The biggest Oscar surprises were probably the Tom Hanks double-snub and Jonah Hill now being a two-time nominee

Posted on by Ted Bauer

Oscar nominations were announced this morning, with (somewhat unsurprisingly) the big nominees being American Hustle (it’s a comeback story!) and Gravity. Each film had 10 nominations. Here’s the full list, and as you can see, nine movies were nominated for Best Picture. If you assume they could have easily nominated 10 (people love round numbers), then the biggest snub there is probably Blue Jasmine (or, if you’re a little more indy, maybe Fruitvale Station).

You can find snubs/surprises lists everywhere, i.e.:

Alright, so … my two cents.

1. I’m a little unsure why we get so hyped about the Oscars as a concept, aside from the idea that Hollywood is basically our royalty or something. The last couple have been semi-painful and seem like attempts for the film industry to ignore and down-grade the idea that people are finding content in new ways. Hopefully Ellen keeps it light and all that. Don’t be afraid of the fact that someday, a Netflix movie might be in the Best Picture category.

2. The Tom Hanks thing was surprising. He had two shots — Captain Phillips and Saving Mr. Banks — and got a nod for neither. As Matt Damon said a few days ago at the Golden Globes, the dude is a national treasure. In a year without a Daniel Day-Lewis film, you throw Hanks in the mix for Best Actor and he’s got a shot — even though it’s a pretty tight field where you have Leo (0 wins, oddly) and McConaughey, not to mention Bale and Ejiofor (and hell, Bruce Dern). I feel you could have swapped Bale or Dern for Hanks in one of those movies. I liked Bale and Dern in Hustle and Nebraska, but for Hanks to go 0-for-2 is weird — especially because you know he would have been front row (he might be anyway) and be a playful focus for Ellen. By the way, it’s been a long ride for Bale:

If you were wondering what the first thing Leo ever appeared in was (because I know you were), it was actually two episodes of The New Lassie back in 1989. Here’s the opening to that show in Spanish, because why not:

3. Jonah Hill, when in meetings with execs, can now call himself a two-time Oscar nominee (and he could theoretically win this time). He can also tell people he was in movies with Brad Pitt and Leo and semi-stole the show in each case. Let that sink in for a second. Remember when this dude was on Campus Ladies?

Here’s a cool interview with Hill explaining how nervous the process made him, though:

Hill isn’t going completely serious, though — in addition to 22 Jump Street, he has a movie coming down the pike with Marky Mark called Good Time Gang. Looks like more a comedy than anything.

Ted Bauer

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