The Best Movie Soundtrack of 2019

There should be a litany of additional Oscar categories. In 2014, I advocated for a Best Soundtrack one. Here are my nominees for the  Best Soundtrack of 2019:

ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD
Dir. Quentin Tarantino, Music Supervisor Mary Ramos

It should not be a surprise to see a Quentin Tarantino film nominated in this category. Music and QT films are synonymous, whether it's Steeler Wheels "Stuck In The Middle With You" and Reservoir Dogs or Rick Ross's "100 Black Coffins" and Django Unchained, Tarantino has always spectacularly been able to use songs to elevate his story telling. And just like Tarantino is able to resurrect careers of former A-listers like John Travolta, he's able to take little known hits and B-sides and turn them into iconography. For instance, see "Brother Loves Traveling Salvation Show" by Neil Diamond. It's the main music bed for the film's trailer and runs throughout the film like a theme song. 

For me personally, a lot of what makes a great soundtrack is that it places the movie in a specific time, and no better way to represent the Summer of '69 in Hollywood than to play what was on the radio at the time while characters drive around the city.

#TheAcademyHatesAmy Why Doesn't Amy Adams Have An Oscar Yet?

In 2005, a movie barely anyone saw called Junebug was released. It's a better-than-average Indie fish-out-of-water character study about a couple who spends time with the husband's family in North Carolina. The film has not stood the test of time in the fact that still no one has heard of it or seen it. But it did have one stand out performance in it, a young woman by the name of Amy Adams who popped every time she was on screen. She clearly had "it" and The Academy awarded her for it by giving Amy Adams her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2005, you knew Amy Adams was going to be a huge star, and by 2019, she has proven it time-and-time again. Adams had to "earn" her shot thanks to bit roles in The Office, Talladega Nights, and The Ex (and a whole lot of nothing starting in 1999). This laid the groundwork for her rise to stardom by starring in Enchanted, Leap Year, and Sunshine Cleaning. Now, Adams has the chance to work with any director she wants to. She has made the most of her opportunities starring in a pair of David O Russell pics The Fighter and American Hustle, Clint Eastwood's Trouble With the Curve, Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, Spike Jonze's Her, Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals and Denis Villenueve's Arrival. That's a murder's row, '27 Yankees esque line up of incredible directors. She's even managed to cash in from Hollywood along the way by playing Lois Lane in the DCEU and starred alongside Jason Segel in a Muppets movie.

The Disappointment of a Green Book Best Picture Win

We were told this version of The Academy is different. This version is younger, this version is more diverse, and this version is more in sync with Hollywood and culture. That's why we saw films like Get Out and Lady Bird earn major Oscar nominations last year like Best Picture and Best Director. Now we still ended up with another terrible Best Picture winner in The Shape of Water, but hey, they're trying and they're getting better!

The narrative around Get Out felt like that of "you should just happy to be here" but there was no reason it couldn't or shouldn't have won it all. It's widely original and entertaining, it's artfully done, it resonated with the youth and taste-makers in this Country, and it forever cemented itself among the ranks of Brokeback Mountain and Pulp Fiction on the annual lists of "which films deserved to win Best Picture but didn't" that gets written every year.

Oscar Movie Review: Dunkirk

Dunkirk
Written & Directed By: Christoper Nolan
Starring: Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, & Kenneth Branagh
STARS: 3.5 out of 4

SHOULD I WATCH IT: Rent it immediately and watch it on the biggest screen with the best speakers you can find.

Brief Description: Dunkirk begins with a group of young soldiers scavenging their way through an abandoned village next to the shore of Dunkirk, France during WWII. Flyers drop upon stating that the enemy has them surrounded. The young men suddenly come under attack leading two of them to the shore of the shore of the beach where they encounter an entire British battalion as they attempt to escape from Hell.

