There are plenty of happy faces in Hollywood today, Jan. 10 — but not every star and filmmaker woke up to good news as the nominations for the 85th Annual Academy Awards were announced in Los Angeles. While movies like Lincoln, Life of Pi and Les Miserables dominated the proceedings, many predicted names weren't mentioned on the list.
Although his film Argo was cited with seven nods, including Best Picture, the universally praised Ben Affleck was ignored in the Best Director category. A similar shut-out happened to Kathryn Bigelow, whose much-praised Zero Dark Thirty is on the Best Picture list; the Oscar-winning director of The Hurt Locker was not cited in the Best Director category. Likewise, director Tom Hooper — whose Les Miserables was nominated for nine awards — was snubbed as well. Rounding out the list of ignored directors? Quentin Tarantino, whose Django Unchained is among the Best Picture nominees.
Among the actors and actresses overlooked? John Hawkes, celebrated for his turn as a paraplegic in The Sessions, was not nominated; nor was previous Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, whose turn in Rust and Bone earned raves. Up for a Golden Globe in Django Unchained, Leonardo DiCaprio (who has yet to win an Oscar) will not be among the men up for a Best Supporting Actor trophy in February. Matthew McConaughey — whose humorously sleazy, shirtless turn as a veteran male stripper in Magic Mike has been called the best performance of his career — was also denied a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
Other films roundly ignored Christopher Nolan's acclaimed blockbuster The Dark Knight, the visually impressive Cloud Atlas, Dreamworks' animated film Rise of the Guardians — plus Skyfall, the lauded James Bond film which garnered several technical noms (plus a Best Song nominated for Adele) but none for celebrated stars Daniel Craig or Javier Bardem.
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