The Academy Awards nominations are in, and can we say, with all the emotion we can muster: Meh!

2018 was not stellar year for movies – at least, not for movies that made a big enough critical and commercial splash to make Awards Season genuinely interesting. Some of the most original, emotional films of the year – Sorry To Bother You, First Man, First Reformed – simply didn’t attract enough audience numbers to be in contention for the big awards. While the latter did scoop a Best Screenplay nomination, Ethan Hawke really should have been up for Best Actor. Incredible performances in mediocre films also got looked over for the same reason (hello the entire cast of Widows.)

Genre films often get overlooked in the Academy Awards, particularly horror, comedy and thrillers – which meant that A Quiet Place and American Animals never stood a chance, even though they both deserved a screenplay nod at least; and Lynne Ramsey’s odd, immersive and disquieting You Were Never Really Here was simply too 'odd' to get the attention of the still predominantly white, old Academy.

Now, overlooking some weird and wonderful offerings is always going to be the name of the game when it comes to the Academy Awards aka the Oscars. What makes this year’s nominees so baffling is how many truly awful films actually received nominations.

I'm sorry to have to say it, but Bohemian Rhapsody is not a good film. Is it an enjoyable nostalgia-hit for people who are fans of Queen? Sure. But barring Rami Malek’s commitment to the role of Freddie Mercury and the final shot-for-shot re-enactment of Queen’s Live Aid performance, it’s a badly scripted cheese-fest that bypasses anything complicated or nuanced and has the visual appeal of a made-for-BBC2 Sunday afternoon biopic. Just nominate Mamma Mia 2 for an Oscar and be done with it.

And then there’s Green Book! This has been hit by a variety of criticisms, which have included, but are not limited to: the deep inaccuracies surrounding the main Black character Don Shirley (played by Mahershala Ali); the fact that one of the character’s son co-wrote the screenplay, but didn’t consult with the other characters’ family, leading to those very inaccuracies; lead actor Viggo Mortensen using the N-word during a press conference for this film about racism; one of the writers being outed as a racist Islamophobic after releasing this film about racism; the director Peter Farrelly being outed as someone who repeatedly exposed his genitals to women without their consent getting accolades for a film about equality; and so on...

Like, for example, the writing itself, which is the kind of horribly ham-fisted White Saviour narrative that posits that White people just need to listen and Black people just need to lighten up and there will be no more racism.

That’s now how it works. That’s not how any of it works at all.

As a general rule, if you have written or directed something about anti-Black racism and Black people everywhere are saying that it’s deeply problematic and actually contributing to the issue you’re trying to highlight, you’re probably not on the right side of history.

This is not just knee jerk stuff. Black critics, writers, journalists and audiences have addressed at length the various ways that Green Book is a deeply offensive picture that should have been left behind in the 1950s. But alas, the Academy is hanging on to its old, outdated politics. Meanwhile, Barry Jenkin’s sublime If Beale Street Could Talk didn’t even get a Best Picture nomination, despite him winning Best Film for Moonlight – which shouldn’t make him an automatic nominee of course, but should have brought Beale Street to the attention of the Academy. And trust us, if you see this genuinely heart-wrenching film about racism in America, there is no way you aren’t rooting for it.

It’s like this year’s Academy looked back on the year that the similarly White Saviour-themed Crash won over Brokeback Mountain and said: “Hold my beer.”

In other disappointments, no women directors were nominated, yet again. But that category itself is somewhat of a surprise. A Star Is Born was always going to scoop up several nominations, though it’s somewhat surprising that Bradley Cooper didn’t get a nomination for Best Director, which could be indicative of his reputation as an actor getting in the way of the Academy recognising him as a Director. I wasn’t a fan of the screenplay for A Star Is Born and found it manipulative and hackneyed, but the directing was dynamic and assured and left me excited to see what Cooper directs next. While I think all of the nominees are strong, I wouldn’t blame Cooper for sulking a bit this morning.

Claire Foy was also snubbed for her stunning performance in First Man – I would have given her Lady Gaga’s Best Actress nomination in a heartbeat. Meanwhile, If Beale Street Could Talk being ignored for Best Cinematography is nothing short of criminal. Somebody should be arrested.