Dunkirk follows three main story lines as the United Kingdom tries to rescue these men and get them off of this beach. The first story line follows Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) and George (Barry Keoghan), two of the soldiers we met in the first scene, as they meet up with Alex (Harry Styles- who's surprisingly excellent in the film and who's fame works to the film's advantage to help distinguish between the random white kids we're following) as they spend a week trying to get off of the beach. Next, we follow Mr. Dawson (Rylance) and a group of rag tag civilians who spend the day boating across the English Channel in a last ditch effort to save the stranded, beached soldiers. The final storyline follows Farrier (Hardy) and Collins (Jack Lowden), two English fighter pilots spending an hour in the air to assist in the rescue mission any way they can.

Oscarmetrics: Lady Bird Is Now The Best Picture Favorite

Throughout this year's Award Season, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri became the favorite to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was announced so by Vulture! It cleaned up at the Golden Globes and the SAG awards, earned a butt load of BAFTA nominations, and the film's director Martin McDonagh earned a DGA (Director's Guild of America) nomination. The film was on a fast track to sweep at the Academy Awards come March. But then the Academy Award nominations were announced and a funny thing happened, the film lost its front runner status. It may not seem like it to the layman. Three Billboards earned a bunch of nominations like Best Picture, Best Actress, two Best Supporting Actors nods, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing. However, the one key nomination Three Billboards failed to earn was Best Director; Martin McDonagh was not nominated for Best Director.

Oscar Movie Review: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Written and Directed By: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Francis McDormand, Sam Rockwell, & Woody Harrelson
STARS: 2.5 out of 4

SHOULD I WATCH IT: Only if you're an Oscars completionist. Otherwise, wait to rent it for the performances.

Brief Description: Mildred (Francis McDormand) is driving along a rural road outside her house when she sees three abandoned billboards. She spends the last of her money to take out ad space on the billboards so that they read "Raped While Dying", "And Still No Arrests",  and "How Come, Chief Willoughby?'. As Mildred's teenage daughter was raped and murdered a few months back without any arrests or leads to show for it, Mildred creates these billboards to cause a stir in her sleepy little town and to get her daughter's case back into the public eye so that Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) can re-open the case and, hopefully, solve the mystery for this grieving mother.

Oscar Movie Review: Get Out

Get Out
Written and Directed By: Jordan Peele
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, & Bradley Whitford
STARS: 3.5 out of 4

SHOULD I WATCH IT: 1000%. It's currently streaming on HBO.

Brief Description: I've seen Get Out three times and it gets more brilliant upon each new viewing. Ostensibly, the film is about Chris (Kaluuya) meeting the parents of his girlfriend Rose (Williams) for the weekend in upstate New York. However, that's just a jumping off point for the twists and turns that occur for the oddest weekend of Chris' life. You think Get Out is a standard film about a Black man meeting the parents of his White girlfriend, and then something strange will happen. Chris steps outside in the dead of night for a cigarette and finds the black gardener running straight for him, only to turn at the last moment and you realize he's just running laps in the backyard. The black maid doesn't seem quite right either. There's something a little off about her. In fact, everything about the weekend just seems a little off. The plot will eventually come together in the Third Act (and upon multiple viewings; it's definitely worth a re-watch), but you won't know what the hell is happening in the most glorious way possible until then.

How The Academy Awards Passed Christopher Nolan By

In 2008, five films were nominated for Best Picture. Those films were: Front/Nixon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, The Reader, and the winner Slumdog Millionaire. 2008 also saw the rise of one of the greatest films of all time. The film has a 9.0 on IMBD.com and is ranked the #4 film of all time by the site, it has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, and, at the time, was the 2nd highest grossing domestic film ever. The film was both a cinematic achievement shaping the way we not only viewed superhero films, but films in general, and a commercial smash. It was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Make Up, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects and it won the Oscar for Best Sound Editing and Heath Ledger won for Best Supporting Actor.

That film is obviously The Dark Knight. Conspicuously, the three major Academy Award nominations the film did not receive was Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and most notably Best Picture. In fact, The Dark Knight's snub in the Best Picture category famously helped paved the way for the Best Picture expansion we see today where up to 10 films can earn a nomination. Since the expansion, we've seen genre and action films like Avatar and Mad Max: Fury Road earn Best Picture nominations (as well as nominations for their directors). We have also seen the rise of genre and actions shows in television awards as well with Game of Thrones sweeping the Emmys in recent years.

