Admittedly, A Different Man wasn’t completely ignored, as it’s competing for an Oscar in Best Makeup. However, it undoubtedly deserved more: it boasts a wonderful screenplay and outstanding performances by Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson, who should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively. Its lead, Sebastian Stan, did receive a nomination for his other great 2024 performance, The Apprentice. But we would have nominated him for this film first.
The winner of the 2024 Berlin Film Festival was left out of the Best Documentary Feature category, which is a real shame. Dahomey, by Mati Diop, may be short in runtime, but it encapsulates profound reflections on colonialism and the relationship between peoples and their histories.
It’s rare for a Venice Film Festival winner to receive ZERO love from the Academy, but that was the case with The Room Next Door. No nods for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Picture, or Best Director for Almodóvar, a longtime Academy favorite. The same goes for Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, both deserving of at least Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress nominations. But this film stands in stark contrast to the grandeur of Wicked, the kind of movie the Academy has been favoring lately.
Yes, it’s very difficult for Academy voters to even consider an indie horror film, the most overlooked genre by the organization. But in a year where Emilia Pérez leads the nominations, partly for its inclusion of the trans community (albeit from a flawed perspective), I Saw the TV Glow deserved far more attention.
The duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been nominated multiple times for Oscars, winning twice. Their compositions for Luca Guadagnino's Challengers were among the year’s most acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. How did they miss out on Best Original Score? A mystery.