The Top 5 Snubs of the 2022 Oscars

The 94th Academy Awards are officially underway, and thanks to a large international voter turnout, nominations for huge box office hits like Dune and Spider-Man: No Way Home, and even a new Twitter-voted Fan Favorite category, AMPAS finally put forward a crop of nominees with zero objections from anyone!

Or not. Like all ceremonies, the films, craftspeople, productions and stars AMPAS has put forward is a mix of good (Drive My Car!), bad (Free Guy…) and bizarre (A Yak in the Classroom?). Basically every category has nominees which are both deserving and mystifying, all while many of the year’s best films go, predictably or unpredictably, unrecognized by the Academy. In some cases, as with Titane or Benedetta, I think it would be unreasonable to caterwaul too loudly, as they have minimal awards season pedigree and fall way, way outside the realm of the Oscars’ usual, extremely limited, painfully local purview.

But for some movies, getting snubbed in major categories or shut out all together isn’t just disappointing but worth digging into how they missed out and what the underlying issues were. For the cynics in the room, of course I do recognize the inherent flaw of expecting more from AMPAS: Ryusuke Hamaguchi is the first Japanese filmmaker nominated for Best Director since Akira Kurosawa, and Drive My Car is the first ever Japanese language Best Picture nominee. I won’t waste text defending why these goofballs are still important, but the fact remains that they are a hugely legitimizing force for filmmakers domestic and abroad, and that makes their misses worth talking about. Below you can find my top five snubs of this year’s ceremony, starting with some Honorable Mentions.

Honorable Mentions

As mentioned above, some movies miss the Oscars because they simply never had much of a chance. With that in mind, the top five was selected to include the films I felt should have truly made the cut, and likelihood was a major factor. But just because some of these are unrealistic, doesn’t mean they aren’t worth mentioning. Also included are some films, like Drive My Car, which had some nominations, but perhaps not everywhere I felt they should have. Next to each title, you’ll see categories where I think the film is better than at least two of the actual nominees. Any bolded category is one where the film would be my favorite or second favorite among the actual nominees.

Here are some films which I considered for the list, along with their respective categories:

• Drive My Car: Best Actor, Supporting Actor (Okada), Supporting Actress (Miura), Original Score
• Dune: Best Director
• Faya Dayi: Cinematography, Documentary Feature
• The French Dispatch: Best Director, Best Picture, Cinematography, Original Screenplay, Production Design, Supporting Actor (Wright)
• The Green Knight: Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design, Visual Effects
• Licorice Pizza: Cinematography, Production Design, Best Actress (Haim)
• Parallel Mothers: Original Screenplay, Production Design
• Passing: Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Supporting Actress (Negga)
• Pig: Best Actor, Original Screenplay
• Red Rocket: Best Actor, Film Editing, Original Screenplay
• Titane: International Feature, Supporting Actor (Lindon)

5. Annette

Best Actor, Original Song, Original Score, Supporting Actor (Helberg)

This list begins in the only place it could, the egregious and maddening omission of “So May We Start.” Realistically, there was little hope of Carax’ oddball musical effort making much awards season noise, in spite of a strong creative pedigree and being released in The Year of Sparks. Simply put, the movie is freak shit, with its most tender performances coming from a singing baby puppet and “the Big Bang Theory guy,” Simon Helberg. I can’t say I’m crying myself to sleep not seeing it nominated for Cinematography, Original Screenplay or a bunch of things it may deserve. All I care about is the Mael brothers. After decades of trying to get a film made, Ron and Russell got two, both an Edgar Wright documentary (also not nominated) and this thunderous, hilarious takedown of the Hollywood-tabloid entertainment complex. And damnit, “So May We Start” should be opening the ceremony to celebrate that long awaited breakthrough! But instead of honoring a great American band and accepting a gift-wrapped way to start the program, Diane Warren is going to lose in the show’s softest category for the 100th time. Yikes!

4. Memoria

Best Actress, Best Director, Best Picture, Cinematography, International Feature, Film Editing, Original Screenplay, Sound

If that seems like a lot of categories listed, the best explanation may be that Memoria is frankly one of the greatest films of the decade to date. But between Neon’s bizarro non-release strategy and Weerasethakul’s bizarro filmmaking, anyone expecting some miracle breakthrough here was a fool. And yet, here it is on the list over shutouts like The French Dispatch and Passing. For me this is less a reflection of it being a heavy hitter in all these categories, and moreso confusion that it managed to hit none of them. Swinton, at a bare minimum, feels as though she should waltzed easily into a weaker year for Best Actress after turning in one of her career best performances. The most galling snub is for Best Sound, an absolutely hilarious outcome, as practically anyone who has seen it can tell you, just a total inexplicable boner by the Academy. In a just world, this would be a powerhouse, but clearly we’re still not ready to live in it.

