83rd Academy Awards Snub Big Costume Movies

Today’s Academy Award nominations were not especially surprising in most of the headline categories. Well, maybe no Christopher Nolan for Best Director or Andrew Garfield for Best Supporting Actor, but in the Best Costume Design category there were a couple of major upsets.

First of all, the actual nominees:

Alice in Wonderland – Colleen Atwood

I Am Love – Antonella Cannarozzi

The King’s Speech – Jenny Beavan

The Tempest – Sandy Powell

True Grit – Mary Zophres

Nothing wrong there, and with no desire to take anything away from the recipients, it is especially great to see Antonella Cannarozzi for I am Love (actually made in 2009). However, where is Mark Bridges for The Fighter or Jeffrey Kurland for Inception or Jacqueline West for The Social Network, among others? Most surprising of all, where is Amy Westcott for Black Swan?

There is an argument that these are not period nor fantasy films so not as smiled upon by the Academy, but even that does not really hold water. The Fighter is a period film (as recognised by the CDG) and strictly so is The Social Network. Clearly if The Fighter had been set a littler further back, say in Victorian Times, it may have been in with a shot – damn real life getting in the way there.

Again, the actual nominees are worthy choices, just perhaps at the expense of some particularly high profile snubs. Inception is not just controversial for missing out on Best Director, but also for Costume Design. A shame most press coverage will only focus on the former.

Source: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences