MY 2009 ALL-SNUBBED TEAM
1 Mar
Here is my list of the best 2009 films, directors, lead actors and actresses, supporting actors and actresses, adapted and original screenplays, and animated, documentary, and foreign language features that were not even nominated for an Oscar. (They’re in good company, too: the only list more impressive than that of Oscar-nominated films and performances is, arguably, that of Oscar-snubbed films and performances.)
I hope you’ll share your own list in the comments section below!
Best picture
- “A Single Man”
- “500 Days of Summer”
- “The Road”
- “Adventureland”
- “Big Fan”
- “Nine”
- “Julie & Julia”
- “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans”
- “The Messenger”
- “Is Anybody There?”
Best director
- Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (“A Serious Man”)
- Tom Ford (“A Single Man”)
- Pete Docter, Bob Petersen (“Up”)
- John Hillcoat (“The Road”)
- Neill Blomkamp (“District 9”)
Best actor
- Viggo Mortensen (“The Road”)
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt (“500 Days of Summer”)
- Ben Foster (“The Messenger”)
- Michael Stuhlbarg (“A Serious Man”)
- Nicolas Cage (“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans”)
Best actress
- Zooey Deschanel (“500 Days of Summer”)
- Kristen Stewart (“Adventureland”)
- Emily Blunt (“The Young Victoria”)
- Michelle Monaghan (“Trucker”)
- Zoe Saldana (“Avatar”)
Best supporting actor
- Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”)
- Alfred Molina (“An Education”)
- Michael Caine (“Is Anybody There?”)
- Fred Melamed (“A Serious Man”)
- Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover”)
Best supporting actress
- Marion Cotillard (“Nine”)
- Natalie Portman (“Brothers”)
- Melanie Laurent (“Inglourious Basterds”)
- Diane Kruger (“Inglourious Basterds”)
- Jessica Haines (“Disgrace”)
Best adapted screenplay
- Tom Ford (“A Single Man”)
- John Hillcoat (“The Road”)
- Nora Ephron (“Julie & Julia”)
- William M. Finkelstein (“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans”)
- Scott Cooper (“Crazy Heart”)
Best original screenplay
- Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber (“500 Days of Summer”)
- Greg Mottola (“Adventureland”)
- Robert D. Siegel (“Big Fan”)
- Jon Lucas, Scott Moore (“The Hangover”)
- Pedro Almodovar (“Broken Embraces”)
Best animated feature
- “Mary and Max”
- “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
- “Ponyo”
- “Monsters vs. Aliens”
- “9”
Best documentary feature
- “Racing Dreams”
- “This Is It”
- “Valentino: The Last Emperor”
- “Tyson”
- “Anvil! The Story of Anvil”
Best foreign language feature
- “Broken Embraces” (Spain)
- “The Maid” (Chile)
- “Samson & Delilah” (Australia)
- “Baaria” (Italy)
- “Winter in Wartime” (Netherlands)
Photo: A scene from “A Single Man,” which did not receive a best picture Oscar nod. Credit: The Weinstein Company.
I’m guessing you haven’t seen Moon…
I’d put that in the BP list, the director list, the screenplay list, and #1 on the actor list.
I literally have too many to post. Love your “Single Man” mentions, though!
I’m actually shocked that you have not included Jane Campion, the cast of Bright Star, and the film itself in any of these categories.
I TOTALLY agree with most of these– particularly the snub
of “Adventureland” in all of the season’s award shows!!!
I was not a fan of A Single Man at all, save for Colin Firth’s performance. I thought it was a shallow, cliched film that relied too heavily on style over substance and a tired morbidification of romance. I agree with Vanessa wholeheartedly; Bright Star should have been nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress (Abbie Cornish), Best Supporting Actor (Paul Schneider) and Best Cinematography.
While I completely agree with you on your #1 Best Supporting Actor snub, the others are questionable at best. Alfred Molina’s work in An Education was a slice of overcooked ham and Zach Galifianakis was funny but hardly awards-worthy in the way that, say, Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder or Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading were.
And WHY in the world isn’t Tilda Swinton mentioned on your list of Best Actress snubs?!? Her performance in Julia was one for the ages, and far more deserving of a nod than Zoe Saldana’s Sci-Fi Channel overacting in Avatar or Kristen Stewart’s mopey twitching in Adventureland. If the Oscars were based on merit alone, Swinton would win this year in a walk.
Natalie Portman > Julianne Moore?
Zooey Deschanel > Abbie Cornish and Tilda?
Some pretty lame choices in a rich year of non-nominated
performances.
Sorry but NINE was not SNUBBED! the movie FLOP very BAD!!!
Well, I’m going to disagree with some of the other comments. I might have selected some things differently but I think overall this is a great list.
I especially love your mention of Fred Melamed. I had him on my list of people I wish had been nominated. He is absolutely brilliant in A SERIOUS MAN. Michael Stuhlbarg, too.
I would add Matt Damon to that Best Actor list, for THE INFORMANT! He should have been nominated for that this year instead of for Best Supporting Actor. I’d also include Peter Sarsgaard for AN EDUCATION in the Best Supporting Actor category. His performance was a large part of the reason that film worked so well.
Love seeing Diane Kruger on your list, too. Hers was my second favorite performance in the movie. Would also add Rosamund Pike to the Supporting Actress list for AN EDUCATION. She really impressed me.
I also appreciate all your love for A SINGLE MAN. I wasn’t sure about it the first time, but I saw it again and thought found it intoxicating. It’s definitely one of the year’s best, and I’m sorry it wasn’t nominated for more stuff.
It is perhaps not a widely seen film, but I would add CAIRO TIME for Best Picture, with a nod for Patricia Clarkson as Best Actress. While it is not one of the categories on your snubbed list, I would have also nominated it for Best Score. It truly was a near-perfect film.