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Awhile back, I started a thread on book-to-film adaptations that were snubbed by the Oscars because of how disappointing the film adaptation was. Now, I decided to flip the coin over and honor the film adaptations that did the novel justice, but were bafflingly overlooked by the Oscars in some capacity. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the films in question had to be Best Picture worthy, but rather that at least one element should’ve gotten Oscar recognition of some kind. Here are some of my picks of book-to-film adaptations that got completely snubbed and what they should have been nominated for:
The Hunger Games films should’ve gotten some production design, costume design, makeup and hairstyling, visual effects, or sound nominations. The most egregious snub to me though was the snub of Coldplay’s song “Atlas” from Catching Fire. It had gotten a lot of precursor nominations from the Grammys, Golden Globes, and Critics Choice, and probably would’ve been nominated at the Oscars if Bruce Broughton hadn’t pulled his little stunt with Alone Yet Not Alone.
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, probably the best non-franchise young adult book-to-film adaptation out there, should’ve been at least nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Logan Lerman), Best Supporting Actress (Emma Watson), and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Me And Earl And The Dying Girl, the rare movie adaptation that’s actually better than book, was snubbed for Best Picture, Best Actor (Thomas Mann), Best Actress (Olivia Cooke), Best Supporting Actor (R.J. Cyler), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.
Black Mass was snubbed for Best Actor (Johnny Depp), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Makeup & Hairstyling.
The Light Between Oceans was snubbed for Best Cinematography and Best Original Score.
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children was snubbed for Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup & Hairstyling.
A Monster Calls was snubbed for Best Visual Effects.
The Zookeeper’s Wife was snubbed for Best Actress (Jessica Chastain) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
It was snubbed for Best Makeup & Hairstyling and Best Production Design.
On Chesil Beach was snubbed for Best Picture, Best Actor (Billy Howle), Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Cinematography.
Beautiful Boy was snubbed for Best Supporting Actor (Timothee Chalamet).
Be sure to include your picks below, and make sure it’s films you’ve seen that you’ve also read the book, too.
ReplyWhilst I didn’t like the film so much Never Let Me Go should have been nominated for Actress (for Carey Mulligan), S. Actor (Andrew Garfield) and S. Actress (Keira Knightley) and Knightley should have won.
ReplyCopy URLSolidarity with the striking writers. Pay them the wages they are owed for bringing us the content we are all on here because of!
Doctor Sleep had one of the best adapted screenplays of 2019, great set and sound design, editing and acting across the board. It should have easily gotten something but for some reason people didn’t love it.
ReplyCopy URLFor Your Consideration:
The Banshees of Inisherin in ALL categories, including:
- Best Picture
- Best Director
- Best Actor (Colin Farrell)
- Best Supporting Actor (Brendan Gleeson)
- Best Supporting Actor (Barry Keoghan)
- Best Supporting Actress (Kerry Condon)
- Best Supporting Actress (Sheila Flitton)
- Best Original ScreenplayLetterboxd: Ray_In_Bruges
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, probably the best non-franchise young adult book-to-film adaptation out there, should’ve been at least nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Logan Lerman), Best Supporting Actress (Emma Watson), and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Drop Emma (wasn’t bad, but, no) and replace with Ezra Miller for Best Supporting Actor. He REALLY should have been nominated along with the screenplay. Film and Logan would have been stretches. Miller should have replaced Arkin or De Niro and I would have liked to have seen Perks in screenplay but I doubt they would have bumped any of those 5 nominees. Too bad Beasts of the Southern Wild was adapted and not original. I know it was based on a play but was the play performed? Anyway, Perks was a very underrated film.
Also, Michelle Pfeiffer should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for White Oleander. She wouldn’t have beaten CZJ, but she deserved a nom over Bates or Queen.
ReplyCopy URLMe And Earl And The Dying Girl, the rare movie adaptation that’s actually better than book, was snubbed for Best Picture, Best Actor (Thomas Mann), Best Actress (Olivia Cooke), Best Supporting Actor (R.J. Cyler), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.
Molly Shannon also deserved a nomination.
ReplyCopy URLSolidarity with the striking writers. Pay them the wages they are owed for bringing us the content we are all on here because of!
I’ve never read the original novel of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but its film adaptation was my third favorite movie of 2012 (behind Lincoln and Les Misérables). I would’ve been happy if it at least received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, especially for the narrative of author Stephen Chbosky not only writing the screenplay, but also directing the movie itself as well. The latter task is especially a rarity (which is partially why I’m currently predicting Florian Zeller to receive a Best Director nomination this year for The Father). As for the Adapted Screenplay nominees I personally would’ve bumped out for Perks, I like them all for different reasons, but probably Beasts of the Southern Wild. While I did like that movie overall and don’t mind its nomination, it’s still my least favorite out of what I otherwise found to be quite a stellar lineup. Best Picture is the only other category I know I would’ve easily nominated Perks in. While I really like Chbosky’s direction, he actually would not have made my personal Best Director lineup. I would’ve added in Ben Affleck for Argo and Tom Hooper for Les Miz along with Ang Lee for Life of Pi, David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook, and Steven Spielberg for Lincoln because the work of those 5 to me had more going for them. While I loved all the performances in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I actually felt none of them were really robbed of nominations. The first person who I think was most overlooked for a Best Actor nod that year was John Hawkes for The Sessions as well as Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Supporting Actor for Django Unchained. Although maybe I would’ve given Emma Watson a Best Actress nomination over Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty. While I know Watson was campaigned in supporting and that her character is considered a borderline lead overall, I still think she’s a little more lead than supporting. While I thought Chastain was good in Zero Dark Thirty, I’m actually one of those people who had qualms about not really feeling a personal connection to her character (not that it was her fault at all).
