Biggest Oscars Snubs & Surprises: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig overlooked as film Trump hates gets academy love

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 97th Academy Awards, and, as always, the list of contenders is notable for its surprise inclusions and high-profile snubs.

Aussie stars feature prominently in both categories, so let’s dive straight into it.

THE SNUBS

Aussie superstar Nicole Kidman was among the biggest snubs of this year’s Academy Awards nominations, in what was otherwise a fairly predictable announcement of Oscar contenders.

Kidman’s performance in the erotic drama Babygirl, where she plays a CEO who embarks on an affair with a younger intern, had pundits predicting a sixth career Oscar nomination for the 57-year-old, after she previously won the gong for best actress in 2003 for The Hours.

But voters clearly didn’t agree, also turning their back on highly-fancied turns from Angelina Jolie in the biopic Maria, about famed opera singer Maria Callas, and former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, who earned Golden Globe and SAG nominations for her performance in The Last Showgirl.

In the best actor category, Daniel Craig’s licence to kill has apparently expired, with the former James Bond star failing to slay Academy voters with his performance as a lovesick drug addict in Queer.

The initial hype surrounding Gladiator II suggested Denzel Washington was in the running for his third Oscar for playing the Machiavellian Macrinus, but, after being largely overlooked during this awards cycle, those hopes have disappeared faster than blood in the Colosseum’s sand.

Extending the best picture field to 10 movies has meant it’s harder to find true snubs in that category, but you could make a case for Sing Sing, a prison drama based on a true story, and A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy drama about cousins on a Holocaust-themed tour through Poland.

However, both films received recognition in other categories, while Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed sports drama starring Zendaya, was iced out of the Oscars altogether (so was his other film in contention this year, the aforementioned Queer).

On the topic of best picture, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part 2 was among the nominees, yet he failed to crack a very competitive field for best directing.

Meanwhile, last year’s biggest live-action movie at the box office, Deadpool & Wolverine, was completely ignored by the academy, which marks the first time since 2016 a Marvel movie didn’t at least get recognised for visual effects.

THE SURPRISES

The announcement of nominations for this year’s Academy Awards mostly went to script, with very few genuine, out-of-left-field shocks.

For instance, it was not wholly unexpected to see Guy Pearce recognised in the best supporting actor category for playing industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren in The Brutalist, but it’s still a joy to have this beloved Aussie star earn his first career Oscars nom.

Co-star Adrien Brody, who was also nominated for best actor, told The West Australian he and Pearce “got on famously” while making The Brutalist.

“He’s such a wonderful man and great actor,” Brody said of Pearce. “I’ve always admired him since I first saw Memento in the theatre.

“I thought he had such a wonderful quality as an actor, and he’s done such great work, and he’s amazing in this film.”

Among The Brutalist’s 10 nominations, the nod in the best supporting actress category for Felicity Jones, who plays the wife of Brody’s character, is more surprising though thoroughly deserved.

“It’s a funny one, because, you know, you can’t get too carried away with that stuff, because you have so little control over it,” Jones told The West Australian.

“It was such a demanding piece of artwork that, to have it accepted and to have your peers celebrating it, in this case it means a lot.”

Musical crime comedy Emilia Perez has been a darling of the awards cycle, but it still qualifies as a pleasant surprise to see it lead all films at this year’s Oscars with 13 nominations, including ones for best picture and best actress for Karla Sofia Gascon, the first openly trans performer to be nominated for an Academy Award.

It was far more surprising to see multiple nominations for the unauthorised Donald Trump biopic, The Apprentice, with Sebastian Stan earning a best actor nod for portraying the younger years of America’s 47th President, and Jeremy Strong being recognised in the best supporting actor.

The film struggled to find a distributor in the US, and Trump was infuriated with how he was depicted, but Stan and Strong have a puncher’s chance to win Oscars if academy voters see it as a way to protest against the new administration.

It also sets up a fun race between Strong and fellow best supporting actor nominee Keiran Culkin (A Real Pain), who, of course, were duelling siblings Kendall and Roman Roy in the hit TV series Succession.

While the nominations themselves may have produced few upsets, the lack of a clear dominant force this year (see: Oppenheimer last year) sets the stage for big surprises when the winners are announced.

The race for best actress is wide open, although Demi Moore is firming as a favourite to win her first Oscar for The Substance.

Best actor could go down to the wire, with Timothee Chalamet set to give Brody a run for his money now that his Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, has earned eight nominations.

The best picture contest is even harder to predict, with half the field having a legitimate shot at going home with silverware.

And there is considerable intrigue around how the big-screen adaptation of hit musical Wicked will fare from its 10 nominations, given the film’s huge fanbase.

The 97th Academy Awards will be held on March 3. The ceremony, hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien, will be broadcast on Channel Seven and be available to stream on 7plus.

BEST PICTURE

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

I’m Still Here

Nickel Boys

The Substance

Wicked

BEST ACTOR

Adrien Brody, The Brutalist

Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown

Colman Domingo, Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes, Conclave

Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

BEST ACTRESS

Cynthia Erivo, Wicked

Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez

Mikey Madison, Anora

Demi Moore, The Substance

Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Yura Borisov, Anora

Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain

Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce, The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown

Ariana Grande, Wicked

Felicity Jones, The Brutalist

Isabella Rossellini, Conclave

Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

BEST DIRECTING

Sean Baker, Anora

Brady Corbet, The Brutalist

James Mangold, A Complete Unknown

Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez

Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Nickel Boys

Sing Sing

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Anora

The Brutalist

A Real Pain

September 5

The Substance

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

I’m Still Here

The Girl With the Needle

Emilia Pérez

The Seed of a Sacred Fig

Flow

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Flow

Inside Out 2

Memoir of a Snail

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Black Box Diaries

No Other Land

Porcelain War

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat

Sugarcane

BEST EDITING

Anora

The Brutalist

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Brutalist

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

Maria

Nosferatu

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Brutalist

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Nosferatu

Wicked

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Gladiator II

Nosferatu

Wicked

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Brutalist

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

El Mal - Emilia Pérez

The Journey - The Six Triple Eight

Like a Bird - Sing Sing

Mi Camino - Emilia Pérez

Never Too Late - Elton John: Never Too Late

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

A Lien

Anuja

I’m Not a Robot

The Last Ranger

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Beautiful Men

In the Shadow of the Cypress

Magic Candies

Wander to Wonder

Yuck!

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Death By Numbers

I Am Ready, Warden

Incident

Instruments of a Beating Heart

The Only Girl in the Orchestra

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

A Different Man

Emilia Pérez

Nosferatu

The Substance

Wicked

BEST SOUND

A Complete Unknown

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Alien: Romulus

Better Man

Dune: Part Two

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Wicked