SNUBS & SURPRISES

STAR WARS, STEVEN SPIELBERG AND SAMUEL L. JACKSON BRUSHED OFF BY THE ACADEMY.

The joy of Oscar nomination day is that it makes every year seem like a great year at the movies. No matter how many stinkers came out in the last 12 months, there are always at least enough great directors and male/female, lead/supporting performances to count on one hand.

The flip side of that is the bestpicture nominations. For seven years now the Academy of Motions Picture Arts and Sciences has widened the field to a potential of two hands — the key word being potential. All but twice, voting requirements ( nominations need a minimum number of votes to make the cut) mean that only eight or nine films appear on the ballot.

This year’s eight best- picture nominees make a strong list: The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max, The Martian, The Revenant, Room and Spotlight. But that leaves some potentials out in the cold, at least two of which could have been included.

Topping the snubs, at least as far as box office tallies go, is Star Wars, which did earn five nominations — for editing, sound editing, sound mixing, visual effects and John Williams’ score.

The original Star Wars had 10 nominations including best picture, which it lost to Rocky. Creed ( a. k. a. Rocky: Episode VII — The Force Awakens) was not among the best-picture nominees this year, although Sylvester Stallone is up for best supporting actor.

Another notable exception was Carol, whose six nominations comprised cinematography, costumes, score, adapted screenplay and acting nods for Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Last week the film went home empty- handed from the Golden Globes after five nominations there.

Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario was another strong contender for best picture ( its nominations were for cinematography, editing and score), as were Straight Outta Compton ( original screenplay), Inside Out (animated feature) and Trainwreck (shut out).

Directing has also become a problematic category since the best-picture field was widened. This year’s biggest snubs were Steven Spielberg ( Bridge of Spies), John Crowley ( Brooklyn) and especially Ridley Scott ( The Martian), whose films nonetheless made the bestpicture list. How the man who made Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men and The Counselor has managed to avoid receiving a trophy is a mystery.

Also missing from the directing category is Creed’s Ryan Coogler. In fact, where films featuring African-American stories were nominated, it was often the white cast (Stallone in Creed) and crew ( the writers of Straight Outta Compton) getting the recognition.

It continues to amaze pundits (and embarrass the Academy) that so few people of colour receive nominations. For the second year running, all 20 acting nominations went to white performers, in spite of strong performances by the likes of Will Smith (Concussion), Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation), Samuel L. Jackson (The Hateful Eight), Benicio Del Toro (Sicario), Kitana Kiki Rodriguez ( Tangerine) and others mentioned below.

A strong year for women meant a plethora of could-haves. Check off the nominees — Blanchett for Carol; Brie Larson for Room; Jennifer Lawrence in Joy; Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years; and Saorise Ronan in Brooklyn — and you could fill another ballot with the overlooked but worthy. There was Emily Blunt as an FBI agent in Sicario; Lily Tomlin’s scene- stealing turn in Grandma; Charlize Theron in Mad Max; Maggie Smith in The Lady in the Van; and Daisy Ridley from Star Wars.

For male l eads, meanwhile, the nominees were a bit of a hash. Bryan Cranston ( Trumbo) and Michael Fassbender ( Steve Jobs) were nominated for films that went otherwise unrecognized, or almost so. ( Kate Winslet was nominated for best supporting actress in Steve Jobs, but surely a nod for its score or Trumbo’s whip- smart script wouldn’t have been out of place.) Eddie Redmayne ( The Danish Girl), Leonardo DiCaprio ( The Revenant) and Matt Damon ( The Martian) round out the field.

But where was Michael Caine’s morose composer from Youth (which did snag a surprise nomination for best song with the classical number Simple Song #3); Steve Carell’s hilarious outrage in The Big Short; Michael Jordan as the new Rocky figure in Creed; or Tom Hardy in Legend, or Mad Max, or Legend?

Then again, Hardy is already represented on the best-supporting list for The Revenant. It’s a ballot that includes Christian Bale ( The Big Short), Mark Ruffalo ( Spotlight) and Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) but not Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Michael Shannon ( 99 Homes), Paul Dano (Love & Mercy) or Paul Dano ( Youth).

And speaking of multiple performances, Alicia Vikander was nominated for a best- supporting turn in The Danish Girl ( really more of a lead role, but whatever) but was even better in Ex Machina, a science-fiction tale that picked up nominations for its visual effects and original screenplay.

The other nominees were Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight; Mara in Carol ( another one that should have been classified a lead role, and was at the Golden Globes); Rachel McAdams in Spotlight; and Winslet in Steve Jobs. But that left out Helen Mirren from Trumbo and two stunning performances from Youth: Jane Fonda and Rachel Weisz.

Of course, snubs work both ways. One day before the Oscar nominations came the Razzies shortlist, and while no one wants to be on that one, there are a few who perhaps should have been.

Fantastic Four is up for worst picture, director, remake, screenplay and screen combo, but the actors avoided being named personally. Cameron Crowe’s Aloha similarly escaped unscathed, and so did Bill Murray, who had a role in that one as well as starring in the misguided war romp Rock the Kasbah. And there is no worst-animated-film category for the Razzies, which would surely have meant a nomination for George Lucas’s Strange Magic. Sometimes it’s an honour not to be nominated.