Oscar Nominations: The Good, The Bad, and The Snubbed

The Good: 

- While 14 nominations for La La Land seem excessive, the film is deserving of the acclaim. It is my favorite film of 2016. I just wouldn't put it in the same category, as say, Titanic, but whatever. Emma Stone deserves the win on this (although I am biased, and I haven't seen the other films from the nominated actresses).

- So The Lobster is a 2016 release? Even though it played at three different film festivals in the U.S in 2015? I don't get it!!! However, I am super glad for the Original Screenplay nomination - it's definitely one of the most original films I've seen in a while.

-"Can't Stop the Feeling" was from Trolls? Really? I had no idea. But I will always be happy for a Justin Timberlake nomination.

- Zootopia was in my Top 10 list from 2016, which it's rare for an animated movie to make it to the list.


The Bad: 

-Every year there are major what the fuck nominations - and this year comes a random nomination for Suicide Squad (granted it's for makeup, BUT STILL).

-Aside from a few minor surprises (Ruth Negga, Viggo Mortensen) everything seemed to fall into place, which is a bit disappointing. It kind of takes the fun out of the whole thing when literally every single blogger predicted the exact lineup for Best Picture. Booooooorrrrrring.

-Why not fill that 10th slot?? There were a lot of GREAT movies this year. And I haven't even seen most of the nominated films. Plenty of films are deserving of that 10th slot, though. My personal pick would have been 10 Cloverfield Lane, but Nocturnal Animals could have easily filled that slot.


The Snubbed: 

-My favorite female performance of the year (yes, even more than Stone) is from Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I've been hard on her in the past (ahem, Smashed *winces*), but she is spectacular in 10 Cloverfield Lane.

-People are clamoring about Amy Adams being snubbed. I haven't seen Arrival yet, but I'm going to guess that she is superb as per usual.

-I was one of those people who were actually rooting for Deadpool to score a nomination - just one would have sufficed (maybe Adapted Screenplay?).

-While I hate to admit it, Aaron Taylor-Johnson gave a superior performance over Michael Shannon in Nocturnal Animals. Shannon was more understated, and he is ALWAYS phenomenal, so an Oscar is well-deserved, but I think it edged out Taylor-Johnson for the nomination, and for that, I am not happy.

-Speaking of Nocturnal Animals - it's probably the most visually stunning film, highly deserving of a Cinematography nomination and also for Tom Ford. Same could be said for The Neon Demon and Nicolas Winding Refn, but I knew that was a long-shot.

-So if The Lobster is 2016, then where are the rest of the nominations? Especially for Colin Farrell??