Fifteen minutes before the nominations for the 98th Academy Awards were announced, almost 20,000 viewers sat in the YouTube queue, waiting for it to start. After it ended, history was made and discussions took place over this year’s Oscar “snubs.”
The biggest story to come out of this year’s nominations was the popular Ryan Coogler thriller “Sinners,” which was nominated 16 times and broke the previous record of 14; the record was previously held by three films: “La La Land,” “Titanic” and “All About Eve.”
In 2025, I saw 33 newly released films in theaters; here are my choices for this year’s edition of Oscar “snubs.”
Writing (Adapted and Original Screenplay)
While technically they are judged as separate categories, for the sake of this article, they will be morphed into one.
Rian Johnson did not get nearly enough credit for the third installment of his “Knives Out” franchise, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” (WUDM).
Although both of the last franchise installments were previously nominated for either Best Original Screenplay (“Knives Out”) or Best Adapted Screenplay (“Glass Onion”), this installment received zero nominations. In my opinion, that is ridiculous, especially since WUDM is considered by some to be the best “Knives Out” movie to date.
For Best Original Screenplay, my snubbed selection would have to be Zach Cregger’s “Weapons.” The Academy is infamously against the horror genre; however, I would consider Amy Madigan’s Best Supporting Actress nomination this year a “win” for all horror fans.
Told in a disorienting non-linear story structure, Cregger deserved some recognition for his work (as a writer and as a director).
Sound
After announcing his “retirement” from directing in 2024, Alex Garland has kept himself abnormally busy as a writer. Since releasing Civil War, his “last” film as a director, he has written three films; one of those is “Warfare.”
Warfare is probably the most under-the-radar and underappreciated film of 2025. The percentage of the production’s total budget was so high that there was little money left to create other aspects of the film, resulting in the lack of a musical score. There are only two songs at the beginning and end of the film: “Call On Me” by Eric Prydz and “Dancing and Blood” by Low.
Marketed as a film “rooted in memory,” a large portion of the budget went into designing the atmospheric setting of Romadi, an Iraqi province. There are numerous explosions within the film, but one specifically was designed to mimic how a human ear would react to a detonated bomb.
Best Original Song
While it probably wouldn’t have competed with the likes of “Golden” and “I Lied To You,” Nine Inch Nails (NIN) is easily one of the biggest snubs of the Oscars, especially considering it made the shortlist.
The Academy is atrociously bad at nominating scores, namely last year’s “Dune: Part Two” exclusion and its choice to give the award to Daniel Blumberg for “The Brutalist” (I thought “Conclave” deserved it).
Considering how poorly received “Tron: Ares” was, NIN’s “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” is one of the most disappointing snubs.
Original Score
The Academy’s poor choosing of nominees for Best Original Score certainly hasn’t changed this year; however, there is no denying that all of their choices are solid scores, and the snubs could just be the sign of a strong categorical year.
In this category, I felt the absence of three particular scores: Daniel Lopatin’s “Marty Supreme” score, Bryce Dessner’s “Train Dreams” score and Hans Zimmer’s “F1” score.
Despite their absence, all three made the shortlist.
Considering many thought it to be a top contender, “Marty Supreme” seemed to be the most inflammatory snub; however, it probably wouldn’t have stood a chance against the unstoppable force of Ludwig Goransson’s score for “Sinners.”
Best Supporting Actress
Again, 2025 was an extremely strong year for movies, so much so that two actors/actresses from the same respective films were nominated in the same category (Benicio Del Toro/Sean Penn and Elle Fanning/Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas).
If it were up to me, Odessa A’zion would have received a Best Supporting Actress nod for her role in “Marty Supreme.”
I think the entire cast of “Marty Supreme” deserves an award; come Mar. 15, I predict their casting director will get that honor when she wins the award for Best Casting.
Best Actor
It’s a crime that Paul Mescal didn’t receive a nomination for his role as William Shakespeare in “Hamnet.” I wholeheartedly believe that if “Hamnet” was released in 2024, Mescal would have won Best Actor, and “Hamnet” would have won Best Picture — it’s that good.
Best Director
Guillermo Del Toro will go down as one of the most overlooked directors in cinematic history. Del Toro essentially created his own style and genre, and his meticulous care for every film he makes shines even brighter in “Frankenstein.”
A character that has done a complete flipturn on its source material, Frankenstein became a Halloween hallmark that had no real purpose other than to scare.
Del Toro’s interpretation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel was made to be accurate to the source material.
Everything about the film is spectacular. It perfectly shows The Creature’s existential journey from creation to ultimate purpose.
The 98th Academy Awards will take place Mar. 15 at 7 p.m. on ABC.
