On Tuesday morning, The Academy released the nominations for the 2018 Academy Awards, which will be held on March 4, 2018. In previous years, this announcement has frequently been met with backlash on social media for a lack of diversity in the race and gender of its nominees. But this year, no doubt thanks to the seminal strength of the #timesup movement, the nominations are reflective of a wave of social change in Hollywood, much to the delight of social media users. Here are some of the biggest surprises. And for more Hollywood coverage, here are the 20 Craziest Celebrity Rumors of All Time.
1 | Christopher Plummer Is Nominated for Best Supporting Actor
One of the most shocking moves of the #metoo movement was the way in which the numerous allegations of sexual misconduct against Kevin Spacey directly resulted in him being replaced by Christopher Plummer in Ridley Scott's thriller, All the Money in the World.
Spacey's scenes had already been filmed, which meant Plummer had to rush in to reshoot all of his scenes before the film's premier on Christmas Day 2017. At the time, the replacement sparked a meme that called for Plummer to replace everything else that's terrible in the world (the actor is best known for playing the Nazi-defying Captain Von Trapp in Sound of Music, and a gif of him ripping apart a Nazi flag has gained popularity in the last year). To add insult to injury to Spacey, Plummer has now been nominated for an Oscar for his critically-acclaimed performance in the film, which, at 88, makes him the oldest actor to ever be nominated.
2 | Rachel Morrison Is the First Woman to Ever Be Nominated for a Cinematography Award
It's hard to believe, but it's 2018, and a woman has never been so much as nominated for an Oscar in Best Cinematography. Morrison has now paved the way, for her stunning work in Netflix's historical drama, Mudbound. She's up against Blade Runner 2049, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, and The Shape of Water, all of which have been lavishly praised for their awe-inspiring cinematography, so it's like to be a close race. But Morrison has already made history.
3 | James Franco Was Snubbed
Despite earning critical acclaim, and a Golden Globe, for his performance as Tommy Wiseau in The Disaster Artist, Franco did not receive an Oscar nod, which many believe is due to his recent allegations of sexual misconduct.
4 | Wonder Woman Doesn't Get Any Nominations
Warner Bros.Despite being hailed as a feminist masterpiece, as well as an experts-crafted film, the DC breakout hit Wonder Woman didn't get any nominations at all. Fans were stunned that the Academy didn't acknowledge Gal Gadot for her performance as a inspiring superhero, or director Patty Jenkins, who had to break a lot of glass ceilings in order to make the first female-fronted superhero box office blockbuster. And for more on our favorite superhero, here are 15 Times Gal Gadot Melted Our Instagram Feeds.
5 | Dear Basketball Nominated for Best Animated Short
The 6-minute film is based on Kobe Bryant's 2015 letter announcing his retirement from Basketball. Bryant himself was thrilled, writing on Twitter, "What?? This is beyond the realm of imagination. It means so much that the @TheAcademy deemed #DearBasketball worthy of contention. Thanks to the genius of @GlenKeanePrd & John Williams for taking my poem to this level. It's an honor to be on this team. #OscarNoms."
6 | Steven Spielberg Was Not Nominated for Best Director
ShutterstockDespite its critical acclaim, The Post hasn't gotten nearly as many nominations as one would expect. Of course, Meryl Streep was nominated but, to everyone's surprise, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg were not. Though, granted, it's kind of hard to feel bad about it because at this point awards are probably like M&Ms to them. On the other hand, the Directing category has a bunch of first-time nominees, including Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk, Jordan Peele for Get Out, and Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird.
7 | Denzel Washington Nominated for Best Actor in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
ShutterstockOne of the biggest, genuine surprises was Washington's nod for a film that no one had really heard of and that didn't do particularly well either critically or commercially.
8 | Jane Goodall Documentary Snubbed
Despite the fact that it had all of the trappings to be a shoo-in for Best Documentary, Jane, Brett Morgen's film about primatologist Jane Goodall, wasn't even nominated.
9 | Get Out Gets Its Due
IMDB/Universal PicturesIn addition to being a phenomenal film, Jordan Peele's horror comedy Get Out gave comedic, and yet searing insight, into what it's like to be an African American in the United States today. As such, a lot of people were worried it was going to get snubbed. Thankfully, however, it has not only scooped up a nom for Best Picture, but also Best Original Screenplay, Directing, and Best Actor.
10 | Phantom Thread Wins Big
Because it was late to the game, and scored only two Golden Globe nominations, many people predicted that the film wouldn't make the Oscars race. On the contrary, however, it landed six nominations, including Best Picture. Fans of director Paul Thomas Anderson are particularly excited about his nomination for Best Director, given that he has lost all six previous bids. Also worth noting is Daniel Day Lewis' nomination for Best Actor, given that this is purportedly his last film.
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