The Oscar race is officially on with an array of great films and performances in the running, and a whole lot more that didn’t even make it to the starting line. As the nominees for the 98th Academy Awards were announced this morning, there was plenty of good news for expected favorites like Sinners — now the most-nominated film in Oscar history — One Battle After Another, and Hamnet, even if those myriad nominations were peppered with some notable absences (pour one out for Chase Infiniti and Paul Mescal). There were also a few shocks, both good (Delroy Lindo finally got a nod from the Academy!) and perplexing (F1 for Best Picture?), and snubs on the scale from egregious (The Testament of Ann Lee robbed!) to shrug-worthy (sorry, Wicked: For Good). So take a break from imagining the face Diane Warren will make when she (probably) loses Best Original Song to KPop Demon Hunters, and peruse our picks for the biggest snubs and surprises in this year’s Oscar nominations.
Surprise: Delroy Lindo Gets His Flowers
Of the record-breaking 16 nominations Sinners received, there might be none more well-deserved than Delroy Lindo for Best Supporting Actor. The veteran thespian’s portrayal of Delta Slim — a legendary blues harmonica player and boozehound — was suffused with the perfect mixture of humor and emotional heft. While Lindo picked up a few nominations on the film festival circuit, he’s been largely absent from the bigger pre-Oscars ceremonies like the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. That makes his Oscar nomination a truly delightful surprise, especially coming a few years after he was passed over for his performance in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. Lindo has, of course, been doing fantastic work for decades, and it’s always a joy to see one of the greats get some recognition, even if — or especially when — it’s overdue. —Jon Blistein
Snub: Paul Mescal Is Shut Out for Hamnet
Yes, Jessie Buckley’s performance as grieving mother Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet is astonishing. But in what is nearly a two-hander picture, it’s fair to say she couldn’t have hit those notes without her screen partner, Paul Mescal, delivering in kind every step of the way. Mescal’s alternately brooding, tender, and intense portrayal of the Bard, the very picture of internalized pain, completed the picture of two parents struggling with the death of their child in different ways. Watch his impassioned recitation of the “Get thee to a nunnery” monologue during rehearsals for his play, Hamlet, and tell us he didn’t deserve a nomination in either the supporting or lead actor categories. —Maria Fontoura
Snub: Voters Snooze on the Sandman
Adam Sandler still cannot catch a break with Oscar voters. Over the years, the comedy legend has delivered excellent performances in more dramatic roles that have often been tipped for potential Oscar glory, but never actually made the cut. His work in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly seemed primed to break that sad streak: He’s at once charming and vulnerable as the manager of George Clooney’s titular movie star. But the film failed to pick up any nominations at all. While the snubs for Punch-Drunk Love and Uncut Gems may have been more egregious than Jay Kelly, it’s still a bummer to see the Academy refuse to recognize a guy who can do fart jokes and pathos with equal skill. —J.B.
Surprise: The Sound of Crickets for Hans Zimmer and Daniel Lopatin’s Scores
It’s not that Hans Zimmer is in need of another Oscar. The legendary composer has won twice over 12 nominations, most recently in 2022 for Dune. But it was still an eyebrow-raiser to see him left out for his work on the blockbuster F1, especially as the racing flick cruised to some unexpected nominations, including Best Picture. Arguably even more shocking was the Academy’s decision to overlook Daniel Lopatin’s widely acclaimed score for Marty Supreme. Lopatin (who also records under the name Oneohtrix Point Never) impressively paired Josh Safdie’s 1950s-set film with a score steeped in Eighties synth pop influences. It’s easy to imagine the many ways that anachronistic decision could falter, but Lopatin’s score only heightens the drama of Marty Mauser’s relentless pursuit of ping-pong glory. —J.B.
Snub: No Love for My Undesirable Friends
Julia Lotkev’s five-and-a-half-hour portrait of independent Russian journalists slowly being marginalized, and eventually being branded enemies of the state, has been cleaning up among critics’ groups, and had come into the awards season with a strong head of steam. It may have been a “littler” film compared to some of the other nominees with studio and streamer backing, but the passion for Lotkev’s labor of love — and its all-too-timely look at what happens when a free press starts to become an oxymoron under authoritarian rule — was big. So it was admittedly a let down to not hear My Undesirable Friends get a shout-out during the announcements. If nothing else, a nomination would have given this extraordinary doc a major push toward getting more eyeballs. It needs to be seen by as many people as possible right now. —David Fear
Surprise: Kate Hudson Sings for Her Oscar
It’s been 25 years since Kate Hudson was recognized by the Academy. Back then, she was a breakout ingenue playing a rock groupie — sorry, “band aid” — in Almost Famous. This time around, she’s the musician taking center stage as one half of a Neil Diamond tribute band in the based-on-a-true-story Song Sung Blue. The role required Hudson to lean not just on her acting chops, but to showcase her singing abilities, which she’s brought to the fore in recent years with the release of her first album, Glorious, in 2024. She was also a nominee at this year’s Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards, so maybe she’s a dark-horse favorite to win gold. —M.F.
