Oscars 2024: Snubs And Surprises

I have made no secret of the fact “Past Lives” was my favorite movie of 2023, and while I’m happy to see it land a Best Picture nomination and an Original Screenplay nomination for writer-director Celine Song, not nominating the star really hurts. It’s baffling to me that Greta Lee was never one of the presumed front-runners in Best Actress, despite the movie being pretty much universally beloved. I think it’s mainly due to the Academy’s conflation of Best = Most Acting, which tends to shortchange performances that aren’t as showy, in movies that are “quieter” and “smaller” like “Past Lives” (this also applies to Andrew Scott in “All of Us Strangers” — more on him later).

That’s not to take away from some of the other very deserving Best Actress nominees. But it’s a really persistent pattern: performances that are built mostly on restraint, in movies that are more intimate (which are harder than they look!), tend to get overlooked in favor of movies and performances deemed bigger in scale, where the effort is more visible. While we’re at it, I also think Lee’s co-stars Teo Yoo and John Magaro deserved so much more this awards season (though I was pleasantly surprised to see Yoo land a surprise BAFTA nomination) and were never really even in the awards conversation for, I suspect, much of the same reasons.

I’m also just personally crushed for Greta Lee, who has been perennially great in supporting roles on shows like “Russian Doll” and “The Morning Show,” and has worked so, so hard to finally get this leading role. Like with Charles Melton, I think this is one of those snubs we’ll remember for a long, long time. — Marina

Let me just say it: Annette Bening stole her slot, and for “Nyad,” a cinematic version of phoning it in. This is truly embarrassing. While I maintain that Lily Gladstone is playing a supporting role in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” at least she delivers a tremendous performance (and will likely win the Oscar). Lee’s subtle, thrillingly complex and deeply felt performance in “Past Lives” is precisely the kind that the academy loves to honor — but mostly from white actors. I’m side-eyeing this snub so hard because her portrayal is definitely on the level of what the great Sandra Hüller, Carey Mulligan and Emma Stone are doing in “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Maestro” and “Poor Things,” respectively. — Candice

This was one of those late-breaking nominations that, in recent weeks, looked more and more likely. Although writer-director Greta Gerwig and star and producer Margot Robbie were originally the main faces of the “Barbie” campaign, America Ferrera has also been out there a lot to promote the film. She has one of the movie’s biggest scenes: her big monologue that sums up the thesis of the highest-grossing movie of 2023, which I imagine helped make her performance top of mind for Oscar voters. Whatever your mileage is on the movie itself, it is really wonderful to see Ferrera, who has been working for a very long time (go watch “Real Women Have Curves” if you haven’t already), get some major recognition. — Marina

Way for the Oscars to keep things interesting with this nomination that virtually no other precursor recognized. I wonder how much Ferrera’s thunderous #SeeHer award acceptance speech at the recent Critics Choice Awards played a role in this. Her promotion of the film, which is really an extension of a lot of the feminist activism she’s done throughout her entire career, was probably also what led to this.

Either way, I’m happy that more people (read: the white Hollywood mainstream) are actually seeing her for the talent she’s always been. There’s been so much conversation around that monologue from “Barbie,” a movie that often comes off as an occasionally subversive Mattel commercial, that is propelled by Ferrera’s real-life ferocity. I don’t know how to feel about an actor being primarily honored for a single monologue in a nearly two-hour movie, though she’s in other smaller scenes as well, but I’m happy to see a nonwhite person pull this off.

Oh, and yes, go watch “Real Women Have Curves” and “Superstore.” Watch all of her work. She really is something! — Candice

I was afraid this snub was going to happen, and unfortunately, it did. Charles Melton is the real heart of this movie, and his performance as an emotionally stunted man having been robbed of his adolescence due to being in a predatory relationship (to say the least) is nothing short of revelatory. The way his physicality shifts every time he’s around Julianne Moore’s character: a truly unforgettable performance.

But the academy has always been averse to nominating younger men of color who are rising stars. Coupled with that, it has perennially undervalued director Todd Haynes’ work, and it didn’t seem to know what to do with “May December,” which got generally snubbed all around this morning, other than a very deserved Original Screenplay nomination for writer Samy Burch. Real fans will not forget Melton and “May December,” and I suspect this is one of those snubs we’ll talk about for a long time. — Marina

Melton came into the race with so much well deserved fire months ago, and that has since fizzled out for reasons I can’t quite figure out. The Best Supporting Actor category is really tight this year, with the exception of Sterling K. Brown, whose performance is nowhere near on the level of what Melton is doing in “May December.” That definitely should have been Melton’s slot. And I’m really shocked that “May December” only managed a screenplay nomination, especially since virtually all the precursor awards recognized actors Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. Though, it is a really strong screenplay, so I’m always glad to see actual quality recognized. — Candice

I’m shocked by the lack of performance nominations for this film, too. Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman were so so good in this film. I felt like Melton’s role was more substantive than Sterling K. Brown’s role in “American Fiction.” In the same breath, I liked Brown in “American Fiction,” which is a film I have a lot of strong feelings about (and have definitely been in the minority when talking about the film with friends!). — Erin

I also thought Brown was great, but his role was so underdeveloped! — Marina

Yes, this is exactly it. — Erin

I feel like I have to do the multiple truths thing here. Sterling K. Brown is a fantastic actor and has been for a very long time. His performance in “American Fiction,” however, is so one-dimensional and caricaturistic in a movie that supposedly aims to call out stereotypical Black images through a white lens that its recognition by a white mainstream academy gives me much pause. It’s almost like, “Yes, we love you when you play right into the image we already see you as — and that you can also laugh at it too.” Give me a break. — Candice

Whew! Every time I try to talk about this film with someone I get frustrated. It’s film with a Black director and a stacked cast, and there are some moments in the film that I thought were just beautiful. The family scenes were great and I could have watched a whole film solely about the family dynamics if those storylines, including Sterling K. Brown’s, were more developed. But the satire of exploring what it’s like being a Black person in the literary world was so exhausting and, well, basically just not a story that I cared about through this film. It just made me forget about all the other good stuff in the film. And that ending? No! — Erin

Exactly, Erin! I’ve wondered if that flaw in the movie is sneakily underscoring its point: that white gatekeepers are not interested in stories about people of color that are about us doing regular things, and only want our Representation Stories. But maybe I’m reading too much into it or giving it too much stock. — Marina

Yeah, that has crossed my mind, too. Like, that is the point of this film. Again, like Candice, speaking multiple truths here, it is cool to see Brown get his first Oscar nomination. — Erin