Black comedy 鈥淭he Favourite鈥 and Netflix drama 鈥淩oma鈥 have topped the list for the most nominations at this year鈥檚 Academy Awards, but some great movies from the past year have been overlooked according to CTV鈥檚 film critic.
As preparations build for the biggest night in show business, CTV鈥檚 film contributor and Pop Life host Richard Crouse gives his pick of the talent and movies snubbed by the academy.
DIRECTORS
鈥淎 Star Is Born鈥 was a huge hit with fans and critics alike, but its director Bradley Cooper is conspicuously absent in the best director category, according to Crouse.
鈥淔rom the very second people started seeing this at film festivals they were talking about Bradley Cooper making one of the great changeovers from actor to director,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o that he wasn鈥檛 nominated feels like a big misstep for me.鈥
Ryan Coogler, the director of Marvel Studios鈥 smash hit 鈥淏lack Panther,鈥 was also snubbed by the academy, according to Crouse.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been winning awards all over the place and whenever this kind of thing happens there鈥檚 an old joke that everybody makes, 鈥業 guess the movie directed itself,鈥欌 he said.
鈥淩yan Coogler is a big misstep I think.鈥
Nominees in the best director category are Spike Lee for 鈥淏lacKkKlansman,鈥 Pawel Pawlikowski for 鈥淐old War,鈥 Yorgos Lanthimos for 鈥淭he Favourite,鈥 Alfonso Cuaron for 鈥淩oma鈥 and Adam McKay for 鈥淰ice.鈥
DOCUMENTARIES
The best documentary category has a wide range of subjects, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, contemporary black life in Alabama, terrorism, rock climbing in 鈥淔ree Solo鈥 and a love of skateboarding in 鈥淢inding The Gap.鈥
But a documentary about the life of children鈥檚 TV host Fred Rogers, 鈥淲on鈥檛 You Be My Neighbour?鈥 has been unfairly overlooked, according to Crouse.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a movie that got people interested in going to see documentaries in the theatre again,鈥 he said. 鈥淓veryone, before the nominations came out, just assumed that it was going to win. To see it not on the list is kind of shocking.鈥
OTHER SNUBS
Crouse also lamented the lack of a nomination for smaller independent movie 鈥淓ighth Grade鈥 in the best original screenplay category.
The film, which depicts the challenges of growing up in the age of constant phone use, won the outstanding original screenplay prize at the Writers Guild Of America Awards last week.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not even nominated in any category, let alone best original screenplay, so that was a surprise,鈥 he said.
Romantic comedy 鈥淐razy Rich Asians,鈥 the first big Hollywood film in a quarter century to feature an all-Asian cast, is also nowhere to be seen in the prestige award categories.
鈥淚t was a very popular movie the world over and it didn鈥檛 get a single nomination,鈥 Crouse said.
鈥淚t probably was never going to get nominated for best picture, but there had to be some of what they call the craft categories, make-up, hair, something like that, that it could have been slotted into, but nothing.鈥
Probably the most ironic non-nomination was for a movie called 鈥淭he Quiet Place,鈥 Crouse said.
The sci-fi thriller, which has minimal dialogue, features a family of four navigating their lives in silence to avoid mysterious creatures that hunt by sound.
鈥淭hat it wasn鈥檛 nominated for sound design is kind of shocking as well,鈥 he said.
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Meanwhile, Twitter users have slammed 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody鈥 nomination for best editing, spawning a number of memes online.
Critics have been mixed in their reviews of the wildly popular biopic about rock band Queen and its lead singer Freddie Mercury.
One scene in the movie, which sees the band seated with their manager in a pub beer garden, has gone viral for its rapid fire editing, with one viewer on Twitter counting 52 cuts in the 82 second clip.
鈥淭o see it nominated as heavily as it is, in a time when there are really good films that aren鈥檛 getting the same kind of attention, I think that鈥檚 what people are surprised about,鈥 Crouse said.
鈥淚t is essentially a concert for the last 20 minutes of the running time, you walk out of the theatre pumping your fist in the air, you鈥檙e excited, you鈥檝e just seen a rock and roll show. And you forget that the movie that came before it, leading up to the Live Aid recreation at the end, isn鈥檛 particularly well made, it鈥檚 not particularly well written, but people have a fondness for the music and for Freddie Mercury and are willing to forgive a lot and that鈥檚 OK.鈥
PAST QUESTIONABLE AWARDS
The academy has also made some questionable awards decisions over the years.
The 2006 Oscar for best picture went to 鈥淐rash,鈥 a drama about race relations in Los Angeles, upsetting heavy favourite 鈥淏rokeback Mountain,鈥 a romance about two men set over 20 years.
鈥淐rash was a movie that people were talking about and I think that momentum swept forward into the Academy Awards that year,鈥 Crouse said.
鈥淚 would also think that there was probably no small amount of homophobia involved in Brokeback Mountain not getting an award. If you look at the two movies now back-to-back you鈥檒l see that 鈥楤rokeback Mountain鈥 is a movie that really stands the test of time, where 鈥楥rash鈥 feels a little of its moment.鈥
The victory of 鈥淪hakespeare in Love鈥 over Steven Spielberg鈥檚 鈥淪aving Private Ryan鈥 for the best picture award in 1999 is also seen as a shocking misjudgment.
鈥淪aving Private Ryan has one of the single greatest war scenes ever committed to film,鈥 Grouse said.
鈥淔or some reason the academy doesn鈥檛 really like to honour Steven Spielberg. If you watch that film today it鈥檚 a film that stands up, it鈥檚 an achievement.鈥
鈥淪hakepeare in Love鈥 is a really 鈥渘ice鈥 movie, Crouse said.
鈥淧eople like it, but is it part of the big conversation on film? I don鈥檛 think so,鈥 he said.
