Musings on 2023 Oscars Nominations – The biggest snubs + surprises

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oscars-2023-noms

Happy #OscarsNominations2023! I actually woke up exactly at 7 AM this morning to watch the LIVE announcement on my phone. I don’t know why as I had never done that before but my hubby usually is up by then so I thought I’d tune in to see the presenters announce the nominees.

In any case, the 95th Oscar nominations are now here!

Click here to jump to the full nominations list below. 

Everything Everywhere All at Once is the surprise sweeper this year with 11 nominations, wow!! Followed closely behind by Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front, a World War I epic, and The Banshees of Inisherin with 9 nominations each.

For those of you who like to keep score…

Here are 10 things I’m thrilled about …

Let’s start with the positive, as there are quite a few things the Oscars get right this year that are worth celebrating!

1. As a SE Asian critic obviously I’m happy in terms of representation, even though I have to admit I’m not as enamored with Everything Everywhere All At Once as others do (read my full review). For sure Michelle Yeoh is absolutely deserving of a nod, I mean she ought to have been nominated already in 2001 for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon!

everythingeverywhere-michelle-yeoh

2. Thrilled to see Ke Huy Quan got in the Best Supporting Actor race!! Wow what a ride for everyone involved in EEAAO as practically they’re nominated in every category!

EEAAO-cast

3. The Best Supporting Actress category is perhaps my favorite of them all with all five first-time nominees!! Perhaps the most diverse nominees of the entire category.

Speaking of historic firsts, 16 of the 20 acting nominees are first-timers! Now, that Supporting Actress category would’ve been even more perfect if Lashana Lynch is swapped with Jamie Lee, I’m just sad The Woman King got so grossly shut out 😦

4.  What a year of great animated features! Earlier this year I was enamored by Turning Red, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, and The Sea Beast. I had recently seen Puss in Boots: The Last Wish which is my least favorite of all the noms but it’s still a fun movie. But the one I absolutely adore is Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio!! It’s the one I’ll be rooting for, it’s already a modern classic!

5. One of my favorite discoveries of this year is Vietnamese-American Hong Chau.  I haven’t seen The Whale yet but she is also phenomenal in The Menu and I’d be happy to see her nominated for that performance as well.

HongChau-TheMenu

6. Now, today’s nomination is definitely NOT his first, it’s his 53rd!! So happy for John Williams!! 90 years old and still at his best. I’m thrilled to have had the privilege of seeing him on stage last year at the Hollywood Bowl.

7. Performances in superhero films rarely get recognition by the Academy, well until now that is! Thrilled to see the ever-so-regal Angela Bassett as the first ever actor to earn an acting nomination in an MCU movie. As I mentioned in my review of Wakanda Forever, her turn as Queen Ramonda is definitely Oscar-worthy!!

bassett-oscars-wakanda-forever

8. So 2023 is apparently the year of the rabbit according to the Chinese zodiac but it’s definitely the year of the Irish at the Oscars! Not only did The Banshees Of Inisherin get a slew of nominations, but there are also quite a few Irish talents nominated as well, The Quiet Girl gets a nod in Best International Feature Film, and five Irish performers are nominated: Colin Farrell + Paul Mescal in leading roles, and Brendan Gleeson + Kerry Condon + Barry Keoghan in supporting roles.

If there’s a category for Best Animal in A Movie, they might’ve nominated Jenny the Goat from Banshees as well I reckon.

9. So the Brendanissance is real!! I haven’t seen The Whale yet but I’m always thrilled to see an industry veteran finally gets his dues!! Brendan Fraser is now a Best Actor nominee and I’m thrilled about his comeback! He’s been all over doing press for the film and he always comes across as so grateful and gracious about the whole thing. In an industry where fakery is the norm, there’s something so genuine and real about Brendan and I can’t help but root for him!

brendan-fraser-the-whale

10. Last but not least… the amazingly talented and ever-so-versatile Brian Tyree Henry is now an Oscar nominee!!! He absolutely killed it in Causeway and Bullet Train, two extremely different performances but he’s so convincing no matter what role he plays!

Oh man, I’d LOVE to see these two in a film together!! Please Hollywood, make it happen!!

Biggest Surprise of all

andrea-riseborough-to-leslie

Well nothing beats Andrea Riseborough being nominated in the Best Lead Actress category, right? It’s the biggest shocker that’ll likely be talked about for years to come. I actually just read about the grassroots campaign for her performance in the indie film To Leslie by Hollywood A-listers last week. The likes of Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, Courteney Cox, Edward Norton, Jennifer Aniston, and Minnie Driver were holding private screenings of her film and showering her with effusive praise all over social media. Heck, even Andrea’s fellow nominee Cate Blanchett mentioned her in her Critics Choice Best Actress acceptance speech!

