The 5 Biggest Snubs And Surprises From The 2021 Oscar Nominations

By Matt Chieco

---

Every year when awards season is upon us, people predict the Oscar nominations (its almost become a new pastime). Earlier this week The 93rd Academy Award nominations were announced, but like always there were definitely some snubs and some surprises. Before the list, one honorable mention for the movie Soul. Even though it received three nominations for Animated Feature, Original Score, and Sound, it was snubbed for Picture and VFX (sorry just had to say it).

SURPRISE

Eurovision Gets a Best Original Song Nomination

This isn’t a huge shock because I always hoped the song was gonna get nominated, but I wasn’t sure the Academy would actually nominate "Husavik". It's just like Glenn Close getting nominated for her role in Hillbilly Elegy was a shock to most, due to her also being nominated for a Razzie Award. Call it my gut instinct, but I always knew she would earn the nomination (she’s f**king Glenn Close). The best part is we are one step closer to seeing Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams perform together again at the Oscars.

SNUB

One Night in Miami Was Shut Out of Both Best Picture and Best Director

With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 98%, one of AFI’s Top 10 Films of 2020, and currently the winner of 18 awards, you would think at least a nomination is warranted for Best Picture. While it did receive three nominations for Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor, and Original Song. The one that hurt the most was Regina King being left out in the directing category.

SURPRISE

Thomas Vinterberg Scores a Best Director Nomination

The Another Round director beat out both King and Aaron Sorkin for The Trail of the Chicago 7 (another big snub I forgot to mention…so I’ll mention it now). While it's not uncommon for the Academy to nominate someone who was never high on many prediction lists, it doesn’t mean they are to be counted out.

SNUB

Da 5 Bloods Almost Shut Out Completely

Delroy Lindo was robbed of a nomination! So was the movie overall, besides its Original Score nomination, Da 5 Bloods was not nominated for any other category. Did its June release date hinder its chances? The reason for its shutout is the million dollar question. Director Spike Lee recently spoke out on social media saying “WE WUZ ROBBED”.

SURPRISE

Why Did Both LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya Get Nominated for Best Supporting Actor

This one is more of a head scratcher than a surprise. When campaigning for the movie Judas and the Black Messiah, Warner Bros. Pictures had Kaluuya in supporting and Stanfield in lead. Then come the nominations and they are both in supporting…what? One can say they are both leads, but I think Stanfield is more of a lead than Kaluuya. Even though both are central to the story (given the films title), there’s no way to tell how this happened. Nevertheless an Oscar is an Oscar no matter the category.

Now I’m sure there are other snubs and surprises (Tenet getting snubbed for Original Score for is one), but these five are the ones that always pop into my head when I think of the nominations.

The 93rd Academy Award airs live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 25.