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Snub: Agony Instead of Ecstasy for The Testament of Ann Lee
Maybe it was a long shot that this late(ish) entry to an extremely packed awards season this year would manage to make more of an impact with voters. But it was still a bit of a shock that writer-director Mona Fastvold’s dizzying musical biopic about the founder of the Shaker movement earned absolutely zilch this morning. We assumed that it would at least get one of the Best Song nominations for “Clothed by the Sun” or “Hunger and Thirst,” two of the film’s standout tracks by composer Daniel Blumberg and Amanda Seyfried. But the biggest surprise was Seyfried not being one of the Best Actress nominees, given the rapturous response her performance has received overall (not to mention that she’s been doing her part with a lot of press, and secured nominations in both the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards). —D.F.
Surprise: Elle Fanning Makes the Grade for Sentimental Value
Joachim Trier’s quietly moving family drama has been a consistent presence on the awards circuit, with its non-American cast members — Stellan Skarsgård, Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas — receiving most of the love from voting bodies. But on the industry’s biggest night, Elle Fanning will get a shout in the supporting actress category alongside her Norwegian co-star Ibsdotter Lilleaas. It’s well deserved recognition for Fanning’s nuanced performance as an American movie star who’s out of her depth telling an intensely personal story penned by Skarsgård’s writer-director. —M.F.
Snub: The Best Actor Express Doesn’t Stop for Train Dreams Star Joel Edgerton
We couldn’t be more stoked that Clint Bentley’s adaptation of the Denis Johnson novella — about a laborer in the early part of the 20th century who experiences great tragedy — got so much love this morning, especially its nomination in the Best Picture category. Still, we were hoping that Joel Edgerton, doing the best work of his career, would manage to make it into one of the five Best Actor slots. His portrayal of Train Dreams’ stoic everyman helping to build the foundation of our nation, one railroad tie and logging run at a time, is what drives the engine of this beautiful character study as much as the gorgeous imagery and the writing. Attention should have been paid. —D.F.
Surprise: F1 Nabs a Best Picture Spot
Our love of this Brad Pitt blockbuster is on the public record, and we naturally assumed it would find a place within the Oscars’ technical categories; it nabbed nominations for Best Editing, Best Sound, and Best Achievement in Visual Effects. (We thought it might have had a chance getting into Best Cinematography as well, but that was a particularly crowded field this year.) But when this tale of a once-promising race-car driver getting behind the wheel one last time was announced as one of the 10 Best Picture nominees, well… let’s just say we’re impressed it managed to pull into that position from behind. Take a victory lap, guys. —D.F.
Snub: Jafar Panahi Is Locked Out of Best Director
The legendary Iranian filmmaker has been making the festival rounds and garnering a lot of attention on the awards-season circuit for It Was Just an Accident, his devastating tale of a former prisoner who thinks he’s identified the mysterious man who tortured him in jail. The fact that this is the first time in decades that Panahi has been able to visit America and Europe due to the authorities issuing travel and filmmaking bans around his work (not to mention him being arrested for extended periods back home as well) only made the movie’s messages about freedom and forgiveness that much more potent. The film did get deserved nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature, but many thought that he’d get a Best Director nomination as well, especially after the Golden Globes recognized him in that category. It was just a shame that his name was not announced this morning. —D.F.
Surprise: Voters Break Bad Over Wicked: For Good
Last year, Wicked picked up a whopping 10 nominations, and won two prizes, including a historic win for Paul Tazewell, the first Black man to win Best Costume Design. While the hit musical’s second part, Wicked: For Good, didn’t receive the same rave reviews as its predecessor (to put it mildly), it still seemed primed for a big awards season with a strong box office showing and multiple nods at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. But Wicked: For Good was completely shut out at the Oscars. Nothing for stars Ariana Grande or Cynthia Erivo, nor even in the technical categories it won last year. Most shocking, though, was the fact that the two new songs composer Stephen Schwartz wrote for the sequel — showpieces for Grande and Erivo, essentially lab-designed to ensure Oscar nominations — didn’t make the cut for Best Original Song. After defying gravity last year, Wicked crashed out big time in 2026. —J.B.
From Rolling Stone US
