Oscar nominations reaction 2019

In a slightly-above-average year for movies, I would say the Academy Awards did a middling-to-decent job with their nominations for 2018. There were no egregious slights that I could see, though some predictable snubs. Here's the official list.

"Roma" led the way with 10 nominations, and seems to be the prohibitive favorite to win Best Picture. My thoughts on it are well known. "The Favourite" surprised people by also receiving 10, though it has the classic Oscar pedigree -- period picture with extravagant costumes, sets and big performances.

"Green Book" and "A Star Is Born," which seemed to be in the running for Best Pic, both failed to get director nominations -- historically the kiss of death for a movie's chances to earn the top prize. Until "Argo" did it a few years back, the most recent one was "Driving Miss Daisy" -- ironically, the film to which "Green Book" has been (derisively) compared.

I predicted Peter Farrelly would get blanked for "Green Book." The film has faced a strong (and I think, largely unfair) backlash, and Farrelly himself has somehow been bundled into the #MeToo movement for jokingly showing his wang on-set back when he was making goofball comedies 20-plus years ago.

Bradley Cooper getting snubbed for directing "Star" was one of the biggest surprises, and if there's one worthy of outcry, it's this. Many are upset over Barry Jenkins' "If Beale Street Could Talk" not getting more nominations, but I think most fair observers think it's a gorgeous looking/sounding picture without very compelling main subjects. Regina King is the best thing about the movie, and I would call her the favorite to win the supporting actress statue.

Speaking of, "The Favourite" managed to pull off its feat of the most blatant category-hopping in memory, getting its two leading actresses nominated in the supporting category and the quite obvious secondary character, played by Olivia Colman, into the best actress chase. I'm not sure why as it will avail them nothing when they all lose.

I was pleased to see Paul Schrader's audacious screenplay for "First Reformed" get a screenplay nod -- the very first for the storied filmmaker, if you can believe it -- though in general it was a poor showing by small but terrific films. "The Hate U Give," "Leave No Trace," "Disobedience," "Hearts Beat Loud," "Love, Simon," "Eighth Grade," "Welcome to Marwen" and "Sorry to Bother You" all were overlooked.

"Black Panther" made history for being the first superhero film to get a best picture nomination. But let's face it, it was -- at best -- the third-best superhero flick last year.

"BlacKkKlansman" did very well, and if you can believe it this is Spike Lee's first time getting a director nomination. I think it's his best film in 10 years, but hardly belongs among the peaks of his career.

The snubs: "Won't You Be My Neighbor" failed to get a nomination in the always-testy documentary feature category, but I'm fine with that. Like the show itself: nice, a little dull. Timothee Chalamet didn't get a nom for "Beautiful Boy," but that's OK -- I didn't think he deserved his last nomination, so he's even in my eyes.

The surprises: I was pleased to see Pawel Pawlikowski's "Cold War," my favorite foreign film, make a strong showing with additional nods for director and cinematography. Also really happy that Willem Dafoe got in the best actor race for "At Eternity's Gate." And Melissa McCarthy for "Can You Ever Forgive Me?", a real career-changer.

The acting nominations for "Roma" irk me, and seem more indicative of the Academy's desire to right past wrongs than actually recognize the best performances of the year. Does anyone really think non-actor Yalitza Aparicio's all-on-the-surface turn in "Roma" superior to, say, Emma Stone in "The Favourite?" Oh, that's right, she was pushed in the wrong category.

Oh well, they're all going to lose to Glenn Close, as they should. It's her year after losing six times.

The supporting actor category, typically a place for fierce competition, was kind of a garbage list this year. I like Sam Elliott a lot but he only had the one substantial scene in "A Star Is Born." Ditto for Adam Driver in "BlacKkKlansman." And Sam Rockwell's nod for "Vice" is a travesty. Steve Carell has a much meatier part, while Rockwell was basically doing an "SNL" spoof. But Rockwell is an Oscar winner now, which is like getting picked for your first NBA All-Star Team -- it makes it much easier for you to make the squad again based on past glory.

Whatever, Mahershala Ali has this category all locked up -- though I would again argue his is a co-leading performance with Viggo Mortensen.