3. C’mon C’mon

Best Actor, Best Director, Best Picture, Film Editing, Original Score, Original Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Norman), Supporting Actress (Hoffman)

Full disclosure, Mike Mills’ latest A24 effort is my favorite film of 2021. As the nominations rolled in, I somewhat promised myself I wouldn’t get too riled up, even if the picture were shut out. The quiet drama hasn’t stirred much attention anywhere, and few believed it would be a player at this year’s Oscars. But then I saw this tweet:

And I knew I had to put it on this list. Indeed, there is little sensible explanation for Phoenix, a Best Actor winner, to not be there. There is little sensible reason (besides maybe his age) for Woody Norman, who would be my clear favorite of the field, to not be there. When you consider how strong the performances are across the board, even from teeny bit roles by Jaboukie Young-White and Scoot McNairy, Mills missing from Best Director becomes an untenable sore spot. I realize in my head not everyone cherished this film as much as I do, but I still can’t reckon why C’mon C’mon walked away with nothing.

2. Spencer

Best Director, Best Picture, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Original Score, Production Design

Unlike the other mentions on this list, Spencer wasn’t shut out of the 94th Academy Awards. Mercifully, the voters had the good sense to ensure Kristen Stewart, supernova that she is, received the nomination she clearly deserved for Best Actress. Had they not and instead gone with Lady Gaga, rest assured this would be in first place, not second. That said, it’s totally wild to me that this is the film’s only nomination, considering it is one of my favorite and I think most technically excellent films of the entire year. The sets and production design are excellent, a full scale realization of holidays with the royal in-laws and ghosts alike, cavernous halls with huge mounted paintings which are the ideal setting for Stewart to get her Deneuve-in-Repulsion on.

Amplifying the film’s sense of dread are contributions from Jonny Greenwood, nominated this year for his fine The Power of the Dog score, but missing for what I strongly feel is the superior, more impactful effort, and superstar DoP, Claire Mathon. Mathon is one of my favorite working cinematographers, and for me, this is the best shot film of the entire year. The 16mm grain scans like an overly constrictive sweater, the bright pastels of the frame frequently suffocated in fuzz.

And finally, speaking of sweaters, the omission of Costume Design (as well as Makeup and Hairstyling) is absolutely atrocious. Just like Larraín’s Jackie, the styles and wardrobe aren’t just pristine here, but vital to the meaning and significance of the film thematically and, honestly, just narratively! Everyone’s favorite character in this is Sally Hawkins’ royal dresser! The deservedly nominated K Stew simply wouldn’t be Diana Spencer without the designs she wore or the hair and makeup to match. To nominate one without the others doesn’t make a lick of sense to me.

1. A Hero

Best Actor, Best Director, Best Picture, Costume Design, International Feature, Original Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Tanabandeh), Supporting Actress (Goldoost)

So this sucks, no way around that. A Hero got robbed, dudes. Every film mentioned up to this point, barring Spencer’s lone “you literally can’t fuck this up or everyone will be mad” nomination, hasn’t really been any kind of player. And in spite of my protests, neither has this stunning effort from Iranian filmmaker, Asghar Farhadi. Since being picked up by Amazon Studios and debuting at Cannes, where it won the Grand Prix and François Chalais Prize, it has been absolutely anonymous, in spite of being available on one of the largest global streaming platforms, all so they can put their resources behind Aaron Sorkin’s lastest “whatever, man” snoozefest, Being the Ricardos.

There is no point beating around the bush: a ceremony without Jadidi in Best Actor is fraudulent. Apart from Hidetoshi Nishijima, who also is not nominated, there isn’t a single lead male performance from this year that is better. Both men missing the field, particularly while Drive My Car caught nominations for Director and Picture (and its Adapted Screenplay about acting), to me signifies the same as Parasite, another international breakout with no acting nominations to speak of. It seems to me the Academy voters didn’t care to spread the love to non-English actors (Penélope Cruz Sánchez you will live forever) and their uniformly excellent, yet subtle performances.

While Jadidi missing is a huge bust, he’s hardly the only whiff here. Farhadi is a two-time Oscar winner and international powerhouse, not to mention one of the best working screenwriters today. The entire cast here is sublime thanks to his direction and from jaw-dropping turns by Mohsen Tanabandeh and Sahar Goldoust in their rich and complex roles. Watching this film was a gift, and it’s preposterous by Amazon, and by the Academy voters to have met that with no support or the praise it so badly deserves.