Where's Wonder Woman? Oscars' biggest snubs

It is a mathematical impossibility for a group of Oscar nominations to please everyone, but this year came pretty close with meaningful love for Get Out, Lady Bird and Phantom Thread, and the history-making nomination of Mudbound director of photography Rachel Morrison, who became the first woman to ever be nominated for cinematography.

Still, there were some significant surprises and even a few outright snubs:

No Wonder Woman

It was a good day for women, generally speaking, with the first ever nomination for a female cinematographer (Rachel Morrison for Mudbound) and Greta Gerwig becoming the fifth woman in history to get a best director nomination (for Lady Bird), but the love stopped short of one of the most populist female-driven projects of the year: Wonder Woman. The Patty Jenkins-directed blockbuster received zero nominations, even in a year that was surprisingly friendly to big budget hits (like Logan and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.)

Denzel breaks through, Franco doesn't

You'd be forgiven if you weren't aware there was a Denzel Washington film out this year. Dan Gilroy's criminal court thriller Roman J Israel, Esq came and went without much fanfare, to middling reviews and box office. Washington's performance as the activist lawyer was the one bright spot for many critics (although the New York Times said the film "doesn't serve" him). Still, Washington has hardly been at the forefront of the awards race this year, especially when compared with, say Tom Hanks, who wasn't nominated for playing Ben Bradlee in The Post (and hasn't been nominated in 17 years). Washington also perhaps took the spot from James Franco for The Disaster Artist. This is Washington's sixth lead actor nomination (he's won twice).

Netflix finds a narrative win in Mudbound

The streaming service has gambled big in the past few years with would-be Oscar nominees, but found their first successful non-documentary contender in a film it acquired at the Sundance Film Festival — Dee Rees' American odyssey Mudbound, about two families, one black, and one white, in the post-WWII South. Mudbound was nominated for best adapted screenplay, best supporting actress (Mary J Blige), best original song and best cinematography. For some, it's been a question of whether the film academy had an anti-Netflix bias. Whatever the case was before, though, the times might be changing.

Phantom Thread eclipses heavyweights

Paul Thomas Anderson's moody period piece is a favorite among hardcore cinephiles, but many were surprised Tuesday when Anderson was nominated for best director over both Steven Spielberg (The Post) and Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). Anderson, an eight-time Oscar nominee (now twice for directing), didn't even get a Director's Guild or a Producer's Guild nomination for Phantom Thread.

The Steve James Curse is broken

Snubs were almost becoming a way of life for documentary filmmaker Steve James who time and time again churns out excellent work to not much film Academy recognition. His "Hoop Dreams" was infamously only nominated for editing and then his sure bet, the Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself, was also passed over. This year, James finally got nominated for Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, about the family-owned community bank that was the only US bank to face criminal charges following the 2008 subprime mortgage collapse.

Ridley's big bet pays off

By now, everyone knows how Ridley Scott replaced Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer as J Paul Getty in All the Money in the World just six weeks before the film was set to hit theatres. That choice that was officially validated in the best possible way for the film — a supporting Oscar nomination for Plummer (his third).

Diversity gets a boost, but only for some

The Oscars are not so white anymore, but one group that remains marginalised is Latino actors, who have not gotten an Oscar nomination since 2012. In fact, only three have won in the last 20 years (Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, and Benicio Del Toro). This year, Salma Hayek had the best shot for her role in the dark satire Beatriz at Dinner.

Jane gets cut out

Three days after Brett Morgen's highly acclaimed Jane Goodall documentary Jane picked up the Producers Guild Award in the documentary category, the film academy left it on the cutting room floor.

The baby CEO movie is an Oscar nominee

They can't take it back. A film that has a 52 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes — The Boss Baby, in which Alec Baldwin voices a pint-sized, suit-wearing CEO — has been nominated for best animated feature.

Academy Awards 2018 nominations in full

Best Picture:

Call Me by Your Name

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

Get Out

Lady Bird

Phantom Thread

The Post

The Shape of Water

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Actor:
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J Israel, Esq

Best Actress:
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Meryl Streep, The Post

Best Supporting Actress:
Mary J Blige, Mudbound
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Best Supporting Actor:
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Animated Film:
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

Best Director:
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Jordan Peele, Get Out

Best Documentary:
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Faces Places
Icarus
Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island

Best Documentary Short:
Edith+Eddie
Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Heroin(e)
Knife Skills
Traffic Stop

Best Foreign Language Film:
A Fantastic Woman
The Insult
Loveless
On Body and Soul
The Square

Best Song:
Mighty River, Mudbound
The Mystery of Love, Call Me by Your Name
Remember Me, Coco
Stand Up for Something, Marshall
This Is Me, The Greatest Showman

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Call Me by Your Name
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly's Game
Mudbound

Best Original Screenplay:
The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Cinematography:
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape of Water

Best costume design
Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Victoria & Abdul

Best Editing:
Baby Driver
Dunkirk
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Makeup and Hair:
Darkest Hour
Victoria & Abdul
Wonder

Best Score:
Dunkirk
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Production Design:
Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water

Best animated short
Dear Basketball
Garden Party
Lou
Negative Space
Revolting Rhymes

Best Live Action Short:
DeKalb Elementary
The Eleven O'Clock
My Nephew Emmett
The Silent Child
Watu Wote/All of Us

Best Sound Editing:
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Sound Mixing:
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Best Visual Effects:
Blade Runner 2049
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes

- AP