Now, I haven’t seen To Leslie (I don’t know how many people have!) but I’ve been a longtime admirer of the chameleonic British actress ever since I saw her even before she was in Hollywood movies: Shadow Dancer, Brighton Rock, and later she shone in bigger-budget films like Oblivion, Birdman, The Death of Stalin, etc. She also gave a chilling performance in a Black Mirror episode called Crocodile.

I know a lot of people are mad that her nomination might’ve led to actresses of color like Viola Davis or Danielle Deadwyler but y’know what, I disagree. If there’s one actress who shouldn’t have been shortlisted here, it’d be Michelle Williams.

The egregious snubs …

It wouldn’t be Oscars week without reading the word ‘snub’ all over social media and film sites. There are certainly some shocking ones today, starting with…

1. Female directors shut out again! Really, Academy?!

After two female directors were honored back to back in 2021 and 2022, I guess misogyny isn’t dead yet. Hard habit to break I guess.

2. Boy I did not wake up early to see one of the best performances of the year got robbed!!!

In fact, the overall shutout of The Woman King is devastating!! Gina Prince-Bythewood deserved a Best Director nod, Lashana Lynch and Thuso Mbedu were both worthy to be nominated, but worst of all, no Best Picture nod?? 🤷🏽‍♀️

3. One of my top 10 films of the year was grossly overlooked! 😦 I haven’t had the chance to review it but Decision To Leave is on my Top 10 Films of 2022, while EEAAO, Banshees, The Fabelmans, and Elvis are on my Honorable Mentions.

4. I LOVE Paul Dano’s performance in The Fabelmans… can’t believe they nominated the lesser performance!! Anyhoo, I met him once during a screening of Ruby Sparks and he’s such a lovely guy!

5. One of my favorite songs this year is without a doubt Pinocchio’s Ciao Papa – it’s such a beautiful and touching song that I was convinced would get in the Best Song category! Alas…

Meanwhile, today is the first time I even heard of a movie called Tell It Like a Woman but wow, Diane Warren is nominated again for the 14th time!

6. The directors of two of the biggest movies of 2022, Joseph Kosinski for Top Gun: Maverick and James Cameron for Avatar: The Way of Water are both shut out for Best Director. I totally did NOT expect to see Ruben Östlund‘s name at all for Triangle of Sadness despite not being nominated by any other major awards in that category.

7. The Batman NOT up for Best Cinematography (Greg Fraser) or Best Original Score (Michael Giacchino)? Whatefs… I mean, just LOOK at the lighting in this scene alone! And the score is unquestionably perfect for the tone and look of the film.

Full List of Oscar Nominees

In case you missed the live telecast of the nominees announced by Riz Ahmed & Allison Williams, here’s the video:

Best Picture

  1. “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Malte Grunert, Producer
  2. “Avatar: The Way of Water,” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
  3. “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers
  4. “Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers
  5. “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers
  6. “The Fabelmans,” Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers
  7. “Tár,” Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers
  8. “Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
  9. “Triangle of Sadness,” Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers
  10. “Women Talking,” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

Best Director 

  • Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
  • Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
  • Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”)
  • Todd Field (“Tár”)
  • Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)

Best Lead Actor

  • Austin Butler (“Elvis”)
  • Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
  • Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”)
  • Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”)
  • Bill Nighy (“Living”)

Best Lead Actress

  • Cate Blanchett (“Tár”)
  • Ana de Armas (“Blonde”)
  • Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)
  • Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”)
  • Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Supporting Actor

  • Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
  • Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”)
  • Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)
  • Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
  • Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Supporting Actress

  • Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”)
  • Hong Chau (“The Whale”)
  • Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
  • Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
  • Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Adapted Screenplay

  • “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell
  • “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson
  • “Living,” Written by Kazuo Ishiguro
  • “Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks
  • “Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Best Original Screenplay

  • “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Written by Martin McDonagh
  • “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
  • “The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner
  • “Tár,” Written by Todd Field
  • “Triangle of Sadness,” Written by Ruben Östlund

Best Cinematography 

  • “All Quiet on the Western Front”, James Friend
  • “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Darius Khondji
  • “Elvis,” Mandy Walker
  • “Empire of Light,” Roger Deakins
  • “Tár,” Florian Hoffmeister

Best Documentary Feature Film 

  • “All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer
  • “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov
  • “Fire of Love,” Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman
  • “A House Made of Splinters,” Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström
  • “Navalny,” Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

