The Academy Award nominations are always an exciting morning, but the 2019 Oscars seem to have a bit less juice than in previous years. Maybe because there’s not one clear front-runner that many fans are rallying around? No clear critical darling?

Also, I think there are a lot of movies that people either simply haven’t seen. That’s always the case (and Oscar nominations can change that), but feels like it’s even more so this year. Also, one of the favorites was made for Netflix, an idea people will have to get used to.

Since I typically write something about the Oscars, I figured I’d do a quick overview of the big categories, picking the favorites and noting the snubs. And there were a lot of notable snubs this year.

I’ve seen five of the eight Best Picture nominees, but there are several contenders I need to watch. (That’s one reason why I dragged my ass on putting together a Best of 2018 list.) Those include Green Book, The Favourite, Roma, Shoplifters, Can You Ever Forgive Me and The Wife. (I know!) So my opinions on any of these could change before Feb. 24. If so, maybe we’ll have some predictions.

Best Actress

Yalitza Aparicio – Roma
Glenn Close – The Wife
Olivia Colman – The Favourite
Lady Gaga – A Star is Born
Melissa McCarthy – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Favorite: It’s Glenn Close’s time to shine. This would be a career achievement award too.
Snubs: Where is Elsie Fisher from Eighth Grade? Many people were looking for Emily Blunt here too. Not sure who they would replace, however.

Best Actor

Christian Bale – Vice
Bradley Cooper – A Star is Born
Willem Dafoe – To Eternity’s Gate
Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody
Viggo Mortensen – Green Book

Favorite: Christian Bale, especially because Vice is getting so much love. But Rami Malek won the Golden Globe, so maybe… ?
Snubs: Ethan Hawke (First Reformed) is an embarrassing oversight here. Joaquin Phoenix (You Were Never Really Here) could’ve been a good choice too.

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali – Green Book
Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman
Sam Elliott – A Star is Born
Richard E. Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Rockwell – Vice

Favorite: Mahershala Ali gets his second Oscar, as the Academy seems to love Green Book. How cool would a Sam Elliott win be, though?
Snubs: Timothee Chalamet was outstanding in Beautiful Boy. Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger made us care about the bad guy in Black Panther. Or how about Josh Hamilton from Eighth Grade? Any one of them would’ve been a far better choice than Sam Rockwell and his George W. Bush impersonation.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams – Vice
Marina De Tavira – Roma
Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk
Emma Stone – The Favourite
Rachel Weisz – The Favourite

Favorite: Regina King won the Golden Globe, along with many other critics’ awards, so she’s probably the front-runner.
Snubs: Claire Foy drew a lot of buzz as Janet Armstrong in First Man. I would’ve given a nod to Thomasin McKenzie from Leave No Trace.

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
BlacKkKlansman – Spike Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel and Kevin Willmott
Can You Ever Forgive Me? – Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
If Beale Street Could Talk – Barry Jenkins
A Star Is Born – Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters and Eric Roth

Favorite: Adapting a James Baldwin novel into a film should get Barry Jenkins this award.
Snubs: Maybe You Were Never Really Here for Lynne Ramsey? Black Panther for Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole? Leave No Trace for Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini would’ve been a good choice too.

Best Original Screenplay

First Reformed – Paul Schrader
Green Book – Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga
Roma – Alfonso Cuaron
The Favourite – Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
Vice – Adam McKay

Favorite: Bouncing through timelines and creating satirical scenes to explain dry policy or strategy made Vice entertaining, and Adam McKay should be recognized for that.
Snubs: A Quiet Place (Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, John Krasinski) and Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham) would’ve been fun nominees. Was Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley) too weird for Academy voters?

Best Documentary

Free Solo
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG

Favorite: Admittedly, I haven’t seen three of the nominees, but Free Solo should be the leader here.
Snubs: Even Mister Rogers might get mad that Won’t You Be My Neighbor wasn’t nominated. Three Identical Strangers (which is showing on CNN this Sunday night) was also robbed.

Best Director

Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman
Pawel Pawlikowski – Cold War
Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite
Alfonso Cuaron – Roma
Adam McKay – Vice

Favorite: Alfonso Cuaron is probably the fave here among an interesting list of nominees, but this could be Spike Lee’s year. If Bryan Singer hadn’t bailed on Bohemian Rhapsody, would he have gotten a nod?
Snubs: Bradley Cooper. Wow. And if Green Book earned so many nominations, why wasn’t Peter Farrelly nominated?

Best Picture

Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
A Star is Born
Vice

Favorite: Green Book looks like the front-runner, based on the other awards it’s earned this season. But A Star is Born shouldn’t be counted out.
Snubs: The Rider was one of the best movies of the year, and should be here. So should Leave No Trace. If Beale Street Could Talk is also notably absent, though I’m not sure I’d have it on my 10 best of 2018. Eighth Grade would’ve been a cool nominee too.