\n<\/p>\n
One of the only certainties of Oscar season is that voters will upend months of prognosticating from pundits by doing whatever they feel like doing when the time comes to fill out their ballots. As always, the bewildering snubs\u2014no directing love for Greta Gerwig<\/strong>? Really?\u2014were accompanied by some extremely pleasant surprises. Leonardo DiCaprio<\/strong>\u2019s loss, you might say, was Colman Domingo<\/strong>\u2019s gain. Here, VF<\/em> weighs in on the things that nobody\u2014or next to nobody\u2014saw coming.<\/p>\n Her performance was all-around great, but that monologue! You know the one. Director Greta Gerwig told VF<\/em><\/a> that the impassioned \u201calways\/never\u201d speech, which she co-wrote with her co-parent Noah Baumach,<\/strong> \u201cdoes not exist as it does without America. It\u2019s hers by right, more than anyone else. That scene still really touches me. I see some of my friends\u2019 teenage girls who don\u2019t think they\u2019re good enough, but they\u2019re so beautiful and so smart and you just want them to know.<\/em>\u201d Ferrera has said that Gerwig enlisted her to help write the now-infamous monologue. \u201cSome of what we talked about made it into the script. The line, \u2018Always be grateful\u2019 came out of that conversation with Greta,\u201d Ferrera told The New York Times<\/em><\/a>. \u201cShe expounded on it adding, \u2018But never forget that the system is rigged.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Tempering the excitement of Ferrera\u2019s deserved nod, Greta Gerwig\u2019s comical cultural juggernaut missed out on editing, sound, and director, as well as best actress for Margot Robbie<\/strong> (though she\u2019s nominated as a producer for it in the best picture category). Was it genre bias, gender bias, or promotion fatigue? (And can the first and last things be explained by the middle thing? Maybe \u2026) Gerwig\u2019s achievement in busting the box office with the highest grossing film directed by a woman\u2014$1.5 billion worldwide\u2014did not translate into a nomination for the director, who has three previous nods: for directing Lady Bird<\/em> (another historic nod for a woman<\/a>), for writing its original screenplay, and for writing the adapted screenplay of Little Women<\/em><\/a>). But all is not lost for the doll film that launched a thousand think pieces: Ryan Gosling<\/strong> earned an expected supporting nomination, songs by Billie Eilish<\/strong> and Mark Ronson<\/strong> did too, and Gerwig and her partner Baumbach\u2014who tied the knot amid Barbie<\/em>\u2019s press push<\/a>\u2014were recognized in adapted screenplay.<\/p>\n As Cliff Ellison, the brother reluctantly drawn back into the fold of his family after a tragedy, Brown brings both subversive energy and relatable pathos to Cord Jefferson<\/strong>\u2019s debut feature. Cliff\u2019s got his own shit going on, but once he shows up, we can\u2019t get enough of him. Brown\u2019s SAG nomination for best supporting actor\u2014as well as the cast\u2019s richly deserved ensemble nod\u2014put him on the radar for more awards love this season, and now the three-time Emmy winner has got his first Oscar nomination, one of five for American Fiction<\/em>.<\/p>\n Lily Gladstone<\/strong> secured a best actress nomination, Martin Scorsese<\/strong> unsurprisingly got a best director nod, and Killers<\/em> found a place in the best picture category. But Leonardo DiCaprio\u2019s failure to secure a nomination for best actor landed as both a surprise and a snub, as did the film\u2019s miss for adapted screenplay, considering how much was made of Scorsese and Eric Roth<\/strong>\u2019s adaptation of David Grann<\/strong>\u2019s 2017 bestselling history<\/a> of the murders of Osage tribe members over their oil-rich Oklahoma land. Oscar race onlookers noticed that DiCaprio leaned in to Gladstone\u2019s campaign<\/a>, instead of flogging himself, and he still notched a nomination for producing the movie. Leo lives!<\/p>\n Mr. Cooper has plenty of things to be thrilled about this morning: His labor of love Maestro<\/em> was nominated for seven Oscars, and his own personal tally now stands at a seriously impressive 12. Still, it\u2019s baffling that the actual maestro behind Maestro<\/em> didn\u2019t get nominated for best director, just as Gerwig\u2019s vision for Barbie<\/em> went unrecognized in the same category. It may be that voters knew that Maestro<\/em> (and Barbie<\/em>) would do just fine all in all, and decided to give the edge to the directors of gripping smaller movies, like Anatomy of a Fall<\/em> and The Zone of Interest<\/em>. \u00a0<\/p>\n There are many reasons to be thankful for Colman Domingo<\/strong>\u2019s best actor nomination: that it acknowledges a great actor\u2019s great performance (and a milestone: his first time as No. 1 on the call sheet); that it will bring more attention to the life and work of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, an openly gay man whose contributions to the movement were marginalized because of his sexuality, but whose story is now being told with an openly gay actor in the role; and that it will give us more opportunities to enjoy Domingo\u2019s stellar red-carpet game, which has been winning hearts and minds all season. (Who else could pull off a mustard Valentino Haute Couture suit with a gold coat?) In December, appearing on VF<\/em>\u2019s Little Gold Men<\/em> podcast,<\/a> he said this about Rustin<\/em>: \u201cThose rare times you get as an artist to really pour everything you have into it\u2014all your skills and all the things you\u2019ve been doing in the theater and television as a writer, as a director, as a producer, to create this film\u2014it called on everything that I had.