think with their hearts, and so do we. We get emotionally attached to films, and we carry them with us like it’s our job to get them nominated—e.g., my Fincher campaign. We want to see our favorites with Oscar nominations and wins, we want to see them take the stage in glamorous apparel, we want to watch them give rousing speeches to thunderous applause. These films mean something to us, and we are the free, unpaid battle cry that helps push the buzz for all of the contenders. We all do it, in our own way—which is how the tantrums and wars break out in the comment section. It all goes back to the feelings, everything always does. What you think is a masterpiece, the next person might see as a pile of garbage. We just have to roll with the ups and downs of the game we play. Oscar snubs happen every year, and somehow, they still come as a surprise. But like I said, those snubs are what cement these films as great cinema, far more than most Oscar-nominated fare. Think about that this season, because soon…we’ll have more Oscar snubs!

Now it’s your turn, my friends! Give us your snubs, and as always—Let’s Talk Cinema!