The 10 Biggest Oscar Snubs of 2007
by Brian Tallerico

8. Best Documentary - The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Documentary is another category that has historically ignored tons of eligible candidates. However, it has been improved over the years, which can be seen in the nominations for The Fog of War, Deliver Us From Evil, Murderball, Street Fight, Born Into Brothels, Twist of Faith, Super Size Me, Spellbound, and Winged Migration. But they still make a few mistakes every year, most notably in how much the voters clearly value subject matter over finished product. Can't you picture the older Academy members dismissing The King of Kong sight unseen because it centers around video games? If they had watched it and seriously considered the film on its merits, then they would have realized that it's about so much more than Donkey Kong. It's not only one of the best docs of the year, it's one of the best films of the year, PERIOD. A nomination would have brought in a completely new demographic to a category that's all too often made up of only "serious subjects."

7. Best Original Screenplay - Knocked Up by Judd Apatow or Superbad by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg

What some call "gross-out" humor is often ignored by voters in the screenplay category, and the Academy has missed out on dozens of great works simply because they have a knack for dismissing comedy. What they miss is that it's just as hard (and arguably harder) to write comedy than drama. Almost anyone can craft something manipulative to make audiences cry, but it's much, much harder to find something that makes everyone laugh like Knocked Up and Superbad did this summer. And both had "serious" undertones that could have gotten one of the two into this category. Honestly, as soon as I saw "female" blood on Jonah Hill's leg in Superbad, I pictured Academy members immediately crossing the screenplay off their short list. But Knocked Up was universally acclaimed and - gross-out humor be damned - it's a shocking omission. As a result of the non-nomination, at least Apatow joins some good company. Think about your favorite "gross-out" comedies. Their scripts probably got snubbed, too. There's Something About Mary, Blazing Saddles, Animal House, and one of the best scripts of the last few years, The 40 Year Old Virgin, all missed out thanks to Academy members underestimating the work that goes into a truly memorable comedy.

6. Best Adapted Screenplay - Gone Baby Gone by Ben Affleck & Aaron Stockard

Here we have solid proof that reputation makes a difference to Academy members who should be judging films and their creators free from image and personality. Ben Affleck won an Oscar for co-writing Good Will Hunting, and yet his superior work in adapting Dennis Lehane's Gone Baby Gone was snubbed. Do you really think that would have happened if not for Gigli? I don't. Amy Ryan's excellent work got a lot of attention, but it's almost as if various critics groups and the Academy decided, "Well, one nomination is enough," and ignored the the quality in this film, especially Affleck and Aaron Stockard's excellent adaptation of a difficult novel. Gone Baby Gone is a multi-layered story about class and moral gray areas in working-class Boston, and Affleck and Stockard nailed it. There are four other Kenzie-Gennaro novels by Lehane that feature the same two lead characters. Maybe if Affleck adapts another one, he'll get the credit he deserves.

5. Best Supporting Actress - Jennifer Garner for Juno

Much has been made about Diablo Cody's screenplay and Ellen Page's brilliant work in Juno, but it's pushed too many other elements of the film to the side, especially Jennifer Garner's perfect performance as a woman who wants nothing more that to be a mother. Garner's Vanessa Loring is the thematic counterpoint to Juno MacGuff. One wants a child and can't conceive while the other gets knocked up her first time, and that doesn't even touch on the different lives these two women lead. And yet they need each other. Garner was not only perfectly cast but she sells some of the most subtle notes in a screenplay that's been slammed for being too written. There's nothing written about the combination of anxiety and hope in Vanessa's eyes or that amazing look of motherhood that washes over her when she first feels the baby kick. It doesn't take anything away from Page's brilliant work in Juno to say that it wouldn't be the same without Garner's near-equal performance. (Although I've avoided suggesting which nominee should get the boot, I'd like to meet someone who thinks that Ruby Dee's minimal screen time in American Gangster comes close to matching what Garner accomplishes in Juno. If they exist, they're wrong.)

The 10 Biggest Oscar Snubs of 2007 Page 3