This year’s Academy Award nominations stirred quite the controversy with one giant omission: Spider-Man: No Way Home from Best Picture. Although the film landed a Best Visual Effects nomination, the internet was set ablaze without recognition for Best Picture. Since then, the likes of writer-director Kevin Smith and comedian Jimmy Kimmel made headlines for criticizing the Oscars’ elitism.
Not much can actually be surmised from No Way Home‘s lack of a Best Picture nomination. It can be elitist snobbery, or it could simply be that the Academy felt other movies were more worthy. Although there may be a bias towards period pieces and films tackling societal issues, the Academy does have a history of awarding genre films in both the crafts and above-the-line categories.
The Shape Of Water (2017)
The Shape of Water follows Elisa Esposito, a mute woman who works as a janitor in a government facility during the Cold War. One day, Elisa discovers a half-man/half-fish creature held hostage in a tank. The two form a bond and fall in love, setting Elisa on a mission to release her love so that the two may live happily ever after.
The Academy fell in love with Guillermo del Toro’s tribute to outsiders everywhere. The film won Best Picture and Director while Alexandre Desplat won Best Score for his sweeping, romantic music, and the team of Paul Denham Austerberry, Shane Vieau, and Jeff Melvin won Best Production Design for bringing to life Cold War-era Baltimore.
Get Out (2017)
Get Out follows Chris Washington, a black man who’s nervous about meeting his white girlfriend’s parents for the first time. The meeting is filled with the microaggressions POC often face, but Chris is unprepared for the truly horrific plans the family has in store for him.
In his directorial debut, one of the best of the 2010s, Jordan Peele crafted a horror satire that captured the cultural conversation like very few movies have before or since. The Academy was equally thrilled by the film’s big ideas and depth, capable of being enjoyed as both a thrilling horror film and a powerful examination of being Black in America. Peele made history as the first black screenwriter to win Best Original Screenplay.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Part continuation and part reboot, Mad Max: Fury Road follows the titular character as he gets involved in one gigantic car chase. As the chase progresses, he assists a group of women led by Furiosa, a war captain who promises to bring the women to safety.
George Miller raised the bar for the action genre, creating one of the best action movies of the 2010s, full of impressive visuals and non-stop thrills. For its off-the-wall theatrics and the gruesome post-apocalyptic world brought to life, the film won six Oscars including Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.
Black Panther (2018)
After his introduction in Captain America: Civil War, T’Challa gets to lead his own adventure in Black Panther. Ryan Coogler’s entry into the superhero genre explores the growing pains T’Challa must face now that he is the King of Wakanda and a secret American cousin makes a claim to the throne.
Black Panther holds the distinction of being the first – and currently only – film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to win an Oscar. In fact, it won three – Best Production Design, Best Original Score, and Best Costume Design – for fully realizing Wakanda’s Afrofuturistic aesthetic blend. Additionally, Carter made history as the first Oscar-winning black costume designer.
The Dark Knight (2008)
In The Dark Knight, Gotham City is swept up in the charm of District Attorney Harvey Dent – even Bruce’s childhood sweetheart Rachel Dawes. But the entire city is thrown into chaos by the entrance of a mysterious, unpredictable clown. It is up to Bruce to stop The Joker’s antics and save Gotham City’s morality.
Despite The Dark Knight‘s omission from the Best Picture lineup – consistently cited as an influence on the Academy’s Best Picture expansion (per The New York Times) – the film collected an impressive Oscar haul of two wins. Sound designer Richard King won Best Sound Editing for creating the many explosive sounds filling the night and Heath Ledger posthumously won Best Supporting Actor for his terrifying performance as The Joker.
Avatar (2009)
In Avatar, former Marine Jake Sully is offered a chance to inhabit the body of a genetically recreated Na’vi. In his new body, Jake explores the alien world of Pandora and gets to know its people. With newfound respect, he begins questioning the human’s right to scavenge.
James Cameron put together a sensation like no other in his 2009 sci-fi epic. Audiences flocked to the theatre to see the wonders of Pandora and the Academy was equally impressed by the exotic fauna and flora. The film won three awards: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (2016)
This Harry Potter spin-off introduces audiences to wizard zoologist Newt Scamander, the in-universe author of the titular textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. In this film, Newt’s research in New York is cut short when some of his creatures are released into the city. In his efforts to recapture his beasts, Newt crosses paths with one of the most dangerous wizards to ever live.
David Yates’ spin-off pulled off quite the shocker at the 87th Academy Awards when costume designer Colleen Atwood won Best Costume Design for recreating the fashion of 1920s New York. Even more shocking, this is the first – and currently only – Oscar win for the Wizard World franchise.
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
This 2004 Jim Carey vehicle adapts the first three novels in the beloved children’s series. Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events tells the story of the Baudelaire siblings, a trio of recently orphaned children who are passed down from distant relative to distant relative. Throughout all of the madness, they are followed by Count Olaf, another distant relative obsessed with getting the orphans’ large inheritance.
Brad Silberling’s big-screen adaptation of Daniel Handler’s absurd adventures was a big tech player at the 77th Academy Awards, earning four Oscar nominations. The team of Valli O’Reilly and Bill Corso received the film’s sole win in Best Makeup for transforming Carrey’s Count Olaf into his many disguises.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse introduces Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino teen who is bitten by a radioactive spider, gains superhuman abilities, and crosses paths with the villainous Kingpin. However, Miles’s world has crossed over with other universes, uniting a team of eclectic and likable Spider-People. It is up to Miles to discover his own potential, return his team to their home universes, and save the day.
Spiderverse‘s blend of nostalgia and parody reinvents the Spider-Man lore for the big screen, redefining what can be done in both comic book movies and animated films. The Academy noticed and awarded Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller with the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. This is Sony Picture Animation’s first win.
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
The Lord of the Rings trilogy covers Frodo Baggins’s journey to destroy the One Ring, spanning the team’s formation in Fellowship of the Ring to the climactic battle against Sauron and his army in Return of the King.
Peter Jackson’s epic adaptations of Tolkien’s adventures are goalposts for genre films at the Oscars. For its breathtaking achievement of bringing Middle-Earth to the big screen, the trilogy won seventeen Oscars. Return of the King won every one of its nominations in an 11/11 sweep that stands as the largest for any film. The wins included Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, Best Director, and Best Picture.
