My Thoughts on 2026 Oscar Nominations! Biggest Snubs and Surprises!A couple days back we got the 2026 Oscar nominations. We now know the movies that are meant to celebrate the best films of 2026. Here’s my thoughts on the nominees!
GENERAL THOUGHTS
Sinners Breaks Oscar Nomination Record: This isn’t a big surprise or snub, but it’s something that you have to talk about, Sinners got the most nominations in Oscar history. It beat Titanic and La La Land which each had 14 nominations and earned 16 nominations. That was one of my favorite movies of last year. I’m so happy that it got so many nominations. When it came out, I wasn’t sure how well it would do at the Oscars. We’re now nine months later and it’s broken a record, that’s something that I wasn’t expecting at all going into 2025. It’s a big win for Ryan Coogler and the crew, but it’s an even bigger win for horror. The fact that the most nominated film in Oscar history is a horror film is huge. Horror had a great year at the Oscars Frankenstein got nine nominations and Weapons got one nomination. Last year both Nosferatu and The Substance did really well at the Oscars. I hope this means that the Oscars are moving in a path of nominating and appreciating more horror films, and not just Oscar bait dramas like they’ve done in the past. I don’t wanna spoil my best picture ranking in March, but Sinners is going to be very high up on that list.
BIGGEST SNUBS
Wicked: For Good with ZERO Nominations: This is the big snub that everybody is talking about, Wicked: For Good was shut out completely by the Oscars. Nobody was expecting this film to get 10 nominations like the previous film, we knew it wasn’t getting into best picture, but ZERO nominations are a big shock for me. I had it getting five, with best supporting actress (Ariana Grande), best costume design, best production design, best makeup and hairstyling, and best original song. Grande was one that I could see missing. She was in my fifth place spot, I thought that Odessa A’zion for Marty Supreme could get in, no she didn’t. When that happened I figured it’s getting in at least the other categories and it didn’t. I don’t know why, but that shocked me. I would’ve put Wicked: For Good in all of the categories that it was snubbed in. It easily should’ve been nominated and maybe even have won in a few of those categories. We knew that it wasn’t getting into the best picture, Cynthia Erivo wasn’t happening as the lead actress. I was still holding out hope that maybe Ariana Grande would get in. I think deep down, I knew she wasn’t.
Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another) for Best Actress: This was the other one that both surprised me and didn’t surprise me. Chase Infiniti is one of the stars of One Battle After Another, the front runner for best picture. She’s gotten nominated at Critics Choice, Golden Globe, SAG, and then she was BAFTA long listed. It seemed like she was getting in here. She was in my fifth place spot, if somebody was going to miss it was going to be her. Ultimately, she missed and a lot of people were really disappointed by this. I’m not bummed out by this one the way that other people are. I really liked One Battle After Another and she was really good in the movie. Especially when you can hold your own against top actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn, that’s a big deal. Of the performances that have been nominated this season I thought she was easily the weakest. I wouldn’t have had her in my top five. In the grand scheme of things, One Battle After Another got 13 nominations and missed one of the stars. That's maybe a bit weird. But at the same time, I’ve always felt that Infiniti in lead was weird. I felt like she should’ve gone supporting me. I get why they did it, they didn’t want direct competition with Teyana Taylor who is the front runner for supporting actress. But I think she should’ve been a supporting actress. I’m wondering if that hurt her.
Paul Mescal (Hamnet) for Best Supporting Actor: Very similar to Infiniti, Mescal for Hamnet was my fifth place spot. I was thinking if somebody was going to miss, it’s going to be Mescal. Mescal is great, he’s one of the stars in one of the best picture front runners. But I was thinking I don’t feel that passionate love for Mescal the way I have been seeing for the other nominees. Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein) won at Critics Choice and Stellen Skarsgård (Sentimental Value) won at Golden Globes. Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn for One Battle After Another have been locked since the film came out. At the same time while I thought there was a possibility that Mescal missed, it seemed like the supporting actor was pretty locked up. The names I’ve listed were the ones getting in everywhere. Ultimately, Mescal missed. We’ll talk about the person that I’m sure took his place later. Like Infiniti, I would've had Mescal in the top five. I’m not sure what he missed but considering that the film got nine nominations and got into casting, it’s a bit weird that Mezcla didn’t make it.