ReplyCopy URLEzra Miller for Best Supporting Actor. He REALLY should have been nominated along with the screenplay. Film and Logan would have been stretches. Miller should have replaced Arkin or De Niro
I like to think there’s an alternate world where Miller not only gets nominated but wins
— Tilda doesn’t win for Michael Clayton.
— Tilda gets the “overdue” win for We Need to Talk About Kevin*.
— Miller gets coattailed along to a supporting actor nomination as the titular Kevin.
—— As a Oscar nominee, his next project gains more eyeballs on it (similar to how Chalamet would for Beautiful Boy).
—— And the narrative of Chowbsky successfully adapting his own material begins to form.
—— (along with it being Lerman & Watson’s first post Percy & Hermione roles)
—— Miller bumps any of the nominated five out and as the only non-winner from the groups, he wins.*Tilda wins for Kevin and the typically run “what if” run winners (Meryl for Julia, Sandra for Gravity, Cate for Carol and Viola for Fences) still happens.
ReplyCopy URLI’m not mad it was snubbed across the board, but the adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars was probably one of the most profitable movies of the decade (grossed over $300 million on a $12 million budget) and got really good reviews, with Shailene Woodley being acclaimed. In what many considered to be a really weak year for Best Actress, she should’ve gained more traction, especially as she was an it girl de jour at the time.
ReplyCopy URL*Tilda wins for Kevin and the typically run “what if” run winners (Meryl for Julia, Sandra for Gravity, Cate for Carol and Viola for Fences) still happens.
I think Carey Mulligan might’ve been the runner-up to Sandra Bullock in 2009. The former actress had won the BAFTA for An Education in absence of the latter for The Blind Side leading up to the Academy Awards. While I can see people writing that off as an obvious win since “she’s British”, please keep in mind that BAFTA is a very important industry award. After all, we have seen several times before that BAFTA can be absolutely nothing to sneeze at when it comes to the Oscars. So if you ask me, Meryl Streep might’ve finished in fourth place that year ahead of Helen Mirren as those two were not in Best Picture nominees.
ReplyCopy URLI’ve got another example I would like to bring up, and it just so happens to be a movie released from last year. I have not read the original novel of I’m Thinking of Ending Things, but Charlie Kaufman’s adaptation was my third favorite film of 2020 (only behind Mank and Promising Young Woman). While I of course would’ve loved to have seen it as an across-the-board Oscar contender, I felt its best chances at recognition were going to be in the categories of Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography. I especially thought it would have a similar trajectory to Inherent Vice back in 2014 where it was this divisive movie by this respected auteur that still received two Oscar nominations for writing and somewhere below the line. With Kaufman being as respected as he is within the writers branch, I figured they would nominate him like how they nominated Paul Thomas Anderson back then to show admiration for the work even if they probably didn’t necessarily 100% agree with the end results. Plus, the cinematography in I’m Thinking of Ending Things was done by Łukasz Żal, who has been recognized by the Academy twice before (for Ida in 2014 and Cold War in 2018). Given that he’s pretty much in the club at this point, I thought maybe he’d have a shot at a surprise bid in his category. But the fact that neither the screenplay nor the cinematography were able to gain any traction at any of the major precursors pretty much diminished those predictions I previously had.
ReplyCopy URLNot sure if this is unpopular, but Beautiful Creatures is one of the best YA novel adaptations from the early 2010s that got undeservingly forgotten and thrown in with the rest of the Twilight rip-offs. Though he realistically wasn’t anywhere in contention, Alden Ehrenreich would’ve made a cool Best Actor nominee, especially over Bale.
ReplyCopy URLImpossachievable
The most egregious snub to me though was the snub of Coldplay’s song “Atlas” from Catching Fire. It had gotten a lot of precursor nominations from the Grammys, Golden Globes, and Critics Choice, and probably would’ve been nominated at the Oscars if Bruce Broughton hadn’t pulled his little stunt with Alone Yet Not Alone.
I personally believe that if a nomination or is revoked, the next-in-line film should receive that nomination, rather than the slot being left blank.
ReplyCopy URLDoctor Sleep had one of the best adapted screenplays of 2019, great set and sound design, editing and acting across the board. It should have easily gotten something but for some reason people didn’t love it.
maybe because they expected to see jack nicholson chewing up the scenery again.
ReplyCopy URL100% agree! The Oscars should take a lesson from the Emmys, kind of like how Peter Scolari received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series for Girls (and ended up winning!) after Peter MacNicol’s nomination for Veep was revoked due to him being in too many episodes.
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