With so many films coming out each year, certain performances therein may not get their just due come awards season, angering cinema fans on Reddit.
As difficult as it may be to believe, the next awards season is just around the corner, with many prestigious arthouse films like Babylon, The Whale, and Amsterdam making their rounds at film festivals as they gear up for the winter season and the 2023 Academy Awards ceremony.
Though the Academy often awards deserving actors and actresses for their work, they are far from possessing a perfect track record. Certain cinema fans on Reddit have pointed out particular performances that were egregiously overlooked by the Oscars.
Redditor TheCosmicFailure sends love in Nicolas Cage's direction for his performance in the 2021 film Pig. They celebrate "such a subtle and understated performance by [Cage]," specifically hailing "his monologue at the restaurant about how we allow people to dictate who we are and that we don't have much time to do what we like. Should've been his Oscar moment. I honestly cried at the end."
Pig was in many ways a return to form for Cage, who earned his last Academy Award over two decades ago for his role in Leaving Las Vegas. Many industry experts expected him to at least receive a nomination for Pig, but the film was entirely overlooked by the Academy, much to the outrage of many fans.
Redditor Stepjam has some strong words for the Academy regarding their disinterest in what they believe to be a stellar horror performance. They write, "The fact Lupita Nyong'o wasn't even nominated for best actress for Us was outright criminal," going on to explain that the actress "gave two characters' worth of nuanced performance."
Us was the second feature film from iconic horror director Jordan Peele, which, despite its stellar filmmaking and performances, was entirely overlooked by the Academy. This speaks to a larger issue in that genre films, especially horror, are often ignored come awards season. While Peele's preceding film Get Out was able to break this pattern, its successor was not.
One cinema enthusiast under the handle Yuna123uk believes that one actress was egregiously overlooked in the 2016 awards season. Discussing performances that deserved nominations, they write, "Amy Adams – Arrival. She was fantastic in that movie."
Arrival featured a fantastic lead performance from Adams and a killer plot twist that audiences didn't see coming. Though the film earned eight Oscar nominations and despite winning several other awards for her role, Adams did not receive an Oscar nod in 2016, adding to a growing list of snubs for the talented actress.
Reddit user Lazy_Ad_6232 writes, "The whole cast of the LOTR trilogy was great. But if you ask me, Sean Astin should've gotten at least nominated for Return of The King. His devotion to Frodo was one of the highlights of the movie and everyone tears up when he starts carrying him up the mountain."
Sean Astin's portrayal of Samwise Gamgee, one of Hobbits who saves the Fellowship, has been somewhat overlooked in the awards arena. While the Lord of the Rings franchise was able to transcend the divide between the Academy and the fantasy genre, with Return of the King winning Best Picture alongside ten other awards, its cast was nevertheless snubbed.
Redditor Square_Mycologist475 writes that "Esai Morales should've won Best Supporting Actor that year [1987] ABSOLUTELY! La Bamba is one of my favorite films of all time. It's a classic in my household (Definitely underrated)."
Though Morales was praised for his role as Roberto Morales, Ritchie Valen's half-brother, he received no Oscar nominations for his performance, nor did La Bamba receive any nominations from the Academy. Considering it won several other accolades, many believed the film was unjustly overlooked.
Any-Low9727 passionately voices a common opinion of cinema fans following a surprise snub for the 2020 Academy Awards. "ADAM SANDLER WAS ABSOLUTELY ROBBED FOR UNCUT GEMS," they write after the SNL alum was passed up for a nomination for his role in the crime-comedy film.
Primarily known for his comedic roles, Sandler was the talk of many film critics following his dramatic turn in Uncut Gems. Though he appeared in most critics' predictions for an Oscar nomination, the Academy elected not to include him in their picks, angering many of Sandler's devoted fans.
ColdPressedSteak voices what they feel may be an unpopular opinion regarding a beloved film and its lead actor who has since become somewhat of a controversial figure. "I think Mel Gibson should've been considered for a nomination for Signs," they write of his performance in the 2002 M. Night Shyamalan film.
Signs has long been considered one of the best films in Shyamalan's filmography, and this is partly due to Gibson's intriguing performance therein. Other Redditors chimed in to hail Gibson in the film's memorable dining room scene, which they believe should have been enough to earn him a nod at that year's Oscars ceremony.
Redditor SirToaster8 believes that "Jamie Foxx in Django" was a performance worthy of an Academy Award nomination. They further voiced their indignation that an actor of his caliber has accepted certain other roles in lesser-loved films: "it surprises me that this guy was Electro."
Though Django Unchained was one of Foxx's most successful films at the worldwide box office, and despite several of his costars receiving nominations, Jamie Foxx did not receive an Oscar nod for the film. The actor nonetheless has already made Oscar history, having been nominated for both Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor in 2005 for his work in the films, Collateral and Ray, respectively winning the latter.
Reddit user Calhalen is one of many horrors fans who believes that "Toni Collette in Hereditary" deserved to at least be nominated. They write, "I don’t care about [the] Oscars but it’s wild she didn’t get [nominated] for that."
Despite Hereditary proving to be a critical darling, the film was ignored at the Academy Awards that year, with Toni Collette's well-praised performance going completely overlooked by the voters. Many cinema fans felt slighted by this turn of events, calling out the Academy for once again ignoring a deserving genre film.
Lazy_Ad_6232 praises Tom Hanks's performance in the Sam Mendes 2002 crime drama Road to Perdition: "Until that movie came out I don't think anyone would think he could play a hitman for the mob yet he did and he was magnificent. The chemistry between him and the actor who played his oldest son was just perfection."
As one of Hollywood's top actors of the modern day, Hanks has appeared in numerous roles that have been overlooked by the Academy, with Road to Perdition making up only one of these. Nevertheless, the actor's two wins for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, in addition to his four other nominations, likely keep his fans from becoming too outraged by the occasional oversight on the part of the Academy.
Jordan Iacobucci is an avid reader and movie fan, and has been since childhood. Jordan is known among his friends as the Marvel and Star Wars nerd, and even wrote a thirty-page college dissertation about Spider-Man! He is currently obtaining an English degree and lives outside Raleigh, North Carolina with his family. His other interests include working with children, reading, and music.
10 Movies Performances That Should Have Been Nominated For An Oscar, According To Reddit – Screen Rant