There are some things worthy of applause. After the Best Popular Film debacle, a result of the Academy wanting to give some films a  trophy without actually recognising them, Black Panther was nominated for Best Picture. Vice has also been nominated in several of the big categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and several acting categories, despite concerns that its scathing (and justified) take-down of Dick Cheney may have alienated some of the Academy who undoubtedly voted for his ticket.

Roma landed two acting nominations as well as Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay which is wonderful, and I was delighted to see Melissa McCarthy land her second Academy Awards nomination for her brilliantly layered and cutting performance in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which wasn’t a gimme.

And of course there’s the fully deserved lionising of The Favourite, which got a whopping ten nominations! Following her Golden Globe win, lead actress Olivia Colman continues to impress with another Best Actress nomination, with Best Supporting Actress noms for both Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone. Irishman Robbie Ryan has been honoured with a nomination for Cinematography, and Yorgos Lanthimos is up for Best Director. Other nominations are for Original Screenplay for Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, Production Design for Fiona Crombie and Alice Fenton, Film Editing for Yorgos Mavropsaridi and Costume Design for Sandy Powell.
The Favourite also secured a nomination in the hotly-contested Best Picture Category. This is Element Picture’s second Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, following their nomination for Room, 3 years ago. Element Pictures is the only Irish company to ever have secured two Best Picture nominations – and with ten nominations for The Favourite, it is now the most nominated Irish film ever at the Oscars. Congratulations to everyone at Element! Let's hope they pull off a real Academy Awards coup!

Congratulations are also due to the teams behind Late Afternoon and Detainment, which received nominations for Best Animated Short Film and Best Live Action Short Film, respectively. Both shorts were produced in Ireland and Late Afternoon was partially funded by Screen Ireland.
In conclusion: Ireland can feel very proud this year. To everyone else in the Academy, however, we have only one question: Y’alright hun?

 

The nominations in full are:

BEST PICTURE

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Roma

A Star Is Born

Vice

DIRECTOR

Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman

Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War

Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite

Alfonso Cuarón, Roma

Adam McKay, Vice

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Christian Bale, Vice

Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born

Willem Dafoe, At Eternity's Gate

Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Viggo Mortensen, Green Book

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma

Glenn Close, The Wife

Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born

Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Amy Adams, Vice

Marina de Tavira, Roma

Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Emma Stone, The Favourite

Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Adam Driver, BlackKKlansman

Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born

Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me

Sam Rockwell, Vice

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Capernaum

Cold War

Never Look Away

Roma

Shoplifters

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)

Black Sheep

End Game

Lifeboat

A Night at the Garden

Period. End of Sentence.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Free Solo

Hale County This Morning, This Evening

Minding the Gap

Of Fathers and Sons

RBG

ORIGINAL SONG

All The Stars - Black Panther

I'll Fight - RBG

Shallow - A Star Is Born

The Place Where Lost Things Go - Mary Poppins Returns

When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Mirai

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

BlacKkKlansman

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

If Beale Street Could Talk

A Star Is Born

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

First Reformed

Green Book

Roma

The Favourite

Vice

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Black Panther

The Favourite

First Man

Mary Poppins Returns

Roma

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cold War

The Favourite

Never Look Away

Roma

A Star Is Born

COSTUME DESIGN

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Black Panther

The Favourite

Mary Poppins Returns

Mary Queen of Scots

SOUND EDITING

A Quiet Place

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

Roma

SOUND MIXING

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

Roma

A Star Is Born

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Animal Behaviour

Bao

Late Afternoon

One Small Step

Weekends

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Detainment

Fauve

Marguerite

Mother

Skin

ORIGINAL SCORE

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

If Beale Street Could Talk

Isle of Dogs

Mary Poppins Returns

VISUAL EFFECTS

Avengers: Infinity War

Christopher Robin

First Man

Ready Player One

Solo: A Star Wars Story

FILM EDITING

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

Green Book

The Favourite

Vice

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Border

Mary Queen of Scots

Vice