Odessa A’zion (Marty Supreme) in Best Supporting Actress: This isn’t as big of a snub as Infiniti and Mescal, but there were so many people predicting Odess A’zion for supporting actress for Marty Supreme. She got the surprise SAG nomination which made people put her in. People were saying that she’s this year’s Monica Barbaro from A Complete Unknown. Barbaro also got a SAG and then a surprise show at the Oscars. I wasn’t feeling A’zion was going to get in. Everybody was saying that she was getting nominated and I didn’t feel that. I had Ariana Grande getting in, Odessa was my sixth place spot. Like the previous two I mentioned, I wouldn’t have had A’zion in my top five. She’s very good in the movie, I wouldn’t have been disappointed if she got in. But I’m not bummed that
Avatar: Fire and Ash and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery with Minimal or Nothing: This isn’t necessarily a big snub but it’s something that I wanted to talk about. Avatar: Fire and Ash and Wake Up Dead Man both underperformed at the Oscars compared to their previous film. I don’t think Avatar: Fire and Ash should’ve been in the best picture conversation, the previous two films were. We all knew it was getting visual effects, that’s the easy one to predict. We’ll talk about Avatar: Fire and Ash’s second nomination later. But the first one got several and The Way of Water only got five. The Knives Out films have never been big Oscar contenders, but both of the previous films got screenplay nominations and Wake Up Dead Man didn’t. That’s a bit surprising to me, especially when the movie is on the same level as the previous two, I think it deserves a nomination. The common thing between these two films, they’re both third films in franchises. Besides a few exceptions, the Oscars rarely nominate and recognize sequels. Dune: Part II performed at the Oscars last year and then three sequels underperformed this year. It makes me nervous for Dune: Part III chances at the Oscars. It’s the third film in a franchise with a December release date, notice the pattern here? Dune: Part III wouldn’t get completely shut out. It’s going to get nominations but will it get as much as the last two? I don’t know. Dune: Part 1 got 11 nominations and Dune: Part II only got five.
BIGGEST SURPRISES
Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue) for Best Actress: This is one that I almost didn’t put here but I felt like I had to talk about. Kate Hudson is one of these people whose name has been all around this awards season. People were predicting her to get nominated at the Golden Globes. I thought she was getting SAG, I predicted she would get in so I’m not surprised by that. As I was saying earlier, I almost put Hudson in that fifth place spot over Chase Infiniti. I didn’t do it and I’m kicking myself for not doing that. In reality I feel like it makes sense that Hudson is nominated. She’s a big name in Hollywood, people seem to like her, and she hasn’t gotten awards recognition in 20+ years since Almost Famous. It makes sense in a number of regards for her to get nominated and she’s doing a big flashy Oscar bait performance with crying and dramatic scenes. Would I have nominated her? I don’t know about that. But she was really good in the movie and ultimately I’m not surprised that she was nominated.
Delroy Lindo (Sinners) for Best Supporting Actor: The other actor nomination that’s a bigger surprise, that I’m happy about but one that I’m also not super surprised by. This year’s nominations are a bit weird in terms of what’s surprising and what’s not surprising. There was a lot of chatter about Delroy Lindo getting a nomination but that certainly faded once he missed nominations at several major award shows, he really only appeared on the BAFTA long lists, but we aren’t sure if he’s getting a nomination there. This is a very cool nomination, he’s an acting veteran that’s been in the industry for 50 years now and earned his first nomination. Sinners is a film packed with standout performances, there’s multiple supporting actor performances that could’ve been in this category, ultimately Lindo got in and I’m happy about that. Will he win? Probably not. But for Lindo, the nomination is the win.
Jurassic World: Rebirth in Visual Effects: This one doesn’t sound too surprising on paper. It’s pretty easy to imagine a big CGI blockbuster filled with CGI creatures to be nominated in this category. What’s surprising about it is this is the first Jurassic film to be nominated in the category since The Lost World: Jurassic Park, nearly 30 years ago. Jurassic Park III through Jurassic World: Dominion were all shortlisted at the Oscars for visual effects. But Rebirth is only the third film in the franchise to receive the nomination. I’ve seen some people outraged on Twitter that Jurassic World: Rebirth is an Oscar nominated film over some other prestigious films. I seem to like Rebirth more than most people, it’s not a great film but I had a lot of fun with it. I’m not as disappointed that it got nominated as most people. Especially in the visual effects category where the film looks incredible. Gareth Edwards has an eye for visuals and can make his movies look incredible. Between this film, Godzilla, and The Creator I don’t think he’s made a great film, but he makes great looking films. I’m sure we’ll get a sequel to Rebirth because it made almost $900 million, and I hope Edwards returns because he makes his movie look cool.
Avatar: Fire and Ash in Costume Design: This is probably the most random and the most shocking nomination. We all knew that Avatar: Fire and Ash was going to get visual effects, that film is winning and there’s no question about it. I was thinking the film would get at least one other nomination in either production design or sound, the film wasn’t beloved but it made sense for this film. The film showed up in costume design, that’s weird. What’s weird about it is that I didn’t know that there was costume design. I assumed that the costumes worn by the characters were CGI, but I guess not. There are of course human characters in the film but I didn’t find anything about those costumes to be super memorable. This is one that I think everybody was shocked by and one that nobody was predicting at all. It’s weird that it got in for Wicked: For Good, which has fantastic costume designs that should’ve won this category.
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