Surprises and Snubs at the Oscars

Nominations for the 90^th Academy Awards were announced Tuesday morning in what’s shaping up to be an unpredictable awards season.

Fantasy film The Shape of Water led the pack with 13 nominations, including Best Picture.

• Wonder Woman, considered by many a shoe-in for best picture, especially considering the strong female-centric #MeToo movement, was completely snubbed.
• Another shocker was Martin McDonagh, writer/director of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, being left out of the Best Director race. He won big at the Golden Globes and SAG. He did score a nomination for Best Original Screenplay though.
• In what many are seeing as a direct response to the five sexual misconduct allegations against him, James Franco did not earn a Best Actor nod for The Disaster Artist.
• Tiffany Haddish was also left out of the race for Girls Trip, as was Armie Hammer for Call Me By Your Name.
• Another surprise was The Post, which earned recognition at the Golden Globes, but was shut out of the Screen Actor’s Guild and BAFTAs. The Steven Spielberg-helmed story of Pentagon Paper intrigue starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, earned a Best Picture and Best Actress nod. This was Streep’s 21st nomination, an all-time record. (Some are still considering it a snub for Hanks and Spielberg though).
• Phantom Thread also fared surprisingly well, considering it has largely been ignored thus far. Director Paul Thomas Anderson snagged a Best Director, andDaniel Day-Lewis earned a Best Actor nod for his final performance (he announced his retirement from acting). Lesley Manville also nabbed a Best Supporting Actress nom for her role in the fashion film.
• Greta Gerwig, who has raked in critical and fan love for Lady Bird, but has also been ignored this awards season, earned an Oscar nod in the Best Director category, the first female nominee since 2009. Jordan Peele also earned a Best Director for Get Out, one of the most buzzed-about films of the year.
• Rachel Morrison arned the honor being the first ever woman nominated for a cinematography Oscar.