Black Panther
The nominations for 91st Academy Awards had its fair share of snubs and surprises, with Bradley Cooper being the most shocking absence from the Best Director category for "A Star Is Born". Cooper's film managed to bag eight nods overall, including best picture, best actress for Lady Gaga and best supporting actor for Sam Elliott. The actor was himself generating quite for buzz for his direction, which has been universally lauded by the critics, but it seems the Academy does not find him worthy for a nomination in the best director category. He will have to suffice with the best actor as well as best adapted screenplay nominations.
The biggest surprise were in the form Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira getting nominated in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories respectively for Alfonso Cuaron's black-and-white feature "Roma". The film's award season campaign has been mainly fronted by the director. Damian Chazelle's Neil Armstrong biopic "First Man" has virtually been whitewashed during the entire award season. The film's female lead Claire Foy had managed to get a nod at the recently concluded Golden Globes but the actor has been snubbed at the Oscars.
The film, however, did get nominated at the 91st Academy Awards. It will be vying in the technical categories - Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects and Best Production Design. Marvel's "Black Panther" nomination in the best picture was unsure but the film surprised many by making it to the category. The film has scored a total of seven nominations. The best director is once again dominated by the men with no woman being considered for the honour. Marielle Heller of "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" had the chance for getting the nod but was been overlooked. Pawel Pawlikowski's period romance "Cold War" has been nominated in best foreign language category but the film getting nods in another two categories -- best director and best cinematography -- surely came as a surprise.
"Crazy Rich Asians", the critically acclaimed hit featuring all-Asian cast, is another film which missed out on Oscar nominations. The Jon M. Chu-directed romantic comedy failed to get a nod in the best picture category, while actors Constance Wu and Michelle Yeoh also missed out for best actress and best supporting actress trophy, respectively. Actor Willem Dafoe has managed to sneak into the best actor race for portraying Vincent van Gogh in Julian Schnabel's "At Eternity's Gate". John David Washington ("BlacKkKlansman") and Ethan Hawke ("First Reformed") were both overlooked for their performances.