\u201d Looks like the Academy voters noticed. (By the way, he\u2019s terrific as Mister in The Color Purple<\/em> too.)<\/p>\n Emerald Fennell<\/strong>\u2019s vicious satire of upper-class life (and working-class ambition?) was blanked across the board, missing a semi-expected nod for best original screenplay as well as hoped-for nominations for actor Barry Keoghan<\/strong> and supporting actor Jacob Elordi<\/strong> that may have been realer in the minds of fans than they ever were among Academy voters. Was this film just too misanthropic for fundamentally sentimental voters, or was there just too much competition in this surprisingly stacked year? Everyone involved will have plenty of time to ponder the possibilities.<\/p>\n Ilker \u00c7atak<\/strong>\u2019s gripping film about a German school quickly devolving into The Crucible<\/em> didn\u2019t seem to have much heat going into the voting period, but it grabbed a well-deserved nomination in the best international film category. Germany\u2019s official Oscars entry follows a sixth-grade teacher played with startling purpose and humanity by Leonie Benesch<\/strong><\/a> as she navigates a minefield of suspicions and defends her students not just from their peers but from teachers and parents.<\/p>\n Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman,<\/strong> and Charles Melton<\/strong> didn\u2019t rank for May December<\/em>, but a movie revisiting (however artfully) the Mary Kay Letourneau<\/strong> and Vili Fualaau<\/strong> relationship\u2014which started with Letourneau\u2019s arrest for raping Fualaau when he was only 12<\/a>\u2014was always gonna go down with some icky shivers. Imagine a film with the genders reversed? You can\u2019t. Wait, no\u2014Stanley Kubrick\u2019s Lolita<\/em>. Which, come to think of it, was<\/em> nominated for best adapted screenplay<\/a>. Perhaps it was inevitable, then, that original screenplay (written by Samy Burch<\/strong>) would be the only category where Todd Haynes<\/strong>\u2019s well-regarded film ended up being recognized.<\/p>\n Matthew Heineman<\/strong>\u2019s documentary is about art, love, life, and death, for starters, but apparently Oscar voters wanted\u2026. more? American Symphony<\/em> tells the story of Jon Batiste<\/strong>\u2019s quest to write a symphony just as he and his life partner, author Suleika Jaouad<\/strong>, discover that the latter\u2019s cancer has returned. Batiste told VF<\/em><\/a> that agreeing to such an unusually candid film required a leap of faith: \u201cIt felt like it was much bigger than us. And even though it was more than we had bargained for going in, it felt as though this is what the spirit was leading us to do. It was a work of God that we had to complete to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n Celine Song<\/strong>\u2019s wildly impressive debut, Past Lives,<\/em> received two nominations, for best picture and best original screenplay. We would have loved to see Lee\u2019s exquisitely nuanced lead performance recognized as well. As Nora, a New York City playwright who reunites with her childhood best friend from Korea, Lee impeccably calibrates humor, affection, love, and regret on the way to the film\u2019s cathartic emotional climax. Her absence here isn\u2019t technically a snub (this year\u2019s best actress category includes some legitimately fierce contenders), nor is it a surprise, just an occasion for a moment of sadness for what might have been. Which, come to think of it, is what Past Lives<\/em> is all about.<\/p>\n OK, maybe a movie based on a Nintendo game was never going to win best picture (it\u2019s not like it\u2019s about something serious,<\/em> like dolls!), but Jack Black<\/strong>\u2019s virally fruitful \u201cPeaches\u201d? Hear it once and you\u2019ll sing it, along with your five-year-old, a billion times. A disappointing day for everyone who likes their nominations with a side of delight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSurprise: America Ferrera Stands Out in<\/strong> Barbie<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
Snub: Margot Robbie Misses, as Does<\/strong> Barbie<\/strong><\/em> Below-the-Line<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Surprise: Sterling K. Brown Snags a Supporting Slot for<\/strong> American Fiction<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
Snub: Leo Loses Out as<\/strong> Killers of the Flower Moon<\/strong><\/em> Wilts\u2014A Little<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Snub: Bradley Cooper Gets No Love for Directing<\/strong> Maestro<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
Surprise: Colman Domingo Rises in<\/strong> Rustin<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
Snub:<\/strong> Saltburn<\/strong><\/em> Gets Smoked<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Surprise:<\/strong> The Teachers\u2019 Lounge<\/strong><\/em> Is in Session<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Snub: Time Runs Out for<\/strong> May December<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
Snub:<\/strong> American Symphony<\/strong><\/em> Goes Silent<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Sad: Greta Lee Runs Out of<\/strong> Lives<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
Sad:<\/strong> Super Mario Bros.<\/strong><\/em> Gets Lemons, Not Lemonade<\/strong><\/h2>\n