Best Documentary Short Film 

  • “The Elephant Whisperers,” Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga
  • “Haulout,” Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev
  • “How Do You Measure a Year?” Jay Rosenblatt
  • “The Martha Mitchell Effect,” Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison
  • “Stranger at the Gate,” Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Best Film Editing

  • “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
  • “Elvis,” Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond
  • “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Paul Rogers
  • “Tár,” Monika Willi
  • “Top Gun: Maverick,” Eddie Hamilton

Best International Feature Film 

  • “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany)
  • “Argentina, 1985” (Argentina)
  • “Close” (Belgium)
  • “EO” (Poland)
  • “The Quiet Girl” (Ireland)

Best Original Score

  • “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Volker Bertelmann
  • “Babylon,” Justin Hurwitz
  • “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Carter Burwell
  • “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Son Lux
  • “The Fabelmans,” John Williams

Best Original Song 

  • “Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman,” Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
  • “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
  • “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler
  • “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR,” Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose
  • “This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

Best Production Design 

  • “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper
  • “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole
  • “Babylon,” Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
  • “Elvis,” Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn
  • “The Fabelmans,” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

Best Visual Effects

  • “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar
  • “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
  • “The Batman,” Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy
  • “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick
  • “Top Gun: Maverick,” Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

Best Animated Feature Film 

  • “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley
  • “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey
  • “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Joel Crawford and Mark Swift
  • “The Sea Beast,” Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger
  • “Turning Red,” Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

Best Animated Short Film

  • “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud
  • “The Flying Sailor,” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
  • “Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano
  • “My Year of Dicks,” Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon
  • “An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Lachlan Pendragon

Best Costume Design 

  • “Babylon,” Mary Zophres
  • “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Ruth Carter
  • “Elvis,” Catherine Martin
  • “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Shirley Kurata
  • “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Jenny Beavan

Best Live Action Short

  • “An Irish Goodbye,” Tom Berkeley and Ross White
  • “Ivalu,” Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan
  • “Le Pupille,” Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón
  • “Night Ride,” Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen
  • “The Red Suitcase,” Cyrus Neshvad

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

  • “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová
  • “The Batman,” Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine
  • “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Camille Friend and Joel Harlow
  • “Elvis,” Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

The 95th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 12, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood,
and will be televised live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT

So what are YOUR thoughts about the 2023 Oscars noms + snubs this year?

…

12 thoughts on “Musings on 2023 Oscars Nominations – The biggest snubs + surprises”

  1. I’m stunned at the list of films nominated for Best Picture mainly because I hadn’t seen any of them and that is rare for me.

    I’m pissed off that not a single woman is nominated for Best Director. I’m pissed off that Decision to Leave got snubbed as did Paul Dano and “Ciao Papa” in favor of another bullshit dreck of mediocrity from fucking Diane Warren.

    I do love that list of nominees for Best Supporting Actress as that is an anything goes scenario there. I am happy that Le Pupille is nominated as I fucking love that short.

    I find this whole thing to be underwhelming.

    Reply

    1. I’m actually surprised I’ve seen all Best Picture noms except for two: All Quiet on the Western Front and Triangle of Sadness. The latter I might watch later this weekend.

      I’m so disappointed Ciao Papa didn’t get a nod, I mean what the heck is that Diane Warren song?? I didn’t even know the movie existed.

      Where can you watch the shorts, I’m always late to watch those.

      Reply

  2. I’m so out of the loop when it comes to the Oscars, I’ve only seen 2 movies from the Best Picture noms: Avatar 2 and Top Gun 2. Nice seeing Michelle Yeoh finally getting more recognition of her work. I’ve been watching her movies since the 80s when she starred in many of the kung fu films, including alongside Jackie Chan.

    As for The Batman not being nominated for Best Cinematography, maybe some of the voters can’t see the movie because it’s so darkly lit. Lol! Just kidding. I honestly don’t have issues with it not being nominated, it looks great but some scenes were way too under lit. I saw it at Dolby Cinema and some scenes were too dark even for that theater.

    Reply

    1. Yeah, Michelle Yeoh is way overdue for recognition. Crazy she’s been in the biz for 40+ years doing mostly supporting roles.

      Ahah well yeah The Batman does look too dark at times in the theater, but in my home theater it’s lighter. I thought the visuals are stunning. But y’know what, Greig Fraser just won last year for Dune Part I and might get nominated again for Part II.

      Reply

    1. You have every right to bitch about Dano! It’s a travesty he didn’t get a nod while the lesser performance did.

      I normally don’t like to immediately say that the Academy is racist but I think a bunch of the voters are still misogynistic given The Woman King was produced and made by women… and same with the lack of female directing nominees.

      Reply

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