2020 Oscar Snubs And Surprises: Who Landed The Unlikely Nods And Who Was Overlooked?

With typically only five nominees per category, someone is always bound to be left by the wayside when the Oscar nominations arrive. 2020 is no different. But with the snubs also come the surprises – the films, filmmakers, and actors who no one expected to land a nomination suddenly find themselves invited to the biggest awards ceremony Hollywood has to offer.

We've combed through this morning's nominations and have put together a list of the biggest snubs and surprises from the latest batch of nominations. How much outrage you decide to bring to this list is up to you.

Jennifer Lopez gave the best performance of her entire career In Hustlers, so of course, it was overlooked. As super-stripper Ramona, Lopez burns up the screen with confidence and charm, creating a fully-realized character that seems wholly believable. Everything about the character – be it her command of the stripper pole, her big dream to launch her own line of swimwear, or her idea to cook up some drugs in her kitchen oven – gives the character life, and there was a real chance a lesser performer could've gone too broad and too over-the-top here. Lopez nails it. Where's her nomination? (Chris Evangelista)

Parasite received a solid amount of Oscar nominations this year, but if there's one performance that should have been singled out by the Academy, it's Song Kang-ho as the family patriarch Kim Ki-taek. Not only does the character have the most complete arc in the film, but Kang-ho's performance is one of subtle pain and desperation. The character puts up with so much throughout his time spent as the driver for a rich Korean family until he can't take it anymore. It's a shame we couldn't have swapped out Jonathan Pryce for Song Kang-ho. (Ethan Anderton)

Florence Pugh has lovely small feet, the best in the family, and the Oscars surprisingly acknowledged that. Through most of the awards season, Little Women had been getting little recognition from awarding bodies, apart from Saoirse Ronan's stellar lead performance. But Greta Gerwig's classic adaptation came in strong with main category nods, including one for Florence Pugh as Best Supporting Actress. As Amy March, Pugh's sensitive, unapologetic, and hilarious performance that changed many a longtime fan's mind about the long-hated character and even threatened to take some of the attention away from Ronan. Pugh has had a banner year, and her scene-stealing performance in Little Women was just the capper to it. (Hoai-Tran Bui)

Look, Robert De Niro has been slacking a bit in the last few...decades. Once hailed as the best actor of his generation, De Niro has spent the last few years in forgettable or downright terrible fare. But his work in The Irishman is not only a return to form – it's one of his very best performances. The stuttery, unsure way his Frank Sheeran delivers his lines has De Niro turn his contract killer into a fascinating, flawed individual. The scene where De Niro, as Frank, calls up the wife of one of his victims and awkwardly tries to comfort her is so shattering that that moment alone should've ensured a nom for the actor. (Chris Evangelista)

Lupita Nyong'o's performance in Us is so damn good that she should have gotten two separate nominations for playing two different characters. Obviously, the more standout performance is her turn as Red, with that croaky, creepy voice that she puts on. Even beyond the voice, there's a physical presence in Red that Nyong'o perfectly inhabits, moving in an extremely unsettling and calculated fashion. But Nyongo's turn as Adelaide Wilson is no slouch at either, as her world keeps getting turned upside down. (Ethan Anderton)

Obviously not all the Best Picture nominees can have their respective directors get a nomination in the smaller category of Best Director, but Taika Waititi certainly deserves it. The filmmaker does a spectacular high wire balancing act as he shifts between comedy and drama, almost causing whiplash in a couple scenes throughout Jojo Rabbit. Neither the comedy nor the drama is hurt by the presence of the other, and on top of that, Waititi kept all of this straight while playing a goofy imaginary version of Hitler. That's truly remarkable. (Ethan Anderton)

Eddie Murphy enjoyed quite a comeback last year, and it's largely thanks to his acclaimed performance in Dolemite Is My Name. Unfortunately for him, it's rather difficult for a comedy to land Oscar nominations, even when that movie is about the power of filmmaking and representation. Eddie Murphy was fantastic as comedian Rudy Ray Moore as he tried to make himself a star, and it was easily one of the best performances he's ever given, so the Academy ignoring him is a real bummer. (Ethan Anderton)

C'mon. I try not to get too bent out of shape about Oscar snubs, because the Academy is gonna Academy. But overlooking The Farewell, a wonderful, heart-felt indie, is, to be blunt, bullshit. At the very least Awkwafina should've earned a nod for Best Actress, as the comedian-rapper-performer proves here she has a range that I don't think anyone expected. (Chris Evangelista)

Makoto Shinkai's 2016 film Your Name became a global phenomenon, earning acclaim and awards love across the world. His highly anticipated follow-up Weathering With You was just as critically loved, so much that Japan pulled a major gamble by submitting the anime film for its Best International Film slot — the first time the country has nominated an anime film in that category since Princess Mononoke in 1997. But despite Weathering With You making an awards bid with an Oscar-qualifying run in 2019, Shinkai's beautiful supernatural romance was completely shut out not only of Best International Film but Best Animated Film. (Hoai-Tran Bui)

After winning the Golden Globe for playing Elton John, one would have though that Taron Egerton deserved an Oscar nomination as well. But the Golden Globes aren't the best predictors of Oscar nominations, and apparently the Academy just didn't think his turn measured up to the rest of the performances for Best Actor. Again, we can't help but notice that Jonathan Pryce seems a little out of place among the nominees, and we would have much rather seen Taron Egerton's legitimate musical turn land there instead, especially since Rami Malek earned a nomination last year and didn't even do his own singing. (Ethan Anderton)

It seems like Disney really struck out when it comes to Oscar nominations this year. After Frozen won the Best Animated Film category in 2014, the sequel didn't even land a nomination in the category this year. Granted, Disney did get a nomination with Toy Story 4, but it's a shame that Frozen II isn't among the pack. Personally, I think the sequel is better than the original, and that includes the overall quality of the soundtrack, but apparently not enough people in the Academy thought the same. (Ethan Anderton)