10 "Quick" Reactions to the 2016 Emmy Nominations

1)  I completely understand that in Peak TV, the Emmy voters are going to leave off some obvious choices just because there’s not enough hours in the day to see everything that’s great. But at the same time, now is the perfect time to jump ship on the old shows floundering and let the new ones roll over you like a calm, sunny day. Shows like Homeland, House of Cards, and Downton Abbey are well past their prime, yet are beloved by the Emmy voters. Every year Emmy voters vote on what they did before and not necessarily on the quality of the individual season in front of them, and every year we get upset. I don’t know why we do this to ourselves.

2) Unfortunately, little room for newcomers meant a shut out for an incredible show like The Leftovers. Justin Theroux was always a dark horse to get a Best Lead Actor nomination, which was always a shame, but there was also no love for Carrie Coon, Regina King, or Kevin Carrol. And even though the show was clearly one of the 7 best dramas according to all TV critics, the show couldn’t beat out other shows about old British people and a CIA agent with a mental disorder.

If I Had An Emmy Ballot: Comedies (2016 Edition)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

- Vanessa Bayer (SNL)

- Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine Nine)

- Loretta Devine (The Carmichael Show)

- Kether Donohue (You're The Worst)

- Noel Wells (Master of None)

- Debra Winger (The Ranch)

JUST MISSED: Elizabeth Banks (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp), Jane Krakowski (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)

Kate McKinnon seems to be the break out star from this batch of SNL females. She was nominated in this category last year and she’s starring in the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot. However, my heart will always remain faithful to Vanessa Bayer, who has quickly become SNL’s true chameleon… From a current SNLer to an SNL alum we have Noel Wells for her work as Aziz Ansari’s love interest in Master of None. Like Bayer, Wells brings a calm, Girl Next Door charm to her comedy which contrasted well with Ansari’s comedy stylings… Hollywood veteran Debra Winger also played well alongside her TV significant other, played by Sam Elliot, in Netflix’s The Ranch. Winger was able to bring emotional heft and witty one-liners to help make the show as good as it was… Another TV Mother played by an TV veteran that did excellent work this past year was Loretta Devine as the matriarch of the Carmichael clan in The Carmichael Show. The show itself is mainly a medium for comedian Jerrod Carmichael to express his political views and hot button issues, but the show never loses sight of its characters and Devine helps ground the familial structure... Someone who is never grounded is Lindsay, played by Kether Donohue on You’re The Worst. Aya Cash did most of the heavy lifting this past season with her depression storyline, but it was Donohue’s Lindsay spiraling out of control after her divorce that ended up being the best part of the show… Lastly, we have Stephanie Beatriz. I love Brooklyn Nine Nine, and normally I choose both Beatriz and Melissa Fumero, but I gave the slight edge to Beatriz as the show gave her more to do with the storyline of a love interest played by Jason Mantzoukas and then dealing with the fallout of his disappearance.

If I Had An Emmy Ballot: Dramas (2016 Edition)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

- Jon Bernthal (Daredevil)
- Kevin Carroll (The Leftovers)
- Michael McKean (Better Call Saul)
- Pedro Pascal (Narcos)
- Nick Sandow (Orange is the New Black)
- Christian Slater (Mr. Robot)

JUST MISSED: Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)

