It happens every year: the Oscar nominations are announced, and someone or many "someones" are left off the list. I usually get over it because some of the surprise nominees soften the sting. Not this year, which is a travesty in the Best Director category. Kathryn Bigelow not only deserved a nomination for the harrowing Zero Dark Thirty, but she deserved to win the award, her second. I suspect the omission came as a result of all the controversy swirling over her film, but that's a load of B.S. Oscar snobs snubbed Ben Affleck, too. I thought he deserved a nod for The Town as much as he did for Argo, and he got the shaft again this year. I don't get it? Do Oscar voters still hold the whole "Bennifer" thing against him? His omission is as logical as wrestling fans Google mapping directions to "Parts Unknown." (Look for a Lincoln sweep now... by the way.)
Anyway, these films apparently directed themselves, and while it's nice to see both represented in the Best Picture category, it feels like going to IHOP, and getting served half a pancake. It's half an honor for the those respective films. If they were good enough for Best Picture, the auteurs behind them should've been nominated as well. They weren't alone. No Perks of Being a Wallflower in the Adapted Screenplay category? No Les Miserables for Cinematography? No John Hawkes? No Judi Dench? No Barbara Streisand for Prince of Tides yet again? I could go on but instead I've compiled my annual list of "Forgotscars," fictional awards where the snubbed are nominated. The winners win nothing but the praise they deserved in the first place. Read on, and vote for the winners. Or don't. Either way, I feel good about this post.
Best Picture
Moonrise Kingdom
The Master
Skyfall
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Perks of Being a Wallflowers
Best Actor
John Hawkes, The Session
Richard Gere, Arbitrage
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour
Bill Murray, Hyde Park on Hudson
Ben Affleck, Argo
Best Actress
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Meryl Streep Hope Springs
Marion Cotillard Rust and Bone
Rachel Weisz The Deep Blue Sea
Keira Knightley, ,Anna Karenina
Best Supporting Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
John Goodman, Argo
Matthew McCoughaney, Magic Mike
Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom
Ezra Miller, Perks of Being a Wallflower
Best Supporting Actress:
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Samantha Barks Les Miserables
Ann Dowd Compliance
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Rosemary DeWitt, Your Sister's Sister
Best Director:
Ben Affleck, Argo
Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Tom Hooper, Les Miserables
Weigh in below...