There are certain rituals that always come with Oscar nominations morning — waking up early, placing your bets on whether this year’s nominations hosts will say all the names right, and then listening not just for the names that are announced, but the names that aren’t. The 2024 Oscar nominations recognized some great films and artisans, but as always the full list contains plenty of misses on the Academy’s part, and now is the time to complain about them!
But this isn’t going to be all negativity, as there were also some glorious surprises across multiple categories, especially as the Academy continues to diversify in terms of the films it considers Oscar-worthy. Who knows how the actual winners will shake out on March 10th, when the 96th Academy Awards are handed out. But for some of the below, just the nomination is the real victory.
SNUB: Charles Melton for Supporting Actor
May December (Netflix)
The May December breakout’s omission from the list Tuesday morning also qualifies as a shock and a surprise, because the former Riverdale star has been a force in this category all awards season, winning the Gotham Award along with multiple critics honors. Was he likely to beat out Robert Downey Jr.? Probably not, as the Oppenheimer star is the current frontrunner. However, getting bumped for Robert De Niro… there’s a certain kind of honor in that. Not as big an honor as actually getting a nomination, but still.
SURPRISE: Nimona Shifts Its Way to a Nomination
Nimona (Netflix)
It feels likely that Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron is going to take the top prize in Animated Feature Film this year, yet we can still be happy that Netflix’s beautifully rendered sci-fi/fantasy film, featuring the voices of Chloë Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed, picked up a nomination in the category. Another surprising nominee was Disney’s Elemental, a film with its charms, though these inclusions did mean…
SNUB: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Gets Stuck in the Sewers
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount)
One of 2023’s most charming animated films, from the voice acting to the rough hewn animation, couldn’t break in, maybe proving Mutant Mayhem’s point that “Humans are the demon scum of the Earth. Avoid them. Don’t say hi. They lust to murder that which is different from them. To interact with them is to die.”
SURPRISE: Godzilla Minus One Roars to a Visual Effects Nomination
Godzilla Minus One (Toho)
This is the first Japanese language film to receive a Visual Effects nomination ever, which is pretty neat, and also do you know what the total budget was for Godzilla Minus One? Approximately $10-15 million. That’s how much Marvel might spend on one car chase. That’s probably what one stunt in the Mission: Impossible-verse costs. And for that price you get a captivating period drama and a movie in which Godzilla wrecks the crap out of Japan! Let it win.
SNUB: Alexander Payne for Director
The Holdovers (Focus Features)
The Holdovers’s multiple nominations include Paul Giamatti for Lead Actor and Da’Vine Joy Randolph for Supporting Actress — and spoiler alert, they’re currently two of the favorites to win. However, the man who directed those performances couldn’t make the cut in the Direction category, despite the fact that Alexander Payne has been nominated three times before.
NOT REALLY A SURPRISE: No Love for Saltburn
Saltburn (MGM)
If you love Saltburn, you really love Saltburn. But if you don’t… well, you’re probably in the majority, as Emerald Fennell’s demented social satire remains the most polarizing film of 2023. It would have been incredible to see Barry Keoghan sneak into the Lead Actor category, or Fennell be recognized for Original Screenplay… But that would have required a lot more people liking the movie at all.
SNUB: Did No One Watch Their Priscilla Screener?
Priscilla (A24)
Speaking of movies starring Jacob Elordi — Sofia Coppola’s nuanced portrait of Priscilla Presley went nomination-less on Tuesday morning, even in the hair and makeup category. (Congrats to Bradley Cooper’s Maestro nose, one supposes.) Priscilla felt like it could have at least made a dent in technical categories, but no luck.
SURPRISE: El Conde Recognized for Its Flying Vampires
El Conde (Netflix)
Okay, technically the Chilean horror dramedy, imagining a reality in which dictator Claude Pinoche (Jaime Vadell) is a literal vampire draining the blood of his subjects, is nominated for Edward Lachman’s stark yet elegant black-and-white cinematography. The film’s visuals really come alive, though, during the extended sequences of vampires swooping over the mountains and cityscapes of Chile — it’s beautiful work that might have gotten ignored, in another year.
SNUB: Greta Lee for Past Lives
Past Lives (A24)
Past Lives did receive nominations for Best Picture and Original Screenplay, but that movie sings because of Greta Lee’s exquisite work, an achingly honest and raw performance that confirms Lee as a true talent. Hopefully, future awards seasons will be able to recognize that.
SNUB: Margot Robbie for Barbie
Barbie (Warner Bros.)
Barbie as a movie doesn’t work without Margot Robbie in the lead, full stop. And that’s not just based on her physicality — though few things last year were as funny as Robbie’s Barbie face-planting like a wooden board in existential despair. Every facet of Robbie’s work on screen was important to Barbie’s journey of self-discovery and transcendence, and this is an embarrassing omission.
SURPRISE: America Ferrera for Barbie
Barbie (Warner Bros.)
This might not be the biggest surprise of the day, as America Ferrera was in the conversation from the beginning, but with a very competitive Supporting Actress race this year, there was reason to be concerned. However, the power of that monologue cannot be denied.
SNUB: Not Enough People Heard 32 Sounds
32 Sounds (courtesy of the filmmakers)
Sam Green’s shortlisted documentary is one of the most unconventional and compelling documentaries this humble writer has ever seen, but perhaps its unconventional nature kept it from making it to the final five in the Documentary Feature Film category.
SURPRISE: Emily Blunt for Supporting Actress
Oppenheimer (Universal)
It’s the wife-in-a-great-man’s-biopic role, but Emily Blunt managed to make it far more interesting than another actress might — while also confirming that one of Oppenheimer’s greatest strengths as a film is how it defies the typical biopic tropes.
SNUB: Leonardo DiCaprio for Lead Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple)
Okay, it’s hard to get really upset about this one, as the real outrage would have been if Lily Gladstone was the one snubbed for Killers of the Flower Moon. However, it’s still a bit of a shock that the frequent nominee couldn’t get into this category, instead making room for first-time nominees Jeffrey Wright, Colman Domingo, and Cillian Murphy. Speaking of which…
