by: keaton marcus

Favourite, Panther, A Star is Born, Rhapsody Dominate with Surprises; the Snubs and Surprises list

Snub: Bradley Cooper Fails to Land Nomination for Best Director; But A Star is Born landed eight nominations

WB and Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born scored a solid 80% “sweet” on the Lemonradar, and landed eight nominations; However, Cooper, who directed and acted in the film, failed to be nominated for Best Director, which was much anticipated. This was disappointing, and a snub indeed, but the talented actor still landed three nominations including Best Actor.

Surprise: Bohemian Rhapsody lands five nominations, including Best Actor for Rami Malek

Fox and Bryan Singer’s Bohemian Rhapsody was one of the most disappointing films of the year, projected to be amazing, considering the subject matter, but ending up a so-so 55% “sour” on the Lemonradar, although it has grossed over 200M domestically. Still, Rhapsody managed to land an impressive five nominations including one for Best Actor, Rami Malek who shined in the disappointing film, this is a surprise indeed, considering the low-quality.

Surprise: Black Panther becomes first superhero pic to land Best Picture nomination, totaling massive seven nominations

Buena Vista and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther scored a very good 85% “sweet” on the Lemonradar, praising its visual effects, all-black cast, emotion and incredible directing, despite its long run-time; This Marvel feature was the first superhero film to land a nomination for Best Picture, and otherwise managed a total of seven nominations, one of the most this year which is very surprising, especially for a Marvel pic, which barely even get nominated. So despite the fail to land Best Director for Ryan Coogler, or a spot in the Best Visual Effects category, we are expecting a couple Oscars for this impressive film.

Snub: Despite positive review, Crazy Rich Asians landed zero nominations, disappointing

WB and John Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians was not only one of the biggest hits of the year, grossing over 170M domestically, the film also scored an impressive 86% “sweet” on the Lemonradar, and was much anticipated to be a surprise Oscar contender, looking at Best Supporting Actress for Constance Wu, or perhaps Best Director for John Chu, but it failed to land any such nominations which means, the film is indeed, a snub, and one of the most disappointing ones of the 91st Academy Awards.

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Snub: Won’t You Be My Neighbor is very well-reviewed, but failed to earn a spot in Best Documentary, or any other category

Tremolo Productions and Morgan Neville’s 2018 released doc on Fred Rogers/Mr. Rogers earned a very impressive 89% “sweet” on the Lemonradar, and did well in its limited release in the Box Office, but failed to land a Best Documentary nomination, or any other category for that matter. Besides Best Doc, we could imagine a Best Director for Neville, and a Best Picture, but the film landed zero nominations.

Surprise: Christopher Robin lands a Best Visual Effects nomination, but why?

Buena Vista, Disney and Marc Forster’s Christopher Robin sported a disappointing 50% “sour” on the Lemonradar, while praising McGregor’s performance, and cinematography, the film was a tedious, poorly directed film. The film did have some visual effects, standing at a 75M production cost, but that and First Man were the primary reasons that Black Panther (85% sweet) or especially Aquaman (86% sweet) could have fit into the Best Visual Effects category easily. This was also a surprise, because it stood up to the 400M costing Avengers: Infinity War, the 300M cost for Solo: A Star Wars Story and the 175M budget for Ready Player One which all focus on dazzling visuals. Christopher Robin was supposed to be a harmless children’s pic, but ended tangling in the Visual Effects category; This might be the biggest surprise, but is confusing, and very unfair, shame on the Effects category.

Surprise: The Favourite and Roma lead, with a massive 10 nominations; Wow

Fox and Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite was well-reviewed, and mostly received universal praise; And we were expecting a few nominations to come out of the Academy Awards, but the film landed a massive 10 nominations, leading the Oscars with the most, along with Roma which also sported 10 nominations, receiving universal praise, and was nominated categories including Best Director and Best Cinematography. Both films are expected to take home at least 3-5 wins which is very impressive, and we could expect more.