Oscars shortlists snubs Michael Moore and Quincy Jones documentaries, Aquaman, Fantastic Beasts

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday announced shortlists for a number of ‘below the line’ categories, revealing that several buzzy movies, including Michael Moore’s latest documentary and upcoming Aquaman, were snubbed for Oscars. 

The shortlists nominees that are still in the running for Oscars fall in the documentary feature, documentary short subject, makeup and hairstyling, foreign language film, music (original score), music (original song), animated short film, live action short film and visual effects categories. 

Shortlists, decided on by executive committees in the film academy, help narrow the playing field in many of the categories before they are whittled down further to five final nominations in late January.

Aquaman was among the movies snubbed when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed its shortlists for nine categories in the 2019 Oscars

Michael Moore’s latest, Fahrenheit 11/9, was left off the documentary features shortlist

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald also failed to make the visual effects shortlist

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald also failed to make the visual effects shortlist

Notable films that got nods in the documentary features category included Minding the Gap, a 12-year odyssey about a group of skateboarders growing up in Rockford, Illinois, the too-wild-to-be-true Three Identical Strangers, about triplets separated by adoption at birth who find each other later in life, and the intense climbing film Free Solo.

But, while the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary, RBG, and Fred Rogers film, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, were also among those that made the documentary features short list, Michael Moore’s latest political critique, Fahrenheit 11/9, and Netflix’s Quincy Jones documentary, Quincy, directed by his daughter Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks, were conspicuously omitted.  

Meanwhile, over on the visual effects shortlist, seemingly every new Marvel Universe made the list — Black Panther, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Avengers: Infinity War — but the hotly-anticipated Aquaman, which premieres December 21, did not. 

Visual effects-heavy movies Bumblebee, also premiering December 21, Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald also failed to make the list. 

Netflix's Quincy Jones documentary, Quincy, directed by his daughter Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks, did not make the documentary feature film shortlist either

Netflix’s Quincy Jones documentary, Quincy, directed by his daughter Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks, did not make the documentary feature film shortlist either

Annie Lennox, who song a song from A Private War,did not make the music (original song) shortlist

Tim McGraw, who appeared on the Free Solo soundtrack, did not make the shortlist either

Annie Lennox, who song a song from A Private War, and Tim McGraw, who appeared on the Free Solo soundtrack, were did not make the music (original song) shortlist

This year marks the first time since 1979 that the film academy has released a shortlist for the music categories. 

Fifteen original songs were selected from 90 submissions and include Shallow from A Star Is Born, All The Stars from Black Panther, Dolly Parton’s Girl in the Movies from Dumplin’, and two songs from Mary Poppins Returns – The Place Where Lost Things Go and Trip a Little Light Fantastic.

Snubbed songs included Annie Lennox’s track Requiem for a Private War, from A Private War; Tim McGraw’s Gravity from Free Solo, and Kesha’s Here Comes the Change’ from On the Basis of Sex.  

Mary Poppins Returns and Black Panther were among those shortlisted for best original score, as was Vice and If Beale Street Could Talk, which were both composed by Nicholas Brittell.

The foreign film category included Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma — believed to be a front-runner for a best picture nomination as well — and Lee Chang-dong’s thriller Burning, which is based on a Haruki Murakami story and could make history by becoming South Korea’s first ever nominee. 

Songs from Mary Poppins Returns landed on the newly announced shortlist thrice - twice for music (original song) and again for music (original score)

Songs from Mary Poppins Returns landed on the newly announced shortlist thrice – twice for music (original song) and again for music (original score)

Alfonso Cuaron's Roma, believed to be a front-runner for a best picture nomination as well, landed on the foreign film category shortlist

Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, believed to be a front-runner for a best picture nomination as well, landed on the foreign film category shortlist

Lee Chang-dong's thriller Burning also made the foreign film shortlist. If it stays on the list, it could make history by becoming South Korea's first ever nominee

Lee Chang-dong’s thriller Burning also made the foreign film shortlist. If it stays on the list, it could make history by becoming South Korea’s first ever nominee

Other that made the foreign film shortlist include Poland’s Cold War, which was snubbed by the Golden Globe Awards, Lebanon’s Capernaum, Japan’s Shoplifters, Colombia’s Birds of Passage, Denmark’s The Guilty, Germany’s Never Look Away and Kazakhstan’s Ayka.

But, as the Hollywood Reporter pointed out, the Oscars turned up its nose at several foreign language films that were heavily-lauded throughout the year, including Italy’s Dogman, Sweden’s Border and Belgium’s Girl, which all received recognition at Cannes Film Festival.

Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on January 22, with one month before the Oscars on February 24.

Oscars 2019 shortlist nominees 

 DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Charm City

Communion

Crime + Punishment

Dark Money

The Distant Barking of Dogs

Free Solo

Hale County This Morning, This Evening

Minding the Gap

Of Fathers and Sons

On Her Shoulders

RBG

Shirkers

The Silence of Others

Three Identical Strangers

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING 

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

Border

Mary Queen of Scots

Stan & Ollie

Suspiria

Vice

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM 

Colombia, Birds of Passage

Denmark, The Guilty

Germany, Never Look Away

Japan, Shoplifters

Kazakhstan, Ayka

Lebanon, Capernaum

Mexico, Roma

Poland, Cold War

South Korea, Burning

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Annihilation

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

Crazy Rich Asians

The Death of Stalin

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

First Man

If Beale Street Could Talk

Isle of Dogs

Mary Poppins Returns

A Quiet Place

Ready Player One

Vice

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) 

When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings, from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Treasure, from Beautiful Boy

All the Stars, from Black Panther

Revelation, from Boy Erased

Girl In The Movies, from Dumplin’

We Won’t Move, from The Hate U Give

The Place Where Lost Things Go, from Mary Poppins Returns

Trip A Little Light Fantastic, from Mary Poppins Returns

Keep Reachin’, from Quincy

I’ll Fight, from RBG

A Place Called Slaughter Race, from Ralph Breaks the Internet

OYAHYTT, from Sorry to Bother You

Shallow, from A Star Is Born

Suspirium, from Suspiria

The Big Unknown, from Widows

ANIMATED SHORT FILM 

Age of Sail

Animal Behaviour

Bao

BilbyBird 

Karma

Late Afternoon

Lost & Found

One Small Step

Pépé le Morse

Weekends

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM 

Caroline

Chuchotage

Detainment

FauveIcare

Marguerite

May Day

Mother

Skin

Wale

VISUAL EFFECTS 

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther

Christopher Robin

First Man

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Mary Poppins Returns

Ready Player One

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Welcome to Marwen

– Oscars.org 

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