Pedro Pascal has that charm and that energy that fills up your television screen with joy, and then he’s gone and you anxiously await his return. He was like that as The Viper in Season 4 of Game of Thrones and he’s like that as DEA agent Javier Pena in the Netflix guilty pleasure hit Narcos… Kevin Carroll’s John Murphy’s presence at the very beginning of Season 2 of The Leftovers was initially jarring, but Carroll’s performance sucked you in to this brave new world which made The Leftovers one of the very best shows of 2015… I can understand why Jonathan Banks gets all of the Emmy love for Better Call Saul, but like last year, I throw my hat in the ring for Michael McKean. McKean’s Chuck’s holier-than-thou smugness contrasted with Bob Odenkirk’s lovable rule-bender Jimmy is the key to what makes Better Call Saul work as well as it does without feeling like a true Breaking Bad prequel like the world Banks’ Mike Erhmantrout inhabits… Jon Bernthal’s performance as The Punisher in Season 2 of Netflix’s Daredevil definitely does not scream prestige, award-worthy television, but Berenthal and his incredible screen presence are so good that I found it difficult to leave him off of my list… There are so many great performances, mainly by females, in Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black, but Nick Sandow as Joe “Beercan” Caputo struggling to keep the prison afloat and then dealing with his Corporate Overlords was excellent in this past season… Even though you saw the twist coming regarding Christian Slater’s Mr. Robot, it didn’t diminish that wonderful feeling you got knowing that Slater is back and in a project worthy of his talents. 

If I Had an Emmy Ballot: Limited Series and TV Movies (2016 Edition)

BEST ACTOR

- Bryan Cranston (All The Way)
- Oscar Isaac (Show Me A Hero)
- Andy Samberg (7 Days in Hell)
- Paul Sparks (The Girlfriend Experience)
- Courtney B. Vance (The People vs. OJ Simpson)
- Patrick Wilson (Fargo)

Bryan Cranston’s portrayal of Lyndon B. Johnson in All The Way is the stuff they should teach in acting classes. We knew the 4-time Emmy winner could act thanks to his work on Breaking Bad, but holy cow did he put the exclamation point on his career. It’s cliché, but you truly lose Cranston in the role… The only other actor that comes close to Cranston is Courtney B. Vance- who was the prohibitive favorite when The People vs. O.J. Simpson ended. Vance’s portrayal of famed lawyer Johnnie Cochran was that of legend. He perfectly played Cochran’s boisterous public persona but brought humanity and warmth to the role when we saw him in his private life… Andy Samberg doesn’t have a snowball’s Hell in chance of winning this award for his work in the delightfully silly 7 Days In Hell, but he sure was great in it. Perfectly shot and edited in the style of an ESPN 30 For 30 film, 7 Days in Hell is a goofy parody with Samberg’s bad boy tennis star Aaron Williams leading the charge… It took me a while to get over the fact that Paul Sparks wasn’t the annoying Mickey Doyle from Boardwalk Empire when I was watching The Girlfriend Experience- which is a testament to how good Sparks was as the sleezy David Tellis… Time has already proven how great of an actor Oscar Isaac is, and watching one scene of Show Me A Hero lets you know that Isaac deserves all of the awards… Patrick Wilson was not as flashy of a name as Billy Bob Thornton, or even Martin Freeman, but he’s an excellent actor who brought quiet grace and honor to a young Lou Solverson in the second season of Fargo. 

How The Fall of TV's White Male Anti-Hero Will Lead To One Of The Weakest Best Actor Emmy Nominations

Hollywood is not lacking in roles for white men. Considering the massive influence The Sopranos had on prestige television, television networks love to spit out shows starring the White Male Anti-Hero (WMAH). From examples like Walter White on Breaking Bad, Don Draper on Mad Men, and Dexter Morgan on Dexter, the way to create great television was to have it star a middle aged, white, male anti-hero. For the longest time, these male anti-heroes were actually interesting, fascinating, and worthy of Emmy nominations. James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Hugh Laurie (House), and Damien Lewis (Homeland) all have a plethora of nominations (and wins) for playing this archetype. Sprinkle in a handful of nominations for guys like Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom), Timothy Olyphant (Justified), and the two leads of season one of True Detective and you have more WMAHs than you can shake a stick at.

Yet for any problems (mainly lack of diversity and creativity) you may have with these roles and the actors who portray these anti-heroes, it’s difficult to say they weren’t all deserving of their nomination. You could nitpick here and there, but for the most part, these roles were excellent and the actors truly were deserving of an Emmy nomination. However, in 2016, the tide has changed. Networks are still making shows with the WMAH, but they aren’t nearly as good and this trope is starting to feel derivative and less worthy of a nomination.

