Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for DIFFSay what?!?!
Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, directors Guillermo Del Toro and Ang Lee and actor John Krasinski announced the nominations for the 2016 Oscars Thursday morning, and while justice was served for some, others were completely snubbed. In additions to the snubs there were also plenty of surprises that caught us off guard, so this year's Oscars will probably be full of even more shocking moments (with the help of host Chris Rock, of course).
Let's talk about how "See You Again," the song from Furious 7 performed by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, didn't earn a nomination for Best Song. That's right, Paul Walker's tribute didn't get a nod. Instead, "Earned It" by The Weeknd from Fifty Shades of Grey made the cut as well as Golden Globe-winning "Writing's on the Wall" by Sam Smith from Spectre, which sort of went without saying. But "Earned It" over "See You Again"?! We'd understand "Love Me Like You Do," but "Earned It" seems a little out of left field. Continuing in the song category, we're still surprised about Lady Gaga. Yes, it was awesome to watch her win the Golden Globe, but it's still slightly jaw-dropping how she can go from slightly out there performer to a potential EGOT winner in a year.
Jacob Tremblay, the 9-year-old star of Room, didn't score a nod in the Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor categories, which seems like a mistake. Tremblay stole the show whenever he was onscreen, so his omission from both the Golden Globes and Oscars doesn't seem fair. There's always the SAG Awards, little man.
Straight Outta Compton, easily one of the better movies of the year, didn't secure a spot in the Best Picture category—for shame—but at least secured a nod in the Best Original Screenplay category. We're going to chalk up this snub to a bad case of too early of a release, but at least SAG and the Oscars are honoring it in some way.
Another movie that caught our attention this year was Bridge of Spies. While we're incredibly happy that Mark Rylance is getting the recognition he deserves, we're still surprised about director Steven Spielberg's exclusion. If you're going to give a nomination for Best Picture why isn't the director getting any love? Anybody having flashbacks to Argo and Ben Affleck? Maggie Smith, star of Lady in the Van, managed to secure a Golden Globes nomination but somehow fell short of the Oscars. We'll just have to wait and see more of her sass some other time.
This might be a controversial "surprise," but Jennifer Lawrence in Joy earning the Best Actress nomination over Smith surprised some. We understand she won the Golden Globe, but was an Oscar nomination deserved? The jury's still out on that one. Joy was an entertaining movie, but we're not so sure it was award-winning, which is probably why David O. Russell didn't earn a nomination in the Best Director category or Best Picture. So we're not totally off base in our mentality.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, unsurprisingly, sweeped in the effects categories, but didn't nab a Best Picture nomination, and neither did Harrison Ford. The love for this movie knows no bounds, and the fans are already freaking out about its snubs. Sure, it got love with its effects, but the die-hard fan base wanted some love for Han Solo and the film as a whole. What gives, Academy?! If we're going to give fan favorites such as Sylvester Stallone some love, then Ford could've gotten thrown a bone.
And what about Michael Keaton from Spotlight? He has been praised for his role time and time again, yet received nothing, and neither did Liev Schreiber. We understand there's only a certain amount of people per category, but really...That being said, thank goodness Tom Hardy is finally getting recognition for The Revenant! The HFPA overlooked him but fortunately The Academy picked up where the Golden Globes and SAG dropped the ball.
While Alicia Vikander absolutely earned her kudos from her work in The Danish Girl, we're a little surprised she didn't get any Oscars accolades from Ex Machina. In fact, the sci-fi film only earned Best Visual Effects and Best Original Screenplay nominations. It's safe to say the HFPA had a lot more love for this movie than The Academy.
Quentin Tarantino didn't get any love for The Hateful Eight in the Best Director and Best Picture categories, but Jennifer Jason Leigh managed to snag a Best Supporting Actress nod. With such buzz surrounding the film, we thought it would get a little more acknowledgment than its Best Cinematography and Best Original Score nominations. While not technically a snub per se, it's still pretty surprising.
Concussion and its star Will Smith didn't get any love in any category, which is surprising given his Golden Globes nomination. What we've learned is that one does not necessarily mean an actor or actress we'll receive the other.
But let's face it—we're all waiting for the same thing—Leonardo DiCaprio to finally take the stage to accept his award for Best Actor. This is his year. Any other result would truly be a surprise and snub.