Oscar snubs: Who missed out?

By Ruth Doherty on Friday 23 January 2009

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Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, celebrity news, Marie Claire

Yesterday was a day of celebration for the leading lights of Hollywood – but some screen stars were unceremoniously left out of the loop.

Although Batman epic The Dark Knight received eight nominations yesterday – Heath Ledger was posthumously nominated for Best Supporting Actor – most of the nods were in technical categories – leaving director Christopher Nolan empty-handed.

It was widely thought the movie would receive a Best Picture nomination, as well as one for Nolan, who's up for a Director's Guild award.

Kate Winslet may have picked up her sixth Oscar nomination for her turn in The Reader, but her other big film of the year, Revolutionary Road – which recently garnered her a Golden Globe and was directed by her own husband Sam Mendes – unfortunately missed out.

Revolutionary Road was seemingly perfect Oscar fodder, being based on the esteemed novel by Richard Yates about a miserable married couple in 50s Connecticut.

It also featured the highly anticipated on-screen reunion of Leonardo DiCaprio and Winslet – 13 years after they scored a hit together in Titanic.

But the only nomination it received was Best Supporting Actor for Michael Shannon, leaving favourite for Best Actor, DiCaprio, out of the race.

Running along the Michael vein, Kate Beckinsale's ex Michael Sheen was also overlooked again. He gives a star performance as David Frost in Frost/Nixon, but it was Frank Langella who received a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of Richard Nixon.

Happy-Go-Lucky star Sally Hawkins may not have been feeling as chirpy as her film's title after she lost out in the Best Actress category, especially when her hopes were raised after receiving a win at the Golden Globes for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.

Kristin Scott-Thomas also missed out for I've Loved You So Long, in which she performs her role as a woman struggling to reconnect with her family after a stretch in prison, entirely in French.

Clint Eastwood also looked like a frontrunner for Best Actor for his role in Gran Torino, in which he plays a retired bigot who reluctantly becomes a local hero. But it wasn't to be.

The veteran actor has received four Oscars for his work behind the camera, but never one for his remarkable silver screen presence.

The 78-year-old has said he's considered making Gran Torino his last appearance on-screen – but he may have to have a re-think in order to finally secure him that long overdue golden statuette.

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Friday 23 January 2009

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I think Greg Kinnear was brilliant as inventor Robert Kearns in "Flash of Genius". Perhaps he was overlooked as it wasn't a big commercial success.
Comment by BobK on January 23 14:40