Oscars 2023: The biggest snubs at this year’s Academy Awards
The nominees are out for the Oscars 2023, and the 95th Academy Awards has stayed true to its tenet of throwing in some notable snubs. While the nominees were largely as expected, a few notable names escaped the potential winners list.
Perhaps the biggest name on the snub list is James Cameron who lost out on a ‘Best Director’ nod for his work on Avatar: The Way of Water. However, the famed Titanic director won’t be losing too much sleep given that the film itself is up for ‘Best Picture’.
More controversially, it seems that Andrea Riseborough’s campaign for a nomination proved successful. Riseborough’s drive to get her work in To Leslie recognised was a self-funded effort. The little-known indie film skirted under many people’s radar this year, and while the four other names in this esteemed ‘Best Actress’ category were expected, Viola Davis was heavily tipped to secure the fifth spot. This also meant that young hopeful Mia Goth missed out.
Nevertheless, the snub that is likely to cause the most upset among film fans is Aftersun missing out on ‘Best Picture’. While its star, Paul Mescal, was nominated for ‘Best Actor’, the tear-jerking film itself missed out. As one of the best-reviewed films this year, questions have been asked about why it was overlooked given the pedigree of the young talent involved.
Questions have often been asked about whether the Academy Awards lean away from films that seem to have a more youthful audience in mind, and Aftersun seems to be yet another paradigm for that ongoing argument.
Furthermore, The Whale almost missed out on a ‘Best Picture’ nod despite seeing both stars feature among the acting nominations. The Brendan Fraser film has been highly praised by fans and critics alike for its emotive narrative.
Those films aren’t alone in this regard either, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery was one of the most talked about movies this year. Netflix were hoping it could sustain the first film’s success at the awards but that certainly doesn’t seem to have been the case here with only a ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ to its name. The film may not have been worthy of much more, but given that fellow commercial outings like Elvis and Top Gun: Maverick were included, Netflix will be disappointed with the snub.
Jordan Peele’s latest horror Nope, Indian epic RRR, and Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave were all among the bookies’ favoured selections for nominations but all failed to feature as the Oscars looked to narrow the list this year.
In stark contrast to the snubs, one of the notable inclusions this year was the first nomination for an acting role in a Marvel movie. Angela Bassett broke new ground for the superhero franchise thanks to her excellent performance in Black Panther: Wakana Forever. However, she’ll face strong competition to win ‘Best Supporting Actress’ from Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu who both star in one of today’s big winners, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
The 95th Oscars Awards ceremony goes ahead at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on March 12th and is set to commence at 8pm ET / 5 pm PT and 1am in the UK.
You can check out the full list of nominees by clicking here.
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