Top Ten 2022 Oscar Snubs

Five nominees per category - they all can't be winners! Every year people don't make the cut, but that doesn't mean the snubs don't hurt! The following are what I personally consider the biggest, most annoying snubs of this year's Oscar race:

10. Kathryn Hunter Supporting Actress Snub for The Tragedy of Macbeth

In what might rank as THE best depiction of the witches from the classic Shakespeare play, for my money Kathryn Hunter was the standout performance in Joel Coen's reimagining of the endlessly revamped tragedy. I would argue that her genuinely terrifying performance, complete with contortions, was more memorable than ANY of the nominees in the Best Supporting Actress

9. Zola snubbed for Best Adapted Screenplay

.While the other nominees in this category, like Dune or Power of the Dog, are based on novels, I think screenwriters Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris took on a very unique challenge that few filmmakers would dare attempt: adapt a series of Tweets by a stripper into a film. It seems like a recipe for disaster, but somehow they turned it around into one of the most engaging films of 2021. The film didn't manage to land any other nominations either, but I think it deserved a screenplay nod most of all!

8. Jodie Comer Lead Actress Snub for The Last Duel

Ridley Scott had a bad night! With two Oscar contenders, The Last Duel and House of Gucci, in play, he only managed to land one nomination: Best Hair and Makeup for Gucci. But across the two films, the snub that stings the most in my opinion is Jodie Comer, who was fantastic in this medieval Rashomon-esque true story. 

7. The Green Knight Snubbed for Cinematography

Easily one of the most beautiful-looking films of the year - and my personal winner for Best Cinematography - The Green Knight should have earned at least one nomination for its immaculately created fantasy world. 

6. Simon Rex Lead Actor Snub for Red Rocket

Like so many impressive A24 movies this year, Sean Baker's hilariously dark comedy Red Rocket went home empty handed without a single nomination - perhaps most disappointingly for Simon Rex, who bore it all in an incredible career comeback performance as a charismatic low-life snaking his way back to the top of the adult movie industry. Rex's last noteworthy roles were in the Scary Movie franchise (the last of which was released in 2013), and to go from that to one of the most lauded performances of the year is an amazing accomplishment. Javier Bardem is a fine actor, but his nomination spot should've been reserved for this performance!

5. The French Dispatch Snubbed for Production Design

I feel like the "Production Design" category should just leave a reserved parking sign in front of any nomination spot when a Wes Anderson movie is released. His immaculately-created, dollhouse like productions are always incredibly inventive and thoughtful, and The French Dispatch is no exception. I was surprised to see it snubbed here. While I enjoyed The Power of the Dog, does it really have any memorable sets on par with the quirky Dispatch office building in this movie?

4. Titane Snubbed for Foreign Language Film

Shockingly, this year's Cannes Film Festival winner wasn't even included on the SHORTLIST for this category! While you might be able to argue that it was "too weird" for the Academy, at the same time the equally oddball Lamb did make the shortlist, so who knows? One of the most promising, provocative French filmmakers today, Julia Ducournau, will hopefully sneak into this category someday!

3. The Entire Cast of Mass Snubbed

Driven only by four powerhouse performances from Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, and Reed Birney, this incredibly harrowing, emotional film completely relies on its actors for it to work. All four of these actors deserved a nomination, but all of them were shut out!

2. The Rescue Snubbed for Documentary Feature

I have no words for why this was not nominated. I assumed it would be the hands-down winner. The incredible true story of a team of cave divers saving a group of boys from a cave in Thailand is a triumph of the human spirit, and it's from the filmmakers of previous Oscar-winner Free Solo. Absolutely baffling!

1. Denis Villeneuve Director Snub for Dune

With his Hollywood star consistently rising with films like Arrival and Blade Runner 2021, and Dune being a huge Oscar contender, it's truly baffling how Denis Villeneuve was not nominated in this category. Villeneuve's vision is what makes the movie, and he was actually able to make this tricky adaptation work while even a legend like David Lynch wasn't able to. Perhaps we will get a course-correction for this snub when Dune Part 2 is released, but for now it's a snub no one saw coming!

Thanks for reading, and check out my YouTube channel for more movie reviews!