Academy Award Nominations — What Were The Biggest Snubs & Shocks Of The 2013 Oscar Noms?

Oscar Snubs and Surprises

Whatever your Oscar nomination predictions were, you were wrong: This morning's Academy Awards announcements by hosts, Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone, jolted Oscar-watchers awake with surprises and snubs so shocking they made everyone forget, within minutes, that MacFarlane made a Hitler joke, live, before six in the morning — setting the tone for his upcoming hosting gig.

From all the Beasts of the Southern Wild love, to the freezing-out of shoo-ins, Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty), Ben Affleck (Argo), and Tom Hooper (Les Miserables) from the Best Director race, which were the biggest shocks of the morning?

[Get the full list of 2013 Oscar nominees]

WTF, BEST DIRECTOR RACE?
It was the most unexpected category of the bunch: Major snubs for Bigelow, Affleck, and Hooper shake up the Best Picture race, and the confidences of Oscar prognosticators everywhere. With Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), Ang Lee (Life of Pi), and David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) competing against Michael Haneke (Amour) and Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild) the temperature of the Best Pic/Best Director races changes drastically. I was so sure the Academy would get suckered in by Hooper's uber close-ups that the fact that he wasn't nominated makes me think Oscar voters aren't such easy lays after all...

WHERE'S LEO?
Christoph Waltz's Best Supporting nod for Django Unchained (which scored fewer nominations than expected/hoped) pushed cast mate Leonardo DiCaprio out despite his Golden Globes nod.

JOHN HAWKES IN THE SESSIONS
It's too bad the great John Hawkes wasn't recognized for his work as a paraplegic poet in the underseen The Sessions, because it's some of the best acting of the year.

MARION COTILLARD IN RUST AND BONE
Guess two French ladies in the Best Actress race was two too many.

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay)
Who knew the Academy had so much love for Benh Zeitlin's little Sundance darling? Quvenzhané Wallis becomes the youngest Best Actress nominee in Oscars history — vying against Amour's Emmanuelle Riva, the oldest — but who out there actually predicted Zeitlin would get a coveted Best Director nod while so many front-runners were left out in the cold?

And while we're on the subject of Beasts star Wallis: How great is it that the Oscar-watching world will soon know how to pronounce "Quvenzhané?" I can already see MacFarlane's telecast writing staff furiously scribbling their "Uma-Oprah"-esque gags.

ZERO DARK OSCARS
Critics and pundits had Bigelow's bin Laden pic riding high as an Oscar hopeful before this morning, but even with Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay nods the Bigelow snub puts ZDT's potency into question. Did the torture controversy and assorted Congressional hullabaloos dampen the film's buzz, or did its dispassionate mood leave voters a bit cold?

SKYFALL FOR BEST SCORE
Methinks Academy members confused Adele's fantastic Skyfall theme song with the Bond pic's score, because one stuck to my bones and the other, well, did not. These folks clearly saw Beasts of the Southern Wild, which boasted one of the best original scores of the year but didn't earn a musical nod.

OH, AND ALSO THE SIMPSONS GOT AN OSCAR NOMINATION
"Maggie Simpson attends the Ayn Rand Daycare Center, where she finds a caterpillar and faces off against her nemesis." Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare will compete in the Animated Shorts race vs. Disney's Paperman, among others.

Were you shocked and awed by the Academy's surprise moves? Chime in below with your reactions!

WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE: 2013 Biggest Oscar Snubs

RELATED ARTICLES:
Academy Award Nominees Announced - 'Lincoln' Leads 2013 Oscar Noms

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Comments

  • Holla says:

    this year of nominations have left me more confused then any other.... WTF, all those snubs!

    • Holla says:

      then = than (yikes, my grammar bad)

    • Frank Hogan says:

      Hello From Frank Hogan
      I'm surprized and seriously Disappointed that Marion Cotillard didn't even get Nominated for "Rust And Bone" She should've been a nailed on certainty as much as Helen Mirren was for "The Queen" in HER year.

  • Andrew K says:

    I was shocked (and pleased) to see The Master get some love, at least the actors anyway. I was not shocked, and not pleased, that it was snubbed everywhere else.

    But hey, it was a pretty good year for film. You learn not to really care too much and just appreciate all the good films.

  • Jake says:

    I hated Beasts. Particularly the direction. How does a child like Zeitlin get a nom over masters like Tarantino, Bigelow, Hooper, and Anderson (PT)? What a joke. There was no artistry to Beasts. Just a young filmmaker without the skill to do something impressive using bad camera work and a good score to hide his lack of storytelling skills. I can tell the difference between art and someone trying to fake it. Zeitlin was trying to fake it till he made it. What a joke. I hope that guy never makes another film again.

    The only thing you can praise him for was the performances of the two leads. But then again, the other acting was pretty bad, so he probably just got luck with those two.

    - Jake

  • Kyle says:

    I was surprised but pleased with the noms. No matter what you're going to have snubs. And no voting system is perfect.

  • Jacy says:

    No Nicole Kidman for "The Paperboy"? No Ben for Director? Putting a nine year old non-actor opposite an 85 year old career- star? No Hal Holbrook in "Lincoln"? Yep, that's Oscar...

  • voiceswriter says:

    Reblogged this on Voiceswriter and commented:
    The Biggest Snub has got to be the cast of Django Unchained and it's director Quentin Terentino not scoring any nominations. Also Kiera Knightley and Marion Cotillard.

  • The Cantankerist says:

    Don't know about the *biggest* snub - but the most *fun* snub was The Dark Knight Rises missing out on, oh, everything.

  • Mike says:

    I agree with Jake. Beasts of the Southern Wild was a major snore. The fact that this little kid is getting nominated just shows how PC the Oscars have become.

  • Reid says:

    How in the world did Christopher Nolan not make it onto the list of nominees? He completely re-invigorated the Batman franchise. I voted for him on The Stashbox's Academy Award poll and actually wound up winning a Regal Cinemas gift card, which should last a long time since I don't often make it to the theater.

    They're at http://www.thestashbox.com/versus

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