The Oscars is over for another year - a fairly even spread in some ways with The Shape of Water taking four including Best Picture and Best Director, Dunkirk scoring three (editing, sound mixing and sound editing) and a range of others taking two including Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri which bagged Best Actress for Frances McDormand and Supporting Actor for Sam Rockwell, Darkest Hour, which won Gary Oldman Best Actor and took the makeup award and Blade Runner 2049 which won Cinematography and VFX.
There were a couple of nice surprises (Jordan Peele winning Best Original Screenplay for Get Out was a well received outlier) and overall it was a pretty positive good spirited awards compared to many, but who was overlooked this year?
These are the snubs that might have stung:
1. Lady Bird didn't win anything at all
Greta Gerwig is a first time director so to get a Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay nomination at all is a massive achievement. We doubt that she, Laurie Metcalf, who was nominated for the first time, and Saoirse Ronan, who was nominated for best actor for the second time despite being still only 23 are especially devastated. But with the incredibly strong buzz, five noms and its 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes it was a shame it didn't win anything.
2. Molly's Game
To be fair it was only nominated for one award - Best Adapted Screenplay for fast talkin' Aaron Sorkin but it couldn't top Call Me By Your Name so it left with nothing.
3. Adam West
The In Memoriam section can't include everyone so every single year certain industry members who've passed away since the last awards aren't featured. This year three of the most noticed were Batman star Adam West, RoboCop's Miguel Ferrer and Texas Chain Saw Massacre director Tobe Hooper.
4. Phantom Thread
It didn't leave empty handed taking home both the Best Costume Design for Mark Bridges, but from 6 nominations in a movie starring Daniel 'just leave the Oscar in the dressing room' Day Lewis and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson who is one of the best filmmakers working today and has been nominated 8 times, getting overlooked for the biggies does feel a bit of a snub.
5. The Post
Spielberg + Hanks + Streep + a true life story about freedom of speech and the woman who risked it all to expose dodgy goings on in the Whitehouse, felt so Oscar-y it basically ate itself and walked away with nothing.
6. Christopher Nolan
Guillermo del Toro richly deserved the win, for his beautiful movie The Shape of Water. But in any other year the Best Director Oscar would surely have be Nolan's to lose. He's put in so much good work over his career, been nominated five times and Dunkirk really is his finest.
7. Mudbound
Three noms and no wins for Dee Rees' period drama. One of these was for the first female cinematographer to ever be nominated for an Oscar - Rachel Morrison - though we wouldn't call this a snub as such - the cinematography prize went to Roger Deakins who was on his 14 nomination without a win.