6 Performances That Deserve Emmy Recognition (But Won't Get It)

1) Kysten Ritter (Jessica Jones) Netflix

Award shows like the Emmys can be very snobby and stick their nose up at superhero shows. The ironic thing is that Jessica Jones isn’t a superhero show, not really anyways. Jessica Jones is a drama that smartly deals with tragedy, rape, power, and PTSD. While it’s true that the show is based upon a Marvel comic book and co-produced by Marvel Studios, any semblance of superhero-ness is just an excuse to tell the deeper and more heartfelt story. The lynchpin holding this story together is Ritter who plays the titular character. Ritter has always been great on television from her work from Breaking Bad to Don’t Trust The B in Apt 23, but she really brings it in this star making role. It’s a shame the show has even a whiff of Superhero on it, because chances are, that whiff will cause Emmy voters to take a pass.

2) Justin Theroux (The Leftovers) HBO

While many of you knew of Theroux before The Leftovers as Mr. Jennifer Aniston, I knew him as a writer with such projects as Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2. But Theroux really won me over as an actor, bringing such gravitas to this heavy role. Critically, The Leftovers was a bigger hit in its second season versus its first, and probably a lot of that had to do by focusing less on Theroux’s Kevin Garvey and focusing more on The Murphys in Miracle, Texas, but Kevin was still integral to the show’s stellar second season, and one of the best television episodes of the year (probably of the past ten years) was solely regarding a journey of Kevin Garvey. I don’t know how an Emmy voter can watch International Assassin and not give Theroux All The Emmys. As great as Theroux was throughout the entire second season of The Leftovers, Emmy voters look at individual submission episodes versus entire seasons. That process will make Theroux's inevitable snub that much more baffling. 

2016 Oscar Preview: Best Picture

THE NOMINEES:

- Bridge of Spies
- Brooklyn
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Room
- Spotlight
- The Big Short
- The Revenant
- The Martian

WHAT SHOULD BE HERE: Creed

Creed is the seventh installment in the Rocky franchise from director Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan- the duo behind the great Indie film Fruitvale Station. The film is basically a re-telling of the original Rocky, yet done through today's modern lens. Michael B. Jordan plays Adonis Johnson, the illegitimate son of the late, great Apollo Creed. Unlike Rocky Balboa, Adonnis comes from great wealth thanks to his father. Yet he still walks around with a chip on his shoulder (again, thanks to his father). He moves to Philadelphia and convinces Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) to train him to become a great fighter and to make his own name.

Creed is electric and it sparkles thanks to Coogler and Jordan. The cinematography is spectacular and the camera moves with grace and beauty. But most importantly, you become invested in Adonnis' journey thanks to Jordan's charisma and Coogler's script based upon Aaron Covington's drafts. It's the time of film that you can't help but fall in love with, and it's a shame that Warner Bros. didn't realize what kind of film they had on their hands until it was too late in the Oscar game. If the studio's believed in Creed like they should have from the get go, then Creed would have a butt load more nominations that it actually received.

QUICK THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS ON THE NOMINATIONS:

2016 Oscar Preview: Best Actor

THE NOMINEES:

- Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
- Matt Damon (The Martian)
- Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
- Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
- Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

WHO SHOULD BE HERE: Johnny Depp (Black Mass)

If Creed had campaign properly then Michael B. Jordan would be here as well, but I want to spend this section discussing Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Whitey Bulger in Black Mass. Despite the film being a huge disappointed and a wasted opportunity, Depp does a phenomenal job playing the menace that Whitey Bulger was.  Bulger terrorized Boston, and basically under the FBI’s blessing as well, and Depp just oozed evil. He was able to be charming when he needed to be, but Whitey Bulger ran Boston with an Iron First, and the guy who previously was nominated for an Oscar while dressing up like a flamboyant Keith Richards was able to effective turn around and be the bad guy.

THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS ON THE NOMINATIONS:

2016 Oscar Preview: Best Supporting Actress

THE NOMINEES:

- Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)
- Rooney Mara (Carol)
- Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)
- Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
- Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

WHO SHOULD BE HERE: Daisy Ridley (Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens)

I was not as big on The Force Awakens as the vast majority of the country was since I felt like much of the film was just a rehash of Episode IV. However, the film did have plenty of redeeming qualities, including everything new and original this go around. One of those new and original aspects was Finn and Rey. While they were mainly an amalgam of characters in the original trilogy, they were still their own, unique thing. That in turn made them the best part of Episode VII. Daisy Ridley’s portrayal of Rey was particular exciting as we got to see a female protagonist actually have some agency and be a bad ass. Ridley brought instant likeability to Rey while also convincing you of her journey towards being this new trilogies version of Luke Skywalker.

THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS ON THE NOMINATIONS:

2016 Oscar Preview: Best Supporting Actor

THE NOMINEES:

- Christian Bale (The Big Short)
- Tom Hardy (The Revenant)
- Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
- Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
- Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

WHO SHOULD BE HERE: Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)

You can maybe make an legitimate argument that the reason for #OscarsSoWhite is because Creed led a horrible Oscar campaign and Straight Outta Compton really wasn’t that good of a movie. However, there is no good excuse for why Idris Elba (or even Jason Mitchell who plays Easy-E in Compton, aren’t here) Obviously Compton ran an Oscar campaign considering the other nods it got, and I find it hard to believe Netflix didn’t run a fierce campaign for Beasts (Netflix even ran the film in traditional theaters just so it was Oscar eligible).

in Beasts of No Nation, Idris Elba plays The Commandant, a warlord in a fictionalized war-town African country that leads a group of very young boys into battles. Elba’s charisma that inspires his “troops” also sucks you into and engages you throughout the entire film. He’s a despicable man and does horrendous things (both to the opposition and to his own soldiers), yet you’re never not entertained. Elba gave one of the best acting performances of the year (even his fellow actors thought so) and it’s a damn shame The Academy didn’t recognize it.

THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS ON THE NOMINATIONS:

2016 Oscar Preview: Best Original Screenplay

THE NOMINEES:

- Bridge of Spies (Matt Chairman & The Coen Brothers)
- Ex Machina (Alex Garland)
- Inside Out (Pete Docter, et. al)
- Spotlight (Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy)
- Straight Outta Compton (Jonathan Herman & Andrea Berloff)

SHOULD BE HERE: Anomalisa (Charlie Kaufman)

In an era where Hollywood is making pictures based upon already existing name brands, the contenders that have a legitimate stake at being a snub in this category is deep. People love Mad Max: Fury Road and I would champion for films like The Hateful Eight, Creed, and Dope. However, one of my favorite films of the year is Anomalisa. A lot of the success of the film is through the final direction by Kaufman and the use of only three voices in the film, but even without that, Kaufman wrote a brilliant script about a man struggling to deal with the banalities of life. I think it's an incredible script and has several little nuances to it that I didn't realize until after I started thinking of the film days later.

THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS ON THE NOMINATIONS:

2016 Oscar Preview: Best Actress

THE NOMINEES:

- Cate Blanchett (Carol)
- Brie Larson (Room)
- Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)
- Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
- Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

WHO SHOULD BE HERE: Queen Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

For the first time since I can remember, the female nomination pool is crazy deep and the male nomination pool is pretty shallow. Rooney Mara (Carol) and Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) had to wade in the Best Supporting Actress pool just to earn a nomination. However, the one person who really got screwed over was Charlize Theron. Despite not having her name in the title, Theron’s Furiosa is the star of the film and almost entirely the reason (outside of George Miller’s incredible vision) the film is as excellent as it is.Theron is great at everything she touches (well, maybe not this Snow White nonsense) and considering how many other nominations Mad Max: Fury Road received, I'm surprised all acting nods got left out in the dust. 

THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS ON THE NOMINEES: